View source for JSON Meta Application Protocol

{{short description|Email handling protocol}}
{{Infobox protocol
  | name        = JSON Meta Application Protocol (JMAP)
  | standard    = {{ublist
                     | Core: {{IETF RFC|8620}}
                     | Mail: {{IETF RFC|8621}}
                     | WebSocket: {{IETF RFC|8887}}
                     | MDN: {{IETF RFC|9007}}
                     | S/MIME: {{IETF RFC|9219}}
                     | Blobs: {{IETF RFC|9404}}
                     | Quotas: {{IETF RFC|9425}}
                  }}
  | developer   = {{hlist
                     | [[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]]
                     | Fastmail
                  }}
  | introdate   = {{Start date and age|2019|07|18}}
  | industry    = Network communications
  | website     = {{URL|https://jmap.io/}}
}}
The '''JSON Meta Application Protocol''' ('''JMAP''') is a set of related open [[Internet Standard]] [[Communication protocol|protocol]]s for handling [[Email|email]]. JMAP is implemented using [[JSON]] [[API]]s over [[HTTP]] and has been developed as an alternative to IMAP/SMTP and proprietary email APIs such as Gmail and Outlook.<ref name="jmap-io">{{cite web|title=JSON Meta Application Protocol Specification (JMAP) |work = jmap.io |publisher=Fastmail |url= https://jmap.io/ |access-date= 2020-05-03}}</ref>
Additional protocols and data models being built on top of the core of JMAP for handling contacts and calendar synchronization are meant to be potential replacements for [[CardDAV]] and [[CalDAV]], and other support is currently in the works.<ref name="jmap-status">{{Cite web|url= https://tools.ietf.org/wg/jmap/ |title= Jmap Status Pages |work=IETF Tools |publisher=[[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|Internet Engineering Task Force]]}}</ref>

== Motivation ==
Developers Bron Gondwana and Neil Jenkins wrote on the [[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|Internet Engineering Task Force]] (IETF) news site that "the current open protocols connecting email clients and servers, such as IMAP, were not designed for the modern age." They cited IMAP's complexity, high resource use, poor adaptability to the network constraints of modern mobile devices, and complex interactions with other protocols like SMTP, CalDAV, and CardDAV.<ref name="ietf-blog">{{Cite web |title=JMAP: A modern, open email protocol |last1=Gondwana |first1=Bron |last2=Jenkins |first2=Neil |work=IETF Blog|date=6 May 2019 |publisher=Internet Engineering Task Force|url= https://www.ietf.org/blog/jmap/ |access-date=25 September 2020}}</ref> They believe this has resulted in a stagnation in the quality of (especially [[Free software|free]]) email clients, and the creation of proprietary protocols to overcome these limitations, for instance [[MAPI]], used by [[Company:Microsoft|Microsoft]]'s [[Software:Microsoft Exchange Server|Exchange Server]] and [[Software:Microsoft Outlook|Outlook]] email products.<ref name="jmap-io" />

== Design ==

Gondwana and Jenkins wrote, "JMAP is the result of efforts to address shortcomings [in existing protocols], providing a modern, efficient, easy-to-use API, built on many years of experience and field testing."<ref name="ietf-blog" />

The protocol was developed with the intention of providing a modern open, reliable, and easy-to-use solution, and as a result it relies heavily upon the commonly-implemented [[JSON]] (JavaScript Object Notation).  According to Gondwana of Fastmail—which has been a leading developer of the protocol -- "The use of JSON and HTTP as the basis of JMAP was always a key point — it means that people wanting to build something on top of email don’t have to re-implement complex parsers or find a software library in order to get started."<ref name="fastmail-blog-2018-12">{{Cite web |title=JMAP is on the home straight |last=Gondwana |first=Bron |work=Fastmail Blog |publisher=Fastmail |date=27 December 2018 |url= https://fastmail.blog/2018/12/27/jmap-is-on-the-home-straight/ |access-date=25 September 2020 }}</ref>

After atmail decided to implement JMAP, CEO Dave Richards wrote in 2018 that "the complexities required to implement IMAP in both user and server side software has resulted in user difficulties and a lack of software options, along with a rigid user experience...The new JMAP protocol solves the existing issues and is modular enough to take advantage of future technology. JMAP makes email better."<ref>{{cite web|title=Dear Mr Laguna, IMAP is Not the Right Protocol for Chat|url=https://www.atmail.com/blog/rafael-laguna-imap-jmap/|website=atmail blog}}</ref>

== Development ==
JMAP started around 2014 as an internal development project by the Australian-based email provider Fastmail.<ref>{{cite web|title=FOSDEM 2019: IMAP, JMAP, and the Future of Open Email Standards |publisher= Peer tube |url= https://peertube.social/videos/watch/ae54e97a-963c-4b99-88d8-3d8ff83e322d|access-date=2019-02-16}}</ref> 
Starting in 2017 a working group at the [[Organization:Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] has been leading the development and standardization process.<ref name="jmap-wg-about">{{Cite web |title=JSON Mail Access Protocol (jmap) |work=IETF Datatracker |publisher=Internet Engineering Task Force |url=https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/jmap/about/ |access-date=25 September 2020}}</ref> The core protocol and mail specifications were published in July and August 2019 by Neil Jenkins of Fastmail and Chris Newman of Oracle, as RFC 8620 and RFC 8621.<ref name="fastmail-blog-2018-12" /><ref name="RFC-8620">{{Cite web |title=RFC 8620 - The JSON Meta Application Protocol (JMAP) |date=July 2019 |publisher=Internet Engineering Task Force |url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8620 |access-date=25 September 2020}}</ref><ref name="RFC-8621">{{Cite web |title=RFC 8621 - The JSON Meta Application Protocol (JMAP) for Mail |date=August 2019 |publisher=Internet Engineering Task Force |url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8621 |access-date=25 September 2020}}</ref> The WebSocket specification was later published in August 2020 as RFC 8887, and Message Disposition Notification ([[Return receipt|return receipt]]s) in March 2021 as RFC 9007.<ref name="RFC-8887">{{Cite web |title=RFC 8887 - A JSON Meta Application Protocol (JMAP) Subprotocol for WebSocket |date=August 2020 |publisher=Internet Engineering Task Force |url= https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8887 |access-date=25 September 2020}}</ref><ref name="RFC-9007">{{Cite web |title=RFC 9007 - Handling Message Disposition Notification with the JSON Meta Application Protocol (JMAP) |date=March 2021 |publisher=Internet Engineering Task Force |url= https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc9007 |access-date=10 April 2021}}</ref>

Other ongoing JMAP drafts at IETF are for dealing with calendars, contacts, tasks, and [[Software:Sieve (mail filtering language)|Sieve]] mail filtering. <ref name="jmap-status" /> The working group originally set milestones for these to be finalised by the end of 2020;<ref name="jmap-wg-about" /> as of November 2023, two further JMAP extensions have been submitted to the [[Organization:Internet Engineering Steering Group|IESG]] as proposed standards: blob management ({{IETF RFC|9404}}), and Quotas ({{IETF RFC|9425}}).

== Implementations ==

* As of version 3.0 [[Organization:The Apache Software Foundation|Apache Software Foundation]]’s free mail-server [[Software:Apache James|Apache James]] has “experimental” support for JMAP.<ref>{{cite web|title=Apache James Project – Apache James Server 3 - Release Notes|url=http://james.apache.org/server/release-notes.html|access-date=2019-02-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Apache James Enterprise Mail Server Features|url=https://james.apache.org/server/features.html
}}</ref> The OpenPaas collaboration platform provides a webmail implementation supporting James and JMAP.<ref>{{cite web|title=OpenPaaS Documentation|url=https://docs.open-paas.org}}</ref>
* Cyrus IMAP supports JMAP core and mail, with “experimental” support for calendars and contacts, as of version 3.2.0 released in May 2020.<ref name="cyru_Cyru">{{Cite web |title=Cyrus IMAP 3.2.0 Release Notes |publisher=Cyrus IMAP |date=4 May 2020 |url= https://www.cyrusimap.org/imap/download/release-notes/3.2/x/3.2.0.html?highlight=jmap |access-date=25 September 2020 }}</ref>
* Ltt.rs is a proof of concept email client for Android that only supports JMAP.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/inputmice/lttrs-android |title=Ltt.rs for Android Github repository}}</ref>
* Stalwart JMAP server is a scalable open-source JMAP server written in Rust with full JMAP Core, JMAP Mail, JMAP over WebSocket at IMAP4rev2 support.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/stalwartlabs/jmap-server|title=Stalwart JMAP Server Github repository}}</ref>

==See also==
<!-- New links in alphabetical order please -->
* [[Software:Comparison of email clients|Comparison of email clients]]
* [[Comparison of mail servers]]
* Fastmail
* IMAP
* [[List of mail server software]]
* [[Post Office Protocol]] (POP)
* [[Push-IMAP]]
* [[Simple Mail Access Protocol]]
* [[Simple Mail Transfer Protocol]]
* [[Software:Webmail|Webmail]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Email clients}}

[[Category:Internet mail protocols]]
[[Category:JSON]]

{{Sourceattribution|JSON Meta Application Protocol}}