> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.resifactory.net/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.resifactory.net/reference/glossary.md).

# Glossary

**App password**\
A credential that works for IMAP and nothing else. Separate from your sign-in password, revocable on its own, and carrying its own scope, inbox window and optional IP allowlist. → [App passwords](/imap/app-passwords.md)

**Batch**\
A named group of mailboxes, usually one per purchase. Used to scope credentials, export in bulk, and filter every list. → [Batches](/the-console/batches.md)

**Catch-all domain**\
A domain you own, pointed at the server, so that every address on it delivers into your inbox without being created in advance. → [Catch-all domains](/the-console/catch-all.md)

**CIDR**\
The notation for an IP range — `203.0.113.0/24` is 256 addresses; `/32` is a single IPv4 address. Used by the app password IP allowlist.

**Cluster**\
On [Signups](/the-console/signups.md), a group of messages sharing a sender and a normalised subject. Near-identical mail collapses into one row.

**Degraded**\
A mailbox that is reachable but currently unreliable. Usually temporary.

**EXISTS**\
The IMAP response giving the number of messages in the selected mailbox. Here it reflects what your credential can see *after* its scope and inbox window are applied — not your total mail.

**Expired**\
A mailbox that cannot currently fetch mail. Try **Resubscribe**.

**Flag**\
A per-message marker: `\Seen`, `\Answered`, `\Flagged`, `\Deleted`, `\Draft`. `\Seen` syncs both ways between IMAP and the console.

**Healthy**\
A mailbox that is fetching mail normally.

**IDLE**\
The IMAP command that lets a client wait to be pushed new mail instead of polling. Supported, and the right way to wait.

**IMAP**\
The protocol mail clients use to read mail from a server. → [imap](/imap/imap.md)

**IMAPS**\
IMAP wrapped in TLS from the first byte, on port 993. What this server speaks. Not to be confused with STARTTLS, which is not offered.

**Inbox window**\
A per-app-password limit on how far back that credential can see, expressed in minutes and sliding with the clock. → [The inbox window](/imap/inbox-window.md)

**INBOX**\
The single IMAP folder. Every mailbox you own is merged into it.

**Login (of a mailbox)**\
The mailbox's own address — the thing mail is addressed to. Distinct from your sign-in address.

**Mailbox**\
One email account you own. Also called an *account* in the console.

**Pending**\
A newly added mailbox not yet confirmed working.

**Retention**\
How long mail is kept before permanent pruning. Set on the server, shown on [Settings](/the-console/settings.md). Not the same as the inbox window.

**Resubscribe**\
Re-establish a mailbox's push subscription with its provider. The first thing to try on an `expired` mailbox.

**Scope**\
Which mailboxes an app password can read: **unified** (everything you own) or **batch** (one batch). → [Scopes](/imap/scopes.md)

**STARTTLS**\
Upgrading a plaintext connection to TLS mid-conversation. **Not supported** — use implicit TLS on 993.

**Subscription (mailbox)**\
The push-notification registration that lets the server hear about new mail immediately. Renewed automatically. Nothing to do with billing.

**Subscription (mail server)**\
Your ongoing access to the mail server. If it lapses, sign-in tells you; your mail is untouched. → [Adding mailboxes](/buying-more/buying-more.md)

**Tier**\
Your pricing band, determined by how many mailboxes you hold. Shown on the buy-more card.

**UID**\
A message's permanent identifier within a mailbox. Stable and never reused — address by UID, not by sequence number.

**UIDVALIDITY**\
An IMAP value that changes when the set of mailboxes a credential can see changes, telling clients to resync. Expected after buying more mailboxes.

**Unified inbox**\
The merged view of every mailbox you own, served as one `INBOX`.

**WTok**\
A linked account associated with a mailbox, with its own password. Exported alongside the mailbox password where present.


---

# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.

## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.resifactory.net/reference/glossary.md?ask=<question>&goal=<endgoal>
```

`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
`goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal.

The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.