Query 4: Complete Conversation Thread#

Use Case Description#

Retrieve all emails in a specific conversation thread, showing the complete email exchange. This demonstrates thread-based operations and chronological conversation reconstruction.

Key JMAP Concepts Used#

Thread/get: Retrieving thread objects to get email IDs
Result reference chaining: Using thread results to fetch emails
Conversation sorting: Ordering emails chronologically within thread
Full email content: Getting body values for complete thread view
Multi-method requests: Efficient batch operations

JMAP Request#

{
  "using": ["urn:ietf:params:jmap:core", "urn:ietf:params:jmap:mail"],
  "methodCalls": [
    [
      "Thread/get",
      {
        "accountId": "u12345678",
        "ids": ["Tthread456"]
      },
      "t0"
    ],
    [
      "Email/get", 
      {
        "accountId": "u12345678",
        "#ids": {
          "resultOf": "t0",
          "name": "Thread/get",
          "path": "/list/0/emailIds"
        },
        "properties": [
          "id", "threadId", "mailboxIds", "keywords", "from", "to", "cc",
          "subject", "sentAt", "receivedAt", "messageId", "inReplyTo", 
          "references", "textBody", "htmlBody", "bodyValues", "attachments"
        ],
        "bodyProperties": ["value", "isEncodingProblem", "isTruncated"]
      },
      "e0"
    ]
  ]
}

Expected Response Structure#

{
  "methodResponses": [
    [
      "Thread/get",
      {
        "accountId": "u12345678",
        "state": "t9876543213", 
        "list": [
          {
            "id": "Tthread456",
            "emailIds": ["Memail123", "Memail124", "Memail125", "Memail126"]
          }
        ],
        "notFound": []
      },
      "t0"
    ],
    [
      "Email/get",
      {
        "accountId": "u12345678",
        "state": "s9876543213",
        "list": [
          {
            "id": "Memail123",
            "threadId": "Tthread456", 
            "mailboxIds": {"Minbox": true},
            "keywords": {"$seen": true},
            "from": [{"email": "alice@project.com", "name": "Alice Johnson"}],
            "to": [{"email": "team@project.com", "name": "Project Team"}],
            "subject": "Project Kickoff Meeting",
            "sentAt": "2024-08-20T09:00:00Z",
            "receivedAt": "2024-08-20T09:01:00Z",
            "messageId": ["<msg1@project.com>"],
            "inReplyTo": null,
            "references": null,
            "textBody": [{"id": "text1", "mimeType": "text/plain"}],
            "htmlBody": null,
            "bodyValues": {
              "text1": {
                "value": "Hi team,\n\nLet's schedule our project kickoff meeting...",
                "isEncodingProblem": false,
                "isTruncated": false
              }
            },
            "attachments": []
          },
          {
            "id": "Memail124",
            "threadId": "Tthread456",
            "mailboxIds": {"Minbox": true},
            "keywords": {"$seen": true},
            "from": [{"email": "bob@project.com", "name": "Bob Smith"}],
            "to": [{"email": "alice@project.com", "name": "Alice Johnson"}],
            "cc": [{"email": "team@project.com", "name": "Project Team"}],
            "subject": "Re: Project Kickoff Meeting",
            "sentAt": "2024-08-20T11:30:00Z", 
            "receivedAt": "2024-08-20T11:31:00Z",
            "messageId": ["<msg2@project.com>"],
            "inReplyTo": ["<msg1@project.com>"],
            "references": ["<msg1@project.com>"],
            "textBody": [{"id": "text2", "mimeType": "text/plain"}],
            "htmlBody": null,
            "bodyValues": {
              "text2": {
                "value": "Alice,\n\nThanks for initiating this. I'm available Tuesday...",
                "isEncodingProblem": false,
                "isTruncated": false
              }
            },
            "attachments": []
          },
          {
            "id": "Memail125",
            "threadId": "Tthread456",
            "mailboxIds": {"Minbox": true},
            "keywords": {"$seen": true, "$answered": true},
            "from": [{"email": "carol@project.com", "name": "Carol Wilson"}],
            "to": [{"email": "alice@project.com", "name": "Alice Johnson"}],
            "cc": [{"email": "bob@project.com", "name": "Bob Smith"}, {"email": "team@project.com", "name": "Project Team"}],
            "subject": "Re: Project Kickoff Meeting",
            "sentAt": "2024-08-20T14:15:00Z",
            "receivedAt": "2024-08-20T14:16:00Z",
            "messageId": ["<msg3@project.com>"],
            "inReplyTo": ["<msg2@project.com>"],
            "references": ["<msg1@project.com>", "<msg2@project.com>"],
            "textBody": [{"id": "text3", "mimeType": "text/plain"}],
            "htmlBody": null,
            "bodyValues": {
              "text3": {
                "value": "Great! I can also do Tuesday. Should we book conference room A?",
                "isEncodingProblem": false,
                "isTruncated": false
              }
            },
            "attachments": []
          }
        ],
        "notFound": []
      },
      "e0"
    ]
  ]
}

Explanation of Key Features#

Thread-Based Operations#

Thread/get retrieves thread metadata including all email IDs in conversation
Thread objects are server-computed based on Message-ID, References, and In-Reply-To headers
Single thread ID provides access to entire conversation history

Email Threading Headers#

messageId: Unique identifier for this specific email
inReplyTo: Message-ID of the email being directly replied to
references: Complete chain of all prior messages in thread
These headers enable proper conversation tree reconstruction

Chronological Ordering#

Emails within thread can be sorted by:

sentAt: When sender composed/sent the message
receivedAt: When server received the message
Natural order: Following References header chain

Complete Content Access#

bodyValues provides decoded text content for each body part
textBody and htmlBody identify which parts contain displayable content
bodyProperties specifies content metadata to include
Full content enables proper thread display and search indexing

Conversation State Tracking#

keywords show read/unread and response status per email
$seen: Whether user has viewed this email
$answered: Whether user has replied to this email
mailboxIds: Which mailboxes contain each email (may vary within thread)

Advanced Threading Use Cases#

Client-Side Thread Reconstruction:

Use References chain to build conversation tree
Sort by sentAt for chronological display
Indent replies based on References depth
Handle threading edge cases (missing intermediate messages)

Thread-Level Operations:

Mark entire thread as read/unread
Move whole conversation to folder
Apply labels/keywords to all emails in thread
Archive or delete complete conversations

Performance Optimization:

Single Thread/get call retrieves all email IDs
Batch Email/get minimizes round trips
Result references eliminate ID duplication
Property selection reduces payload size