Managing Messages
Read, search, label, and reply to mail in Taifa Mail webmail and over the inbox API.
Once mail is arriving on your domain, officers manage it in webmail at mail.govconnect.ke. The UI is a 3-pane mail client: folders on the left, the message list in the centre, and the open thread on the right.
Webmail uses a mailbox session (mailbox address + app password), not your govconnect.ke OAuth login. App passwords are minted on the mailbox detail page under Mailboxes.
Opening webmail
- Go to mail.govconnect.ke (or click Open webmail from Mailboxes in the dashboard).
- Sign in with the full mailbox address, for example
info@health.go.ke, and an app password. - If you have access to more than one mailbox, switch between them from the folder rail.
From the main dashboard, the Inbox sidebar item also redirects to webmail.
Reading a message
Click any message in the list to open its thread in the reader pane. The detail view shows headers, the parsed body (HTML or plain text), and attachments. Opening a message marks it as seen in the mailbox; that state syncs across webmail and IMAP clients connected to the same mailbox.
Use the search field above the message list to find mail by subject, sender, or body text.
Folders
Standard IMAP folders are available from the left rail:
| Folder | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Inbox | New and active mail |
| Drafts | Unsent drafts stored on the server |
| Sent | Messages sent from this mailbox |
| Junk | Suspected spam (move a message back with Not spam) |
| Trash | Deleted messages |
| Archive | Long-term storage, shown when the mailbox has an Archive folder |
Right-click a folder for Mark all as read or Empty folder. Emptying a folder moves the messages it holds into Trash; a permanent purge of Trash itself is not yet available.
A separate Scheduled item in the rail (not an IMAP folder) opens a panel listing outbound messages waiting for their send time. You can cancel any of them before it sends.
Organising mail
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Archive / move | Move a message to another folder (for example out of Inbox). |
| Flag | Star a message for follow-up. |
| Labels | Apply coloured keywords to messages; filter the list by label from the rail. |
| Junk / Not spam | Move to Junk or restore to Inbox. |
| Delete | Move to Trash. |
Labels are mailbox-specific and sync over IMAP as keywords where the client supports them.
Replying and composing
Click Compose to open the composer, or use Reply, Reply all, or Forward on an open message. Composed mail sends through the same mailbox over SMTP and appears under Sent.
From the composer you can add CC and BCC recipients, attach files, and schedule a send for later.
Inbox API
Programmatic access to the same mailbox uses GET/POST /v1/inbox/{mailbox_id}/… with a user session or API key. See the Inbound API reference for folder listing, message fetch, send, labels, and scheduled mail.
Next steps
- IMAP & POP mailboxes: use Outlook or Apple Mail instead of webmail
- Forwarding setup: relay copies to external addresses or webhooks