ADR 0036: Folder messages and search

Status

Accepted

Context

A signed-in Mail screen can show the folders a mailbox returned and still show no messages. The list was stored rows. Selecting a folder did not ask that mailbox for its mail. A From, date, and label form sat in the message column.

Decision

1. Selecting a folder lists that folder’s messages from the mailbox. Selecting one of those messages opens its body in the preview pane. The list is a bounded recent page. An empty mailbox stays empty.
2. HTML is sanitized before it is shown. Markdown is rendered as text. Remote images, scripts, and iframes are not shown.
3. Search is one box. Its folder menu searches all folders or the folders he picks. from:, to:, and label: limit those fields. Suggestions are values already on his mail or labels. Dates are in the dialog opened from the box.
4. Mail, Rules, and Accounts stay above the list. Mail shows the message list and the preview pane together. Custom tabs sit above the rows and filter them.

Alternatives

• Keep showing only stored rows — rejected. His folders were visible and the messages were still on the mailbox.
• Leave the From, date, and label form in the message column — rejected. That form occupied the list.
• Seed sample messages or addresses — rejected. He did not name them.

Consequences

Opening a folder reads that mailbox. Send stays off. No environment variable changes. A mailbox that refuses the read leaves the folder tree in place and shows no invented messages.