Email

The email channel connects Talon to any standard email account. Talon polls the inbox via IMAP to receive incoming messages and delivers replies via SMTP. Any email provider that supports IMAP and SMTP works — Gmail, Outlook, Fastmail, self-hosted mail servers, and so on.

How It Works

1. Talon connects to your inbox over IMAP and polls for new messages.
2. When a new email arrives (from an allowed sender, if allow_from is configured), it is passed to the AI agent.
3. The agent’s response is sent as a reply to the original email via SMTP.
4. The conversation is stored in the shared ConversationStore, keyed by the email thread, so replies maintain context.

Setup

Gmail

Gmail requires an App Password rather than your main account password. App Passwords are available when 2-Step Verification is enabled on your account.

1. Go to myaccount.google.com/apppasswords.
2. Select Mail and your device, then click Generate.
3. Copy the 16-character app password.

Use these settings:

Field	Value
imap_host	imap.gmail.com
imap_port	993
smtp_host	smtp.gmail.com
smtp_port	587
email	Your full Gmail address
password	The generated App Password

Note

Using your main Gmail password will not work because Google blocks “less secure app access” by default. Always use an App Password.

Outlook / Microsoft 365

Field	Value
imap_host	outlook.office365.com
imap_port	993
smtp_host	smtp.office365.com
smtp_port	587
email	Your full Outlook address
password	Your account password or app password

Self-Hosted / Other Providers

Use the IMAP and SMTP settings provided by your email host. Most providers list these in their help documentation.

Example Config

{
  "channels": {
    "email": {
      "accounts": {
        "gmail": {
          "imap_host": "imap.gmail.com",
          "smtp_host": "smtp.gmail.com",
          "email": "you@gmail.com",
          "password": "abcd efgh ijkl mnop",
          "imap_port": 993,
          "smtp_port": 587
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuration Fields

Field	Required	Default	Description
imap_host	Yes	—	IMAP server hostname
smtp_host	Yes	—	SMTP server hostname
email	Yes	—	Email address used to log in and send from
password	Yes	—	Account password or app-specific password
imap_port	No	993	IMAP port (993 for TLS, 143 for STARTTLS)
smtp_port	No	587	SMTP port (587 for STARTTLS, 465 for TLS)
allow_from	No	—	List of email addresses allowed to send messages
model	No	—	Override the default AI model for this account

Restricting Access

The allow_from field accepts a list of email addresses. Emails from any address not on the list are silently ignored.

{
  "channels": {
    "email": {
      "accounts": {
        "gmail": {
          "imap_host": "imap.gmail.com",
          "smtp_host": "smtp.gmail.com",
          "email": "your-bot@gmail.com",
          "password": "abcd efgh ijkl mnop",
          "allow_from": ["you@yourpersonaldomain.com"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Tip

Use a dedicated email address for Talon rather than your primary inbox. This keeps the conversation store clean and makes it easier to manage the bot’s email history separately from your personal mail.

Multiple Accounts

You can connect multiple email accounts — for example, one for personal use and one for a team:

{
  "channels": {
    "email": {
      "accounts": {
        "personal": {
          "imap_host": "imap.gmail.com",
          "smtp_host": "smtp.gmail.com",
          "email": "talon-personal@gmail.com",
          "password": "..."
        },
        "work": {
          "imap_host": "outlook.office365.com",
          "smtp_host": "smtp.office365.com",
          "email": "talon@company.com",
          "password": "..."
        }
      }
    }
  }
}