zbateson/mail-mime-parser

An email parser written in PHP

551

stars

973

commits

PHP

primary language

Jul 30, 2026

updated

mail-mime-parser.org/
email-parser
email-reader
mailmimeparser
mail-parser
mime-parser
php
php-imap

README

zbateson/mail-mime-parser

Testable and PSR-compliant mail mime parser alternative to PHP's imap* functions and Pear libraries for reading messages in Internet Message Format RFC 822 (and later revisions RFC 2822, RFC 5322).

Build Status Total Downloads Latest Stable Version

The goals of this project are to be:

  • Well written
  • Standards-compliant but forgiving
  • Tested where possible

To include it for use in your project, install it via composer:

composer require zbateson/mail-mime-parser

Sponsors

SecuMailer

A huge thank you to all my sponsors. <3

If this project's helped you, please consider sponsoring me.

New in 4.0

Version 4.0 requires PHP 8.1+ and focuses on API cleanup and improved configurability. For details, see the 4.0 Upgrade Guide.

Requirements

MailMimeParser requires PHP 8.1 or newer. Tested on PHP 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5.

Usage

use ZBateson\MailMimeParser\MailMimeParser;
use ZBateson\MailMimeParser\Message;
use ZBateson\MailMimeParser\Header\HeaderConsts;

// use an instance of MailMimeParser as a class dependency
$mailParser = new MailMimeParser();

// parse() accepts a string, resource or Psr7 StreamInterface
// pass `true` as the second argument to attach the passed $handle and close
// it when the returned IMessage is destroyed.
$handle = fopen('file.mime', 'r');
$message = $mailParser->parse($handle, false);         // returns `IMessage`

// OR: use this procedurally (Message::from also accepts a string,
// resource or Psr7 StreamInterface
// true or false as second parameter doesn't matter if passing a string.
$string = "Content-Type: text/plain\r\nSubject: Test\r\n\r\nMessage";
$message = Message::from($string, false);

echo $message->getHeaderValue(HeaderConsts::FROM);     // user@example.com
echo $message
    ->getHeader(HeaderConsts::FROM)                    // AddressHeader
    ->getPersonName();                                 // Person Name
echo $message->getSubject();                           // The email's subject
echo $message
    ->getHeader(HeaderConsts::TO)                      // also AddressHeader
    ->getAddresses()[0]                                // AddressPart
    ->getPersonName();                                 // Person Name
echo $message
    ->getHeader(HeaderConsts::CC)                      // also AddressHeader
    ->getAddresses()[0]                                // AddressPart
    ->getEmail();                                      // user@example.com

echo $message->getTextContent();                       // or getHtmlContent()

echo $message->getHeader('X-Foo');                     // for custom or undocumented headers

$att = $message->getAttachmentPart(0);                 // first attachment
echo $att->getHeaderValue(HeaderConsts::CONTENT_TYPE); // e.g. "text/plain"
echo $att->getHeaderParameter(                         // value of "charset" part
    HeaderConsts::CONTENT_TYPE,
    'charset'
);
echo $att->getContent();                               // get the attached file's contents
$stream = $att->getContentStream();                    // the file is decoded automatically
$dest = \GuzzleHttp\Psr7\stream_for(
    fopen('my-file.ext')
);
\GuzzleHttp\Psr7\copy_to_stream(
    $stream, $dest
);
// OR: more simply if saving or copying to another stream
$att->saveContent('my-file.ext');               // writes to my-file.ext
$att->saveContent($stream);                     // copies to the stream

// close only when $message is no longer being used.
fclose($handle);

Encryption and Signing Plugins

Optional companion packages add S/MIME and PGP/MIME support for decrypting, encrypting, signing and verifying messages:

Install either package and encrypted/signed messages are automatically detected and decrypted during parsing. See the Usage Guide for examples of reading encrypted messages and composing signed/encrypted ones.

Documentation

Upgrade guides

License

BSD licensed - please see license agreement.

Contributors

zbateson

880 commits

phpfui

30 commits

ThomasLandauer

29 commits

Nielsvanpach

6 commits

zbateson/mail-mime-parser

An email parser written in PHP

551

stars

973

commits

PHP

primary language

Jul 30, 2026

updated

mail-mime-parser.org/
email-parser
email-reader
mailmimeparser
mail-parser
mime-parser
php
php-imap

README

zbateson/mail-mime-parser

Testable and PSR-compliant mail mime parser alternative to PHP's imap* functions and Pear libraries for reading messages in Internet Message Format RFC 822 (and later revisions RFC 2822, RFC 5322).

Build Status Total Downloads Latest Stable Version

The goals of this project are to be:

  • Well written
  • Standards-compliant but forgiving
  • Tested where possible

To include it for use in your project, install it via composer:

composer require zbateson/mail-mime-parser

Sponsors

SecuMailer

A huge thank you to all my sponsors. <3

If this project's helped you, please consider sponsoring me.

New in 4.0

Version 4.0 requires PHP 8.1+ and focuses on API cleanup and improved configurability. For details, see the 4.0 Upgrade Guide.

Requirements

MailMimeParser requires PHP 8.1 or newer. Tested on PHP 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5.

Usage

use ZBateson\MailMimeParser\MailMimeParser;
use ZBateson\MailMimeParser\Message;
use ZBateson\MailMimeParser\Header\HeaderConsts;

// use an instance of MailMimeParser as a class dependency
$mailParser = new MailMimeParser();

// parse() accepts a string, resource or Psr7 StreamInterface
// pass `true` as the second argument to attach the passed $handle and close
// it when the returned IMessage is destroyed.
$handle = fopen('file.mime', 'r');
$message = $mailParser->parse($handle, false);         // returns `IMessage`

// OR: use this procedurally (Message::from also accepts a string,
// resource or Psr7 StreamInterface
// true or false as second parameter doesn't matter if passing a string.
$string = "Content-Type: text/plain\r\nSubject: Test\r\n\r\nMessage";
$message = Message::from($string, false);

echo $message->getHeaderValue(HeaderConsts::FROM);     // user@example.com
echo $message
    ->getHeader(HeaderConsts::FROM)                    // AddressHeader
    ->getPersonName();                                 // Person Name
echo $message->getSubject();                           // The email's subject
echo $message
    ->getHeader(HeaderConsts::TO)                      // also AddressHeader
    ->getAddresses()[0]                                // AddressPart
    ->getPersonName();                                 // Person Name
echo $message
    ->getHeader(HeaderConsts::CC)                      // also AddressHeader
    ->getAddresses()[0]                                // AddressPart
    ->getEmail();                                      // user@example.com

echo $message->getTextContent();                       // or getHtmlContent()

echo $message->getHeader('X-Foo');                     // for custom or undocumented headers

$att = $message->getAttachmentPart(0);                 // first attachment
echo $att->getHeaderValue(HeaderConsts::CONTENT_TYPE); // e.g. "text/plain"
echo $att->getHeaderParameter(                         // value of "charset" part
    HeaderConsts::CONTENT_TYPE,
    'charset'
);
echo $att->getContent();                               // get the attached file's contents
$stream = $att->getContentStream();                    // the file is decoded automatically
$dest = \GuzzleHttp\Psr7\stream_for(
    fopen('my-file.ext')
);
\GuzzleHttp\Psr7\copy_to_stream(
    $stream, $dest
);
// OR: more simply if saving or copying to another stream
$att->saveContent('my-file.ext');               // writes to my-file.ext
$att->saveContent($stream);                     // copies to the stream

// close only when $message is no longer being used.
fclose($handle);

Encryption and Signing Plugins

Optional companion packages add S/MIME and PGP/MIME support for decrypting, encrypting, signing and verifying messages:

Install either package and encrypted/signed messages are automatically detected and decrypted during parsing. See the Usage Guide for examples of reading encrypted messages and composing signed/encrypted ones.

Documentation

Upgrade guides

License

BSD licensed - please see license agreement.

Contributors

zbateson

880 commits

phpfui

30 commits

ThomasLandauer

29 commits

Nielsvanpach

6 commits

Languages

PHP

100.0%