Per‑Client Time‑Zone Conversion for Dovecot IMAP Dates?
0 reputation · 10 Jun 2026, 15:33 UTC
Background
Dovecot parses the RFC‑5322 Date: header of each message and stores the resulting timestamp internally in UTC. The original header is preserved unchanged.
When a client issues an IMAP SEARCH SINCE/BEFORE/ON command, the server interprets the date arguments relative to its configured local time zone. This can lead to off‑by‑one‑day results for clients operating in different zones, and there is no built‑in mechanism for the server to return dates adjusted to a client’s preferred zone.
Unresolved Decision
Should Dovecot add optional per‑client timezone conversion for message dates in IMAP responses and SEARCH handling, or continue to rely on client‑side conversion?
What configuration changes would be required to enable such a feature, and how would it affect backward compatibility and performance?
Can Dovecot support optional per‑client timezone conversion for message dates in IMAP responses?
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