README

Switch between multiple IMAP accounts within a single Roundcube session.

About

ident_switch is a Roundcube plugin that turns identities into full account shortcuts. Configure each identity with its own IMAP, SMTP and Sieve server, then switch between accounts with a single click from the toolbar dropdown. Aliases, notifications, and domain preconfig are all built in.

Originally created by Boris Gulay. This fork is a major rewrite by Gecka — modernized for PHP 8.2+, restructured codebase, and packed with new features: alias identities, Sieve support, background mail notifications, domain preconfig, connection testing, and per-protocol security.

Features

Multi-Account Switching

One-click account switching from a toolbar dropdown
Each identity can be linked to a separate IMAP/SMTP server with its own credentials
Automatic special folder mapping (Sent, Drafts, Junk, Trash) per account
Encrypted password storage in database

Alias Identities

Link identities as aliases of any configured account (not just the primary)
Aliases share the parent account's IMAP inbox, SMTP and Sieve configuration
Compose "From" dropdown automatically filtered to show only the active account and its aliases

Sieve (ManageSieve) Support

Per-account Sieve server configuration with independent host, port and credentials
Three authentication modes: same as IMAP, none, or custom credentials
Sieve section only appears when the managesieve plugin is active

New Mail Notifications

Background mail checking across all secondary accounts
Unread count badge in the account switcher dropdown
Per-account notification settings: favicon, sound, desktop notifications
Optional round-robin mode to reduce IMAP connections with many accounts
Integrates with Roundcube's newmail_notifier plugin

Domain Preconfig

Pre-fill server settings based on the identity's email domain
Wildcard domain support (*) for catch-all defaults
Lock preconfigured fields as read-only to prevent user changes
Restrict account creation to preconfigured domains only (preconfig_only mode)

Security

Per-protocol security selection: None, STARTTLS, or SSL/TLS (IMAP, SMTP, Sieve independently)
Connection testing on save (IMAP, SMTP, Sieve) to catch misconfigurations early
Passwords encrypted using Roundcube's built-in encryption
Warning displayed when selecting unencrypted connections

Requirements

PHP 8.2+
Roundcube 1.6 or 1.7
MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQLite

Installation

With Composer (recommended)

Navigate to your Roundcube installation directory and run:

composer require gecka/ident-switch

The roundcube/plugin-installer will automatically place the plugin in the correct plugins/ directory, initialize the database schema, and offer to enable it.

Don't have Composer? See getcomposer.org for installation instructions.

Running as root on a VPS? Roundcube files are typically owned by www-data. Run Composer as the web server user to avoid permission issues:
sudo -u www-data composer require gecka/ident-switch

Manual

Place this plugin folder into the plugins directory of Roundcube:

cd /path/to/roundcube/plugins/
git clone https://github.com/Gecka-Apps/roundcube-ident_switch.git ident_switch

Add ident_switch to $config['plugins'] in your Roundcube config:

$config['plugins'] = array('ident_switch', /* other plugins */);

Initialize the database schema:

bin/updatedb.sh --package=ident_switch --dir=plugins/ident_switch/SQL

Configuration

Copy the sample configuration file and edit it to match your environment:

cp plugins/ident_switch/config.inc.php.dist plugins/ident_switch/config.inc.php

Domain Preconfig

Pre-fill server settings per email domain so users don't have to enter them manually:

$config['ident_switch.preconfig'] = [
    'domain.tld' => [
        'imap_host' => 'ssl://mail.domain.tld:993',
        'smtp_host' => 'tls://mail.domain.tld:587',
        'sieve_host' => 'tls://mail.domain.tld:4190',
        'user' => 'email',        // 'email' = full address, 'mbox' = local part
        'readonly' => true,       // lock fields in UI
    ],
    '*' => [                      // wildcard: default for unlisted domains
        'imap_host' => 'ssl://mail.example.com:993',
        'smtp_host' => 'tls://mail.example.com:587',
        'user' => 'email',
    ],
];

Options

Setting	Default	Description
`ident_switch.check_mail`	`true`	Enable background mail checking across secondary accounts
`ident_switch.round_robin`	`false`	Check one account per refresh cycle instead of all at once
`ident_switch.hide_notifier_warning`	`false`	Hide the warning when `newmail_notifier` plugin is not active
`ident_switch.preconfig_only`	`false`	Restrict account creation to preconfigured domains only
`ident_switch.debug`	`false`	Log SMTP/Sieve routing and alias resolution to `logs/ident_switch.log`

Usage

Create a new identity in Settings > Identities
Choose the account mode:
- Primary account — default identity, no server config needed
- Separate account — configure IMAP, SMTP, and optionally Sieve servers
- Alias of [account] — link to an existing account's servers
For separate accounts, fill in server details (or let preconfig handle it)
The account switcher dropdown appears in the toolbar once at least one separate account is configured

Updating

composer update gecka/ident-switch

Database migrations are applied automatically by the Roundcube plugin installer.

Migrating from the Original Plugin

If you are upgrading from boressoft/ident_switch, toteph42/identity_switch, or another fork:

Important: This version (5.x) requires a v4.x database schema as its starting point. If you are running v1.x–v3.x, you must first upgrade to v4.x (boressoft/ident_switch) before migrating to this fork. This applies to all supported databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite).

With Composer

Replace the old package in composer.json with gecka/ident-switch
Run SKIP_DB_INIT=1 composer update. Composer sees the fork as a brand-new package, so without that variable the plugin installer runs the initial schema script instead of the migrations and aborts on the existing v4 table ("table already exists").

Run the database migration:

bin/updatedb.sh --package=ident_switch --dir=plugins/ident_switch/SQL

Manual

Replace the plugin files in plugins/ident_switch/

Run the database migration:

bin/updatedb.sh --package=ident_switch --dir=plugins/ident_switch/SQL

Repairing a v4 table wrongly marked as migrated

Versions of this fork up to 5.0.x shipped a MySQL initial schema using CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS: on an upgrade from v4 the table creation was silently skipped while the schema version was still recorded as current. updatedb.sh then reports nothing to do, saves fail silently, and the account switcher never shows up. The plugin now detects this and logs Plugin disabled: database schema is missing or outdated to logs/ident_switch; logs/errors.log on affected versions fills with Unknown column 'isw.notify_basic' errors.

To confirm and repair (MySQL shown, adapt the path for PostgreSQL/SQLite):

-- Empty result while system.ident_switch-version says 2026021000 confirms the problem
SHOW COLUMNS FROM ident_switch LIKE 'parent_id';

-- The migration adds UNIQUE(iid); remove any duplicate iid rows first
SELECT iid, COUNT(*) FROM ident_switch GROUP BY iid HAVING COUNT(*) > 1;

-- Apply the migration manually (the recorded version prevents updatedb.sh from doing it)
SOURCE plugins/ident_switch/SQL/mysql/2026021000.sql;

Configuration

If you use config.inc.php, update it to the new format — the 'host' key has been replaced by separate 'imap_host' and 'smtp_host' keys (old 'host' key still works as fallback).

Localization

Available in 7 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Slovenian.

Version Compatibility

Version	Roundcube	PHP
5.x	1.6 - 1.7	8.2+
4.x	1.3 - 1.5	7.x - 8.1
1.x - 3.x	1.1 - 1.3	discontinued

License

This plugin is released under the GNU Affero General Public License Version 3.

Original code by Boris Gulay licensed under GPL-3.0+. New contributions licensed under AGPL-3.0+.

Authors

Boris Gulay — Original developer (2016–2022)
Christian Landvogt — Special folders support
Gergely Papp — Bug fixes
Laurent Dinclaux — Current maintainer (Gecka)

Built with 🥥 and ☕ by Gecka — Kanaky-New Caledonia 🇳🇨

gecka / ident-switch

Maintainers

Package info

Statistics

Security

README

About

Features

Multi-Account Switching

Alias Identities

Sieve (ManageSieve) Support

New Mail Notifications

Domain Preconfig

Security

Requirements

Installation

With Composer (recommended)

Manual

Configuration

Domain Preconfig

Options

Usage

Updating

Migrating from the Original Plugin

With Composer

Manual

Repairing a v4 table wrongly marked as migrated

Configuration

Localization

Version Compatibility

License

Authors