pyOutlook

pyOutlook

A Python module for connecting to the Outlook REST API, without the hassle of dealing with the JSON formatting for requests/responses and the REST endpoints and their varying requirements

The most up-to-date documentation can be found on pyOutlook's RTD page.

Instantiation

Before anything can be retrieved or sent, an instance of OutlookAccount must be created. The only parameter required is the access token for the account.

Note that this module does not handle the OAuth process, gaining an access token must be done outside of this module.

from pyOutlook import *

token = 'OAuth Access Token Here'
my_account = OutlookAccount(token)

# If our token is refreshed, or to ensure that the latest token is saved prior to calling a method. 
my_account.access_token = 'new access token'

Retrieving Messages

get_messages()

This method retrieves the five most recent emails, returning a list of Message objects. You can optionally specify the page of results to retrieve - 1 is the default.

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')
account.get_messages()
account.get_messages(2)

get_message(message_id)

This method retrieves the information for the message matching the id provided

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

email = account.get_message('message_id')
print(email.body)

inbox()

This method is identical to get_messages(), however it returns only the ten most recent message in the inbox (ignoring messages that were put into separate folders by an Outlook rule, junk email, etc)

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

account.inbox()

Identical methods for additional folders: sent_messages(), deleted_messages(), draft_messages().

Interacting with Message objects

Message objects deal with the JSON returned by Outlook, and provide only the useful details. These Messages can be forwarded, replied to, deleted, etc.

forward(to_recipients, forward_comment)

This method forwards a message to the list of recipients, along with an optional 'comment' which is sent along with the message. The forward_comment parameter can be left blank to just forward the message.

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

email = account.get_message('id')
email.forward([Contact('[e-mail]'), Contact('[e-mail]')])
email.forward(['[e-mail]'], 'Read the message below')

reply(reply_comment)

This method allows you to respond to the sender of an email with a comment appended.

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

email = account.get_message(id)
email.reply('That was a nice email Lisa')

reply_all(reply_comment)

This method allows you to respond to all recipients an email with a comment appended.

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

email = account.get_message(id)
email.reply_all('I am replying to everyone, which will likely annoy 9/10 of those who receive this')

move_to*

You can move a message from one folder to another via several methods. For default folders, there are specific methods - for everything else there is a method to move to a folder designated by its id - or you can pass a Folder instance.

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

message = Message()

message.move_to_inbox()
message.move_to_deleted()
message.move_to_drafts()
message.move_to('my_folder_id')

folders = account.get_folders()

message.move_to(folders[0])

delete()

Deletes the email. Note that the email will still exist in the user's 'Deleted Items' folder.

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

message = account.inbox()[0]

message.delete()

Sending Emails

There are a couple of ways to create new emails. You can either use new_email() to get a Message() instance, which you can alter before sending. Alternatively, you can use send_email() where you pass in commonly used parameters and the email gets sent once called.

Example:

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

test_email = account.new_email('This is a test body. <br> Best, <br> John Smith', 'This is a test subject', [Contact('[e-mail]')])
test_email.attach('FILE_BYTES_HERE', 'FileName.pdf')
test_email.send()

Or:

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

account.send_email(
"I'm sending an email through Python. <br> Best, <br> Me",
'A subject',
to=['[e-mail]'],
# or to=[Contact('[e-mail]']
)

Folders

Folders can be created, retrieved, moved, copied, renamed, and deleted. You can also retrieve child folders that are nested within another folder. All Folder objects contain the folder ID, the folder name, the folder's unread count, the number of child folders within it, and the total items inside the folder.

'Well Known' Folders

Folder ID parameters can be replaced with the following strings where indicated: 'Inbox', 'Drafts', 'SentItems', or 'DeletedItems'

get_folders()

This methods returns a list of Folder objects representing each folder in the user's account.

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

folder = account.get_folders()[0]
print(folder.name)
>>> 'Inbox'

get_folder_by_id(folder_id)

If you have the id of a folder, you can get a Folder object for it with this method

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

folder = account.get_folder_by_id('id')
print(folder.name)
>>> 'My Folder'

Note that you can replace the folder ID parameter with the name of a 'well known' folder such as: 'Inbox', 'Drafts', SentItems', and 'DeletedItems'

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

folder = account.get_folder_by_id('Drafts')
print(folder.name)
>>> 'Drafts'

The Folder Object

rename(new_folder_name)

This method renames the folder object in Outlook, and returns a new Folder object representing that folder.

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

folder = my_account.get_folders()[0]
folder = folder.rename('My New Folder v2')
folder.name
>>> 'My New Folder v2'

get_subfolders()

Returns a list of Folder objects, representing all child Folders within the Folder provided.

for subfolder in folder.get_subfolders():
  print(subfolder.name)

>>> 'My New Folder v2'
>>> 'Some Other Folder'

delete()

Self-explanatory, deletes the provided folder in Outlook

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

folder = account.get_folders()[0]
folder.delete()
# and now it doesn't exist

move_into(destination_folder)

Move the Folder provided into a new folder.

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

folder = account.get_folders()[0]
folder_1 = account.get_folders()[1]

folder.move_into(folder_1)

copy(destination_folder)

Copies the folder and its contents to the designated folder which can be either a folder ID or well known folder name.

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

folder = account.get_folders()[0]
folder_1 = account.get_folders()[1]

folder.copy_into(folder_1)

create_child_folder(new_folder_name)

This creates a folder within a folder, with a title provided in the new_folder_name argument.

from pyOutlook import *
account = OutlookAccount('')

folder = account.get_folders()[0]
new_folder = folder.create_child_folder('New Folder')
new_folder.unread_count
>>> 0