#21138: IMAP email connected but contacts not auto‑created from received emails

Description

IMAP integration appears to connect successfully, but incoming emails do not trigger contact auto‑creation, even though global email settings are configured to allow it.

Environment

Twenty version: (current cloud version as of June 2026)

Deployment: Cloud

Email provider: GMX (IMAP/SMTP)

Mail server configuration

IMAP:

Server: imap.gmx.com

Port: 993

Security: SSL/TLS

Username: full GMX email address

Password: standard GMX password

SMTP:

Server: mail.gmx.com

Port: 587

Security: TLS/STARTTLS

Username: full GMX email address

Password: standard GMX password

Same mailbox connects and syncs correctly in Thunderbird with these settings.

Twenty configuration

Settings → Accounts → Emails

Import: Everything

Visibility: Everything

Contact auto‑creation: Sent and Received

Settings → Accounts → [GMX mailbox]

IMAP/SMTP connection succeeds.

Account is listed as an email account and used for sending.

Observed behavior

Sending emails via this GMX account works.

Incoming emails to this GMX address do not create People records, even when:

The sender email address does not exist in People yet.

Enough time is allowed for sync after the message is received.

Outgoing emails also do not auto‑create contacts for new recipients, despite “Sent and Received” being selected.

No errors are shown in the UI; the mailbox status appears “connected”.

Expected behavior

With “Contact auto‑creation: Sent and Received” enabled, Twenty should:

Automatically create a Person record for any new email address seen in incoming or outgoing emails from this mailbox.

Link the email thread to that Person, and auto‑create/associate a Company based on the domain if needed.

Why this looks like a bug in Twenty (not server config)

GMX IMAP/SMTP is correctly enabled and tested against another client (Thunderbird) using the same credentials and server settings.

IMAP/SMTP connection in Twenty is successful, and sending works.

Global email settings clearly allow import + auto‑creation.

Yet no contacts are created from received mail, which matches the behavior described in issue(s) like Mails not syncing for IMAP account where IMAP connects but CRM objects are not created.

Request

Please confirm whether contact auto‑creation from incoming emails is currently supported for IMAP‑only accounts (non‑Google/non‑Microsoft).

If supported, identify what is preventing auto‑creation from triggering for this GMX IMAP account.

If this is a known limitation/bug, provide a workaround and, if possible, an ETA for a fix.

Happy to provide anonymized logs or additional debug info if needed.