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Aspose.Email FOSS for Python

Read, create, and write Outlook MSG files from Python — free and open-source, no Microsoft Office required.

Aspose.Email FOSS for Python Aspose.Email FOSS
for Python

Documentation GitHub

Open-Source Python Library for Outlook MSG Files

Aspose.Email FOSS for Python is a 100% free, MIT-licensed library that lets you read and write Microsoft Outlook MSG files entirely from Python, with no Microsoft Office, no COM automation, and no proprietary runtime required. It exposes a clean public API based on MAPI concepts (MapiMessage, MapiAttachment, MapiRecipient) backed by a built-in CFB (Compound File Binary) parser written in pure Python.

Install from PyPI with pip install aspose-email-foss. Requires Python 3.10 or later.

The library is suitable for email archival scripts, compliance pipelines, migration tools, and any server-side workflow that needs to parse or produce Outlook MSG files without a Microsoft Office dependency.

Read and Write MSG Files

  • Load MSG files: Open any Outlook MSG file with MapiMessage.from_file().
  • Access message data: Read subject, body, HTML body, message class, and transport headers.
  • Iterate attachments: Walk attachment metadata with iter_attachments_info() or access binary data.
  • Create messages: Build new MSG files from scratch with MapiMessage.create().
  • Save MSG files: Write to disk with save() or get bytes with to_bytes().

Where Aspose.Email FOSS Can Be Used

  • Email archival: Parse and index MSG files for compliance and retention workflows.
  • Migration tools: Convert MSG files to RFC 5322 email format for cross-platform migration.
  • Automation scripts: Generate MSG files programmatically for notification systems.
  • CI/CD pipelines: Validate MSG file structure inside Docker containers.
  • Forensic analysis: Inspect low-level CFB structure and MAPI properties.

Recipients, Attachments, and Properties

  • Add recipients: Attach To, CC, and BCC recipients with display names and email addresses.
  • File attachments: Add binary file attachments with MIME types.
  • Embedded messages: Nest MSG files inside other MSG files as embedded message attachments.
  • MAPI properties: Read and write any MAPI property by property ID or named property.
  • Email conversion: Convert between MSG and RFC 5322 email format with to_email_message() and from_email_message().

Developer Experience

Aspose.Email FOSS installs with a single pip install aspose-email-foss command. The package has zero external dependencies and is pure Python.

The API follows MAPI conventions: MapiMessage, MapiAttachment, MapiRecipient, MapiProperty. The library is MIT-licensed, open-source, and accepts bug reports and contributions on GitHub.

Load an MSG File and Read Its Properties

Install with pip, then pass a file path to MapiMessage.from_file() to parse the MSG binary format. Access subject, body, and attachments through the high-level API.

pip install aspose-email-foss

from aspose.email_foss.msg import MapiMessage

msg = MapiMessage.from_file("message.msg")
print(f"Subject: {msg.subject}")
print(f"Body: {msg.body}")

for att in msg.iter_attachments_info():
    print(f"Attachment: {att.storage_name}")

Create a New MSG File with Attachments

Create MSG files from scratch, add recipients and attachments, and save to disk.

from aspose.email_foss.msg import MapiMessage

msg = MapiMessage.create("Meeting Notes", "Please review attached.")
msg.add_recipient("alice@example.com", display_name="Alice")

with open("notes.pdf", "rb") as f:
    msg.add_attachment("notes.pdf", f.read(), mime_type="application/pdf")

msg.save("output.msg")

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Aspose.Email FOSS for Python?

It is a free, MIT-licensed Python library for reading and writing Microsoft Outlook MSG files without requiring Microsoft Office, COM automation, or any proprietary runtime.

Which email formats are supported?

MSG (Outlook) files in CFB v3 and v4 format. The library can also convert between MSG and RFC 5322 email format.

How do I install it?

Run pip install aspose-email-foss. Requires Python 3.10 or later.

Can I read EML files?

Not directly. Use MapiMessage.from_email_message() to convert from an EmailMessage object constructed from EML content.

Can I create MSG files from scratch?

Yes. Use MapiMessage.create(subject, body) to build a new message, then add recipients and attachments before saving.

Is thread-safety supported?

Each MapiMessage instance is independent. Concurrent operations on separate instances are safe.

Where can I find the source code?

The library is MIT-licensed and hosted on GitHub at aspose-email-foss/Aspose.Email-FOSS-for-Python.

  

Support and Learning Resources

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