Ultimate Identity Switcher for Roundcube

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+
• 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

1. 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

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

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

3. 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

1. Create a new identity in Settings > Identities
2. 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
3. For separate accounts, fill in server details (or let preconfig handle it)
4. 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

1. Replace the old package in composer.json with gecka/ident-switch and run composer update
2. Database migrations are applied automatically

Manual

1. Replace the plugin files in plugins/ident_switch/
2. Run the database migration:

   bin/updatedb.sh --package=ident_switch --dir=plugins/ident_switch/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+	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)

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