Email – What is an Email Payload?

email

When we mean e-mail payload, are we talking about the whole message provided after DATA command or just the Body part of the message (without headers like From, Subject, Message-ID etc)?

S: 220 smtp.server.com Simple Mail Transfer Service Ready
C: HELO client.example.com
S: 250 Hello client.example.com
C: MAIL FROM:<mail@samlogic.com>
S: 250 OK
C: RCPT TO:<john@mail.com>
S: 250 OK
C: DATA
S: 354 Send message content; end with <CRLF>.<CRLF>
C: <The message data (body text, subject, e-mail header, attachments etc) is sent>
C: .
S: 250 OK, message accepted for delivery: queued as 12345
C: QUIT
S: 221 Bye

Best Answer

19.1.1. email.message: Representing an email message

An email message consists of headers and a payload (which is also referred to as the content). Headers are RFC 5322 or RFC 6532 style field names and values, where the field name and value are separated by a colon. The colon is not part of either the field name or the field value.

The payload may be a simple text message, or a binary object, or a structured sequence of sub-messages each with their own set of headers and their own payload. The latter type of payload is indicated by the message having a MIME type such as multipart/* or message/rfc822.

In general, the payload is the part of transmitted data that is the actual intended message. The payload excludes any headers or metadata sent solely to facilitate payload delivery.

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