How to Fetch Latest Emails without Re-login Using imap_tools in Python?

Question

I'm working on a Python script that continuously checks for new emails in an IMAP mailbox using the imap_tools library. My goal is to fetch the latest emails without having to re-login every time. However, I've encountered an issue where the script fails to retrieve new emails after the initial login unless I reconnect to the IMAP server.

Below is a simplified version of my script:

from imap_tools import MailBox, A
import time

# Email account credentials
email_address = '[email protected]'
password = 'yourpassword'
imap_server = 'imap.example.com'

def maintain_connection():
    mailbox = MailBox(imap_server)
    mailbox.login(email_address, password, initial_folder='INBOX')
    return mailbox

def check_new_emails(mailbox):
    try:
        # Fetch all unseen emails and print their subjects
        for msg in mailbox.fetch(A(seen=False)):
            print(f"New email: {msg.subject}")
            # Here you can mark the email as seen, parse it, or take other actions
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"An error occurred: {e}")
        # Attempt to re-establish connection
        print("Attempting to re-establish connection...")
        mailbox.logout()
        time.sleep(5)  # wait a bit before reconnecting
        return maintain_connection()
    return mailbox

# Initial connection setup
mailbox = maintain_connection()

while True:
    mailbox = check_new_emails(mailbox)
    print("Waiting for new emails...")
    time.sleep(60)  # Check every 60 seconds

The issue I'm facing is that the script doesn't seem to pick up new emails after the first connection. It only retrieves new emails if I force a re-login.

Here are my specific questions:

1. How can I modify the script to continuously check and fetch new emails without having to re-login each time?

2. Is there a more efficient way to keep the IMAP connection alive and responsive to new emails? I'm looking for insights or suggestions on how to solve this issue. Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.