diff --git a/app/imap_fetch.py b/app/imap_fetch.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bcafb7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/imap_fetch.py
@@ -0,0 +1,214 @@
+"""Avocet — IMAP fetch utilities.
+
+Shared between app/api.py (FastAPI SSE endpoint) and app/label_tool.py (Streamlit).
+No Streamlit imports here — stdlib + imaplib only.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import email as _email_lib
+import hashlib
+import imaplib
+import re
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta
+from email.header import decode_header as _raw_decode
+from html.parser import HTMLParser
+from typing import Any, Iterator
+
+
+# ── HTML → plain text ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+class _TextExtractor(HTMLParser):
+    def __init__(self):
+        super().__init__()
+        self._parts: list[str] = []
+
+    def handle_data(self, data: str) -> None:
+        stripped = data.strip()
+        if stripped:
+            self._parts.append(stripped)
+
+    def get_text(self) -> str:
+        return " ".join(self._parts)
+
+
+def strip_html(html_str: str) -> str:
+    try:
+        ex = _TextExtractor()
+        ex.feed(html_str)
+        return ex.get_text()
+    except Exception:
+        return re.sub(r"<[^>]+>", " ", html_str).strip()
+
+
+# ── IMAP decode helpers ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def _decode_str(value: str | None) -> str:
+    if not value:
+        return ""
+    parts = _raw_decode(value)
+    out = []
+    for part, enc in parts:
+        if isinstance(part, bytes):
+            out.append(part.decode(enc or "utf-8", errors="replace"))
+        else:
+            out.append(str(part))
+    return " ".join(out).strip()
+
+
+def _extract_body(msg: Any) -> str:
+    if msg.is_multipart():
+        html_fallback: str | None = None
+        for part in msg.walk():
+            ct = part.get_content_type()
+            if ct == "text/plain":
+                try:
+                    charset = part.get_content_charset() or "utf-8"
+                    return part.get_payload(decode=True).decode(charset, errors="replace")
+                except Exception:
+                    pass
+            elif ct == "text/html" and html_fallback is None:
+                try:
+                    charset = part.get_content_charset() or "utf-8"
+                    raw = part.get_payload(decode=True).decode(charset, errors="replace")
+                    html_fallback = strip_html(raw)
+                except Exception:
+                    pass
+        return html_fallback or ""
+    else:
+        try:
+            charset = msg.get_content_charset() or "utf-8"
+            raw = msg.get_payload(decode=True).decode(charset, errors="replace")
+            if msg.get_content_type() == "text/html":
+                return strip_html(raw)
+            return raw
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+    return ""
+
+
+def entry_key(e: dict) -> str:
+    """Stable MD5 content-hash for dedup — matches label_tool.py _entry_key."""
+    key = (e.get("subject", "") + (e.get("body", "") or "")[:100])
+    return hashlib.md5(key.encode("utf-8", errors="replace")).hexdigest()
+
+
+# ── Wide search terms ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+_WIDE_TERMS = [
+    "interview", "phone screen", "video call", "zoom link", "schedule a call",
+    "offer letter", "job offer", "offer of employment", "pleased to offer",
+    "unfortunately", "not moving forward", "other candidates", "regret to inform",
+    "no longer", "decided not to", "decided to go with",
+    "opportunity", "interested in your background", "reached out", "great fit",
+    "exciting role", "love to connect",
+    "assessment", "questionnaire", "culture fit", "culture-fit", "online assessment",
+    "application received", "thank you for applying", "application confirmation",
+    "you applied", "your application for",
+    "reschedule", "rescheduled", "new time", "moved to", "postponed", "new date",
+    "job digest", "jobs you may like", "recommended jobs", "jobs for you",
+    "new jobs", "job alert",
+    "came across your profile", "reaching out about", "great fit for a role",
+    "exciting opportunity",
+    "welcome to the team", "start date", "onboarding", "first day", "we're excited to have you",
+    "application", "recruiter", "recruiting", "hiring", "candidate",
+]
+
+
+# ── Public API ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+def test_connection(acc: dict) -> tuple[bool, str, int | None]:
+    """Connect, login, select folder. Returns (ok, human_message, message_count|None)."""
+    host     = acc.get("host", "")
+    port     = int(acc.get("port", 993))
+    use_ssl  = acc.get("use_ssl", True)
+    username = acc.get("username", "")
+    password = acc.get("password", "")
+    folder   = acc.get("folder", "INBOX")
+    if not host or not username or not password:
+        return False, "Host, username, and password are all required.", None
+    try:
+        conn = (imaplib.IMAP4_SSL if use_ssl else imaplib.IMAP4)(host, port)
+        conn.login(username, password)
+        _, data = conn.select(folder, readonly=True)
+        count_raw = data[0].decode() if data and data[0] else "0"
+        count = int(count_raw) if count_raw.isdigit() else 0
+        conn.logout()
+        return True, f"Connected — {count:,} message(s) in {folder}.", count
+    except Exception as exc:
+        return False, str(exc), None
+
+
+def fetch_account_stream(
+    acc: dict,
+    days_back: int,
+    limit: int,
+    known_keys: set[str],
+) -> Iterator[dict]:
+    """Generator — yields progress dicts while fetching emails via IMAP.
+
+    Mutates `known_keys` in place for cross-account dedup within one fetch session.
+
+    Yields event dicts with "type" key:
+        {"type": "start",    "account": str, "total_uids": int}
+        {"type": "progress", "account": str, "fetched": int, "total_uids": int}
+        {"type": "done",     "account": str, "added": int, "skipped": int, "emails": list}
+    """
+    name     = acc.get("name", acc.get("username", "?"))
+    host     = acc.get("host", "imap.gmail.com")
+    port     = int(acc.get("port", 993))
+    use_ssl  = acc.get("use_ssl", True)
+    username = acc["username"]
+    password = acc["password"]
+    folder   = acc.get("folder", "INBOX")
+    since    = (datetime.now() - timedelta(days=days_back)).strftime("%d-%b-%Y")
+
+    conn = (imaplib.IMAP4_SSL if use_ssl else imaplib.IMAP4)(host, port)
+    conn.login(username, password)
+    conn.select(folder, readonly=True)
+
+    seen_uids: dict[bytes, None] = {}
+    for term in _WIDE_TERMS:
+        try:
+            _, data = conn.search(None, f'(SUBJECT "{term}" SINCE "{since}")')
+            for uid in (data[0] or b"").split():
+                seen_uids[uid] = None
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+
+    uids = list(seen_uids.keys())[: limit * 3]
+    yield {"type": "start", "account": name, "total_uids": len(uids)}
+
+    emails: list[dict] = []
+    skipped = 0
+    for i, uid in enumerate(uids):
+        if len(emails) >= limit:
+            break
+        if i % 5 == 0:
+            yield {"type": "progress", "account": name, "fetched": len(emails), "total_uids": len(uids)}
+        try:
+            _, raw_data = conn.fetch(uid, "(RFC822)")
+            if not raw_data or not raw_data[0]:
+                continue
+            msg       = _email_lib.message_from_bytes(raw_data[0][1])
+            subj      = _decode_str(msg.get("Subject", ""))
+            from_addr = _decode_str(msg.get("From", ""))
+            date      = _decode_str(msg.get("Date", ""))
+            body      = _extract_body(msg)[:800]
+            entry     = {"subject": subj, "body": body, "from_addr": from_addr,
+                         "date": date, "account": name}
+            k = entry_key(entry)
+            if k not in known_keys:
+                known_keys.add(k)
+                emails.append(entry)
+            else:
+                skipped += 1
+        except Exception:
+            skipped += 1
+
+    try:
+        conn.logout()
+    except Exception:
+        pass
+
+    yield {"type": "done", "account": name, "added": len(emails), "skipped": skipped,
+           "emails": emails}
diff --git a/tests/test_imap_fetch.py b/tests/test_imap_fetch.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e33dac7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_imap_fetch.py
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+"""Tests for imap_fetch — IMAP calls mocked."""
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
+
+
+def test_test_connection_missing_fields():
+    from app.imap_fetch import test_connection
+    ok, msg, count = test_connection({"host": "", "username": "", "password": ""})
+    assert ok is False
+    assert "required" in msg.lower()
+
+
+def test_test_connection_success():
+    from app.imap_fetch import test_connection
+
+    mock_conn = MagicMock()
+    mock_conn.select.return_value = ("OK", [b"42"])
+
+    with patch("app.imap_fetch.imaplib.IMAP4_SSL", return_value=mock_conn):
+        ok, msg, count = test_connection({
+            "host": "imap.example.com", "port": 993, "use_ssl": True,
+            "username": "u@example.com", "password": "secret", "folder": "INBOX",
+        })
+    assert ok is True
+    assert count == 42
+    assert "42" in msg
+
+
+def test_test_connection_auth_failure():
+    from app.imap_fetch import test_connection
+    import imaplib
+
+    with patch("app.imap_fetch.imaplib.IMAP4_SSL", side_effect=imaplib.IMAP4.error("auth failed")):
+        ok, msg, count = test_connection({
+            "host": "imap.example.com", "port": 993, "use_ssl": True,
+            "username": "u@example.com", "password": "wrong", "folder": "INBOX",
+        })
+    assert ok is False
+    assert count is None
+
+
+def test_fetch_account_stream_yields_start_done(tmp_path):
+    from app.imap_fetch import fetch_account_stream
+
+    mock_conn = MagicMock()
+    mock_conn.search.return_value = ("OK", [b"1 2"])
+    raw_msg = b"Subject: Test\r\nFrom: a@b.com\r\nDate: Mon, 1 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000\r\n\r\nHello"
+    mock_conn.fetch.return_value = ("OK", [(b"1 (RFC822 {N})", raw_msg)])
+
+    with patch("app.imap_fetch.imaplib.IMAP4_SSL", return_value=mock_conn):
+        events = list(fetch_account_stream(
+            acc={"host": "h", "port": 993, "use_ssl": True,
+                 "username": "u", "password": "p", "folder": "INBOX", "name": "Test"},
+            days_back=30, limit=10, known_keys=set(),
+        ))
+
+    types = [e["type"] for e in events]
+    assert "start" in types
+    assert "done" in types
+
+
+def test_fetch_account_stream_deduplicates(tmp_path):
+    from app.imap_fetch import fetch_account_stream
+
+    raw_msg = b"Subject: Dupe\r\nFrom: a@b.com\r\nDate: Mon, 1 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000\r\n\r\nBody"
+    mock_conn = MagicMock()
+    mock_conn.search.return_value = ("OK", [b"1"])
+    mock_conn.fetch.return_value = ("OK", [(b"1 (RFC822 {N})", raw_msg)])
+
+    known = set()
+    with patch("app.imap_fetch.imaplib.IMAP4_SSL", return_value=mock_conn):
+        events1 = list(fetch_account_stream(
+            {"host": "h", "port": 993, "use_ssl": True, "username": "u",
+             "password": "p", "folder": "INBOX", "name": "T"},
+            30, 10, known,
+        ))
+    done1 = next(e for e in events1 if e["type"] == "done")
+
+    with patch("app.imap_fetch.imaplib.IMAP4_SSL", return_value=mock_conn):
+        events2 = list(fetch_account_stream(
+            {"host": "h", "port": 993, "use_ssl": True, "username": "u",
+             "password": "p", "folder": "INBOX", "name": "T"},
+            30, 10, known,
+        ))
+    done2 = next(e for e in events2 if e["type"] == "done")
+    assert done1["added"] == 1
+    assert done2["added"] == 0