A modernized version of TbSync for Thunderbird 153+

Stable release of TbSync v5. Requires Thunderbird 153 or newer.

The goal of the rewrite is to be a modern WebExtension. Every dialog and panel is HTML instead of XUL, and calendars are integrated through the new WebExtension calendar APIs, which are on their way into Thunderbird's core API set. The only legacy code left is what migrates accounts from earlier versions.

Before you update

Update all parts together. TbSync v5.3.* only works with provider add-ons from the modern v5.3.* family. A newer TbSync refuses an older provider and says so in the Event Log.

Accounts created with earlier versions (v4, early v5) get their settings migrated, and their resources are locked. If the previous version left changes that were never synchronized, TbSync offers to migrate the account: it rebuilds each folder from the server and asks which of those changes to restore. Otherwise, disconnect and re-connect the account to start fresh.

Disconnecting deletes that account's local calendars and address books.

New

• New account manager: each account's state, its folders, and what is still waiting to be synchronized
• Toolbar badge showing when an account needs attention, or reports a warning
• Event Log recording what was sent and received, so a problem report can be answered with facts
• Calendar name, colour and read-only state are remembered and restored when a folder is re-enabled - #796
• A locked account carried over from an earlier version can be migrated instead of thrown away. TbSync rebuilds it from the server, then offers back the changes the previous version never sent, one by one and showing what each would change. They can also be saved as vCard and iCalendar files
• Services: settings your provider keeps on the server rather than in TbSync, opened from the account's Services button. Offered only by providers that have any, and only while the account is connected
• A calendar can declare that its server does the meeting scheduling, so Thunderbird stops sending invitations of its own for it
• Providers can be given a scheduled slot for housekeeping that must not run during a synchronization. While it runs the account says so and Sync is unavailable, rather than accepting a click that would quietly wait
• Providers are told when a person edits an address book, so an edit need not wait for the next scheduled synchronization
• The size of the Event Log buffer can be raised, so a long diagnostic session keeps the whole record
• A test bridge that drives a running Thunderbird from outside, so accounts, folders and items can be exercised end to end against real servers instead of by hand
• Improve logging
• Adding debug support for a future account config deployment (UI shows content of per user-config pushed via managed storage)

Fixed

• An authentication failure no longer deletes your local data
• An account that needs authentication is now visible in the toolbar badge, and can be disconnected without authenticating first
• Your provider is detected again after a Thunderbird restart - #797
• The manager no longer opens a second window after a Thunderbird restart
• Calendars synchronized by a provider no longer run Thunderbird's own refresh timer on top of the provider's schedule
• A provider add-on that is too old is reported as incompatible, instead of as missing
• Setting up an account no longer blocks the same provider's other accounts
• "Sync now" is no longer offered for an account that cannot sync, and a sync is refused while an account is being disconnected
• How many local changes a folder still has waiting now clears when a sync finishes
• Set event log size to 5000 entries
• A synchronization asked for while the account is busy is now remembered and runs afterwards, instead of being dropped
• Only one synchronization can be waiting however many times it is requested, and a request for the whole account replaces a queued single-folder one instead of running both
• When a provider pauses automatic synchronization because the server asked it to retry later, the account's view now says so, and until when. A manual synchronization is never affected
• Long-running provider work - clearing hundreds of duplicate items, for one - is no longer reported as a failure after 30 seconds
• An update carrying only a changed occurrence of a recurring event is now applied to the series it belongs to. It used to be refused, so rescheduling one occurrence from outside the provider did nothing
• The folder read-only menu follows the dark theme, instead of staying light
• The Event Log's newer labels and the note about a paused synchronization reached only English. Both are available in all seventeen languages now
• The add-on is no longer disabled on Thunderbird newer than 154
• A failure inside Thunderbird's internals no longer reaches the Event Log as "An unexpected error occurred" with nothing behind it. The reason is now attached to it, so a problem report carries it. GitHub beta build only