Python imaplib Gmail authenticate failure

Question

I just ran into an issue with Python's imaplib and Gmail's authentication mechanism:

>>> import imaplib
>>> imap = imaplib.IMAP4_SSL('imap.gmail.com', 993)
>>> imap.authenticate('[email protected]', 'Bob Dole likes your style!')
Traceback (most recent call last):
  ...
imaplib.error: AUTHENTICATE command error: BAD ['TODO (not supported yet) 31if3458825wff.5']

If authentication is unsupported, how does one log in?

Answer 1

Instead of

>>> imap.authenticate('[email protected]', 'Bob Dole likes your style!')

use

>>> imap.login('[email protected]', 'Bob Dole likes your style!')