diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 67bf69d..f394afc 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -121,9 +121,23 @@ ClamAV signature DBs).
 bash tests/build-fixtures.sh
 ```
 
-Two tarballs land under `tests/fixtures/`:
+Three tarballs land under `tests/fixtures/`:
 - `cpmove-clean.tar.gz` — a benign cpmove with a WordPress MyISAM dump.
 - `cpmove-alfa.tar.gz`  — same shape PLUS an ALFA-style symlink to /etc.
+- `cpmove-mail.tar.gz`  — same shape PLUS a mail tree (two Maildirs, one
+  empty) with an ALFA-style symlink inside it.
+
+### Host-side regression tests
+
+```bash
+bash tests/run-tests.sh
+```
+
+Runs `extract.sh` and `scan-files.php` straight from the checkout (bash,
+php-cli, python3, GNU tar; `clamscan` is stubbed). Covers the mail-tree
+opt-in (`IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL=true`): skipped by default, extracted when
+opted in, dangerous symlinks inside it still stripped, and never scanned
+or quarantined by `scan-files.php --skip-mail`.
 
 ### Run against the clean fixture
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cee07e8..7aeb393 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ docker run \
     --env IMPORT_USERNAME=${USERNAME} \
     --env IMPORT_BACKUP_FILE=/host/backup/${BACKUP_NAME} \
     --env CLAMAV_REFRESH=true \
+    --env IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL=true \
     --memory=4g \
     --memory-swap=4g \
     --cpus=2 \
@@ -57,6 +58,15 @@ docker run \
     repo.anhonesthost.net/cloud-hosting-platform/cpanel-importer:2026.05.NNN
 ```
 
+`IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL=true` is optional: WHP passes it only when the import
+copies mailboxes. Without it `cpmove-*/homedir/mail` is not extracted at all.
+With it the mail tree is extracted (dangerous symlinks inside it are still
+stripped) but **not** ClamAV-scanned: mail is copied verbatim into the
+customer's own mailbox and verified message-by-message, so quarantining a
+message would silently drop mail, and multi-GB maildirs would dominate the
+run. `report.json` then carries `"mail_included": true`; images older than
+this option never write the key, which is how WHP tells them apart.
+
 Container exits with status `0` on success, non-zero on any failure
 (missing/unreadable backup, dangerous symlink found, scanner error).
 Even on failure, `/host/sanitized/<importid>/report.json` is written
@@ -94,6 +104,7 @@ run, success or failure.
   "files_clean": 28432,
   "files_cleaned": 0,
   "files_quarantined": 39,
+  "mail_included": false,
   "actions": [
     {
       "path": "cpmove-testuser/homedir/public_html/example.com/ALFA_DATA/index.php",
diff --git a/scripts/entrypoint.sh b/scripts/entrypoint.sh
index d78564c..0f19e89 100755
--- a/scripts/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/scripts/entrypoint.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@
 #   IMPORT_BACKUP_FILE absolute path inside the container, typically
 #                      /host/backup/cpmove-<user>.tar.gz
 #   CLAMAV_REFRESH     "true" to run freshclam at start (default: true)
+#   IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL "true" to extract cpmove-*/homedir/mail for WHP's
+#                      mailbox import (default: false = mail tree skipped).
+#                      The mail tree is never ClamAV-scanned. report.json
+#                      records "mail_included" so the panel can tell this
+#                      image (which honours the opt-in) from an older one.
 #
 # Flow (spec §0):
 #   1. validate env
@@ -71,8 +76,15 @@ log "cpanel-importer starting (container UID=$(id -u) GID=$(id -g))"
 : "${IMPORT_USERNAME:?IMPORT_USERNAME env var is required}"
 : "${IMPORT_BACKUP_FILE:?IMPORT_BACKUP_FILE env var is required}"
 CLAMAV_REFRESH="${CLAMAV_REFRESH:-true}"
+# Exactly "true" opts in; anything else is the default (no mail tree).
+if [[ "${IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL:-false}" == "true" ]]; then
+    IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL=true
+else
+    IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL=false
+fi
+export IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL
 
-log "import_id=$IMPORT_ID username=$IMPORT_USERNAME backup=$IMPORT_BACKUP_FILE"
+log "import_id=$IMPORT_ID username=$IMPORT_USERNAME backup=$IMPORT_BACKUP_FILE include_mail=$IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL"
 
 if [[ ! -f "$IMPORT_BACKUP_FILE" ]]; then
     die "backup file does not exist or is not a regular file: $IMPORT_BACKUP_FILE"
@@ -140,11 +152,17 @@ fi
 
 STAGE="scan_files"
 log "stage: scan_files"
+SCAN_FILES_EXTRA=()
+if [[ "$IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL" == "true" ]]; then
+    # The extracted mail tree is not scanned (see scan-files.php --skip-mail).
+    SCAN_FILES_EXTRA+=(--skip-mail)
+fi
 php /scripts/scan-files.php \
     --extract "$EXTRACT_DIR" \
     --quarantine "$QUARANTINE_DIR" \
     --report /tmp/scan-files-report.json \
     --import-id "$IMPORT_ID" \
+    "${SCAN_FILES_EXTRA[@]}" \
     || die "scan-files.php failed; see stderr above"
 
 # --- DB engine swap + WP content scan -------------------------------------
@@ -192,6 +210,7 @@ $filesPath      = $argv[3];
 $dbsPath        = $argv[4];
 $strippedPath   = $argv[5];
 $outPath        = $argv[6];
+$mailIncluded   = $argv[7] === "true";
 
 $files    = is_file($filesPath)    ? json_decode(file_get_contents($filesPath),    true) : null;
 $dbs      = is_file($dbsPath)      ? json_decode(file_get_contents($dbsPath),      true) : null;
@@ -252,6 +271,10 @@ $report = [
     "files_clean"           => $filesClean,
     "files_cleaned"         => $filesCleaned,
     "files_quarantined"     => $filesQuarantined,
+    // true only when IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL=true AND this image extracted the
+    // mail tree. Older images never write the key; the panel treats a
+    // missing/false value as "mail was not extracted".
+    "mail_included"         => $mailIncluded,
     "actions"               => $actions,
     "databases"             => $databases,
     "summary_for_panel"     => [
@@ -263,7 +286,7 @@ $report = [
 
 file_put_contents($outPath, json_encode($report, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT | JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES) . "\n");
 fprintf(STDERR, "report written: %s\n", $outPath);
-' "$IMPORT_ID" "$DURATION" /tmp/scan-files-report.json /tmp/scan-dbs-report.json "$STRIPPED_SYMLINKS_FILE" "$SANITIZED_DIR/report.json" \
+' "$IMPORT_ID" "$DURATION" /tmp/scan-files-report.json /tmp/scan-dbs-report.json "$STRIPPED_SYMLINKS_FILE" "$SANITIZED_DIR/report.json" "$IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL" \
     || die "report merge failed"
 
 log "done — exited cleanly after ${DURATION}s"
diff --git a/scripts/extract.sh b/scripts/extract.sh
index e42c447..3673878 100755
--- a/scripts/extract.sh
+++ b/scripts/extract.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@
 #
 # Usage:  extract.sh <tarball> <dest> <username> [<actions_out>]
 #
+# Env:    IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL  "true" = extract cpmove-*/homedir/mail too
+#                              (WHP's mailbox import needs the Maildirs).
+#                              Anything else (default) = skip the mail tree.
+#
 # Calls scripts/lib/scan-symlinks.php first, then untars the cpmove with
 # every DANGEROUS-classified symlink entry stripped via tar --exclude.
 # The stripped-symlinks list is written as JSON to <actions_out> (default
@@ -21,6 +25,11 @@ DEST="${2:?usage: extract.sh <tarball> <dest> <username> [<actions_out>]}"
 USERNAME="${3:?usage: extract.sh <tarball> <dest> <username> [<actions_out>]}"
 ACTIONS_OUT="${4:-${DEST}/.cpanel-importer-stripped-symlinks.json}"
 
+IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL="${IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL:-false}"
+# Resolve sibling scripts relative to this file (/scripts in the image) so
+# tests/run-tests.sh can run the same script from a checkout.
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+
 ts()  { date -u +'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ'; }
 log() { printf '[%s] extract: %s\n' "$(ts)" "$*"; }
 
@@ -31,7 +40,7 @@ mkdir -p "$DEST"
 
 log "scanning tarball for dangerous symlinks (cpmove vector check)"
 SYMLINK_REPORT=$(mktemp -p /tmp scan-symlinks.XXXXXX.json)
-if ! php /scripts/lib/scan-symlinks.php \
+if ! php "$SCRIPT_DIR/lib/scan-symlinks.php" \
         --tarball "$TARBALL" \
         --username "$USERNAME" \
         --report "$SYMLINK_REPORT"; then
@@ -86,19 +95,24 @@ if [[ "$DANGEROUS_COUNT" -gt 0 ]]; then
     done < "$EXCLUDES_FILE"
 fi
 
-# Also skip the cpanel user's mail spool entirely. WHP doesn't import
-# email (mail-import is a panel-side roadmap item, not a sandbox-mode
-# step) so extracting + scanning the mailbox tree wastes time and disk:
-# on real customer accounts the mail dir often dwarfs everything else
-# (10+ GB of historical mbox/maildir). The exclude pattern uses tar's
-# fnmatch globs and covers both maildir + spool layouts at any depth
-# under homedir/. Logged as an info line so it shows up in the panel
-# import log alongside the symlink strips.
-{
-    echo "cpmove-*/homedir/mail"
-    echo "cpmove-*/homedir/mail/*"
-} >> "$EXCLUDES_FILE"
-log "skipping mail tree (cpmove-*/homedir/mail) — WHP does not import cPanel mail"
+# Mail tree (cpmove-*/homedir/mail). Skipped by default: a plain site
+# import doesn't need it, and on real customer accounts the mail dir often
+# dwarfs everything else (10+ GB of historical maildir). The exclude
+# pattern uses tar's fnmatch globs and covers the whole tree at any depth.
+#
+# IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL=true (WHP passes it only when the import copies
+# mailboxes) extracts it. The DANGEROUS-symlink strips computed above apply
+# to the mail tree exactly as to the rest of the archive: scan-symlinks.php
+# lists every entry in the tarball, mail included.
+if [[ "$IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL" == "true" ]]; then
+    log "including mail tree (cpmove-*/homedir/mail) — IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL=true"
+else
+    {
+        echo "cpmove-*/homedir/mail"
+        echo "cpmove-*/homedir/mail/*"
+    } >> "$EXCLUDES_FILE"
+    log "skipping mail tree (cpmove-*/homedir/mail) — IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL not set"
+fi
 
 # --- extract --------------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/scripts/scan-files.php b/scripts/scan-files.php
index 39de3ac..ebc126d 100755
--- a/scripts/scan-files.php
+++ b/scripts/scan-files.php
@@ -7,7 +7,11 @@
  * for v1.1 expansion; see CONTRIBUTING.md for how to wire one in.
  *
  * Usage:
- *   scan-files.php --extract <dir> --quarantine <dir> --report <out.json> --import-id <id>
+ *   scan-files.php --extract <dir> --quarantine <dir> --report <out.json> --import-id <id> [--skip-mail]
+ *
+ *   --skip-mail: do not scan (or count, or quarantine anything in) the
+ *   cpmove-<user>/homedir/mail tree. entrypoint.sh passes it when the mail tree
+ *   was extracted for WHP's mailbox import (IMPORT_INCLUDE_MAIL=true).
  *
  * Exit codes:
  *   0 — scan completed (regardless of how many hits)
@@ -28,10 +32,10 @@ require __DIR__ . '/lib/safety-net.php';
 
 const SCANNER_VERSION = '1.0.0';
 
-$opts = getopt('', ['extract:', 'quarantine:', 'report:', 'import-id:']);
+$opts = getopt('', ['extract:', 'quarantine:', 'report:', 'import-id:', 'skip-mail']);
 foreach (['extract', 'quarantine', 'report', 'import-id'] as $k) {
     if (!isset($opts[$k])) {
-        fwrite(STDERR, "usage: scan-files.php --extract <dir> --quarantine <dir> --report <out.json> --import-id <id>\n");
+        fwrite(STDERR, "usage: scan-files.php --extract <dir> --quarantine <dir> --report <out.json> --import-id <id> [--skip-mail]\n");
         exit(2);
     }
 }
@@ -39,6 +43,15 @@ $extractDir    = rtrim($opts['extract'], '/');
 $quarantineDir = rtrim($opts['quarantine'], '/');
 $reportPath    = $opts['report'];
 $importId      = $opts['import-id'];
+$skipMail      = array_key_exists('skip-mail', $opts);
+
+// The mail tree is copied verbatim into the customer's own mailbox, and
+// WHP verifies the copy message-by-message against what it packaged. So it
+// is NOT scanned: quarantining a message would silently drop mail, and
+// ClamAV over a multi-GB maildir would dominate the run. PCRE form for the
+// PHP walk, POSIX ERE form for clamscan --exclude-dir.
+$mailDirPcre = '#\A' . preg_quote($extractDir, '#') . '/cpmove-[^/]+/homedir/mail(?:/|\z)#';
+$mailDirEre  = '^' . preg_replace('/[.\[\]()*+?{}|^$\\\\]/', '\\\\$0', $extractDir) . '/cpmove-[^/]+/homedir/mail(/.*)?$';
 
 if (!is_dir($extractDir)) {
     fwrite(STDERR, "scan-files: extract dir does not exist: $extractDir\n");
@@ -48,6 +61,9 @@ if (!is_dir($extractDir)) {
 @mkdir($quarantineDir, 0750, true);
 
 fwrite(STDERR, "scan-files: starting (extract=$extractDir, quarantine=$quarantineDir)\n");
+if ($skipMail) {
+    fwrite(STDERR, "scan-files: NOT scanning the mail tree (cpmove-*/homedir/mail): it is copied verbatim into the customer's own mailbox and verified against the source; scanning would quarantine messages out of it and multi-GB maildirs would dominate the run\n");
+}
 
 // -- v1.0 cleaner registry (intentionally empty) ----------------------------
 //
@@ -75,7 +91,8 @@ $cleaners = [];
 // Output format per line on a hit:
 //   /tmp/extract/foo/bar.php: Some.Signature.Name FOUND
 $cmd = sprintf(
-    'clamscan --infected --recursive --no-summary --stdout %s 2>/dev/null',
+    'clamscan --infected --recursive --no-summary --stdout %s%s 2>/dev/null',
+    $skipMail ? '--exclude-dir=' . escapeshellarg($mailDirEre) . ' ' : '',
     escapeshellarg($extractDir)
 );
 
@@ -99,6 +116,12 @@ while (($line = fgets($fh)) !== false) {
         // Defensive: shouldn't happen with our invocation.
         continue;
     }
+    if ($skipMail && preg_match($mailDirPcre, $path)) {
+        // Belt: --exclude-dir should have kept clamscan out of the mail
+        // tree; never move a message out of a Maildir regardless.
+        fwrite(STDERR, "scan-files: WARN ignoring a hit inside the mail tree: $path\n");
+        continue;
+    }
     $hits[] = ['path' => $path, 'signature' => $sig];
 }
 pclose($fh);
@@ -156,12 +179,15 @@ $rdi    = new RecursiveDirectoryIterator(
     $extractDir,
     FilesystemIterator::SKIP_DOTS | FilesystemIterator::CURRENT_AS_PATHNAME
 );
-$filter = new RecursiveCallbackFilterIterator($rdi, function ($pathname, $key, $iterator) use (&$skippedLinks) {
+$filter = new RecursiveCallbackFilterIterator($rdi, function ($pathname, $key, $iterator) use (&$skippedLinks, $skipMail, $mailDirPcre) {
     // $pathname is a string when CURRENT_AS_PATHNAME is set.
     if (is_link($pathname)) {
         $skippedLinks++;
         return false;
     }
+    if ($skipMail && preg_match($mailDirPcre, $pathname)) {
+        return false; // not scanned, so not counted as scanned
+    }
     return true;
 });
 $it = new RecursiveIteratorIterator($filter, RecursiveIteratorIterator::LEAVES_ONLY);
@@ -276,6 +302,7 @@ $report = [
     'files_clean'       => max(0, $filesScanned - count($hits)),
     'files_cleaned'     => $cleaned,
     'files_quarantined' => $quarantined,
+    'mail_scan_skipped' => $skipMail,
     'actions'           => $actions,
 ];