IMAP SMTP Email

Read and send email via IMAP/SMTP using local Node scripts. Use when the agent needs to check inboxes, fetch email content, search messages, download attachments, or send emails with optional attachments from configured mailboxes. Includes optional inbox watcher that can forward alerts via OpenClaw CLI.

IMAP/SMTP Email Tool

Use local Node scripts for inbox access and outbound mail:

• node scripts/imap.js ...
• node scripts/smtp.js ...

Published as imap-smtp-mail on ClawHub.

Configuration

Create ~/.openclaw/credentials/imap-smtp-mail.env with:

bash

# IMAP
IMAP_HOST=imap.example.com
IMAP_PORT=993
IMAP_USER=[e-mail]
IMAP_PASS=your_password
IMAP_TLS=true
IMAP_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=true
IMAP_MAILBOX=INBOX
IMAP_SAVE_SENT=true
# Optional override if your provider does not expose the Sent folder cleanly
# IMAP_SENT_MAILBOX=Sent

# SMTP
SMTP_HOST=smtp.example.com
SMTP_PORT=587
SMTP_SECURE=false
SMTP_USER=[e-mail]
SMTP_PASS=your_password
SMTP_FROM=[e-mail]
SMTP_FROM_NAME=Your Name
SMTP_REPLY_TO=[e-mail]
SMTP_CLIENT_NAME=example.com
SMTP_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=true

# File access controls
ALLOWED_READ_DIRS=~/.openclaw/workspace,~/.openclaw/workspace/exports,~/.openclaw/workspace/out,~/.openclaw/workspace/tmp
ALLOWED_WRITE_DIRS=~/.openclaw/workspace/exports,~/.openclaw/workspace/tmp

This skill loads ~/.openclaw/credentials/imap-smtp-mail.env at runtime with dotenv. The credential file path can be overridden with the EMAIL_ENV_FILE environment variable. The IMAP/SMTP variables do not need to be exported globally in the OpenClaw service environment.

SMTP notes:

• SMTP_FROM_NAME sets a display name.
• SMTP_REPLY_TO is optional.
• SMTP_CLIENT_NAME controls the hostname used in EHLO/HELO. If omitted, the script derives it from the sender domain.
• When only plain text is provided, the tool also generates a simple HTML alternative part.
• For emails containing structured data, prefer well-formed HTML content over plain-text pseudo-layouts when readability matters.

IMAP Sent-copy notes:

• If IMAP is configured and IMAP_SAVE_SENT is not false, the tool appends a copy of each sent email to the IMAP Sent mailbox after successful SMTP delivery.
• The script tries to detect the Sent mailbox automatically using IMAP mailbox attributes and common folder names.
• If needed, set IMAP_SENT_MAILBOX explicitly (for example Sent, Sent Items, or INBOX.Sent).

Default contact file: contacts/email-contacts.json

Contact shape:

json

{
  "version": 1,
  "contacts": [
    {
      "id": "client-a",
      "name": "Client A",
      "email": "[e-mail]",
      "phone": "+000000000000",
      "aliases": ["client a", "achat client a"],
      "tags": ["client"],
      "notes": "Optional note"
    }
  ]
}

Install

Run once in the skill folder:

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
npm install

Common commands

Check inbox

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/imap.js check --limit 10

Search email

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/imap.js search --subject "invoice" --recent 7d --limit 20

Fetch one message

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/imap.js fetch 123

Fetch output includes parsed recipient fields (from, to, cc, replyTo) and threading headers (messageId, inReplyTo, references).

Fetch message and read attachment content inline

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/imap.js fetch 123 --extract-attachments

Parses .xlsx, .csv, and .pdf attachments directly and returns their content in the JSON output. Each attachment entry includes a status field:

• parsed — content extracted. Excel/CSV: sheets[] with headers and rows. PDF: text and pages.
• skipped_large — over limit: raw file > 500 KB, or Excel > 200 rows / 10 000 cells, or PDF > 25 000 extracted chars. Includes a reason field.
• skipped_inline_image — image with inline disposition (logo, signature). Silently ignored.
• unsupported — file type not supported for extraction (e.g. attached JPEG, DOCX, ZIP).
• failed — parsing error. Includes a reason field.

Additional fields on parsed PDF results:

• warning: 'scanned_pdf_likely' — extracted text is under 20 chars despite the file having pages; the PDF is probably a scan and text extraction yielded nothing useful.

For multi-sheet workbooks, each sheet carries its own status. The attachment-level status is parsed if at least one sheet was successfully read; skipped_large if all sheets exceeded the limit.

Use fetch --extract-attachments when the email is known or suspected to contain a useful business document (price list, invoice, order). Use the standard download command instead when the file is too large or needs to be saved to disk.

Download attachments

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/imap.js download 123 --dir ~/.openclaw/workspace/tmp

Mark messages as read

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/imap.js mark-read 123 456

Mark messages as unread

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/imap.js mark-unread 123

List mailboxes

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/imap.js list-mailboxes

Test SMTP

Note: This command sends a real test email to your own address (SMTP_USER). It is not a passive connectivity check.

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/smtp.js test

Verbose SMTP debug:

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/smtp.js test --debug

List contacts

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/smtp.js contacts
node scripts/smtp.js contacts --query compta

Resolve one contact

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/smtp.js resolve-contact --contact "Client A"

Send email

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/smtp.js send --to [e-mail] --subject "Subject" --body "Message"

By default, send creates a draft preview only. Actual sending requires --approve.

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/smtp.js send --to [e-mail] --subject "Subject" --body "Message" --approve

Reply to an existing email

Preview a threaded reply to the sender (or Reply-To when present):

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/smtp.js send --reply-uid 123 --body "Hello,\n\nReceived, thanks.\n\nBest regards"

Reply-all while keeping the original To and Cc recipients (except own mailbox and duplicates):

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/smtp.js send --reply-uid 123 --reply-all --body "Hello,\n\nReceived, thanks.\n\nBest regards" --approve

With --reply-uid, the tool auto-fills the reply target, adds Re: to the subject when needed, and sets In-Reply-To / References for proper threading. Use --reply-all by default for normal business thread replies unless the user explicitly wants a sender-only reply.

Send email by contact name

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/smtp.js send --contact "Client A" --subject "Subject" --body "Message" --approve

Verbose send debug:

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/smtp.js send --contact "Client A" --subject "Subject" --body "Message" --approve --debug

When IMAP Sent-copy is active, the send result also includes:

• savedToSent
• sentMailbox
• sentCopyError if the SMTP send succeeded but the IMAP append failed

Draft email with attachment

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/smtp.js send --to [e-mail] --subject "Report" --body "Please find attached the report." --attach ~/.openclaw/workspace/exports/pdfs/report.pdf

Actual sending with attachment:

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/smtp.js send --to [e-mail] --subject "Report" --body "Please find attached the report." --attach ~/.openclaw/workspace/exports/pdfs/report.pdf --approve

Send styled HTML email

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/smtp.js send --to [e-mail] --subject "Stock status" --html "<p>Hello,</p><p>Here is the stock status.</p><table border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"6\" cellspacing=\"0\"><tr><th>Reference</th><th>Stock</th></tr><tr><td>REF-001</td><td>12</td></tr></table><p>Best regards</p>" --approve

Operational rules

• Use this skill for email only.
• Keep outbound email approval-based: never auto-send without user validation.
• Use attachments only from allowed workspace directories.
• Use contact aliases from contacts/email-contacts.json when the user refers to recipients by name.
• The contact list is for outbound convenience and recipient resolution; incoming email can come from any sender.
• The agent may summarize incoming email and prepare a draft reply, but must never auto-reply without user validation.
• For replies to an inbound email, prefer node scripts/smtp.js send --reply-uid <uid> --reply-all ...; omit --reply-all only when the user explicitly wants sender-only.
• node scripts/imap.js fetch <uid> exposes Cc, Reply-To, messageId, In-Reply-To, and References so reply behavior can be inspected before sending.
• Do not expose credentials in responses.
• Use --debug when delivery behavior needs investigation; it prints SMTP transport logs to stderr and returns envelope/accepted/rejected details in JSON.

Lightweight email watch (optional)

Note: This feature is optional and higher-trust than basic IMAP/SMTP usage. When enabled, email-watch-lite.js invokes the local openclaw CLI to analyze pending emails and may forward summarized email content to another OpenClaw channel (e.g. WhatsApp). Do not enable it unless you understand and accept this behavior.

For low-cost inbox polling, use the detector script instead of a recurring model cron:

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/email-watch-lite.js detect --state ../../memory/email-watch-state.json

To poll and trigger the agent only when pendingUids exist:

bash

cd skills/imap-smtp-mail
node scripts/email-watch-lite.js detect-and-trigger --state ../../memory/email-watch-state.json --channel whatsapp --to +000000000000 --openclaw-bin ~/.npm-global/bin/openclaw --timeout 180 --thinking low

Customize the analysis prompt with --message "your custom instructions".

The email watcher requires the openclaw CLI binary. It is not needed for core IMAP/SMTP operations.