himalaya

CLI to manage emails via IMAP/SMTP. Use himalaya to list, read, write, reply, forward, search, and organize emails from the terminal. Supports multiple accounts and message composition with MML (MIME Meta Language).

Himalaya Email CLI

Himalaya is a CLI email client that lets you manage emails from the terminal using IMAP, SMTP, Notmuch, or Sendmail backends.

References

• references/configuration.md (config file setup + IMAP/SMTP authentication)
• references/message-composition.md (MML syntax for composing emails)

Prerequisites

1. Himalaya CLI installed (himalaya --version to verify)
2. A configuration file at ~/.config/himalaya/config.toml
3. IMAP/SMTP credentials configured (password stored securely)

Configuration Setup

Run the interactive wizard to set up an account:

bash

himalaya account configure

Or create ~/.config/himalaya/config.toml manually:

toml

[accounts.personal]
email = "[e-mail]"
display-name = "Your Name"
default = true

backend.type = "imap"
backend.host = "imap.example.com"
backend.port = 993
backend.encryption.type = "tls"
backend.login = "[e-mail]"
backend.auth.type = "password"
backend.auth.cmd = "pass show email/imap"  # or use keyring

message.send.backend.type = "smtp"
message.send.backend.host = "smtp.example.com"
message.send.backend.port = 587
message.send.backend.encryption.type = "start-tls"
message.send.backend.login = "[e-mail]"
message.send.backend.auth.type = "password"
message.send.backend.auth.cmd = "pass show email/smtp"

Common Operations

List Folders

bash

himalaya folder list

List Emails

List emails in INBOX (default):

bash

himalaya envelope list

List emails in a specific folder:

bash

himalaya envelope list --folder "Sent"

List with pagination:

bash

himalaya envelope list --page 1 --page-size 20

Search Emails

bash

himalaya envelope list from [e-mail] subject meeting

Read an Email

Read email by ID (shows plain text):

bash

himalaya message read 42

Export raw MIME:

bash

himalaya message export 42 --full

Reply to an Email

Interactive reply (opens $EDITOR):

bash

himalaya message reply 42

Reply-all:

bash

himalaya message reply 42 --all

Forward an Email

bash

himalaya message forward 42

Write a New Email

Interactive compose (opens $EDITOR):

bash

himalaya message write

Send directly using template:

bash

cat << 'EOF' | himalaya template send
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Test Message

Hello from Himalaya!
EOF

Or with headers flag:

bash

himalaya message write -H "To:[e-mail]" -H "Subject:Test" "Message body here"

Move/Copy Emails

Move to folder:

bash

himalaya message move 42 "Archive"

Copy to folder:

bash

himalaya message copy 42 "Important"

Delete an Email

bash

himalaya message delete 42

Manage Flags

Add flag:

bash

himalaya flag add 42 --flag seen

Remove flag:

bash

himalaya flag remove 42 --flag seen

Multiple Accounts

List accounts:

bash

himalaya account list

Use a specific account:

bash

himalaya --account work envelope list

Attachments

Save attachments from a message:

bash

himalaya attachment download 42

Save to specific directory:

bash

himalaya attachment download 42 --dir ~/Downloads

Output Formats

Most commands support --output for structured output:

bash

himalaya envelope list --output json
himalaya envelope list --output plain

Debugging

Enable debug logging:

bash

RUST_LOG=debug himalaya envelope list

Full trace with backtrace:

bash

RUST_LOG=trace RUST_BACKTRACE=1 himalaya envelope list

Tips

• Use himalaya --help or himalaya <command> --help for detailed usage.
• Message IDs are relative to the current folder; re-list after folder changes.
• For composing rich emails with attachments, use MML syntax (see references/message-composition.md).
• Store passwords securely using pass, system keyring, or a command that outputs the password.