Apple Mail Search Safe.Bak

Apple Mail search on macOS with fast metadata and full body lookup. Use for finding messages in Mail.app by subject/sender/recipient/date, opening messages, and reading full body text.

Fruitmail (Fast & Safe)

Fast SQLite-based search for Apple Mail.app with full body content support.

Installation

bash

npm install -g apple-mail-search-cli

Usage

bash

# Complex search
fruitmail search --subject "invoice" --days 30 --unread

# Search by sender
fruitmail sender "@amazon.com"

# List unread emails
fruitmail unread

# Read full email body (supports --json)
fruitmail body 94695

# Open in Mail.app
fruitmail open 94695

# Database stats
fruitmail stats

Commands

Command	Description
search	Complex search with filters
sender <query>	Search by sender email
unread	List unread emails
body <id>	Read full email body (AppleScript)
open <id>	Open email in Mail.app
stats	Database statistics

Search Options

text

--subject <text>   Search subject lines
--days <n>         Last N days
--unread           Only unread emails
--limit <n>        Max results (default: 20)
--json             Output as JSON
--copy             Copy DB before query (safest mode)

Examples

bash

# Find bank statements from last month
fruitmail search --subject "statement" --days 30

# Get unread emails as JSON
fruitmail unread --json | jq '.[] | .subject'

# Find emails from Amazon
fruitmail sender "@amazon.com" --limit 50

Performance

Method	Time for 130k emails
AppleScript (full iteration)	8+ minutes
SQLite (this tool)	~50ms

Technical Details

• Database: ~/Library/Mail/V{9,10,11}/MailData/Envelope Index
• Query method: SQLite (read-only) + AppleScript (body content)
• Safety: Read-only mode prevents modification; optional --copy mode available

Notes

• macOS only — queries Apple Mail.app's local database
• Read-only — can search/read but cannot compose/send
• To send emails: Use the himalaya skill (IMAP/SMTP)

Source

https://github.com/gumadeiras/fruitmail-cli