Manage Email

Interact with your email inbox using mail-cli commands: read, search, send, reply, mark, move, delete, manage folders, drafts, and accounts via CLI.

emailcli Skill

Use this skill whenever you need to interact with the user's email using the mail-cli command-line client.

Quick Reference

bash

# Installation (if needed)
npm install -g @laffy1309/emailcli

# Commands
mail-cli list [--folder FOLDER] [--limit N] [--account EMAIL:PROVIDER]
mail-cli read <message-id> [--thread] [--download [dir]]
mail-cli search "<query>" [--account EMAIL:PROVIDER]
mail-cli send --to <addr> --subject "<subj>" --body "<text>" [--cc <addr>] [--bcc <addr>] [--attach <file>] [--save-draft] [--draft <id>]
mail-cli reply <message-id> --to <addr> [--cc <addr>]
mail-cli mark <message-id> --read|--unread
mail-cli mark --ids 1,2,3 --read|--unread  # Batch
mail-cli move <message-id> --folder "<folder>"
mail-cli move --ids 1,2,3 --folder "<folder>"  # Batch
mail-cli delete <message-id>
mail-cli delete --ids 1,2,3  # Batch
mail-cli folders [--account EMAIL:PROVIDER]
mail-cli status
mail-cli drafts --list|--delete <id>
mail-cli account list|add --provider gmail|outlook|remove --account EMAIL:PROVIDER|--all

Account Format

All accounts use email:provider format:

• Gmail: [e-mail]:gmail
• Outlook: [e-mail]:outlook

When multiple accounts exist, use --account EMAIL:PROVIDER to specify which one. If no account is specified, the CLI uses default:gmail internally.

JSON Output

All commands return JSON. Parse output programmatically:

Success:

json

{"ok": true}
{"id": "abc123", "from": "[e-mail]", "subject": "Hello", "date": "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z"}
[{"id": "1", "from": "[e-mail]"}, {"id": "2", "from": "[e-mail]"}]
{"id": "...", "saved": true}   // --save-draft output
{"removed": ["[e-mail]:gmail", "[e-mail]:outlook"]}  // account remove --all

Error:

json

{"error": {"code": "NO_ACCOUNTS", "message": "No accounts configured. Run 'mail-cli account add --provider gmail' first."}}
{"error": {"code": "DRAFT_NOT_FOUND", "message": "Draft with ID 'xxx' not found"}}
{"error": {"code": "MISSING_FLAG", "message": "Either --account <id> or --all is required"}}

Batch partial failure:

json

{"ok": true, "failed": [{"id": "2", "error": {"code": "NOT_FOUND", "message": "Email not found"}}]}

Command Patterns

Listing Emails

bash

# Default: 20 most recent inbox emails
mail-cli list

# Specific folder (Gmail uses brackets)
mail-cli list --folder "[Gmail]/Sent"

# Limit results
mail-cli list --limit 50

# Specific account
mail-cli list --account [e-mail]:gmail

Reading Email

bash

# Single email by ID (get ID from list output)
mail-cli read abc123

# Full thread
mail-cli read thread-456 --thread

# Read and download attachments to current directory
mail-cli read abc123 --download

# Read and download attachments to specific directory
mail-cli read abc123 --download ./attachments

Searching

bash

# Gmail search syntax
mail-cli search "from:foo subject:bar has:attachment"

# Outlook KQL syntax
mail-cli search "from:foo subject:bar"

Sending Email

bash

# Basic send
mail-cli send --to [e-mail] --subject "Hello" --body "Message"

# With CC/BCC
mail-cli send --to [e-mail] --cc [e-mail] --bcc [e-mail] --subject "Hello" --body "Message"

# From file
mail-cli send --to [e-mail] --subject "Hello" --body-file-path message.txt

# With attachment
mail-cli send --to [e-mail] --subject "Hello" --body "Message" --attach file.pdf

# Save as draft (don't send)
mail-cli send --to [e-mail] --subject "Hello" --body "Message" --save-draft

# Load and send existing draft
mail-cli send --draft draft-id-123 --subject "Updated Subject"

Replying

bash

mail-cli reply <message-id> --to [e-mail]
mail-cli reply <message-id> --to [e-mail] --cc [e-mail]

Marking

bash

# Single
mail-cli mark abc123 --read
mail-cli mark abc123 --unread

# Batch - comma-separated IDs (no spaces)
mail-cli mark --ids 1,2,3 --read

Moving

bash

# Single
mail-cli move abc123 --folder "[Gmail]/Trash"

# Batch
mail-cli move --ids 1,2,3 --folder "[Gmail]/Archive"

Deleting

bash

# Single (moves to trash)
mail-cli delete abc123

# Batch
mail-cli delete --ids 1,2,3

Folder Operations

bash

# List all folders
mail-cli folders

# Mailbox status (message counts)
mail-cli status

Drafts

bash

# List all saved drafts
mail-cli drafts --list

# Delete a draft by ID
mail-cli drafts --delete draft-id-123

Account Management

bash

# Add account
mail-cli account add --provider gmail
mail-cli account add --provider outlook

# List accounts
mail-cli account list

# Remove specific account
mail-cli account remove --account [e-mail]:gmail

# Remove ALL accounts
mail-cli account remove --all

Workflows

Check Inbox

1. Run mail-cli list to get recent emails
2. Parse JSON output - each email has id, from, subject, date
3. Present summary to user
4. User can request specific email by ID

Send Email

1. Collect: recipient, subject, body (and optionally CC, attachments)
2. Compose command with proper escaping
3. Execute and check for {"ok": true} or error
4. Report success or error message

Save Draft

1. Compose the email without sending
2. Use --save-draft instead of sending
3. The output {"id": "...", "saved": true} contains the draft ID for later use

Load and Edit Draft

1. List drafts with mail-cli drafts --list
2. Load a draft with mail-cli send --draft <id>
3. Override any fields with command-line flags (CLI takes precedence over draft data)
4. Draft is automatically deleted after successful send

Search and Act

1. Run mail-cli search with appropriate query syntax
2. Present results
3. User can then mark, move, delete by ID

Batch Operations

1. Get list of IDs (from list or search results)
2. Use --ids 1,2,3 format (comma-separated, no spaces)
3. Check response for failed array to identify partial failures

Download Attachments

1. When reading an email, add --download or --download <dir>
2. Attachments are saved to the specified directory (or current directory)
3. Output includes downloads array with filename, path, and size for each attachment

Error Handling

If you receive an error response:

1. Extract error.code and error.message
2. Present the issue clearly to the user
3. Suggest remediation if applicable:
   • NO_ACCOUNTS: Run mail-cli account add --provider gmail|outlook
   • NOT_FOUND: The message ID doesn't exist or was already deleted
   • INVALID_CREDENTIALS: Re-authenticate with mail-cli account remove then mail-cli account add
   • DRAFT_NOT_FOUND: The draft ID doesn't exist or was already sent/deleted
   • MISSING_FLAG: Required flag missing (e.g., --account or --all for account remove)
   • CONFLICTING_FLAGS: Cannot use both --account and --all together

Important Notes

• Always use JSON output parsing - the CLI only outputs JSON
• Gmail folders use brackets: [Gmail]/Sent, [Gmail]/Trash, [Gmail]/Archive
• Message IDs from list/search are strings, preserve them exactly
• Batch IDs must be comma-separated with no spaces: --ids 1,2,3
• Reply requires both the message ID and --to with the recipient address
• Without --account, commands default to using the first available account
• Drafts are stored locally and persist across sessions
• --save-draft and --draft are mutually exclusive in the same command