Mailbox

Mailbox CLI Skill

Drives the @leeguoo/mailbox-cli Node CLI to read and manage email across multiple IMAP accounts. Returns a stable JSON contract — every response includes success: boolean and, on failure, error: string + error_code: string (machine-readable).

Compatibility — check the CLI version first

If mailbox is not on PATH (command not found / mailbox: not found), install it non-interactively from GitHub Releases (no npm, no auth) before doing anything else:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/leeguooooo/Mailbox/main/install.sh | sh
# installs the prebuilt binary to ~/.local/bin — make sure that's on PATH, then re-probe
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"; mailbox --version

These commands/flags require mailbox ≥ 2.11.0: --format compact|jsonl, email recent, cleanup, --since, --account-unread, --text-only, the 3-part gid (account_id:folder:uid), and search --timeout.

Probe before relying on them: mailbox --version. Update by re-running the installer above (MAILBOX_VERSION=v2.11.2 … to pin). On an older CLI, use these fallbacks (all available since early versions):

To tell whether a command exists, probe mailbox --help --json and check success — an unknown command returns success:false / error_code:"invalid_argument".

Setup (one time, by the user)

# 1. Install the CLI from GitHub Releases (no npm/Node needed; prebuilt binary):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/leeguooooo/Mailbox/main/install.sh | sh
#    (npm is deprecated: `npm install -g @leeguoo/mailbox-cli` may lag the releases)

# 2. Configure accounts (edit credentials):
mkdir -p ~/.config/mailbox
cp $(npm prefix -g)/lib/node_modules/@leeguoo/mailbox-cli/examples/accounts.example.json \
   ~/.config/mailbox/auth.json
$EDITOR ~/.config/mailbox/auth.json

# 3. (Recommended) install the persistent daemon for ~5-30× faster calls:
mailbox daemon install
mailbox daemon status --json   # confirm it's running

# 4. (Optional) wire into Claude Desktop / Code via MCP:
mailbox mcp config --json   # prints a paste-ready mcpServers entry

If the user hasn't done step 1, every CLI call will fail with command not found. Always probe with mailbox --version first when in doubt.

How to drive this CLI from an agent loop

Always pass --json so the response is machine-parseable. Check success before continuing.

Read / search

# List recent emails (cache when warm; pass --live to force IMAP).
# 'list' is INBOX-only — passing --folder all warns you to use 'search' instead.
mailbox email list --account-id  --limit 20 --json
mailbox email list --account-id  --limit 20 --with-preview 200 --json   # +body snippet, one trip
mailbox email list --since 7d --json                 # --since is an alias of --date-from (7d/today/YYYY-MM-DD)
mailbox email list --account-unread --json           # also compute account_unread_total (unread across all folders)

# Recent across ALL accounts, merged newest-first (omit --account-id == all accounts):
mailbox email recent --limit 30 --json
mailbox email recent --since 3d --json

# Search (server-side IMAP for Gmail; client-side fallback for QQ/163/Outlook):
mailbox email search --from amazon --subject review --folder all --json
mailbox email search --query "interview"  --since 2w --json    # relative dates: 2d/3w/1mo/today/yesterday

# ⚠️ search over QQ/163 (broken IMAP SEARCH) does a client-side scan of the folder and can be
# slow. --timeout (default 60s) is a HARD wall-clock bound — even a single stuck QQ/163 scan
# returns by then with partial results + timed_out:true (+ pending_accounts). Still prefer to
# scope it (--account-id and/or --folder INBOX) and use a short --timeout for snappy results.
mailbox email search --query inv --account-id  --folder INBOX --limit 20 --json   # fast, scoped

# NOTE: on QQ/163/126/sina/aliyun/outlook, IMAP TEXT search is broken,
# so the CLI falls back to envelope-only client-side filtering. That
# means `--query` only matches against `subject + from` for those
# providers — pure body-text matches will be missed. Use `--from` /
# `--subject` for predictable results, or use a Gmail account where
# X-GM-RAW does search the body server-side.

# Read one or many emails (AI-friendly defaults: text only, capped 2000 chars, URLs stripped,
# HTML excluded; HTML-only mail is auto-converted to a text body — see body_source).
mailbox email show  --json                    # gid = "::"
mailbox email show    --json     # batch — one IMAP connection, spans folders
mailbox email show  --full --json             # raw HTML + uncapped + URLs (rarely needed)
mailbox email show  --text-only --json        # force no HTML (alias of --no-html)
mailbox email show  --html-max-len 0 --json   # 0 = strip HTML, -1 = unlimited, >0 = cap

# Folders:
mailbox email folders --account-id  --json

The gid is self-describing (account_id:folder:uid), so email show opens the right mailbox with no --folder — even for results from search --folder all. The legacy 2-part account_id:uid form still works (folder falls back to the cache, then INBOX).

Mutate (all dry-run by default)

mailbox email mark  --read --confirm --json
mailbox email delete  --confirm --json        # default moves to Trash; pass --permanent to expunge
mailbox email flag  --set --confirm --json
mailbox email move   --target-folder Archive --confirm --json
mailbox email send --to a@b.com --subject hi --body "..." --confirm --json

# Filtered batch mark/delete by sender/subject (no need to list+collect ids first):
mailbox email delete --from newsletter@shop.com --confirm --json
mailbox email mark   --subject "[ci]" --read --confirm --json
mailbox email delete --from spam@x.com --all-folders --confirm --json   # span folders; grouped per folder

gid-based and filtered mutations are folder-aware: a 3-part gid mutates in its folder (not INBOX), and --from/--subject matches carry their folder. The dry-run preview includes a groups breakdown (per account_id + folder, with sample subjects) so you can eyeball what will change before --confirm. Filters matching >100 emails require --confirm.

Safety: --all-folders skips special-use folders (Sent / Drafts / Junk / Trash) by default — pass --include-special to include them. Without --confirm, every destructive command returns a JSON dry-run preview and changes nothing.

Triage / cleanup

# Classify INBOX and propose a deletion plan (read-only; never deletes):
mailbox cleanup --account-id  --json
# Then actually delete the marketing + routine_notification candidates:
mailbox cleanup --account-id  --confirm --json
mailbox cleanup --categories marketing --confirm --json   # only one category

cleanup buckets each email into protected_finance / protected_travel / security / support_case (never deleted) vs marketing / routine_notification (cleanup candidates) vs unknown. Rules are sender/domain/subject based; override the allowlists via /cleanup_rules.json. The plan reports by_category, candidates_by_category, and protected_counts; --confirm pipes the candidate categories into email delete.

Discover the surface

mailbox account list --json
mailbox  --help --json   # structured help: { name, description, options, arguments, subcommands }

Token-saving tips

• --format compact (global flag) projects each email to just {id, gid, account_id, folder, date, from, subject, unread, has_attachments, body_text_preview} — the lightest useful shape for scanning, and it includes the 3-part gid so you can chain straight into email show . --format jsonl emits one JSON object per line (composable: --format compact,jsonl). agent is an alias of compact.
• --lean (global flag, before subcommand) strips ~10 noisy/duplicate top-level fields and per-email duplicates. Typical response shrinks by ~30%.
• --with-preview on email list / email search fetches a body snippet alongside the envelope — saves one email show per email.
• Batch email show ... reuses one IMAP connection (and spans folders). Use it whenever you need ≥2 emails.
• gid (returned in every list/search/show response) is the global ID account_id:folder:uid — pass it instead of bare UID + --account-id, and show/mutate auto-target its folder.
• Relative date shortcuts (on --since / --date-from): 7d (7 days ago), 3w, 1mo, 1y, 12h, 30m, today, yesterday, last-week, last-month. ISO 8601 / YYYY-MM-DD still work.
• mailbox --help --json returns a JSON descriptor of arguments, options, defaults — use to introspect any command instead of parsing human text.

Output contract

• Every response: success: boolean. On failure: error: string + error_code: string.
• Common error_code values: account_not_found, email_not_found, folder_not_found, invalid_argument, invalid_date, invalid_limit, ambiguous_account, size_limit, auth_failed, network_error, imap_error, smtp_error, operation_failed, unknown_error.
• Exit codes: 0 success, 1 operation failed, 2 invalid usage.
• Every email object carries gid ("::"). Prefer it over bare id/uid.
• Batch email show returns { success, emails: [...], failed_ids: [{id, error, folder}], requested, returned }.
• Unread counts on list/recent are three distinct fields — read the right one: unread_in_result (unread among the rows actually returned — always trustworthy), folder_unread (server count for the queried folder; unread_count is a back-compat alias), account_unread_total (across all folders — null unless --account-unread), plus unread_as_of + from_cache for snapshot freshness.
• Cache freshness is always reported on list/recent (including empty/compact results): from_cache (bool), cache_age_seconds (how stale the snapshot is; null = live or unknown), and, on a thin cached result, a hint string telling you to pass --live. So an empty list is never a silent "nothing arrived" — check from_cache/cache_age_seconds before concluding.
• Self-healing on a thin+stale cache: when a cached list/recent comes back with fewer rows than --limit AND the snapshot is older than the freshness window (default 120s, set via MAILBOX_CACHE_FRESH_SECONDS; 0 disables), the CLI auto-falls back to a live IMAP fetch — so a just-arrived OTP isn't missed between syncs. Pass --live to force IMAP outright.
• Email body: body (text), body_source (text | html_derived | empty), html_body (empty unless --full/--include-html). HTML-only mail still yields a usable body.
• Attachments: each carries is_signature / is_inline / is_real_attachment; real_attachment_count and has_attachments count only real attachments (an smime.p7s S/MIME signature does not flip has_attachments).
• --with-preview adds preview: string and preview_truncated: bool per email.
• Verification / OTP codes: email show ... --extract-code scans subject+body and adds a codes: [...] array (4–8 digit OTPs plus prefixed LL-DDDDDD forms like QB-046193). It's a candidate list, ordered as found; the field survives --format compact.

Safety rules

• Always pass --json. Always check success.
• Pass either a gid OR --account-id for any per-email command.
• Mutating commands (email send / delete / mark / move / flag, digest run) default to dry-run; the agent must explicitly add --confirm after the user approves.
• Never leak account credentials in logs or model output.

MCP server mode

Instead of shelling out to the CLI, an AI client can call mailbox tools directly over MCP:

mailbox mcp config --json   # prints an mcpServers entry to paste into the client config
mailbox mcp serve           # run the server manually for testing (stdio)

16 tools registered: account_list, account_test_connection, email_list, email_search, email_show, email_folders, email_mark, email_delete, email_flag, email_move, email_send, sync_status, sync_force, inbox_organize, cleanup, digest_run.

Each destructive tool defaults to dry-run; pass confirm: true to apply. email_show and the mutate tools accept 3-part gids (account_id:folder:uid) and auto-target the gid's folder; email_list exposes the unread_in_result / folder_unread / account_unread_total fields and accepts include_account_unread; relative date_from/date_to shortcuts (2d/3w/…) now work on the MCP path. cleanup returns a read-only plan unless confirm: true.

Persistent daemon (5-30× faster CLI calls)

Each one-shot CLI invocation otherwise spends 1-3s on TCP+TLS+IMAP LOGIN. With the daemon running, every CLI call reuses pooled connections, and the daemon also runs a background SQLite sync so email list (without --live) usually doesn't touch IMAP at all.

mailbox daemon install      # autostart at login (macOS launchd / Linux systemd-user)
mailbox daemon status --json
mailbox daemon reload       # drop pooled connections after editing auth.json
mailbox daemon stop

Set MAILBOX_NO_DAEMON=1 to skip the daemon probe entirely.

Measured (Gmail INBOX, M2 MacBook over residential WAN):

Reference

• Repo: https://github.com/leeguooooo/Mailbox
• npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@leeguoo/mailbox-cli
• JSON contract docs: docs/CLI_JSON_CONTRACT.md