mail-needs-reply

name	mail-needs-reply
description	Find emails that are waiting for a reply — unread messages from real people that haven't been responded to. Use when user asks what they haven't replied to, what's waiting for their response, or wants to find unanswered emails. Arguments: optional time window (default: last 7 days) or account filter.
disable-model-invocation	false
user-invocable	true
allowed-tools	Bash
metadata	{"openclaw":{"requires":{"bins":"[Truncated]"}}}

Mail Needs Reply — Unanswered Emails

Looking for: unread emails from humans (not bots) with no follow-up in your Sent.

Step 1: Get unread emails from non-automated senders

DB="$HOME/Library/Mail/V10/MailData/Envelope Index"
# Use SQLite date expressions — never compute Unix epochs manually.

sqlite3 "$DB" "
SELECT datetime(m.date_received,'unixepoch','localtime') as dt,
       s.subject, a.address as sender, a.comment as name,
       mb.url as mailbox, m.ROWID, m.conversation_id,
       m.date_received
FROM messages m
JOIN subjects  s  ON m.subject = s.ROWID
JOIN addresses a  ON m.sender  = a.ROWID
JOIN mailboxes mb ON m.mailbox = mb.ROWID
WHERE datetime(m.date_received,'unixepoch','localtime') >= date('now','-7 days','localtime')
  AND m.read = 0
  AND m.deleted = 0
  AND m.automated_conversation = 0
  AND m.unsubscribe_type = 0
  AND mb.url NOT LIKE '%Spam%' AND mb.url NOT LIKE '%Trash%'
  AND mb.url NOT LIKE '%Junk%' AND mb.url NOT LIKE '%Sent%'
ORDER BY m.date_received ASC;" 2>/dev/null

Step 2: Check if a reply exists in the same conversation

For each candidate, check if there's a sent message in the same conversation:

sqlite3 "$DB" "
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM messages m
JOIN mailboxes mb ON m.mailbox = mb.ROWID
WHERE m.conversation_id = <CONVERSATION_ID>
  AND (mb.url LIKE '%Sent%' OR mb.url LIKE '%sent%')
  AND m.date_received > <ORIGINAL_DATE>;" 2>/dev/null

If count > 0, you already replied — skip this email.

Step 3: Age-based prioritization

Group by urgency:

• Overdue (>3 days unread): oldest first — likely forgotten
• Aging (1-3 days): need attention soon
• Recent (<1 day): just came in

Step 4: Read the most overdue ones

python3 ~/.claude/skills/_mail-shared/parser.py <ROWID1> <ROWID2>

Output Format

Emails Waiting for Your Reply

For each:

• Age | From | Subject | [brief context from body if readable]

Group: Overdue → Aging → Recent Total count up front. Note longest-waiting email specifically. Offer to draft a reply to any of them.