| name | mailbox-taxonomy |
| description | This skill should be used when the user asks to "design my folder structure", "mailboxes are a mess", "project vs client email organization", or wants a repeatable taxonomy plus noise diagnosis before archiving. Uses list_mailboxes, get_statistics (account_overview, mailbox_breakdown), get_top_senders, synchronize_account, and create_mailbox after explicit approval. Do NOT use for the 5-minute triage ping (see inbox-triage), one-shot bulk moves (see email-archive-cleanup), drafting mail (email-drafting), or building Mail.app filter rules programmatically; there is no rule-creation MCP tool (see mail-rules-advisor). |
Mailbox Taxonomy And Structure
Architect a shallow, searchable folder system aligned to how Apple Mail behaves with this MCP. Emphasize semantics that survive growth (clients, streams, SLA queues) rather than heroic deep trees.
When To Use
| Signal | Route here |
|---|
| "How should folders work?" | Yes |
| Naming schemes for Ops / Sales / Exec assistants | Yes |
| Diagnose cluttered mailboxes + top offenders | Yes (pair with mail-rules-advisor for rule text) |
Discovery Pass
Run in order, stopping if latency spikes:
list_mailboxes(include_counts=false): capture depth and orphan folders without count walks; request counts only for a short candidate list after the user approves the slower pass.get_statistics(scope="account_overview", days_back=2) for a quick load sample, then use get_statistics(scope="mailbox_breakdown", mailbox="...") only per folder under review; omitting mailbox on mailbox_breakdown scopes to the default Inbox in code, so always pass the folder name when assessing non-Inbox clutter. See large-inbox-rules.md for the canonical bounded-scan rules; get_statistics(scope="account_overview", days_back=0) returns UNBOUNDED_SCAN_REQUIRED; keep days_back bounded.get_top_senders(top_n=25, days_back=30, group_by_domain=true): map noise domains vs humans.- If counts look stale vs Mail UI, ask first; only then use
synchronize_account(account="...", confirm_sync=True) because it may fetch a large backlog.
Design Principles
- Keep tiers ≤3 deep wherever possible (
Client/Anchor beats BizDev/Clients/Industry/Alice).
- Split Action, Waiting For, FYI/Reference, Automated Streams primitives before bespoke project folders.
- Prefer search + tagging flags for ephemeral contexts; carve dedicated folders only for compliance or retention-heavy streams.
- Name mailboxes deterministically (
Archive/YYYY vs ad-hoc synonyms).
Applying Structure With MCP
Only after user sign-off:
- Create net-new folders via
create_mailbox(name="Parent/Child"); rename/delete still occurs inside Mail UI manually.
- Document rollback (move everything back Inbox?) before writes.
Avoid bulk migrations inside this skill; hand off staged moves plus dry_run flows to email-archive-cleanup.
Interfaces With Adjacent Skills
| Need | Delegate |
|---|
| Filter text for Mail Rules UI | mail-rules-advisor |
| Execute moves / trash / exports | email-archive-cleanup |
| Compose templates per folder SLA | email-drafting + email-style-profile |
Risk Notes
Structural writes lack undo beyond manual moves; treat create_mailbox like infra change management (ticket + rationale).
