mailbox

name	mailbox
description	Read, search, send, and manage email across Gmail, QQ, 163, Outlook and any IMAP/SMTP account from the command line. Use when the user asks to "read my email", "查邮件", "look up an Amazon order email", "find the customer review notification", "send an email", "回复邮件", "delete spam", "查未读", "show unread", "synchronize my mailbox", "set up MCP for email", or anything that involves listing / searching / reading / writing / classifying messages from one or more mailboxes.
metadata	{"author":"leeguooooo","version":"0.2.2","homepage":"https://github.com/leeguooooo/Mailbox"}
keywords	["mailbox","email","imap","smtp","gmail","qq",163,"outlook","邮件","邮箱"]

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):

Newer	Fallback on < 2.11
--format compact	--lean (drops noise; doesn't pin the exact field set)
email recent	email list with no --account-id (already spans all accounts)
--since 7d	--date-from 7d
--text-only	--no-html
cleanup	classify in-agent from email list output

To tell whether a command exists, probe mailbox <cmd> --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 <id> --limit 20 --json
mailbox email list --account-id <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 <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,

mailbox email show <gid> --json                    
mailbox email show <gid1> <gid2> <gid3> --json     
mailbox email show <gid> --full --json             
mailbox email show <gid> --text-only --json        
mailbox email show <gid> --html-max-len 0 --json   


mailbox email folders --account-id <> --json

The gid is self-describing (account_id:folder:uid), so email show <gid> 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 <gid> --read --confirm --json
mailbox email delete <gid> --confirm --json        # default moves to Trash; pass --permanent to expunge
mailbox email flag <gid> --set --confirm --json
mailbox email move <gid1> <gid2> --target-folder Archive --confirm --json
mailbox email send --to [e-mail] --subject hi --body "..." --confirm --json

# Filtered batch mark/delete by sender/subject (no need to list+collect ids first):
mailbox email delete --from [e-mail] --confirm --json
mailbox email mark   --subject "[ci]" --read --confirm --json
mailbox email delete --from [e-mail] --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 <id> --json
# Then actually delete the marketing + routine_notification candidates:
mailbox cleanup --account-id <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 <configDir>/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 <cmd> --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 <gid>. --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 <N> on email list / email search fetches a body snippet alongside the envelope — saves one email show per email.
• Batch email show <gid1> <gid2> ... 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 <cmd> --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 ("<account_id>:<folder>:<uid>"). 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 AND the snapshot is older than the freshness window (default 120s, set via ; disables), the CLI auto-falls back to a live IMAP fetch — so a just-arrived OTP isn't missed between syncs. Pass to force IMAP outright.

Safety rules

• Always pass --json. Always check success.
• Pass either a gid OR --account-id <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):

Operation	No daemon	Daemon (--live)	Daemon (cached)
Single email list	5.0s	1.0s	0.17s
email folders	5.0s	0.85s	n/a
5 sequential email list	25s	5.3s	0.83s
3 parallel email show	~15s	2.7s	0.88s

Reference

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