apple-mail

name	apple-mail
description	read, search, safely draft, and recoverably delete emails from macos Mail data. optional server draft adapters are explicit and disabled by default.
disable-model-invocation	true

apple mail skill

read, search, and safely draft emails from macos mail data via cli. when this skill is called alone without any specific instruction, see references/default-task.md.

quick start

# verify setup (mail.app running, full disk access, dependencies)
.cursor/skills/apple-mail/scripts/check-setup.sh

# build the search index (required for search and content previews)
.cursor/skills/apple-mail/scripts/mail.sh build-index

# list a focused recent batch with content previews where already available
.cursor/skills/apple-mail/scripts/mail.sh list-recent --limit 50 --include-content

important: symlink path

this skill lives under .cursor/skills/apple-mail/ which may be a symlink. all script invocations should use the resolved path from this skill directory. run .cursor/skills/apple-mail/scripts/check-setup.sh to see resolved paths.

production write/delete policy

production must not drive visible Apple Mail compose windows, draft deletion, sending, forwarding, replies, or arbitrary moves. those paths have crashed Mail during testing, including crashes in Mail's scripting delete handlers. delete-email is the one production exception: after user confirmation, it moves the message to its own account's Trash/Deleted Items and remains recoverable.

compose-draft uses the auto backend. by default, auto uses the verified hidden Mail.app path: it creates a message with visible:false, saves it, restores the previous foreground app, and succeeds only when a matching durable Drafts item is found.

Exchange server drafting is an optional external adapter contract, not a bundled authentication implementation. Set APPLE_MAIL_WEB_EXCHANGE_CLI to an executable protocol-v1 adapter and list routed accounts in APPLE_MAIL_EXCHANGE_REST_ACCOUNTS. Put account-specific values in ~/.config/apple-mail/env, which the launcher loads automatically and which must stay outside Git. Private draft data is sent as JSON over stdin, and successful responses must identify the authenticated account. When either setting is absent, auto continues to Mail.app. For a pure local file, use compose-draft --backend artifact.

delete-email is enabled by default and implemented as a same-account move to Trash inside the safety envelope. the following other live Mail mutation commands remain disabled by default: amend-draft, send-draft, reply-draft, forward-draft, delete-draft, move-email, and batch-move. they return MAIL_UI_MUTATION_DISABLED unless --allow-live-mail-mutation is passed for that exact command. this override is development-only and should only be used on a disposable mailbox until the local mutation E2E suite passes repeatedly for that operation. direct developer calls must set both APPLE_MAIL_ALLOW_UI_MUTATION=1 and APPLE_MAIL_ALLOW_UI_MUTATION_COMMAND=<exact command>.

authorized local Mail mutations now run inside a safety envelope: pre/post Mail health checks, foreground-app capture/restore, and Mail crash-report delta checks. use local-mutation-preflight for a non-destructive check of that envelope before any live mutation testing.

the dev focus/cleanup E2E script is also disabled by default. it requires both APPLE_MAIL_ALLOW_LIVE_E2E=1 and APPLE_MAIL_ALLOW_UI_MUTATION=1.

the generated-message local mutation E2E is scripts/dev/local_mutation_e2e.py full --account EMAIL --to TEST_RECIPIENT --move-folder EXISTING_FOLDER. it is disabled unless APPLE_MAIL_ALLOW_LIVE_E2E=1, APPLE_MAIL_ALLOW_UI_MUTATION=1, and APPLE_MAIL_ALLOW_LOCAL_MUTATION_E2E=1 are all set. it creates only generated canary subjects, then verifies draft create, amend, draft delete, send, move, delete, focus restoration, Mail health, and crash-report deltas.

tool reference

all commands are invoked via .cursor/skills/apple-mail/scripts/mail.sh <command> [args].

all output is json with this contract:

{"success": bool, "data": ..., "error": ..., "warnings": [], "meta": {...}}

command	what it does	speed
server-info	skill version and metadata	instant
check-health	verify mail.app is responding	~1 s
local-mutation-preflight	non-destructive health/focus/crash-report safety-envelope check	~1 s
list-accounts	list all mail accounts	~0.15 s
list-folders --account EMAIL	list folders with email counts	~1-2 s
list-recent [--limit N] [--include-content]	recent emails from all inboxes	~0.3 s
list-emails --account EMAIL --folder NAME [--limit N] [--include-content]	emails in a folder	~0.3 s
list-drafts [--limit N] [--include-content]	drafts across all accounts	~0.25 s
read-email --message-id MID or --id ID	metadata plus cached/disk content	~1-2 s
search --query TEXT [--scope all|subject|sender] [--limit N]	search emails	~1 ms
compose-draft --account EMAIL --subject TEXT --body TEXT --to ADDR... [--font arial|provider-default] [--attachments PATH...]	auto-route to an explicitly configured Exchange adapter or verified Mail.app Drafts	~1-15 s
exchange-auth-status --account EMAIL	query configured Exchange adapter readiness without Mail.app	network
exchange-auth-login --account EMAIL	request interactive auth from the configured Exchange adapter	network
compose-draft --backend artifact --account EMAIL --subject TEXT --body TEXT --to ADDR... [--attachments PATH...] [--output-dir DIR]	create non-ui RFC 5322 .eml draft artifact	instant
amend-draft --id ID [--subject TEXT] [--body TEXT] [--attachments PATH...]	dev-only Mail.app draft mutation; disabled by default	~2 s
send-draft --id ID	dev-only Mail.app send; disabled by default	~2 s
reply-draft --message-id MID --body TEXT [--reply-all] [--attachments PATH...] or --id ID	dev-only Mail.app reply draft; disabled by default	~2 s
forward-draft --message-id MID --account EMAIL --body TEXT --to ADDR... [--attachments PATH...]	dev-only Mail.app forward draft; disabled by default	~2 s
delete-email --message-ids MID [MID...] or --ids ID [ID...]	confirmed deletion by recoverable same-account move to Trash	~1-3 s
delete-draft --id ID	dev-only Mail.app draft deletion; disabled by default	~1 s
move-email --message-id MID --to FOLDER [--to-account EMAIL] or --id ID	dev-only Mail.app move; disabled by default	~3-5 s
batch-move --message-ids MID [MID...] --to FOLDER [--to-account EMAIL]	dev-only Mail.app batch move; disabled by default	~5-15 s
fix-spotlight	disable Spotlight for ~/Library/Mail	instant
build-index	build/rebuild fts5 search index	~30-120 s

array arguments use space separation: --to [e-mail] [e-mail] --cc [e-mail]

for detailed parameter docs and return shapes, see references/tool-reference.md.

workflows

triage inbox

1. list-recent --limit 50 --include-content -- scan a focused recent batch with previews where available (note the message_id field in output)
2. read-email --message-id MID -- open specific email content from the index or disk cache (prefer --message-id over --id)
3. propose an action to the user. after explicit confirmation, delete-email may move the message to its account's Trash; move-email remains development-only.

reply to an email

1. read-email --message-id MID -- read the email
2. draft the reply as a hidden synced draft with compose-draft --account [e-mail] --subject "Re: ..." --body "..." --to [e-mail]
3. verify with list-drafts --limit 10 after a short delay; do not delete cleanup drafts through Mail.app scripting

search and act

1. search --query "invoice" --scope all -- find matching emails
2. read-email --message-id MID -- read full content
3. take action (reply, forward, move, delete)

compose and send

1. compose-draft --account [e-mail] --subject "Hello" --body "..." --to [e-mail]
2. for Mail.app, require verified: true and a stable Drafts item; for an Exchange adapter, require server_written: true, verified: true, exchange_id, and message_id
3. if an adapter returns EXCHANGE_AUTH_REQUIRED, run exchange-auth-login --account [e-mail] explicitly and retry once
4. for revisions, create a new draft. do not use live amend-draft or send-draft in production
5. to prefer Arial locally without changing public defaults, set APPLE_MAIL_DRAFT_FONT=arial; non-Exchange backends reject unverifiable font requests
6. if Mail becomes unstable, use APPLE_MAIL_DRAFT_BACKEND=artifact or compose-draft --backend artifact

bulk triage

for moving or deleting many emails at once, always use live data (not search):

1. list-emails --account EMAIL --folder Inbox --limit 0 -- get live listing with stable message_ids
2. filter results by subject, sender, or date to identify target emails
3. confirm the list with the user
4. present the confirmed list to the user, then delete with delete-email --message-ids .... It moves each message to the corresponding account's Trash and remains recoverable. batch-move stays development-only.

important: never use search --scope all as the source of truth for bulk operations. the FTS index can be stale. always verify against live list-emails or list-recent output.

safety rules

1. production write/delete safety -- production Mail writes are limited to hidden compose-draft create/save and confirmed delete-email same-account moves to Trash. do not use visible compose windows or live Mail.app amend/send/move/reply/forward commands in production.
2. always draft first -- never send without creating and confirming a draft
3. never delete without confirmation -- after confirmation, use delete-email with stable message IDs whenever possible; deletion is recoverable from Trash/Deleted Items
4. prefer --message-id over --id -- the RFC 2822 message-id (the message_id field from list commands) is stable across exchange syncs; integer ids can shift
5. verify draft outputs -- Mail.app must return verified: true and a durable Drafts item; Exchange adapters must return server_written: true, verified: true, exchange_id, and message_id; artifact paths must exist and report mail_app_written: false
6. content previews are partial -- previews are the first ~5000 chars, not full content. use read-email for cached/disk content and expect content_source: "unavailable" when safe sources have no body
7. exchange sync delay -- move operations on exchange accounts need ~3 s for server sync when the development override is explicitly enabled
8. draft previews -- --include-content may not work for drafts on exchange accounts. use read-email for full draft content
9. never delete /tmp/apple-mail-skill.lock. if a command reports a lock timeout, wait or ask the user; deleting the lock can create concurrent Mail.app readers and freeze macos.

verify after writes

prove every safe write took effect before yielding. if a verification fails, surface it to the user before chaining another action -- do not silently retry.

1. after Mail.app compose-draft, require verified: true, draft_id, message_id, and folder_name: "Drafts".
2. after Exchange adapter compose-draft, require server_written: true, verified: true, exchange_id, message_id, and the requested font result.
3. after compose-draft --backend artifact, verify the returned .eml and .json paths and mail_app_written: false.
4. after delete-email, confirm the response reports a move to Trash/Deleted Items and re-list the source folder when verification matters.

if verification is ambiguous (exchange sync taking longer than expected, partial bulk delete with mixed success/failure, unsure whether the user wanted draft-only or send-now), ask the user with a bounded question rather than guessing.

id shift recovery

mail.app integer ids can change after exchange sync. use --message-id (the stable RFC 2822 header) to avoid this problem entirely:

• list commands (list-emails, list-recent, list-drafts) return both id (integer) and message_id (stable string) for each email
• read, delete, move, reply, and forward commands all accept --message-id as the preferred identifier
• --id (integer) still works as a fallback for backward compatibility

if a --message-id lookup fails (edge case), re-list the folder:

.cursor/skills/apple-mail/scripts/mail.sh list-emails --account EMAIL --folder FOLDER

content previews

when --include-content is used and some emails aren't in the index, the system:

1. tries to find .emlx files on disk (instant)
2. returns partial results if content is still missing

this is intentional: the skill never pulls full message bodies through Mail.app as a normal fallback because large HTML/inline-content messages can freeze low-memory Macs. if content is unavailable, use metadata plus the available preview, or run build-index before a deeper triage session.

spotlight indexing

macos Spotlight indexes ~/Library/Mail by default. this is redundant (the skill has its own FTS5 search index) and can cause mds_stores to consume 100%+ CPU indefinitely if the Spotlight index becomes corrupted.

on any new mac where this skill is used, run fix-spotlight during setup:

.cursor/skills/apple-mail/scripts/mail.sh fix-spotlight

this places a .metadata_never_index marker and (with sudo) adds ~/Library/Mail to the Spotlight exclusion plist. check-setup.sh detects and warns if this hasn't been done.

writing style

see references/writing-style.md for email composition guidelines.