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Email Operations Skill

email

Email operations skill for sending, fetching, and reading emails via IMAP/SMTP. Uses curl with OpenSSL/LibreSSL for reliable TLS compatibility with Tencent Enterprise Mail and other providers. Credentials are securely stored in macOS Keychain.

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SKILL.md

Full skill instructions

Email Operations Skill

Overview

This skill provides email capabilities through direct IMAP/​SMTP protocol access using curl. It supports:

  • Sending emails via SMTP with TLS
  • Fetching email lists via IMAP
  • Reading email content by ID
  • Multi-account support with secure credential storage

Architecture

  • Protocol: Direct IMAP (port 993) and SMTP (port 465) over TLS
  • Security: Passwords stored in macOS Keychain, never in config files
  • Compatibility: Uses curl with OpenSSL/​LibreSSL (better Tencent Enterprise Mail support than rustls)
  • Configuration: YAML-based account management in references/​accounts.yaml

Available Scripts

1. Send Email (send-email.sh)

Send emails via SMTP with support for inline or file-based content.

Usage:

./​scripts/​send-email.sh -t [email protected] -s "Subject" -b "Message"
./​scripts/​send-email.sh -t [email protected] -s "Subject" -f message.txt
./​scripts/​send-email.sh -t [email protected] -c [email protected] -s "Subject" -b "Message"

Parameters:

  • -a ACCOUNT - Account name (default: from accounts.yaml)
  • -t EMAIL - Recipient email (required)
  • -c EMAIL - CC recipient (optional)
  • -s TEXT - Email subject (required)
  • -b TEXT - Email body inline (required if no -f)
  • -f FILE - Email body from file (required if no -b)

2. Fetch Emails (fetch-emails.sh)

Retrieve email headers from a mailbox.

Usage:

./​scripts/​fetch-emails.sh                    # Fetch 10 latest from INBOX
./​scripts/​fetch-emails.sh -n 20              # Fetch 20 latest
./​scripts/​fetch-emails.sh -m "Sent"          # Fetch from Sent folder

Parameters:

  • -a ACCOUNT - Account name (default: from accounts.yaml)
  • -m FOLDER - Mailbox folder (default: INBOX)
  • -n N - Number of emails to fetch (default: 10)

3. Read Email (read-email.sh)

Read full content of a specific email by ID.

Usage:

./​scripts/​read-email.sh 123                   # Read full email
./​scripts/​read-email.sh -p HEADER 123         # Headers only
./​scripts/​read-email.sh -p BODY 123           # Body only

Parameters:

  • -a ACCOUNT - Account name (default: from accounts.yaml)
  • -m FOLDER - Mailbox folder (default: INBOX)
  • -p PART - Part to retrieve: HEADER, BODY, or TEXT (default: TEXT)
  • EMAIL_ID - Email ID (required, positional argument)

Configuration

Account Setup

Edit references/​accounts.yaml to add email accounts:

default_account: SUSTech

accounts:
  SUSTech:
    email: [email protected]
    display_name: Hanrui Qi
    imap:
      host: imap.exmail.qq.com
      port: 993
      login: [email protected]
      protocol: imaps
    smtp:
      host: smtp.exmail.qq.com
      port: 465
      login: [email protected]
      protocol: smtps

Password Management

Passwords are stored in macOS Keychain. Set them using:

# IMAP password
security add-generic-password \
  -a "[email protected]" \
  -s "email-imap-sustech" \
  -w "your-password" \
  -U

# SMTP password
security add-generic-password \
  -a "[email protected]" \
  -s "email-smtp-sustech" \
  -w "your-password" \
  -U

Keychain service naming convention:

  • IMAP: email-imap-{account_name_lowercase}
  • SMTP: email-smtp-{account_name_lowercase}

Common Use Cases

1. Send a Quick Email

When user says: "Send an email to [email protected] about the meeting"

cd /​Users/​seven/​Claude/​.claude/​skills/​email
./​scripts/​send-email.sh \
  -t [email protected] \
  -s "Meeting Discussion" \
  -b "Hi Alice, I wanted to follow up on our meeting..."

2. Check Recent Emails

When user says: "Check my email" or "Any new emails?"

cd /​Users/​seven/​Claude/​.claude/​skills/​email
./​scripts/​fetch-emails.sh -n 5

Parse the output and summarize for the user.

Search / Filter (Pipe + grep/​rg)

This is a lightweight way to "search" within the recent emails that fetch-emails.sh fetched (headers only: From/​Subject/​Date).

cd /​Users/​seven/​Claude/​.claude/​skills/​email

# 任意关键字（例如 github），同时保留邮件 ID 行（便于后续 read）
./​scripts/​fetch-emails.sh -n 200 | rg -i "github" -B 2

# 主题关键字（建议用 rg；没有 rg 就用 grep -E）
./​scripts/​fetch-emails.sh -n 200 | rg "主题:.*会议" -B 2
./​scripts/​fetch-emails.sh -n 200 | grep -E "主题:.*会议" -B 2

# 发件人关键字
./​scripts/​fetch-emails.sh -n 200 | rg "发件人:.*alice" -B 1

# 提取匹配到的邮件 ID，然后读取正文（取第一个匹配）
email_id="$(
  ./​scripts/​fetch-emails.sh -n 200 |
    rg -i "github" -B 2 |
    sed -nE 's/​.*邮件 #([0-9]+).*/\1/​p' |
    head -n 1
)"
./​scripts/​read-email.sh "$email_id"

If email_id is empty, increase -n (fetch more recent emails) or adjust the keyword/​regex.

3. Read Specific Email

When user says: "Read email #3" or "Show me the latest email"

cd /​Users/​seven/​Claude/​.claude/​skills/​email
./​scripts/​read-email.sh 3

4. Email Automation

Combine with other skills for automation:

  • Check calendar → Send reminder emails
  • Monitor inbox → Create system notifications
  • Fetch emails → Parse and extract information

Error Handling

Common Issues

  1. Authentication Failed

    • Verify Keychain passwords are set correctly
    • Check if IMAP/​SMTP is enabled in email provider settings
    • For Tencent Enterprise Mail, use app-specific password

  2. Connection Timeout

    • Verify network connectivity
    • Check firewall settings for ports 993 (IMAP) and 465 (SMTP)
    • Confirm host and port in accounts.yaml

  3. TLS Handshake Failed

    • This skill uses curl with OpenSSL/​LibreSSL for better compatibility
    • If issues persist, check email provider's TLS requirements

Security Considerations

  • Never log or display passwords - they're in Keychain only
  • Confirm before sending - especially for important emails
  • Validate recipients - check email addresses before sending
  • Respect privacy - don't read emails unless explicitly requested

Provider-Specific Notes

Tencent Enterprise Mail (exmail.qq.com)

  • IMAP: imap.exmail.qq.com:993 (SSL/​TLS)
  • SMTP: smtp.exmail.qq.com:465 (SSL/​TLS)
  • Requires IMAP/​SMTP enabled in settings
  • Recommend using app-specific password
  • Note: IMAP SEARCH for string criteria (e.g. SUBJECT/FROM/HEADER) may be unreliable on some Tencent Exmail servers; prefer client-side filtering via fetch-emails.sh | rg/​grep.

Gmail

  • IMAP: imap.gmail.com:993
  • SMTP: smtp.gmail.com:587 (STARTTLS)
  • Requires "Less secure app access" or App Password
  • May need OAuth2 for enhanced security

Outlook/​Office 365

  • IMAP: outlook.office365.com:993
  • SMTP: smtp.office365.com:587
  • Requires modern authentication

Technical Details

Why curl instead of rustls?

The rustls TLS library has compatibility issues with some email providers (notably Tencent Enterprise Mail). curl with OpenSSL/​LibreSSL provides:

  • Better TLS handshake compatibility
  • Wider cipher suite support
  • Proven reliability with enterprise email systems

IMAP vs POP3

This skill uses IMAP (not POP3) because:

  • IMAP supports folder management
  • Messages remain on server
  • Better for multi-device access
  • More flexible search and filtering

Future Enhancements

Potential improvements (not yet implemented):

  • Server-side IMAP SEARCH (subject/​sender/​date; provider-dependent)
  • Attachment handling
  • HTML email composition
  • Email filtering and rules
  • OAuth2 authentication support
  • Batch operations

References