Email Management with Himalaya

Email Management with Himalaya

This skill provides email management capabilities using the himalaya CLI email client.

Configured Accounts

Configure your accounts in ~/​.config/​himalaya/​config.toml. Example:

Core Commands

Listing Emails

# List inbox (default account)
himalaya envelope list --page-size 10

# List from specific account
himalaya envelope list --account "Personal" --page-size 10

# List from specific folder
himalaya envelope list --folder "[Gmail]/​Important" --page-size 10

# JSON output for parsing
himalaya envelope list --output json --page-size 10

Reading Emails

# Read email by ID
himalaya message read <id>

# Read in plain text
himalaya message read <id> --header "From,To,Subject,Date"

IMPORTANT: Keeping Emails Unread

When reading emails, himalaya marks them as read. To preserve the unread status for the user:

# After reading, mark back as unread
himalaya flag remove <id> Seen

Always mark emails back as unread after reading unless the user explicitly says they've read it or asks to mark it as read.

Sending Emails

# Send using heredoc
himalaya message send --account "Account Name" <<'EOF'
From: Display Name <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Subject Line

Email body here.

Signature
EOF

Replying to Emails

# Reply to an email
himalaya message reply <id> <<'EOF'
Reply body here.
EOF

Managing Flags

# Mark as read
himalaya flag add <id> Seen

# Mark as unread
himalaya flag remove <id> Seen

# Star/​flag email
himalaya flag add <id> Flagged

# Remove star
himalaya flag remove <id> Flagged

Searching Emails

# Search by subject
himalaya envelope list --query "subject:keyword"

# Search by sender
himalaya envelope list --query "from:[email protected]"

Folders

# List folders
himalaya folder list

# Common Gmail folders
# - INBOX
# - [Gmail]/​Sent Mail
# - [Gmail]/​Drafts
# - [Gmail]/​Trash
# - [Gmail]/​Important
# - [Gmail]/​Starred

Workflow Guidelines

1. Listing emails: Use envelope list - this does NOT mark emails as read
2. Reading emails: After reading with message read, immediately run flag remove <id> Seen to keep unread unless user indicates otherwise
3. Multiple accounts: Always specify --account "Account Name" when working with non-default account
4. Sending emails: Draft the email content and show to user for approval before sending
5. Replying: Read the original email first to understand context, then draft reply for user approval

Common Tasks

Check unread emails across both accounts

himalaya envelope list --account "Work" --page-size 10
himalaya envelope list --account "Personal" --page-size 10

Read and keep unread

himalaya message read <id>
himalaya flag remove <id> Seen

Send from personal account

himalaya message send --account "Personal" <<'EOF'
From: Your Name <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Subject

Body
EOF