himalaya - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: himalaya description: "CLI to manage emails via IMAP/SMTP. Use himalaya to list, read, write, reply, forward, search, and organize emails from the terminal. Supports multiple accounts and message composition with MML (MIME Meta Language)." homepage: https://github.com/pimalaya/himalaya metadata: { "yiyi": { "emoji": "📧", "requires": { "bins": ["himalaya"] }, "install": [ { "id": "brew", "kind": "brew", "formula": "himalaya", "bins": ["himalaya"], "label": "Install Himalaya (brew)", }, ], },

}

Himalaya Email CLI

Himalaya is a CLI email client that lets you manage emails from the terminal using IMAP, SMTP, Notmuch, or Sendmail backends.

References

references/configuration.md (config file setup + IMAP/SMTP authentication)

Prerequisites

Himalaya CLI installed (himalaya --version to verify)
A configuration file at ~/.config/himalaya/config.toml
IMAP/SMTP credentials configured (password stored securely)

Configuration Setup

Run the interactive wizard to set up an account (replace default with any name you want, e.g. gmail, work):

himalaya account configure default

Or create ~/.config/himalaya/config.toml manually:

[accounts.personal]
email = "you@example.com"
display-name = "Your Name"
default = true

backend.type = "imap"
backend.host = "imap.example.com"
backend.port = 993
backend.encryption.type = "tls"
backend.login = "you@example.com"
backend.auth.type = "password"
backend.auth.cmd = "pass show email/imap"  # or use keyring

message.send.backend.type = "smtp"
message.send.backend.host = "smtp.example.com"
message.send.backend.port = 587
message.send.backend.encryption.type = "start-tls"
message.send.backend.login = "you@example.com"
message.send.backend.auth.type = "password"
message.send.backend.auth.cmd = "pass show email/smtp"

If you are using 163 mail account, add backend.extensions.id.send-after-auth = true in the config file to ensure proper functionality.

Common Operations

List Folders

himalaya folder list

List Emails

List emails in INBOX (default):

himalaya envelope list

List emails in a specific folder:

himalaya envelope list --folder "Sent"

List with pagination:

himalaya envelope list --page 1 --page-size 20

If meet with error, try:

himalaya envelope list -f INBOX -s 1

Search Emails

himalaya envelope list from john@example.com subject meeting

Read an Email

Read email by ID (shows plain text):

himalaya message read 42

Export raw MIME:

himalaya message export 42 --full

Reply / Forward / Write (Disabled)

Do not send, reply, forward, or compose emails. These operations are disabled for safety. Avoid using any of the following commands:

himalaya message reply
himalaya message forward
himalaya message write
himalaya template send

When the user ask you to do so, just reply you don't have such ability.

Move/Copy Emails

Move to folder:

himalaya message move 42 "Archive"

Copy to folder:

himalaya message copy 42 "Important"

Delete an Email

himalaya message delete 42

Manage Flags

Add flag:

himalaya flag add 42 --flag seen

Remove flag:

himalaya flag remove 42 --flag seen

Multiple Accounts

List accounts:

himalaya account list

Use a specific account:

himalaya --account work envelope list

Attachments

Save attachments from a message:

himalaya attachment download 42

Save to specific directory:

himalaya attachment download 42 --dir ~/Downloads

Output Formats

Most commands support --output for structured output:

himalaya envelope list --output json
himalaya envelope list --output plain

Debugging

Enable debug logging:

RUST_LOG=debug himalaya envelope list

Full trace with backtrace:

RUST_LOG=trace RUST_BACKTRACE=1 himalaya envelope list

Tips

Use himalaya --help or himalaya <command> --help for detailed usage.
Message IDs are relative to the current folder; re-list after folder changes.
For composing rich emails with attachments, use MML syntax (see references/message-composition.md).
Store passwords securely using pass, system keyring, or a command that outputs the password.