Himalaya Email Manager
Manage emails using Himalaya IMAP CLI tool. Search, summarize, and delete emails from an IMAP account. Use natural language queries for email operations.
Configuration
Himalaya config: ~/.config/himalaya/config.toml
Invocation: uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/<script>.py (handles Python environment and dependencies, do NOT cd into skill directory)
Get Daily Email Summary
Show emails from the past 24 hours in INBOX and Sent folders:
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email-summary.py
Options:
-v, --verbose- Show himalaya commands being executed
Output includes:
- Rich table format with timestamps, senders, and subjects
- Categorized by folder (π₯ INBOX, π€ Sent)
- Unicode support (Finnish characters, emojis)
Search Emails
Find emails by sender, subject, date range, or folder:
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email-search.py [options]
Options:
--folder FOLDER- Folder to search (default: INBOX)--from SENDER- Filter by sender email/name (case-insensitive)--subject TEXT- Filter by subject text (case-insensitive)--date-start DATE- Start date (YYYY-MM-DD)--date-end DATE- End date (YYYY-MM-DD)--limit N- Maximum results (default: 20, capped at 100)--no-limit- Bypass the 100-result limit cap-v, --verbose- Show himalaya commands being executed--help- Show help message
All filters apply with AND logic. Results include message IDs for deletion. Dates must be in YYYY-MM-DD format. FROM filter matches both sender name and email address.
Examples:
# Search by sender
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email-search.py --from "spotify.com"
# Search by subject
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email-search.py --subject "invoice"
# Search by date range
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email-search.py --date-start "2025-12-17" --date-end "2025-12-31"
# Search in Sent folder
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email-search.py --folder Sent --limit 10
# Multiple filters
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email-search.py --from "@newsletter.com" --subject "unsubscribe" --limit 5
# Search with no limit
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email-search.py --limit 200 --no-limit
Save Emails to File
Save email content to a file in various formats:
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py <message-id> [options]
Options:
--folder FOLDER- Folder to search (default: INBOX)--output PATH- Output directory or file path (default: current directory)--format FORMAT- Output format: markdown, text, or json (default: markdown)--date-prefix- Add YYYY-MM-DD date prefix to filename (uses email date)--no-download-attachments- Skip downloading email attachments (default: attachments are downloaded)--attachment-dir PATH- Directory for attachments (default: current directory, same as email save location)--overwrite- Overwrite existing file without confirmation-v, --verbose- Show himalaya commands being executed--help- Show help message
Post-Save Attachment Processing
After saving emails with --download-attachments, automatically inspect each attachment using vision capabilities:
- Use vision to analyze each image attachment
- Classify the content type (icon, logo, table, signature, complex image)
- Convert to text representation where appropriate
- Update the saved email file with replacements
- Delete replaced attachment files
Classification Guidelines
| Content Type | Characteristics | Replacement Format |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------- |
| Icons/Emojis/Symbols | Small, single glyph, no text | Unicode character (e.g., β, β
, β) |
| Logos | Company/brand imagery, decorative | Text description: [Logo: Company Name] |
| Signatures | Handwritten-style text, often at email end | Text: [Signature: Name] or extracted text |
| Brief text | Very short text content (1-3 words) | Extracted text verbatim |
| Simple tables | Single-line cells, no images | Markdown table |
| Complex tables | Multi-line cells, no images | ASCII table |
| Photos/Complex images | Photographs, screenshots, diagrams | Keep unchanged |
Replacement Process
- Read the saved email file
- For each attachment reference in the file: a. Inspect the image using vision capability b. Determine if it can be replaced with text c. If yes: generate appropriate text representation d. If no: leave the attachment reference unchanged
- Write updated content to the email file
- Delete successfully replaced attachment files
Example Conversions
Icon β Unicode:
Before: 
After: β
Simple table β Markdown:
| Header 1 | Header 2 |
| -------- | -------- |
| Value A | Value B |
Complex table β ASCII:
+------------+-----------+
| Header 1 | Header 2 |
+------------+-----------+
| Multi-line | Content |
| cell here | goes here |
+------------+-----------+
Arguments:
message-id- Message ID to save (obtained from search results)
Output formats:
- markdown: Rich format with headers and metadata
- text: Plain text with basic headers
- json: Raw JSON output from himalaya (envelope + body data)
Filename behavior:
- Default:
{message-id}.{ext} - With
--date-prefix:{YYYY-MM-DD}-{subject-sanitized}.{ext} - Subject characters: Spaces and emojis preserved, slashes converted to dashes
Examples:
# Save as markdown to current directory (attachments downloaded by default)
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py 56873
# Save to specific directory (attachments downloaded by default)
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py 56873 --output ~/saved-emails
# Save with date prefix (attachments downloaded by default)
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py 56873 --date-prefix --output /tmp/emails
# Save as text format (attachments downloaded by default)
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py 56873 --format text
# Save as JSON (attachments downloaded by default)
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py 56873 --format json
# Save to specific file path (attachments downloaded by default)
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py 56873 --output ~/important-email.md
# Overwrite existing file without prompt
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py 56873 --overwrite --output ~/email.md
# Save from Sent folder (attachments downloaded by default)
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py --folder Sent 12345 --output ~/sent-emails
# Save without attachments
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py 56873 --no-download-attachments
# Save with attachments to custom directory (default behavior with custom dir)
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py 56873 --attachment-dir ~/attachments
Save Email Workflow (Agent)
When user asks to save an email (attachments are downloaded by default):
- Run
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py <id> --output <dir>(attachments are downloaded automatically) - Read the list of downloaded attachments from output
- For each image attachment:
- Use
look_attool or other vision capabilities to inspect the image - Classify content and determine if it can be replaced with text
- Use
- If any attachments were replaced:
- Update the saved email file with text replacements
- Delete the replaced attachment files
- Report to user what was saved and what was converted
To skip attachment downloads, use --no-download-attachments flag.
Attachment Classification
- Replace with Unicode: Icons, emojis, symbols, checkmarks, arrows
- Replace with Markdown table: Tables with single-line text cells
- Replace with ASCII table: Tables with multi-line text cells
- Replace with text: Very brief text (1-3 words), signatures
- Keep unchanged: Photos, screenshots, complex diagrams, charts
ASCII Table Format
For complex tables with multi-line content, use this standardized format:
+------------+---------------+
| Column 1 | Column 2 |
+------------+---------------+
| Line 1 | Multi-line |
| continues | content here |
+------------+---------------+
Key characteristics:
- Use
+for corners - Use
-for horizontal lines - Use
|for vertical lines - Column widths match content
- All cells must have aligned pipes
Delete Emails
Delete emails by message ID with safety preview:
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email-delete.py <message-id> [options]
Options:
--folder FOLDER- Folder to delete from (default: INBOX)--execute- Actually perform deletion (default: dry-run mode)-v, --verbose- Show himalaya commands being executed--help- Show help message
Arguments:
message-id- Message ID to delete (obtained from search results)
Safety: Always run in dry-run mode first to verify the correct message.
In interactive mode, you'll be prompted for confirmation before deletion.
When called by OpenCode agent, deletion proceeds immediately with --execute flag.
Examples:
# Preview deletion
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email-delete.py 56838
# Actually delete (interactive - will prompt for confirmation)
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email-delete.py 56838 --execute
# Delete from specific folder
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email-delete.py --folder Sent 12345 --execute
Translate Natural Language Queries
Interpret natural language queries as appropriate script calls:
Summary queries:
- "Show me today's emails" β email-summary.py
- "What emails did I get today?" β email-summary.py
- "Summary of recent emails" β email-summary.py
Search queries:
- "Find emails from Spotify" β email-search.py --from "spotify.com"
- "Show me emails about invoices" β email-search.py --subject "invoice"
- "Search for Atomikettu emails from the past two weeks" β email-search.py --from "atomikettu" --date-start "2025-12-17" --date-end "2025-12-31"
- "What did I send yesterday?" β email-search.py --folder Sent --date-start "2025-12-30" --date-end "2025-12-30"
- "Search INBOX for emails from john@example.com" β email-search.py --from "john@example.com"
- "Find emails with 'newsletter' in subject" β email-search.py --subject "newsletter"
Save queries:
- "Save email ID 56873" β
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py 56873 - "Save as JSON" β
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py 56873 --format json - "Save to ~/emails folder with date prefix" β
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/email_save.py 56873 --output ~/emails --date-prefix
Delete queries:
- "Delete email ID 56838" β email-delete.py 56838 (show preview, ask for confirmation)
- "Remove the email from Spotify" β First search to find ID, then delete with confirmation
Implementation Notes
When calling scripts:
- Always invoke with
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/<script-name>.py(handles environment and deps, do NOT cd into skill directory) - For search by sender or subject, use --from and --subject flags
- Date range uses --date-start and --date-end (YYYY-MM-DD format)
- Case-insensitive search is automatic - don't worry about capitalization
- FROM filter searches both sender name and email address
- Always run delete operations in dry-run mode first without --execute flag
- Ask user for confirmation before running delete with --execute flag (interactive mode only)
- Use -v/--verbose to see himalaya commands being executed (for debugging)
Avoid these pitfalls:
- Don't use --since or --until (not implemented - use --date-start/--date-end)
- Don't try to search body content (only headers are available in JSON output)
- Don't forget to add --execute flag when actually deleting (dry-run by default)
- Don't use incorrect date format (must be YYYY-MM-DD)
Follow this workflow for search and delete:
- Use email-search.py to find messages
- Review results with user
- Use email-delete.py <ID> to preview deletion
- Get user confirmation
- Use email-delete.py <ID> --execute to actually delete
Technical context:
- Backend: Himalaya v1.1.0 (Rust-based IMAP CLI tool) via Python 3.13 with typer and rich
- Installation: Himalaya must be installed on your system
- Output format: JSON β Rich tables with Python json.loads()
- Authentication: Keyring-based (managed by Himalaya)
- Protocol: IMAP over TLS (direct server communication)
- Date format: YYYY-MM-DD (ISO 8601)
- Case sensitivity: All search filters are case-insensitive using Python .lower()
- Agent detection: Uses sys.stdin.isatty() to determine if running interactively
Using the Scripts
All scripts use PEP 723 inline metadata and require Python 3.13+.
Invoke with uv run using the absolute path to automatically handle Python environment and dependencies:
uv run {skill_directory}/scripts/<script-name>.py [options]
Dependencies (auto-managed by uv):
- typer - for CLI argument parsing
- rich - for beautiful terminal output