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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)references/message-composition.md (MML syntax for composing emails)
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:
himalaya account configure
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"
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
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 to an Email
Interactive reply (opens $EDITOR):
himalaya message reply 42
Reply-all:
himalaya message reply 42 --all
Forward an Email
himalaya message forward 42
Write a New Email
Interactive compose (opens $EDITOR):
himalaya message write
Send directly using template:
cat << 'EOF' | himalaya template send
From: you@example.com
To: recipient@example.com
Subject: Test Message
Hello from Himalaya!
EOF
Or with headers flag:
himalaya message write -H "To:recipient@example.com" -H "Subject:Test" "Message body here"
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.
Weekly Installs
443
Repository
steipete/clawdis
GitHub Stars
336.0K
First Seen
Jan 24, 2026
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