/himalaya

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:
  {
    "bitterbot":
      {
        "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)
• `references/message-composition.md` (MML syntax for composing emails)

Prerequisites

1. Himalaya CLI installed (`himalaya --version` to verify) 2. A configuration file at `~/.config/himalaya/config.toml` 3. 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.