/himalaya

name: himalaya
description: "Himalaya CLI: IMAP/SMTP email from terminal."
version: 1.1.0
author: community
license: MIT
metadata:
  hermes:
    tags: [Email, IMAP, SMTP, CLI, Communication]
    homepage: https://github.com/pimalaya/himalaya
prerequisites:
  commands: [himalaya]
origin: original
source_repo: kevinnft/ai-agent-skills
source_url: https://github.com/kevinnft/ai-agent-skills
source_license: MIT
language: en

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)

Installation

# Pre-built binary (Linux/macOS — recommended)
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pimalaya/himalaya/master/install.sh | PREFIX=~/.local sh

# macOS via Homebrew
brew install himalaya

# Or via cargo (any platform with Rust)
cargo install himalaya --locked

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"

# Folder aliases (himalaya v1.2.0+ syntax). Required whenever the
# server's folder names don't match himalaya's canonical names
# (inbox/sent/drafts/trash). Gmail is the common case — see
# `references/configuration.md` for the `[Gmail]/Sent Mail` mapping.
folder.aliases.inbox = "INBOX"
folder.aliases.sent = "Sent"
folder.aliases.drafts = "Drafts"
folder.aliases.trash = "Trash"

> **Heads up on the alias syntax.** Pre-v1.2.0 docs used a > `[accounts.NAME.folder.alias]` sub-section (singular `alias`). > v1.2.0 silently ignores that form — TOML parses fine, but the > alias resolver never reads it, so every lookup falls through to > the canonical name. On Gmail this means save-to-Sent fails *after* > SMTP delivery succeeds, and `himalaya message send` exits non-zero. > Any caller (agent, script, user) that retries on that exit code > will re-run the entire send — including SMTP — producing duplicate > emails to recipients. Always use `folder.aliases.X` (plural, dotted > keys, directly under `[accounts.NAME]`).

Hermes Integration Notes

• **Reading, listing, searching, moving, deleting** all work directly through the terminal tool
• **Composing/replying/forwarding** — piped input (`cat << EOF | himalaya template send`) is recommended for reliability. Interactive `$EDITOR` mode works with `pty=true` + background + process tool, but requires knowing the editor and its commands
• Use `--output json` for structured output that's easier to parse programmatically
• The `himalaya account configure` wizard requires interactive input — use PTY mode: `terminal(command="himalaya account configure", pty=true)`

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

To reply non-interactively from Hermes, read the original message, compose a reply, and pipe it:

# Get the reply template, edit it, and send
himalaya template reply 42 | sed 's/^$/\nYour reply text here\n/' | himalaya template send

Or build the reply manually:

cat << 'EOF' | himalaya template send
From: you@example.com
To: sender@example.com
Subject: Re: Original Subject
In-Reply-To: <original-message-id>

Your reply here.
EOF

Reply-all (interactive — needs $EDITOR, use template approach above instead):

himalaya message reply 42 --all

Forward an Email

# Get forward template and pipe with modifications
himalaya template forward 42 | sed 's/^To:.*/To: newrecipient@example.com/' | himalaya template send

Write a New Email

**Non-interactive (use this from Hermes)** — pipe the message via stdin:

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"

Note: `himalaya message write` without piped input opens `$EDITOR`. This works with `pty=true` + background mode, but piping is simpler and more reliable.

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 a