@ghostpaw/email

@ghostpaw/email

Agent email: IMAP and SMTP in-process, cached in SQLite, with reading and sending as separate tools.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GhostPawJS/email/main/install.sh | sh

A standalone email engine for Node.js, built on SQLite.

Email treats IMAP sync, SMTP send, local caching, threading, search, and transport errors as one coherent model instead of a grab bag of protocol adapters. It ships as a single prebundled blob with zero runtime dependencies, designed for three audiences at once: human developers working directly in code, LLM agents operating through a structured soul / tools / skills runtime, and agent operators who want a ready-to-use email CLI binary without writing any wiring code.

MCP server

Every client below starts the same stdio server: ghostpaw-email mcp. For npm-based environments, use npx -y @ghostpaw/email mcp instead. Cached messages live in ~/.ghostpaw/email.db unless the GHOSTPAW_EMAIL_DB environment variable (absolute path) or --db <path> says otherwise.

Claude Code

claude mcp add ghostpaw-email -- ghostpaw-email mcp

or as a plugin, which also installs the skill:

/plugin marketplace add GhostPawJS/email
/plugin install ghostpaw-email@ghostpaw-email

Email CLI (~/.email/config.toml)

[mcp_servers.ghostpaw-email]
command = "ghostpaw-email"
args = ["mcp"]

Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json), Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json) or a project .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ghostpaw-email": {
      "command": "ghostpaw-email",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop users can also install server.mcpb from the latest GitHub release. A Dockerfile is included for container hosts: docker build -t ghostpaw-email . && docker run -i --rm -v email:/data ghostpaw-email.

The server speaks MCP 2026-07-28 (stateless, server/discover) and the initialize-based revisions 2025-11-25, 2025-06-18, 2025-03-26 and 2024-11-05.

Network operations use the existing CLI account configuration (email account add) or EMAIL_IMAP_HOST, EMAIL_SMTP_HOST, EMAIL_USER and EMAIL_PASS (or EMAIL_ACCESS_TOKEN). Discovery and cached reads need no account or credentials. The surface database defaults to ~/.ghostpaw/email.db; point --db at an existing account cache to read it. Each network call opens and closes its IMAP session. Connection commands do not retain a session between calls.

On POSIX, new accounts files and SQLite caches (including WAL/SHM sidecars) use mode 0600, and newly created storage directories use 0700. Existing permissions are preserved, except rewriting accounts.json sets it to 0600.

Use ghostpaw-email skill --short for a compact command cheat sheet, ghostpaw-email skill for the full reference, and ghostpaw-email skill --list to list guides.

Noun-verb CLI

Both email and ghostpaw-email accept this additive command tree. Existing account, read, search, compose, organize and sync commands retain their flags, output and exit codes. Use mail --help for the new tree and mail <verb> --help for parameters.

mail read | search
mail send | reply | forward | draft | update-draft | send-draft
mail mark-read | mark-unread | star | unstar | mark-answered
mail copy | move | archive | trash | junk | not-junk
mail set-labels | add-labels | remove-labels
mail create-folder | rename-folder | delete-folder | subscribe-folder | unsubscribe-folder
mail connect | disconnect | reconnect | sync | refresh-folders | watch

These 33 paths map to the 5 aligned tools. Action verbs set the tool's action; draft sets save_draft. Search accepts its query as a positional argument. Other fields use kebab-case flags, such as --folder INBOX --uids 1 --uids 2 and --input @message.json for a compose payload. Arrays accept repeated flags or JSON; objects accept JSON or @file. A single - reads stdin JSON; explicit flags override stdin fields. -- ends option parsing.

Global flags for the new commands: --db <path>, --json, --quiet, --compact, --help/-h, --version/-V/-v, --no-color. Output is JSON when piped or when --json is set. --quiet suppresses stdout. completions bash|zsh|fish prints shell completion setup; version prints the version and installation variant. The existing tools [--json], describe <tool>, call <tool> [JSON|-], flat mail_<tool> --parameter value, mcp and skill forms remain available.

New command exit code	Meaning
0	Success or no-op
1	Tool error
2	Usage or schema error
3	Clarification needed or not found
4	Conflict or version mismatch
70	Unexpected internal error

Offline examples, run against an empty cache:

ghostpaw-email mail search invoice --db /tmp/email-port-example.db --json
ghostpaw-email mail read --view folders --db /tmp/email-port-example.db --json
ghostpaw-email mail --help

Search returns 0 matches and folder reads return 0 folders in an empty cache. GHOSTPAW_EMAIL_DB sets the default cache path, otherwise ~/.ghostpaw/email.db is used. Local search and cached reads need no credentials. Network operations use email account add configuration or EMAIL_IMAP_HOST, EMAIL_SMTP_HOST, EMAIL_USER and EMAIL_PASS (or EMAIL_ACCESS_TOKEN). Each invocation closes its network session; mail connect does not retain a session for later commands.

Tool CLI

ghostpaw-email tools
ghostpaw-email call mail_read '{"view":"folders"}' --db :memory:
ghostpaw-email call mail_search '{"query":"invoice"}'

Both email and ghostpaw-email run the same CLI. Existing account, read, search, compose, organize and sync commands remain available. The full guide is preserved in skills/email/references/cli.md.

Agent Skill: SKILL.md and skills/email/ ship in the package; print the skill with ghostpaw-email skill. List guides with ghostpaw-email skill --list and print one with ghostpaw-email skill compose-and-send.

Install

Release binary (default)

Each line downloads the latest release asset, checks it against the release's SHA256SUMS and installs it on the PATH (~/.local/bin on Linux/macOS; the Windows script adds its folder to the user PATH).

These lines never edit ~/.profile or other shell startup files: export PATH applies to the current shell only. To keep it in new shells, use the ~/.profile line below.

linux-x64:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GhostPawJS/email/main/install.sh | sh -s -- --target linux-x64 && export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

linux-arm64:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GhostPawJS/email/main/install.sh | sh -s -- --target linux-arm64 && export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

darwin-arm64:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GhostPawJS/email/main/install.sh | sh -s -- --target darwin-arm64 && export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

darwin-x64:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GhostPawJS/email/main/install.sh | sh -s -- --target darwin-x64 && export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

windows-x64 (PowerShell; persistently adds its folder to the user PATH by default):

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GhostPawJS/email/main/install.ps1 | iex

Pinned to a release:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GhostPawJS/email/main/install.sh | sh -s -- --target linux-x64 --version 0.5.9 && export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Also adding ~/.local/bin to ~/.profile (edits ~/.profile once; skipped if it already mentions ~/.local/bin; zsh login shells read ~/.zprofile instead, so use that file name there):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GhostPawJS/email/main/install.sh | sh -s -- --target linux-x64 && { grep -qs '.local/bin' ~/.profile || echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.profile; } && export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

To skip the persistent user PATH edit (the installer still installs and prints the folder to add):

$env:GHOSTPAW_NO_MODIFY_PATH=1; irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/GhostPawJS/email/main/install.ps1 | iex

$ ghostpaw-email --version
email 0.5.9 (binary, linux-x64)

Scripts that compare versions should use --version --short or --version --json.

A session with the 0.5.1 linux-x64 binary against a local GreenMail test server on 127.0.0.1 (throwaway user, no real account) and a fresh database (output piped through jq to keep it short):

The same session as an animated GIF.

Other release installers:

mise use -g github:GhostPawJS/email
ubi --project GhostPawJS/email --exe ghostpaw-email --in ~/.local/bin
eget GhostPawJS/email

For aqua, define a github_release package in aqua.yaml:

registries:
  - name: email
    type: local
    path: email-registry.yaml
packages:
  - name: GhostPawJS/email@v<VERSION>
    registry: email

email-registry.yaml:

packages:
  - type: github_release
    repo_owner: GhostPawJS
    repo_name: email
    asset: ghostpaw-email-{{trimV .Version}}-{{.OS}}-{{.Arch}}.tar.gz
    format: tar.gz
    replacements: { amd64: x64 }
    overrides:
      - goos: windows
        asset: ghostpaw-email-{{trimV .Version}}-windows-{{.Arch}}.zip
        format: zip
    files:
      - name: ghostpaw-email

Install scripts verify SHA256SUMS. To verify a downloaded archive's build attestation:

gh attestation verify <archive> -R GhostPawJS/email

Set GHOSTPAW_VERIFY=attestation for attestation verification in install.sh. Binaries are unsigned; macOS binaries carry an ad-hoc signature. For a browser download on macOS, remove quarantine with xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /path/to/ghostpaw-email. Linux binaries require glibc 2.28+; use npx on Alpine. See the binary build workflow.

Sizes for 0.5.1 (Node 26.12.1 inside each binary):

Target	Archive	Binary
linux-x64	41.7 MB tar.gz	117.7 MB
linux-arm64	41.2 MB tar.gz	115.4 MB
darwin-arm64	44.9 MB tar.gz	146.9 MB
darwin-x64	46.4 MB tar.gz	149.8 MB
windows-x64	38.5 MB zip	105.8 MB

Release installation is checked on ubuntu-24.04, macos-15 and windows-2025.

npx / npm (for npm-based environments)

Requires Node 24+ (uses the built-in node:sqlite module). The npm package is 1711 KB unpacked.

npm install @ghostpaw/email        # as a library
npm install -g @ghostpaw/email     # as a global CLI
npx @ghostpaw/email --help         # one-off, no install needed

Library (for harnesses embedding it in code)

npm install @ghostpaw/email

import { Mailbox } from '@ghostpaw/email';

See library usage.

Quick Start

import { Mailbox } from '@ghostpaw/email';

const mailbox = new Mailbox({
  imap: { host: 'imap.example.com', port: 993, tls: true },
  smtp: { host: 'smtp.example.com', port: 465, tls: true },
  auth: { user: '[e-mail]', pass: 'secret' },
  storage: 'mail.db',
});

await mailbox.connect();

const folders = mailbox.read.folders();
await mailbox.network.sync();
const messages = mailbox.read.messages('INBOX', { limit: 20 });

await mailbox.write.send({
  to: [{ address: '[e-mail]' }],
  subject: 'Hello',
  text: 'Sent from @ghostpaw/email.',
});

await mailbox.disconnect();

connect() opens the SQLite database, initialises the schema, upserts the account, and authenticates the IMAP session — one call does everything.

Docs

Read the manual for usage guides and the stored email model.

• Overview: what the manual covers and where to start
• Human usage: using the library directly in code
• LLM building blocks: tools, skills and the soul prompt for agents
• Accounts: one email identity and its connection
• Folders: cached IMAP mailboxes
• Messages: header records per folder and UID
• Bodies: decoded message content
• Threads: JWZ conversation trees
• Attachments: cached MIME parts
• Sync: the log of each sync pass

Repository references:

Document	Audience
SKILL.md	Agent operators and Claude Code users running email as a bash tool
HUMAN.md	Human developers using the Mailbox API with read / write / network
LLM.md	Agent builders wiring soul, tools, and skills into LLM systems
docs/README.md	Architecture overview: model, invariants, protocol boundaries, source layout
docs/entities/	Per-entity manuals with schema, operations, and invariants

The Model

Seven stored concepts and three derived ones:

Concept	Purpose
Account	One email identity with IMAP/SMTP connection config
Folder	One IMAP mailbox path with sync metadata and role detection
Message	A locally cached email header record with flags, labels, and envelope
Body	The decoded text/html content and raw RFC 2822 bytes of one message
Attachment	A decoded MIME part with on-demand binary fetch
SyncLog	A record of one completed sync pass per folder
Thread	A JWZ conversation tree derived from References/In-Reply-To headers

The model means each kind of mail state has its own home:

What it looks like	What it actually is
An email inbox	A Folder with role: 'inbox' and synced messages
A conversation	A Thread computed from References and In-Reply-To chains
An unread email	A Message without \Seen in its flags array
A starred email	A Message with \Flagged in its flags
A PDF attached to a message	An Attachment with metadata from BODYSTRUCTURE and data fetched on demand
"Sync found 12 new messages"	A SyncLog row recording strategy, counts, and duration

State is derived, not toggled. Thread IDs are computed from header chains at sync time, folder roles are detected from IMAP special-use attributes, and attachment metadata is extracted from BODYSTRUCTURE — all materialised during sync, never stored as manual status fields.

Two Audiences

Human developers

Use the Mailbox class with typed read, write, and network surfaces for direct-code access to every mail operation:

import { Mailbox } from '@ghostpaw/email';

const mailbox = new Mailbox(config);
await mailbox.connect();

const threads = mailbox.read.threads('INBOX', { limit: 20 });
const detail = await mailbox.read.getMessage('INBOX', uid);
await mailbox.write.reply('INBOX', uid, { text: 'Acknowledged.' });
await mailbox.write.archive('INBOX', [uid]);

See HUMAN.md for the full human-facing guide with worked examples.

LLM agents

Use the tools, skills, and soul namespaces for a structured runtime surface designed to minimise LLM cognitive load:

import { skills, soul, tools } from '@ghostpaw/email';

// 5 intent-shaped tools covering the full mailbox lifecycle
const allTools = tools.aligned.emailTools;
const readTool = tools.aligned.getEmailToolByName('mail_read');

// 8 reusable workflow skills for multi-step scenarios
const triageSkill = skills.getEmailSkillByName('triage-inbox');

// Thinking foundation for system prompts
const systemPrompt = soul.renderEmailSoulPromptFoundation();

The shared facade exposes name, description, whenToUse, whenNotToUse, inputSchema, readOnly, and sideEffects. Handlers take a context containing read, write, and network surfaces and the existing tool input. They return { ok, outcome, summary, next, data }; data.entities contains the message or mailbox references, and next contains follow-up hints. Errors map to ok: false. Read operations may refresh the local cache, so metadata conservatively marks all tools as writing state.

const definitions = tools.aligned.listEmailToolDefinitions();
const tool = tools.aligned.getEmailToolByName('mail_read');
if (!tool) throw new Error('mail_read is unavailable');
const result = await tool.handler(
  { read: mailbox.read, write: mailbox.write, network: mailbox.network },
  { view: 'folders' },
);
console.log(result.ok, result.summary);

The deprecated tools.emailTools and tools.getEmailToolByName() remain available with the original { outcome, summary, entities, nextSteps } result and unchanged inputs. Migrate to tools.aligned to use the shared shape.

See LLM.md for the full AI-facing guide covering soul, tools, and skills.

CLI (bash)

The package ships as a standalone email binary. Accounts are stored in ~/.config/email/accounts.json and every command accepts --json for machine-readable output.

# Add an account once
email account add --name work \
  --imap-host imap.example.com --smtp-host smtp.example.com \
  --user [e-mail] --pass secret

# Then use it
email sync                              # pull latest from server
email read                             # check inbox
email search "invoice"                 # FTS5 search
email compose send --to [e-mail] --subject "Hi" --body "Hello"

# Machine-readable output for agents and scripts
email read queue --json | jq '.entities[].title'
echo "body text" | email compose send --to [e-mail] --subject "Hi"

--attach (on compose send and compose reply) takes one or more file paths, comma-separated:

email compose send --to [e-mail] --subject "Report" --body "Attached" \
  --attach ./report.pdf,./data.csv

Each path must be a regular file. Symlinks are followed to their target; directories, devices, FIFOs and sockets are rejected with exit code 1 (invalid_flag_value) before anything is sent. The MIME type comes from the file extension (unknown extensions are sent without an explicit type).

All commands return the same { outcome, summary, entities, nextSteps } shape as the tool layer, with consistent exit codes (0 success, 1 user error, 2 config, 3 auth, 4 network, 5 tool error).

See SKILL.md for the complete CLI reference for agent operators and Claude Code / OpenClaw users.

Tools

Five tools shaped around operator intent, not raw protocol operations:

Tool	What it does
mail_read	Read folder lists, message queues, threads, bodies, attachments, or raw EML
mail_search	FTS5 local search or IMAP SEARCH on the server
mail_compose	Send, reply, forward, save/update/send drafts
mail_organize	Flags, labels, copy, move, archive, trash, junk, folder management
mail_sync	Connect, disconnect, reconnect, sync, refresh folders, watch

Key Properties

• Zero runtime dependencies. Only node:sqlite, node:tls, node:net, node:zlib, node:crypto (built into Node 24+).
• Single prebundled blob. One ESM + one CJS entry in dist/. No subpath exports, no code splitting.
• Pure SQLite storage. FTS5 full-text search, six tables, and deterministic derived reads. Mailbox creates and manages its own DatabaseSync instance.
• Full IMAP engine. Streaming tokenizer, response parser, COMPRESS=DEFLATE, IDLE (RFC 2177), CONDSTORE/QRESYNC (RFC 7162), XOAUTH2/OAUTHBEARER.
• Full SMTP client. TLS/STARTTLS/plaintext, PLAIN/LOGIN/XOAUTH2, dot stuffing, APPEND to Sent after send.
• Fetch-on-demand bodies. Initial sync pulls headers and BODYSTRUCTURE only. Message bodies and attachment bytes are fetched when actually read.
• JWZ threading. Conversation trees computed from References/In-Reply-To headers, with depth-ordered rendering and cross-folder support.
• Intention-shaped writes. send, reply, forward, archive, trash, saveDraft, sendDraft — operations that say what happened, not generic CRUD.
• Additive AI runtime. soul for posture, tools for actions, skills for workflow guidance — all optional, all structured.
• Colocated tests. Every non-type module has a colocated .test.ts file. The documented behaviour is backed by executable coverage.

Package Surface

import {
  Mailbox,      // porcelain class — the primary entry point
  initSchema,   // schema setup (called automatically by Mailbox.connect())
  read,         // read surface factory
  write,        // write surface factory
  network,      // network surface factory
  tools,        // LLM tool definitions + registry
  skills,       // LLM workflow skills + registry
  soul,         // thinking foundation for system prompts
} from '@ghostpaw/email';

All domain and runtime types are also available at the root for TypeScript consumers:

import type {
  EmailConfig,
  AuthConfig,
  EmailReadSurface,
  EmailWriteSurface,
  EmailNetworkSurface,
  EmailToolDefinition,
  EmailToolResult,
  EmailSkill,
  EmailSoul,
  ComposeInput,
  ReplyInput,
  ForwardInput,
  Message,
  MessageDetail,
  Thread,
  Folder,
  Attachment,
  AttachmentMeta,
  SyncResult,
  WatchEvent,
} from '@ghostpaw/email';

Development

npm install
npm test            # node:test runner
npm run typecheck   # tsc --noEmit
npm run lint        # biome check
npm run build       # ESM + CJS + declarations via tsup

The repo is pinned to Node 24.14.0 via .nvmrc / .node-version / .tool-versions / mise.toml / Volta. Use whichever version manager you prefer.

Support

If this package helps your project, consider sponsoring its maintenance:

Anonyfox • MIT License