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:

bash

himalaya account configure

Or create ~/.config/himalaya/config.toml manually:

toml

[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#

bash

himalaya folder list

List Emails#

List emails in INBOX (default):

bash

himalaya envelope list

List emails in a specific folder:

bash

himalaya envelope list --folder "Sent"

List with pagination:

bash

himalaya envelope list --page 1 --page-size 20

Search Emails#

bash

himalaya envelope list from john@example.com subject meeting

Read an Email#

Read email by ID (shows plain text):

bash

himalaya message read 42

Export raw MIME:

bash

himalaya message export 42 --full

Reply to an Email#

Interactive reply (opens $EDITOR):

bash

himalaya message reply 42

Reply-all:

bash

himalaya message reply 42 --all

Forward an Email#

bash

himalaya message forward 42

Write a New Email#

Interactive compose (opens $EDITOR):

bash

himalaya message write

Send directly using template:

bash

cat << 'EOF' | himalaya template send
From: you@example.com
To: recipient@example.com
Subject: Test Message

Hello from Himalaya!
EOF

Or with headers flag:

bash

himalaya message write -H "To:recipient@example.com" -H "Subject:Test" "Message body here"

Move/Copy Emails#

Move to folder:

bash

himalaya message move 42 "Archive"

Copy to folder:

bash

himalaya message copy 42 "Important"

Delete an Email#

bash

himalaya message delete 42

Manage Flags#

Add flag:

bash

himalaya flag add 42 --flag seen

Remove flag:

bash

himalaya flag remove 42 --flag seen

Multiple Accounts#

List accounts:

bash

himalaya account list

Use a specific account:

bash

himalaya --account work envelope list

Attachments#

Save attachments from a message:

bash

himalaya attachment download 42

Save to specific directory:

bash

himalaya attachment download 42 --dir ~/Downloads

Output Formats#

Most commands support --output for structured output:

bash

himalaya envelope list --output json
himalaya envelope list --output plain

Debugging#

Enable debug logging:

bash

RUST_LOG=debug himalaya envelope list

Full trace with backtrace:

bash

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.