电子邮件，作为AI代理能够实际操作的东西。 一个CLI通过Gmail、QQ， 163、Outlook 以及任何 IMAP/SMTP 服务器——每个命令都用 JSON，每个破坏性命令 其中一种是通过--confirm的模拟演练。

属于*-use家族——每个工具都赋予一个代理人 亲手碰到一件真正的事。

为什么是这个，而不是IMAP的片段

• 稳定的JSON合同，非抓取文本。 每个响应都携带 success: boolean，失败则从固定集合中承载error_code （auth_failed、folder_not_found、imap_error， …）记录在 docs/CLI_JSON_CONTRACT.md。
• 它会告诉你何时可能错误。 缓存读取报告 from_cache， cache_age_seconds 和 cache_stale，还有一张足够古老的快照，意味着“什么都没有” 正在同步“被拒绝，转而采用实时取用。空收件箱永远不会是静音 “什么都没到。”
• 仅凭同意破坏。 delete / mark / move / send 返回 预演预览——按账户和文件夹分组，附有示例主题——并进行更改 直到--confirm之前都没有。--all-folders除非被要求，否则跳过发送/草稿/垃圾/垃圾。
• 为代币预算设计。 --format compact 每封邮件都向十人项目

mail-use

Email, as something an AI agent can actually operate. One CLI over Gmail, QQ, 163, Outlook and any IMAP/SMTP box — every command speaks JSON, every destructive one is dry-run until you pass --confirm.

mail-use code --json          # the newest verification code, one live pass
mail-use email recent --format compact --json
mail-use email delete --from [email protected] --confirm --json

Part of the *-use family — small tools that each give an agent hands on one real thing.

Why this and not an IMAP snippet

• A stable JSON contract, not scraped text. Every response carries success: boolean, and failures carry error_code from a fixed set (auth_failed, folder_not_found, imap_error, …). Documented in docs/CLI_JSON_CONTRACT.md.
• It tells you when it might be wrong. Cached reads report from_cache, cache_age_seconds and cache_stale, and a snapshot old enough to mean “nothing is syncing” is refused in favour of a live fetch. An empty inbox is never a silent “nothing arrived”.
• Destructive by consent only. delete / mark / move / send return a dry-run preview — grouped per account and folder, with sample subjects — and change nothing until --confirm. --all-folders skips Sent/Drafts/Junk/Trash unless asked.
• Built for token budgets. --format compact projects each email to the ten fields worth scanning (~30% smaller than the full shape), --with-preview folds a body snippet into the list call, and batch show reuses one IMAP connection.
• Fast enough to call in a loop. A persistent daemon pools IMAP connections and syncs to local SQLite in the background: five sequential email list calls go from 25s to 0.83s. See the table below.
• MCP too. mail-use mcp config --json prints a paste-ready entry; the server exposes 16 tools with the same dry-run defaults.

Renamed from Mailbox to mail-use. The command is now mail-use; mailbox still works as an alias, and your config in ~/.config/mailbox is untouched.

Supported providers

163 / 126 · QQ · Gmail · Outlook / Hotmail · any custom IMAP+SMTP server.

Search behaves differently per provider and the CLI says so: Gmail searches bodies server-side via X-GM-RAW, while QQ/163/Outlook have broken IMAP TEXT search, so --query falls back to matching subject + sender only. Use --from / --subject there for predictable results.

Install

One line, no npm, no Node

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/leeguooooo/mail-use/main/install.sh | sh
mail-use --help

Downloads the prebuilt binary for your platform (macOS arm64/x64, Linux x64/arm64) from the latest GitHub Release, verifies its checksum, and installs to ~/.local/bin. Pin a version with MAIL_USE_VERSION=v2.11.2, or