IMAP Email Reader

Read, search, and manage email via IMAP protocol. Supports ProtonMail Bridge, Gmail IMAP, and any standard IMAP server.

Quick Start

Check for new emails:

node skills/imap-email/scripts/imap.js check

Fetch specific email:

node skills/imap-email/scripts/imap.js fetch <uid>

Mark as read:

node skills/imap-email/scripts/imap.js mark-read <uid>

Search mailbox:

node skills/imap-email/scripts/imap.js search --from "sender@example.com" --unseen

Configuration

Quick setup (ProtonMail Bridge):

cd skills/imap-email
./setup.sh

The setup helper will prompt for Bridge credentials and test the connection.

Manual setup:

1. Copy .env.example to .env in the skill folder
2. Fill in your IMAP credentials
3. The .env file is automatically ignored by git

Environment variables:

IMAP_HOST=127.0.0.1          # Server hostname
IMAP_PORT=1143               # Server port
IMAP_USER=your@email.com
IMAP_PASS=your_password
IMAP_TLS=false               # Use TLS/SSL connection
IMAP_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=false  # Set to false for self-signed certs (optional)
IMAP_MAILBOX=INBOX           # Default mailbox

⚠️ Security: Never commit your .env file! It's already in .gitignore to prevent accidents.

ProtonMail Bridge setup:

• Install and run ProtonMail Bridge
• Use 127.0.0.1:1143 for IMAP
• Password is generated by Bridge (not your ProtonMail password)
• TLS: Use false (Bridge uses STARTTLS)
• REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED: Set to false (Bridge uses self-signed cert)

Gmail IMAP setup:

• Host: imap.gmail.com
• Port: 993
• TLS: true
• Enable "Less secure app access" or use App Password
• REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED: Omit or set to true (default)

Commands

check

Check for unread/new emails in mailbox.

node scripts/imap.js check [--limit 10] [--mailbox INBOX] [--recent 2h]

Options:

• --limit <n>: Max results (default: 10)
• --mailbox <name>: Mailbox to check (default: INBOX)
• --recent <time>: Only show emails from last X time (e.g., 30m, 2h, 7d)

Returns JSON array of messages with:

• uid, from, subject, date, snippet, flags

fetch

Fetch full email content by UID.

node scripts/imap.js fetch <uid> [--mailbox INBOX]

Returns JSON with full body (text + HTML).

search

Search emails with filters.

node scripts/imap.js search [options]

Options:
  --unseen           Only unread messages
  --seen             Only read messages
  --from <email>     From address contains
  --subject <text>   Subject contains
  --recent <time>    From last X time (e.g., 30m, 2h, 7d)
  --since <date>     After date (YYYY-MM-DD)
  --before <date>    Before date (YYYY-MM-DD)
  --limit <n>        Max results (default: 20)
  --mailbox <name>   Mailbox to search (default: INBOX)

Time format examples:

• 30m = last 30 minutes
• 2h = last 2 hours
• 7d = last 7 days

mark-read / mark-unread

Mark message(s) as read or unread.

node scripts/imap.js mark-read <uid> [uid2 uid3...]
node scripts/imap.js mark-unread <uid> [uid2 uid3...]

list-mailboxes

List all available mailboxes/folders.

node scripts/imap.js list-mailboxes

Cron Integration

Set up periodic email checking with Clawdbot cron:

# Check email every 15 minutes, deliver to iMessage
clawdbot cron add \
  --name "email-check" \
  --cron "*/15 * * * *" \
  --session isolated \
  --message "Check for new ProtonMail emails and summarize them" \
  --deliver \
  --channel imessage \
  --to "+15085600825"

Inside the isolated session, the agent can run:

node /Users/mike/clawd/skills/imap-email/scripts/imap.js check --limit 5

Workflow Examples

Morning email digest:

1. Run check --limit 10 --recent 12h
2. Summarize unread emails from overnight
3. Deliver summary to preferred channel

Check recent emails from specific sender:

1. Run search --from "important@company.com" --recent 24h
2. Fetch full content if needed
3. Mark as read after processing

Hourly urgent email check:

1. Run search --recent 1h --unseen
2. Filter for important keywords
3. Extract action items
4. Deliver notification if urgent

Weekly digest:

1. Run search --recent 7d --limit 20
2. Summarize activity
3. Generate weekly report

Dependencies

Required packages: imap-simple, mailparser, dotenv

Installation:

cd skills/imap-email
npm install

This will install all dependencies listed in package.json.

Security Notes

• Store credentials in .env (add to .gitignore)
• ProtonMail Bridge password is NOT your account password
• Bridge must be running for ProtonMail IMAP access
• Consider using app-specific passwords for Gmail

Troubleshooting

Connection timeout:

• Verify IMAP server is running and accessible
• Check host/port configuration
• Test with: telnet <host> <port>

Authentication failed:

• Verify username (usually full email address)
• Check password is correct
• For ProtonMail Bridge: use Bridge-generated password, not account password
• For Gmail: use App Password if 2FA is enabled

TLS/SSL errors:

• Match IMAP_TLS setting to server requirements (true for SSL, false for STARTTLS)
• For self-signed certs (e.g., ProtonMail Bridge): set IMAP_REJECT_UNAUTHORIZED=false
• Check port matches TLS setting (993 for SSL, 143 for STARTTLS)

Empty results:

• Verify mailbox name (case-sensitive)
• Check search criteria
• List mailboxes with list-mailboxes