himalaya

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:

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"

Common Operations

List Folders

List Emails

List emails in INBOX (default):

List emails in a specific folder:

List with pagination:

Search Emails

Read an Email

Read email by ID (shows plain text):

Export raw MIME:

Reply to an Email

Interactive reply (opens $EDITOR):

Reply-all:

Forward an Email

Write a New Email

Interactive compose (opens $EDITOR):

Send directly using template:

Or with headers flag:

Move/Copy Emails

Move to folder:

Copy to folder:

Delete an Email

Manage Flags

Add flag:

Remove flag:

Multiple Accounts

List accounts:

Use a specific account:

Attachments

Save attachments from a message:

Save to specific directory:

Output Formats

Most commands support --output for structured output:

Debugging

Enable debug logging:

Full trace with backtrace:

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.