# Nylas > Nylas CLI for unified email, calendar, and contacts via IMAP/SMTP, Google, and Microsoft 365. Use when reading, searching, composing, sending, or managing email from terminal, scheduling calendar events, managing contacts, extracting OTP codes, running MCP server for AI agents, or using the interactive TUI. - Skill: `drolu/nylas` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 4 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add drolu/nylas` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/drolu/nylas/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - Author: DrOlu (https://skillmd.com/u/drolu) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/drolu/nylas --- # Nylas CLI — Unified Email, Calendar & Contacts ## Quick Start ```bash # List recent emails nylas email list # Send an email nylas email send --to recipient@example.com --subject "Hello" --body "Hi there!" -y # Search emails nylas email search "invoice" # Read a specific email nylas email read # Check account health nylas doctor # Interactive TUI nylas tui ``` ## Setup & Authentication ### Install ```bash brew install nylas/nylas-cli/nylas ``` ### First-time setup ```bash # Interactive guided setup (opens browser for OAuth) nylas init # Or configure with existing API key nylas auth config --api-key nyl_xxx # Then authenticate with an email provider nylas auth login --provider google # Gmail nylas auth login --provider microsoft # Outlook/M365 nylas auth login --provider imap # Generic IMAP (prompts for credentials) ``` ### IMAP setup (non-interactive) ```bash expect -c ' set timeout 60 spawn nylas auth login --provider imap expect "IMAP username" ; send "user@example.com\r" expect "IMAP password" ; send "YOUR_PASSWORD\r" expect "IMAP host" ; send "mail.example.com\r" expect "IMAP port" ; send "993\r" expect "Add SMTP" ; send "Y\r" expect "SMTP host" ; send "mail.example.com\r" expect "SMTP port" ; send "465\r" expect eof ' ``` ### Verify setup ```bash nylas auth status # Show current auth nylas auth list # List all accounts nylas doctor # Full health check ``` ## Core Email Commands ### List emails ```bash # Recent 10 from INBOX nylas email list # More emails nylas email list --limit 50 # Unread only nylas email list --unread # From specific sender nylas email list --from boss@company.com # Specific folder nylas email list --folder SENT nylas email list --folder TRASH # All folders nylas email list --all-folders # Paginate through all nylas email list --all --max 500 # JSON output for scripting nylas email list --json nylas email list --json --limit 50 | jq '.[].subject' ``` ### Read email ```bash # Read a specific message nylas email read # Show full headers nylas email read --headers # Raw MIME source nylas email read --raw # Mark as read after viewing nylas email read --mark-read ``` ### Search emails ```bash # Full-text search nylas email search "quarterly report" # From specific person nylas email search "from:alice@example.com" # Subject filter nylas email search "subject:urgent" # Date range nylas email search "after:2026-01-01 before:2026-03-01" # Unread nylas email search "is:unread" # Starred nylas email search "is:starred" # Has attachments nylas email search "has:attachment" ``` ### Send email ```bash # Simple send nylas email send --to user@example.com --subject "Hello" --body "Hi there!" -y # Multiple recipients nylas email send --to a@example.com --to b@example.com --subject "Team update" --body "..." -y # CC and BCC nylas email send --to user@example.com --cc boss@example.com --bcc archive@example.com \ --subject "FYI" --body "See attached" -y # HTML body nylas email send --to user@example.com --subject "Newsletter" \ --body "

Hello

HTML content

" -y # Scheduled send nylas email send --to user@example.com --subject "Reminder" --body "..." --schedule "2h" -y nylas email send --to user@example.com --subject "Morning" --body "..." --schedule "tomorrow 9am" -y # With tracking nylas email send --to user@example.com --subject "Proposal" --body "..." \ --track-opens --track-links -y # GPG sign nylas email send --to user@example.com --subject "Secure" --body "..." --sign -y # GPG encrypt nylas email send --to bob@example.com --subject "Confidential" --body "..." --encrypt -y # Interactive mode (opens editor) nylas email send --to user@example.com --subject "Draft" -i ``` ### Mark, move, delete ```bash # Mark as read/unread nylas email mark read nylas email mark unread # Star/unstar nylas email mark starred nylas email mark unstarred # Delete nylas email delete # Move to folder nylas email move --folder Archive ``` ## Calendar Commands > **Note:** Calendar requires Google or Microsoft 365 provider. IMAP does not support calendar. ```bash # List calendars nylas calendar calendars list # List upcoming events nylas calendar events list # Create event nylas calendar events create --title "Team standup" --when "tomorrow 9am" --duration 30m # Create with attendees nylas calendar events create --title "1:1" --when "friday 2pm" --duration 45m \ --attendees alice@example.com,bob@example.com # Show event details nylas calendar events show # Delete event nylas calendar events delete ``` ## Contact Commands ```bash # List contacts nylas contacts list # Search contacts nylas contacts list --query "john" # JSON output nylas contacts list --json ``` ## Folder Management ```bash # List all folders nylas email folders list # Show folder with IDs nylas email folders list --id # Create a new folder nylas email folders create --name "Projects" # Rename a folder nylas email folders rename --folder --name "Renamed" # Delete a folder nylas email folders delete --folder ``` ## OTP Extraction ```bash # Get latest OTP code from email nylas otp get # Watch for new OTP codes nylas otp watch ``` ## MCP Server (AI Integration) ```bash # Start MCP server for Claude/Cursor/Windsurf nylas mcp # With specific transport nylas mcp --transport stdio nylas mcp --transport sse --port 8080 ``` ## TUI (Interactive Mode) ```bash # Launch interactive terminal UI nylas tui # Vim-style navigation: j/k to move, Enter to read, q to quit ``` ## Global Flags | Flag | Description | |------|-------------| | `--config ` | Custom config file path | | `--format ` | Output format: `table`, `json`, `yaml` | | `--json` | Shorthand for `--format json` | | `--no-color` | Disable color output | | `-q, --quiet` | Only output essential data (IDs) | | `-v, --verbose` | Enable verbose output | | `-w, --wide` | Show full IDs without truncation | ## Provider Support | Provider | Email | Calendar | Contacts | Auth | |----------|-------|----------|----------|------| | **Google (Gmail)** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | OAuth | | **Microsoft 365 (Outlook)** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | OAuth | | **Exchange (EWS)** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | OAuth | | **iCloud** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | App password | | **Yahoo** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | App password | | **IMAP/SMTP** | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | Credentials | ## Important Notes - **IMAP provider supports email only** — no calendar or contacts - **Send uses `--to`, `--subject`, `--body` flags** (unlike himalaya which takes raw RFC 5322) - **Use `-y` flag to skip confirmation prompts** in scripts - **Use `--json` for scripting** — all commands support JSON output - **API key stored in system keyring** — config at `~/.config/nylas/config.yaml` - **Free tier (Sandbox)** has rate limits — 1 grant, limited API calls - **Nylas routes email through its servers** — not a direct IMAP client like himalaya - **Demo mode available** — `nylas demo email list` works without any account ## References - [references/cli-reference.md](references/cli-reference.md) — Complete command reference for all nylas subcommands - [references/config-reference.md](references/config-reference.md) — Config file format, multi-account setup, keyring, and provider templates - [references/common-workflows.md](references/common-workflows.md) — Search patterns, scheduled send, templates, MCP setup, and scripting patterns