Superhuman

Superhuman Email & Calendar Automation

CLI and MCP server to control Superhuman email client via Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP).

Requirements

• Bun runtime
• Superhuman.app running with remote debugging enabled

Setup

# Install dependencies (if needed)
bun install

# Start Superhuman with CDP enabled
/Applications/Superhuman.app/Contents/MacOS/Superhuman --remote-debugging-port=9400

Container / Remote CDP

When running inside a Docker container or connecting to a remote host, set CDP_HOST:

export CDP_HOST=host.docker.internal   # Docker container → host
superhuman account auth                # Extract tokens via remote CDP

After initial account auth, most operations use cached tokens and don't need CDP. Tokens are stored at ~/.config/superhuman-cli/tokens.json and auto-refresh via OAuth.

CLI Usage

# Check connection status
superhuman status

# Account management
superhuman account auth
superhuman account list
superhuman account switch 2
superhuman account switch user@example.com

Reading Email

# List recent inbox emails
superhuman inbox
superhuman inbox --limit 20 --json

# Search emails
superhuman search "from:john subject:meeting"
superhuman search "project update" --limit 20
superhuman search "from:anthropic" --include-done    # Search all including archived

# Read a specific thread (requires --account)
superhuman read <thread-id> --account user@gmail.com
superhuman read <thread-id> --account user@gmail.com --context 3   # Full body for last 3 only
superhuman read <thread-id> --account user@gmail.com --json

Ask AI

Use Superhuman's AI to search emails, answer questions, or ask about specific threads:

# Search emails with natural language
superhuman ai "find emails about the Stanford cover letter"
superhuman ai "what did John say about the deadline?"

# Compose with AI
superhuman ai "Write an email inviting the team to a planning meeting"

# Ask about a specific thread
superhuman ai <thread-id> "summarize this thread"
superhuman ai <thread-id> "what are the action items?"
superhuman ai <thread-id> "draft a professional reply"

The AI automatically determines whether to search, compose, or answer based on your prompt.

Contacts

# Search contacts by name
superhuman contact search "john"
superhuman contact search "john" --limit 5 --json

# Search contacts in a specific account (without switching UI)
superhuman contact search "john" --account user@gmail.com

Multi-Account Support

The --account flag allows operations on any linked account without switching the Superhuman UI:

# Search contacts in a specific account
superhuman contact search "john" --account user@gmail.com

# Works with both Gmail and Microsoft/Outlook accounts
superhuman contact search "john" --account user@company.com

How it works: The CLI extracts OAuth tokens directly from Superhuman and makes API calls to Gmail or Microsoft Graph. Tokens are cached to disk with automatic background refresh when expiring.

Token Management

# Extract and cache tokens from Superhuman (required once)
superhuman account auth

# Tokens are automatically refreshed when expiring
# If refresh fails, you'll see: "Token for user@email.com expired. Run 'superhuman account auth' to re-authenticate."

Tokens are stored in ~/.config/superhuman-cli/tokens.json and automatically refreshed using OAuth refresh tokens when they expire (within 5 minutes of expiry). No CDP connection is needed for token refresh.

Composing Email

Recipients can be specified as email addresses or contact names. Names are automatically resolved to email addresses via contact search.

# Create a draft (using email or name)
superhuman draft create --to user@example.com --subject "Hello" --body "Hi there!"
superhuman draft create --to "john" --subject "Hello" --body "Hi there!"

# List drafts (shows both provider and native Superhuman drafts)
superhuman draft list
superhuman draft list --account user@example.com

# Send an email
superhuman send --to user@example.com --subject "Quick note" --body "FYI"

# Reply to a thread
superhuman reply <thread-id> --body "Thanks!"
superhuman reply <thread-id> --body "Thanks!" --send

# Reply-all
superhuman reply-all <thread-id> --body "Thanks everyone!"

# Forward
superhuman forward <thread-id> --to colleague@example.com --body "FYI"

# Update a draft
superhuman draft update <draft-id> --body "Updated content"

# Delete drafts
superhuman draft delete <draft-id>
superhuman draft delete <draft-id1> <draft-id2>

# Send a draft by ID
superhuman send --draft <draft-id>

# Send a Superhuman draft with content
superhuman draft send <draft-id> --account=user@example.com --to=recipient@example.com --subject="Subject" --body="Body"

Draft Sources

The draft list command shows drafts from multiple sources with a "Source" column:

Native Superhuman drafts (IDs starting with draft00...) are fetched from Superhuman's backend API and only exist in Superhuman. Provider-synced drafts are fetched from Gmail/Outlook APIs and are visible in native email clients.

Drafts Limitation

Drafts created via draft create use native Gmail/Outlook APIs, not Superhuman's proprietary draft system. This means:

This is acceptable for CLI workflows where you iterate on drafts with LLMs and send via --send flag. If you need to edit in Superhuman UI, open the draft in native Gmail/Outlook first.

Managing Threads

# Archive
superhuman archive <thread-id>
superhuman archive <thread-id1> <thread-id2>

# Delete (trash)
superhuman delete <thread-id>

# Mark as read/unread
superhuman mark read <thread-id>
superhuman mark unread <thread-id>

# Star / Unstar
superhuman star add <thread-id>
superhuman star remove <thread-id>
superhuman star list

# Snooze / Unsnooze
superhuman snooze set <thread-id> --until tomorrow
superhuman snooze set <thread-id> --until next-week
superhuman snooze set <thread-id> --until "2024-02-15T14:00:00Z"
superhuman snooze cancel <thread-id>
superhuman snooze list

Snippets

Reusable email templates stored in Superhuman. Snippets support template variables like {first_name}.

# List all snippets
superhuman snippet list
superhuman snippet list --json

# Use a snippet to create a draft (fuzzy name matching)
superhuman snippet use "zoom link" --to user@example.com

# Substitute template variables
superhuman snippet use "share recordings" --to user@example.com --vars "date=Feb 5,student_name=Jane"

# Send immediately using a snippet
superhuman snippet use "share recordings" --to user@example.com --vars "date=Feb 5" --send

Labels

# List all labels
superhuman label list

# Get labels on a thread
superhuman label get <thread-id>

# Add/remove labels
superhuman label add <thread-id> --label Label_123
superhuman label remove <thread-id> --label Label_123

Attachments

# List attachments in a thread
superhuman attachment list <thread-id>

# Download all attachments from a thread
superhuman attachment download <thread-id>
superhuman attachment download <thread-id> --output ./downloads

# Download specific attachment
superhuman attachment download --attachment <attachment-id> --message <message-id> --output ./file.pdf

Calendar

Superhuman has built-in calendar support, but prefer morgen CLI for calendar operations — it supports proper calendar filtering. See the morgen skill.

Options

Common Workflows

Triage Inbox

superhuman inbox --limit 20
superhuman read <thread-id> --account user@gmail.com
superhuman archive <thread-id1> <thread-id2>
superhuman snooze set <thread-id> --until tomorrow
superhuman star add <thread-id>

Reply to Email

For drafting replies (recommended — lets the user review before sending):

superhuman read <thread-id> --account user@gmail.com
superhuman reply <thread-id> --body "Thanks for the update."

For sending replies immediately:

superhuman reply <thread-id> --body "Thanks for the update." --send

If superhuman reply fails (e.g. MS Graph 400 error on Outlook accounts), use the AI approach:

superhuman ai <thread-id> "draft a professional reply saying thanks for the update"

Search and Process

superhuman search "from:boss@company.com" --limit 10
superhuman search "is:unread has:attachment"
superhuman search "from:anthropic" --include-done    # Include archived

Multi-Account

superhuman account list
superhuman account switch work@company.com
superhuman contact search "john" --account personal@gmail.com

Snippets

superhuman snippet list
superhuman snippet use "meeting invite" --to colleague@example.com --vars "date=Feb 10" --send

Snooze Presets

Output Formats

Most commands support --json for structured output:

superhuman inbox --json | jq '.[] | {id, subject, from}'

Troubleshooting

Token Expired

superhuman account auth    # Re-extract tokens from Superhuman

Tokens auto-refresh. If refresh fails: Token for user@email.com expired. Run 'superhuman account auth' to re-authenticate.

Connection Failed

1. Check if Superhuman is installed at /Applications/Superhuman.app
2. Launch with debugging: /Applications/Superhuman.app/Contents/MacOS/Superhuman --remote-debugging-port=9400
3. Verify: superhuman status

From a container: Ensure CDP_HOST=host.docker.internal is set and the container was started with --add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway. The CLI skips local app launch when CDP_HOST is non-localhost.

Thread Not Found

Thread IDs come from inbox/search. Use --json to get exact IDs:

superhuman inbox --json | jq '.[0].id'

How It Works

Direct API (Primary)

Most operations use direct Gmail API and Microsoft Graph API calls with cached OAuth tokens:

OAuth tokens (including refresh tokens) are extracted from Superhuman and cached to disk. When tokens expire, they are automatically refreshed via OAuth endpoints without requiring CDP connection.

CDP (Secondary)

Chrome DevTools Protocol is only needed for:

• account auth — One-time token extraction from window.GoogleAccount (also stores AI user prefix)
• status — Check Superhuman connection
• search / inbox (when no cached tokens) — Fallback via Superhuman's portal API

All other operations (read, reply, forward, draft, archive, delete, labels, star, snooze, attachments, contacts, snippets) use direct API with cached tokens.

Benefits

• Reliability: Direct API calls don't depend on Superhuman's UI state
• Speed: No CDP round-trips for most operations
• Offline from CDP: After initial account auth, most operations work without CDP
• Multi-account: Cached tokens enable operating on any linked account

Supports both Gmail and Microsoft/Outlook accounts.