Email Resend

License

Apache License 2.0 — See LICENSE file for full text.

Email via Resend

Send and receive emails using the Resend API.

Configuration

No config file needed. The skill auto-discovers settings from:

1. OpenClaw context — channel, chat_id, user email/name (from context)
2. Environment variables — for API keys
3. Interactive prompts — asks user if required info missing

Required Environment Variables

export RESEND_API_KEY="re_123456789"        # Resend API key (required)
export DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL="you@example.com" # Sender email (required)
export DEFAULT_FROM_NAME="Your Name"        # Sender display name (required)
# Channel/target set by agent from context/memory - not hardcoded

First-Time Setup

When the skill is first invoked, the sub-agent should:

1. Check context — OpenClaw context already has:

   • context.user.email (from USER.md)
   • context.channel (from current session)
   • context.chat_id
   • context.thread_id (for topics)

2. Check memory — Use memory_search tool:

   • Query: "email notification channel preference"
   • Query: "email from address"

3. If missing, ask user — Via chat message:

   • "Which email should I send from?"
   • "Which channel for email notifications?"

4. Commit to memory — Write preferences to persist across sessions:

   write path="memory/email-preferences.md" content="---
   from_email: $EMAIL
   from_name: $NAME
   notification_channel: $CHANNEL
   chat_id: \"$CHAT_ID\"
   thread_id: \"$THREAD_ID\"
   ---
   
   # Email Notification Preferences
   Saved $(date)
   "
   

   This ensures memory_search finds it in future sessions.

Format (YAML frontmatter):

---
from_email: you@company.com
from_name: Your Name
notification_channel: telegram  # or discord, signal, whatsapp, etc - from memory or ask user
chat_id: "123456789"
thread_id: "334"  # optional, for topics
---

Context Fields (Available in Sub-Agent)

The skill uses these directly from OpenClaw context — no parsing needed.

Usage

Inbound (Receive)

Cron Setup

openclaw cron add \
  --name "email-resend-inbound" \
  --every 15m \
  --session-target isolated \
  --message "Follow instructions in skills/email-resend/cron-prompts/email-inbound.md" \
  --to "YOUR_CHAT_ID" \
  --announce

Manual Check

python3 skills/email-resend/scripts/inbound.py

Notification Format

Each new email triggers a notification with:

• From, Subject, Date
• Body preview (~2000 chars)
• Attachment list (if any)
• Importance: 🔥 HIGH / 📅 MEETING / 📬 NORMAL

Acknowledge Flow

Reply to the notification message (using notification reply) to acknowledge, or type:

• done / ack - mark as read

Use draft-reply.py to compose replies with proper quoting.

Important: Always use inline replies ([[reply_to_current]]) to keep messages linked in the thread. This enables:

• Proper custody chain tracking
• Reply-to-email tracing
• Better conversation flow

CRITICAL: When responding via OpenClaw message tool, use replyTo parameter (not [[reply_to_current]] tag):

message(action="send", channel="<from-context>", replyTo="<msg_id>", ...)

Scripts

Downloading Attachments

To download attachments from an inbound email:

# List attachments (shows IDs)
python3 scripts/download_attachment.py <email_id> --list

# Download all to directory
python3 scripts/download_attachment.py <email_id> --output-dir ./attachments

# Download specific attachment
python3 scripts/download_attachment.py <email_id> --attachment-id <attachment_id>

Note: The API path is /emails/receiving/{email_id}/attachments (not the standard /emails/ path).

State Files

• memory/email-resend-inbound-notified.json — pending/acknowledged emails
• memory/email-message-map.json — notification message_id → email_id (legacy)
• memory/email-custody-chain.json — Full DAG of email → notification → actions
• memory/email-msg-to-chain.json — notification message_id → chain lookup
• memory/email-draft-state.json — Active draft state (email_id, status, reply_content)

See docs/custody-chain.md for DAG design.

Outbound (Send)

python3 skills/email-resend/scripts/outbound.py \
  --to "recipient@example.com" \
  --subject "Hello" \
  --body "Message text"

# With attachments
python3 skills/email-resend/scripts/outbound.py \
  --to "recipient@example.com" \
  --subject "Here's the file" \
  --body "See attachment" \
  --attachment ./file.pdf \
  --attachment ./image.png

⚠️ CRITICAL: Email Threading Rule (2026-02-22)

MANDATORY: Always use draft-reply.py for replying to emails.

This is non-negotiable. Failure to follow this rule will result in broken Gmail threading.

Why This Matters

• Gmail threads emails based on In-Reply-To AND References headers
• Using wrong headers = reply appears as NEW thread = context lost
• There's no way to fix this after sending

✅ Correct Workflow (ALWAYS USE THIS)

# Step 1: Start draft (fetches Message-ID automatically)
python3 skills/email-resend/scripts/draft-reply.py start <email_id>

# Step 2: Set reply content
python3 skills/email-resend/scripts/draft-reply.py content "Your reply"

# Step 3: Send
python3 skills/email-resend/scripts/draft-reply.py send

⚠️ CRITICAL: Approval Execution Rule (2026-02-22)

When user approves a draft, you MUST execute the send command immediately.

The mistake to avoid:

• ❌ Show draft for approval → User says "send" → Only acknowledge, don't execute
• ✅ Show draft for approval → User says "send" → RUN draft-reply.py send → Then confirm

Correct workflow:

1. Show draft for approval
2. User replies "approve", "send", "yes", or "ok"
3. IMMEDIATELY run: draft-reply.py send
4. Only THEN confirm to user

Never:

• Only acknowledge the approval without executing
• Ask for confirmation after user already approved
• Wait to send - do it immediately

❌ NEVER Do These Things

NEVER use outbound.py for replies:

# WRONG - will break threading
python3 skills/email-resend/scripts/outbound.py \
  --to "x@y.com" --subject "Re: Original" --body "Reply"

NEVER manually construct --reply-to flags:

# WRONG - guessing Message-ID format never works
python3 skills/email-resend/scripts/outbound.py \
  --to "x@y.com" --subject "Re: Original" --body "Reply" \
  --reply-to "<some-guess>@resend"

NEVER skip the workflow when subject starts with "Re:":

# WRONG - replying without threading headers breaks thread
python3 skills/email-resend/scripts/outbound.py \
  --to "x@y.com" --subject "Re: Previous Thread" --body "Quick reply"

outbound.py Only For New Emails

outbound.py is for new emails only (not replies):

• First contact
• Announcements
• Emails where you intentionally want a NEW thread

For anything that could be a reply, use draft-reply.py.

Requirements

• RESEND_API_KEY environment variable set
• Python requests library

Draft Reply Best Practices

When composing a reply via draft-reply.py:

1. Always quote the original — Include the original message with > prefix so recipient knows what you're responding to

2. Use proper threading — Set In-Reply-To and References headers using the original email's Message-ID

3. Keep subject line — Start with Re: prefix to maintain thread (but avoid "Re: Re:")

4. Structure:

   Your reply here
   
   ---
   
   On [date] [original sender] wrote:
   > quoted original message
   > continues here
   

5. Multiple replies supported — After sending, draft is marked as "sent" so you can reply again to the same thread. Use resume command to continue.

6. No double Re: — If original subject already starts with "Re:", don't add another

7. Custody Chain — Track full lineage:

   • Email → notification → All replies/actions
   • DAG structure with parent links
   • Any message traces back to original email

Draft Reply Commands

After sending, use resume to reply again to the same thread — threading headers are preserved.

Run tests:

python3 skills/email-resend/tests/test_inbound.py

Expected: 40 tests, all passing.

If tests fail:

1. Check which test failed and why
2. Fix the feature/code to match expected behavior
3. Or update tests if feature intentionally changed