How do I install the Mail Read skill?

Run npx skillmds add majiayu000/mail-read in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Mail Read safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: docs only. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Mail Read?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Mail Read free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Mail Read?

majiayu000 (@majiayu000) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Mail Read by majiayu000 — Agent Skill

Name: Mail Read
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: majiayu000

Mail Read

Read the full content of a specific email by ROWID, subject search, or description. Shows headers, body, and any attachment names. Use when user wants to read a specific email, see the full text of a message, or asks "what does that email say". Arguments: ROWID number, subject keywords, or a description of the email to find.

majiayu000 56673a0 2 files · 3.8 KB Updated Sep 9, 2026 567 repo stars

File contents

Mail Read — Read a Specific Email

Looking for: $ARGUMENTS

Step 1: Find the email

If $ARGUMENTS is a number → treat as ROWID directly

ROWID="$ARGUMENTS"
DB="$HOME/Library/Mail/V10/MailData/Envelope Index"

sqlite3 "$DB" "
SELECT datetime(m.date_received,'unixepoch','localtime') as dt,
       s.subject, a.address as sender, a.comment as name,
       mb.url as mailbox, m.ROWID, m.read, m.flagged
FROM messages m
JOIN subjects  s  ON m.subject = s.ROWID
JOIN addresses a  ON m.sender  = a.ROWID
JOIN mailboxes mb ON m.mailbox = mb.ROWID
WHERE m.ROWID = ${ROWID};" 2>/dev/null

If $ARGUMENTS is text → search by subject + sender

sqlite3 "$DB" "
SELECT datetime(m.date_received,'unixepoch','localtime') as dt,
       s.subject, a.address as sender, mb.url, m.ROWID
FROM messages m
JOIN subjects s ON m.subject=s.ROWID
JOIN addresses a ON m.sender=a.ROWID
JOIN mailboxes mb ON m.mailbox=mb.ROWID
WHERE (s.subject LIKE '%QUERY%' OR a.address LIKE '%QUERY%' OR a.comment LIKE '%QUERY%')
  AND m.deleted=0
  AND mb.url NOT LIKE '%Spam%'
ORDER BY m.date_received DESC LIMIT 5;" 2>/dev/null

If multiple matches, show options and ask which one.

Step 2: Get recipient list

sqlite3 "$DB" "
SELECT a.address, a.comment, r.type
FROM recipients r
JOIN addresses a ON r.address = a.ROWID
WHERE r.message = <ROWID>
ORDER BY r.type, r.position;" 2>/dev/null

Step 3: Get attachment list

sqlite3 "$DB" "
SELECT att.name FROM attachments att
WHERE att.message = <ROWID>;" 2>/dev/null

Step 4: Read the full body

First check summaries table for fast-path (no file I/O, available for ~5% of recent emails):

sqlite3 "$DB" "SELECT su.summary FROM messages m JOIN summaries su ON m.summary = su.ROWID WHERE m.ROWID = <ROWID>;" 2>/dev/null

If no summary, parse the emlx:

python3 ~/.claude/skills/_mail-shared/parser.py <ROWID>

Step 5: Find the raw file if needed

find ~/Library/Mail/V10/ -name "<ROWID>.emlx" 2>/dev/null | head -1
# If not found, try partial (IMAP lazy-load — body is still readable):
find ~/Library/Mail/V10/ -name "<ROWID>.partial.emlx" 2>/dev/null | head -1

The parser handles partial fallback automatically. Use raw find only for debugging.

Output Format

Email Details

From:     [name] <address>
To:       [recipients]
CC:       [if any]
Date:     [datetime]
Subject:  [subject]
Account:  [derived from mailbox URL]
Attachments: [filenames if any]

[Full body text, formatted naturally]

Offer:

"Want me to summarize this?" if long
"Want me to find related emails in this thread?"
"Should I help you draft a reply?"

---name: mail-readdescription: Read the full content of a specific email by ROWID, subject search, or description. Shows headers, body, and any attachment names. Use when user wants to read a specific email, see the full text of a message, or asks "what does that email say". Arguments: ROWID number, subject keywords, or a description of the email to find.--- # Mail Read — Read a Specific Email Looking for: **$ARGUMENTS** ## Step 1: Find the email ### If $ARGUMENTS is a number → treat as ROWID directly ```bash ROWID="$ARGUMENTS" DB="$HOME/Library/Mail/V10/MailData/Envelope Index" sqlite3 "$DB" " SELECT datetime(m.date_received,'unixepoch','localtime') as dt, s.subject, a.address as sender, a.comment as name, mb.url as mailbox, m.ROWID, m.read, m.flagged FROM messages m JOIN subjects s ON m.subject = s.ROWID JOIN addresses a ON m.sender = a.ROWID JOIN mailboxes mb ON m.mailbox = mb.ROWID WHERE m.ROWID = ${ROWID};" 2>/dev/null ``` ### If $ARGUMENTS is text → search by subject + sender ```bash sqlite3 "$DB" " SELECT datetime(m.date_received,'unixepoch','localtime') as dt, s.subject, a.address as sender, mb.url, m.ROWID FROM messages m JOIN subjects s ON m.subject=s.ROWID JOIN addresses a ON m.sender=a.ROWID JOIN mailboxes mb ON m.mailbox=mb.ROWID WHERE (s.subject LIKE '%QUERY%' OR a.address LIKE '%QUERY%' OR a.comment LIKE '%QUERY%') AND m.deleted=0 AND mb.url NOT LIKE '%Spam%' ORDER BY m.date_received DESC LIMIT 5;" 2>/dev/null ``` If multiple matches, show options and ask which one. ## Step 2: Get recipient list ```bash sqlite3 "$DB" " SELECT a.address, a.comment, r.type FROM recipients r JOIN addresses a ON r.address = a.ROWID WHERE r.message = <ROWID> ORDER BY r.type, r.position;" 2>/dev/null ``` ## Step 3: Get attachment list ```bash sqlite3 "$DB" " SELECT att.name FROM attachments att WHERE att.message = <ROWID>;" 2>/dev/null ``` ## Step 4: Read the full body First check summaries table for fast-path (no file I/O, available for ~5% of recent emails): ```bash sqlite3 "$DB" "SELECT su.summary FROM messages m JOIN summaries su ON m.summary = su.ROWID WHERE m.ROWID = <ROWID>;" 2>/dev/null ``` If no summary, parse the emlx: ```bash python3 ~/.claude/skills/_mail-shared/parser.py <ROWID> ``` ## Step 5: Find the raw file if needed ```bash find ~/Library/Mail/V10/ -name "<ROWID>.emlx" 2>/dev/null | head -1 # If not found, try partial (IMAP lazy-load — body is still readable): find ~/Library/Mail/V10/ -name "<ROWID>.partial.emlx" 2>/dev/null | head -1 ``` The parser handles partial fallback automatically. Use raw find only for debugging. ## Output Format **Email Details** ``` From: [name] <address> To: [recipients] CC: [if any] Date: [datetime] Subject: [subject] Account: [derived from mailbox URL] Attachments: [filenames if any] ``` --- [Full body text, formatted naturally] --- Offer: - "Want me to summarize this?" if long - "Want me to find related emails in this thread?" - "Should I help you draft a reply?"

Frequently asked questions