How do I install the Private Email skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add phattbeats/private-email 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.

What does the Private Email skill do?

private-email skill It is listed under Productivity on SkillMD.

Is Private Email safe to use?

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

Which AI agents work with Private Email?

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 Private Email free to use?

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

Who published Private Email?

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

Private Email by phattbeats — Agent Skill

Name: Private Email
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: phattbeats

File contents

private-email skill

Manage Brandon's personal email at brandon@shadekelly.com using himalaya-cli.

himalaya config

Account is already configured at ~/.config/himalaya/config.toml.

Core commands

List emails

himalaya email list                    # inbox (default)
himalaya email list --folder "INBOX.Sent"   # sent
himalaya email list --folder "INBOX"    # explicit inbox

Flags: -d (detailed, shows From/To/Subject/Date), -s 50 (page size).

Read an email

himalaya email read <id>
himalaya email read 42 --plain         # raw body, no formatting

Search

himalaya email search "from:priceline subject:confirmation"
himalaya email search "subject:trip"
himalaya email search "since:2026-04-15"

Searches current folder. Use --folder to search a specific folder.

Send email

himalaya email write \
  --from "brandon@shadekelly.com" \
  --to "recipient@example.com" \
  --subject "Subject here" \
  --body "Message body"

Body defaults to stdin if --body is omitted (pipe in content).

Delete

himalaya email delete <id>

Mark read/unread

himalaya email flag -f +seen <id>     # mark read
himalaya email flag -f +flagged <id>  # mark flagged
himalaya email flag -f -seen <id>      # mark unread

List folders

himalaya folder list

Environment

Password comes from PRIVATE_EMAIL_PASSWORD env var. No password entry needed in config — himalaya reads it from the env.

If himalaya fails with auth error, verify the env var is set in the container:

echo $PRIVATE_EMAIL_PASSWORD

Troubleshooting

"certificate verify failed": PrivateEmail uses a standard SSL cert. If you get this, the CA certs package may be missing. Install with: apt-get install -y ca-certificates

Empty output: himalaya may need to be run from the correct working directory or with full path. Try: ~/.cargo/bin/himalaya if plain himalaya returns nothing.

IMAP connection refused: Check that the container can reach mail.privateemail.com:993. Run: nc -zv mail.privateemail.com 993

---name: private-emaildescription: private-email skill---# private-email skillManage Brandon's personal email at `brandon@shadekelly.com` using **himalaya-cli**.## himalaya configAccount is already configured at `~/.config/himalaya/config.toml`.## Core commands### List emails```himalaya email list # inbox (default)himalaya email list --folder "INBOX.Sent" # senthimalaya email list --folder "INBOX" # explicit inbox```Flags: `-d` (detailed, shows From/To/Subject/Date), `-s 50` (page size).### Read an email```himalaya email read <id>himalaya email read 42 --plain # raw body, no formatting```### Search```himalaya email search "from:priceline subject:confirmation"himalaya email search "subject:trip"himalaya email search "since:2026-04-15"```Searches current folder. Use `--folder` to search a specific folder.### Send email```himalaya email write \ --from "brandon@shadekelly.com" \ --to "recipient@example.com" \ --subject "Subject here" \ --body "Message body"```Body defaults to stdin if `--body` is omitted (pipe in content).### Delete```himalaya email delete <id>```### Mark read/unread```himalaya email flag -f +seen <id> # mark readhimalaya email flag -f +flagged <id> # mark flaggedhimalaya email flag -f -seen <id> # mark unread```### List folders```himalaya folder list```## EnvironmentPassword comes from `PRIVATE_EMAIL_PASSWORD` env var. No password entry needed in config — himalaya reads it from the env.If himalaya fails with auth error, verify the env var is set in the container:```echo $PRIVATE_EMAIL_PASSWORD```## Troubleshooting**"certificate verify failed"**: PrivateEmail uses a standard SSL cert. If you get this, the CA certs package may be missing. Install with: `apt-get install -y ca-certificates`**Empty output**: himalaya may need to be run from the correct working directory or with full path. Try: `~/.cargo/bin/himalaya` if plain `himalaya` returns nothing.**IMAP connection refused**: Check that the container can reach `mail.privateemail.com:993`. Run: `nc -zv mail.privateemail.com 993`

Frequently asked questions

Private Email