Apple Mail

Apple Mail

Interact with Mail.app via AppleScript and SQLite.

Commands

Refreshing Mail

Force Mail.app to check for new messages:

mail-refresh                    # All accounts, wait up to 10s
mail-refresh Google             # Specific account only
mail-refresh "" 5               # All accounts, max 5 seconds
mail-refresh Google 0           # Google account, no wait

Smart sync detection:

• Script monitors database message count
• Returns early when sync completes (no changes for 2s)
• Reports new message count: Sync complete in 2s (+3 messages)

Notes:

• Mail.app must be running (script will error if not)
• mail-list does NOT auto-refresh — call mail-refresh first if you need fresh data

Output Format

List/search returns: ID | ReadStatus | Date | Sender | Subject

• ● = unread, blank = read

Gmail Mailboxes

⚠️ Gmail special folders need [Gmail]/ prefix:

Custom labels work without prefix.

Fast Search (SQLite)

✨ Now safe even if Mail.app is running — copies database to temp file first.

mail-fast-search "query" [limit]  # ~50ms vs minutes

Previously required Mail.app to be quit. Now works anytime by copying the database to a temp file before querying.

Performance Notes

Speed by operation:

Optimization technique: SQLite provides account UUID and approximate message position. AppleScript jumps directly to that position instead of iterating from the start.

Batch operations supported:

• mail-read 123 456 789 - Read multiple (separator between each)
• mail-delete 123 456 789 - Delete multiple
• mail-mark-read 123 456 - Mark multiple as read
• mail-mark-unread 123 456 - Mark multiple as unread

⚠️ No auto-refresh: Scripts read cached data. Call mail-refresh first if you need latest emails.

Managing Emails

Delete emails:

mail-delete 12345                    # Delete one
mail-delete 12345 12346 12347        # Delete multiple

Mark as read/unread:

mail-mark-read 12345 12346           # Mark as read
mail-mark-unread 12345               # Mark as unread

Bulk operations example:

# Find spam emails
mail-fast-search "spam" 50 > spam.txt

# Extract IDs and delete them
grep "^[0-9]" spam.txt | cut -d'|' -f1 | xargs mail-delete

Reading Email Bodies

mail-read 12345              # Single email
mail-read 12345 12346 12347  # Multiple emails (separated output)

Uses position-optimized lookup (~2s per message). Multiple emails are separated by ======== with a summary at the end.

Errors

Technical Details

Database: ~/Library/Mail/V{9,10,11}/MailData/Envelope Index

Message lookup method (optimized):

1. Query SQLite for account UUID, mailbox path, and approximate position
2. AppleScript accesses the specific account directly (no iteration)
3. Search starts at the approximate position (±5 messages buffer)
4. Falls back to full mailbox search only if position hint fails

Safety:

• Fast search copies database to temp file before querying
• Safe to use even if Mail.app is running
• Delete/read/mark operations query live database but access is minimal

Notes

• Message IDs are internal, get fresh ones from list/search
• Confirm recipient before sending
• AppleScript search is slow but comprehensive; SQLite is fast for metadata
• Delete/mark operations support bulk actions (pass multiple IDs)
• Always refresh before listing if you need the absolute latest emails

¹ Known limitation: Mail.app adds a leading blank line to sent emails. This is an AppleScript/Mail.app behavior that cannot be bypassed.