Himalaya

Himalaya Email CLI

Himalaya is a CLI email client that lets you manage emails from the terminal using IMAP, SMTP, Notmuch, or Sendmail backends.

References

• references/configuration.md (config file setup + IMAP/SMTP authentication)
• references/message-composition.md (MML syntax for composing emails)

Prerequisites

1. Himalaya CLI installed (himalaya --version to verify) 2. A configuration file at ~/.config/himalaya/config.toml 3. IMAP/SMTP credentials configured (password stored securely)

Configuration Setup

Run the interactive wizard to set up an account:

himalaya account configure

Or create ~/.config/himalaya/config.toml manually:

[accounts.personal]
email = "you@example.com"
display-name = "Your Name"
default = true

backend.type = "imap"
backend.host = "imap.example.com"
backend.port = 993
backend.encryption.type = "tls"
backend.login = "you@example.com"
backend.auth.type = "password"
backend.auth.cmd = "pass show email/imap"  # or use keyring

message.send.backend.type = "smtp"
message.send.backend.host = "smtp.example.com"
message.send.backend.port = 587
message.send.backend.encryption.type = "start-tls"
message.send.backend.login = "you@example.com"
message.send.backend.auth.type = "password"
message.send.backend.auth.cmd = "pass show email/smtp"

Common Operations

List Folders

himalaya folder list

List Emails

List emails in INBOX (default):

himalaya envelope list

List emails in a specific folder:

himalaya envelope list --folder "Sent"

List with pagination:

himalaya envelope list --page 1 --page-size 20

Search Emails

himalaya envelope list from john@example.com subject meeting

Read an Email

Read email by ID (shows plain text):

himalaya message read 42

Export raw MIME:

himalaya message export 42 --full

Reply to an Email

Interactive reply (opens $EDITOR):

himalaya message reply 42

Reply-all:

himalaya message reply 42 --all

Forward an Email

himalaya message forward 42

Write a New Email

Interactive compose (opens $EDITOR):

himalaya message write

Send directly using template:

cat << 'EOF' | himalaya template send
From: you@example.com
To: recipient@example.com
Subject: Test Message

Hello from Himalaya!
EOF

Or with headers flag:

himalaya message write -H "To:recipient@example.com" -H "Subject:Test" "Message body here"

Move/Copy Emails

Move to folder:

himalaya message move 42 "Archive"

Copy to folder:

himalaya message copy 42 "Important"

Delete an Email

himalaya message delete 42

Manage Flags

Add flag:

himalaya flag add 42 --flag seen

Remove flag:

himalaya flag remove 42 --flag seen

Multiple Accounts

List accounts:

himalaya account list

Use a specific account:

himalaya --account work envelope list

Attachments

Save attachments from a message:

himalaya attachment download 42

Save to specific directory:

himalaya attachment download 42 --dir ~/Downloads

Output Formats

Most commands support --output for structured output:

himalaya envelope list --output json
himalaya envelope list --output plain

Debugging

Enable debug logging:

RUST_LOG=debug himalaya envelope list

Full trace with backtrace:

RUST_LOG=trace RUST_BACKTRACE=1 himalaya envelope list

Tips

• Use himalaya --help or himalaya <command> --help for detailed usage.
• Message IDs are relative to the current folder; re-list after folder changes.
• For composing rich emails with attachments, use MML syntax (see references/message-composition.md).
• Store passwords securely using pass, system keyring, or a command that outputs the password.

Himalaya Configuration Reference

Configuration file location: ~/.config/himalaya/config.toml

Minimal IMAP + SMTP Setup

[accounts.default]
email = "user@example.com"
display-name = "Your Name"
default = true

# IMAP backend for reading emails
backend.type = "imap"
backend.host = "imap.example.com"
backend.port = 993
backend.encryption.type = "tls"
backend.login = "user@example.com"
backend.auth.type = "password"
backend.auth.raw = "your-password"

# SMTP backend for sending emails
message.send.backend.type = "smtp"
message.send.backend.host = "smtp.example.com"
message.send.backend.port = 587
message.send.backend.encryption.type = "start-tls"
message.send.backend.login = "user@example.com"
message.send.backend.auth.type = "password"
message.send.backend.auth.raw = "your-password"

Password Options

Raw password (testing only, not recommended)

backend.auth.raw = "your-password"

Password from command (recommended)

backend.auth.cmd = "pass show email/imap"
# backend.auth.cmd = "security find-generic-password -a user@example.com -s imap -w"

System keyring (requires keyring feature)

backend.auth.keyring = "imap-example"

Then run himalaya account configure <account> to store the password.

Gmail Configuration

[accounts.gmail]
email = "you@gmail.com"
display-name = "Your Name"
default = true

backend.type = "imap"
backend.host = "imap.gmail.com"
backend.port = 993
backend.encryption.type = "tls"
backend.login = "you@gmail.com"
backend.auth.type = "password"
backend.auth.cmd = "pass show google/app-password"

message.send.backend.type = "smtp"
message.send.backend.host = "smtp.gmail.com"
message.send.backend.port = 587
message.send.backend.encryption.type = "start-tls"
message.send.backend.login = "you@gmail.com"
message.send.backend.auth.type = "password"
message.send.backend.auth.cmd = "pass show google/app-password"

Note: Gmail requires an App Password if 2FA is enabled.

iCloud Configuration

[accounts.icloud]
email = "you@icloud.com"
display-name = "Your Name"

backend.type = "imap"
backend.host = "imap.mail.me.com"
backend.port = 993
backend.encryption.type = "tls"
backend.login = "you@icloud.com"
backend.auth.type = "password"
backend.auth.cmd = "pass show icloud/app-password"

message.send.backend.type = "smtp"
message.send.backend.host = "smtp.mail.me.com"
message.send.backend.port = 587
message.send.backend.encryption.type = "start-tls"
message.send.backend.login = "you@icloud.com"
message.send.backend.auth.type = "password"
message.send.backend.auth.cmd = "pass show icloud/app-password"

Note: Generate an app-specific password at appleid.apple.com

Folder Aliases

Map custom folder names:

[accounts.default.folder.alias]
inbox = "INBOX"
sent = "Sent"
drafts = "Drafts"
trash = "Trash"

Multiple Accounts

[accounts.personal]
email = "personal@example.com"
default = true
# ... backend config ...

[accounts.work]
email = "work@company.com"
# ... backend config ...

Switch accounts with --account:

himalaya --account work envelope list

Notmuch Backend (local mail)

[accounts.local]
email = "user@example.com"

backend.type = "notmuch"
backend.db-path = "~/.mail/.notmuch"

OAuth2 Authentication (for providers that support it)

backend.auth.type = "oauth2"
backend.auth.client-id = "your-client-id"
backend.auth.client-secret.cmd = "pass show oauth/client-secret"
backend.auth.access-token.cmd = "pass show oauth/access-token"
backend.auth.refresh-token.cmd = "pass show oauth/refresh-token"
backend.auth.auth-url = "https://provider.com/oauth/authorize"
backend.auth.token-url = "https://provider.com/oauth/token"

Additional Options

Signature

[accounts.default]
signature = "Best regards,\nYour Name"
signature-delim = "-- \n"

Downloads directory

[accounts.default]
downloads-dir = "~/Downloads/himalaya"

Editor for composing

Set via environment variable:

export EDITOR="vim"

Message Composition with MML (MIME Meta Language)

Himalaya uses MML for composing emails. MML is a simple XML-based syntax that compiles to MIME messages.

Basic Message Structure

An email message is a list of headers followed by a body, separated by a blank line:

From: sender@example.com
To: recipient@example.com
Subject: Hello World

This is the message body.

Headers

Common headers:

• From: Sender address
• To: Primary recipient(s)
• Cc: Carbon copy recipients
• Bcc: Blind carbon copy recipients
• Subject: Message subject
• Reply-To: Address for replies (if different from From)
• In-Reply-To: Message ID being replied to

Address Formats

To: user@example.com
To: John Doe <john@example.com>
To: "John Doe" <john@example.com>
To: user1@example.com, user2@example.com, "Jane" <jane@example.com>

Plain Text Body

Simple plain text email:

From: alice@localhost
To: bob@localhost
Subject: Plain Text Example

Hello, this is a plain text email.
No special formatting needed.

Best,
Alice

MML for Rich Emails

Multipart Messages

Alternative text/html parts:

From: alice@localhost
To: bob@localhost
Subject: Multipart Example

<#multipart type=alternative>
This is the plain text version.
<#part type=text/html>
<html><body><h1>This is the HTML version</h1></body></html>
<#/multipart>

Attachments

Attach a file:

From: alice@localhost
To: bob@localhost
Subject: With Attachment

Here is the document you requested.

<#part filename=/path/to/document.pdf><#/part>

Attachment with custom name:

<#part filename=/path/to/file.pdf name=report.pdf><#/part>

Multiple attachments:

<#part filename=/path/to/doc1.pdf><#/part>
<#part filename=/path/to/doc2.pdf><#/part>

Inline Images

Embed an image inline:

From: alice@localhost
To: bob@localhost
Subject: Inline Image

<#multipart type=related>
<#part type=text/html>
<html><body>
<p>Check out this image:</p>
<img src="cid:image1">
</body></html>
<#part disposition=inline id=image1 filename=/path/to/image.png><#/part>
<#/multipart>

Mixed Content (Text + Attachments)

From: alice@localhost
To: bob@localhost
Subject: Mixed Content

<#multipart type=mixed>
<#part type=text/plain>
Please find the attached files.

Best,
Alice
<#part filename=/path/to/file1.pdf><#/part>
<#part filename=/path/to/file2.zip><#/part>
<#/multipart>

MML Tag Reference

<#multipart>

Groups multiple parts together.

• type=alternative: Different representations of same content
• type=mixed: Independent parts (text + attachments)
• type=related: Parts that reference each other (HTML + images)

<#part>

Defines a message part.

• type=<mime-type>: Content type (e.g., text/html, application/pdf)
• filename=<path>: File to attach
• name=<name>: Display name for attachment
• disposition=inline: Display inline instead of as attachment
• id=<cid>: Content ID for referencing in HTML

Composing from CLI

Interactive compose

Opens your $EDITOR:

himalaya message write

Reply (opens editor with quoted message)

himalaya message reply 42
himalaya message reply 42 --all  # reply-all

Forward

himalaya message forward 42

Send from stdin

cat message.txt | himalaya template send

Prefill headers from CLI

himalaya message write \
  -H "To:recipient@example.com" \
  -H "Subject:Quick Message" \
  "Message body here"

Tips

• The editor opens with a template; fill in headers and body.
• Save and exit the editor to send; exit without saving to cancel.
• MML parts are compiled to proper MIME when sending.
• Use himalaya message export --full to inspect the raw MIME structure of received emails.