Apple Mail

Interact with Mail.app via AppleScript and SQLite. Run scripts from: cd {baseDir}

Commands

Command

Usage

Refresh	scripts/mail-refresh.sh [account] [wait_seconds]
List recent	scripts/mail-list.sh [mailbox] [account] [limit]
Search	scripts/mail-search.sh "query" [mailbox] [limit]
Fast search	scripts/mail-fast-search.sh "query" [limit]
Read email	scripts/mail-read.sh [message-id...]
Delete	scripts/mail-delete.sh [message-id...]
Mark read	scripts/mail-mark-read.sh [message-id...]
Mark unread	scripts/mail-mark-unread.sh [message-id...]
Send	scripts/mail-send.sh "to@email.com" "Subject" "Body" [from-account] [attachment] ¹
Reply	scripts/mail-reply.sh "body" [reply-all]
List accounts	scripts/mail-accounts.sh
List mailboxes	scripts/mail-mailboxes.sh [account]

Refreshing Mail

Force Mail.app to check for new messages:

scripts/mail-refresh.sh                    # All accounts, wait up to 10s
scripts/mail-refresh.sh Google             # Specific account only
scripts/mail-refresh.sh "" 5               # All accounts, max 5 seconds
scripts/mail-refresh.sh 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.sh does NOT auto-refresh — call mail-refresh.sh 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:

Shows as

Use

Spam	[Gmail]/Spam
Sent Mail	[Gmail]/Sent Mail
All Mail	[Gmail]/All Mail
Trash	[Gmail]/Trash

Custom labels work without prefix.

Fast Search (SQLite)

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

scripts/mail-fast-search.sh "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:

Operation

Speed

Notes

mail-fast-search.sh	~50ms	SQLite query, fastest
mail-accounts.sh	<1s	Simple AppleScript
mail-list.sh	1-3s	AppleScript, direct mailbox access
mail-send.sh	1-2s	Creates and sends message
mail-read.sh	~2s	Position-optimized lookup
mail-delete.sh	~0.5s	Position-optimized lookup
mail-mark-*.sh	~1.5s	Position-optimized lookup

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.sh 123 456 789 - Read multiple (separator between each)


• mail-delete.sh 123 456 789 - Delete multiple


• mail-mark-read.sh 123 456 - Mark multiple as read


• mail-mark-unread.sh 123 456 - Mark multiple as unread

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

Managing Emails

Delete emails:

scripts/mail-delete.sh 12345                    # Delete one
scripts/mail-delete.sh 12345 12346 12347        # Delete multiple

Mark as read/unread:

scripts/mail-mark-read.sh 12345 12346           # Mark as read
scripts/mail-mark-unread.sh 12345               # Mark as unread

Bulk operations example:

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

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

Reading Email Bodies

scripts/mail-read.sh 12345              # Single email
scripts/mail-read.sh 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

Error

Cause

Mail.app is not running	Open Mail.app before running scripts
Account not found	Invalid account — check mail-accounts.sh
Message not found	Invalid/deleted ID — get fresh from mail-list.sh
Can't get mailbox	Invalid name — check mail-mailboxes.sh
Mail database not found	SQLite DB missing — check ~/Library/Mail/V{9,10,11}/MailData/

Technical Details

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

Message lookup method (optimized):

Query SQLite for account UUID, mailbox path, and approximate position

AppleScript accesses the specific account directly (no iteration)

Search starts at the approximate position (±5 messages buffer)

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.