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> [message-id...]`
Delete	`scripts/mail-delete.sh <message-id> [message-id...]`
Mark read	`scripts/mail-mark-read.sh <message-id> [message-id...]`
Mark unread	`scripts/mail-mark-unread.sh <message-id> [message-id...]`
Send	`scripts/mail-send.sh "to@email.com" "Subject" "Body" [from-account] [attachment]` ¹
Reply	`scripts/mail-reply.sh <message-id> "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.

apple-mail