Agent skill · writing content · nousresearch
himalaya
Himalaya CLI: IMAP/SMTP email from terminal.
Why this skill is useful
Provides specific commands and configuration patterns for managing emails via the Himalaya CLI that the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
Requires himalaya installed locally. About 4k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 226,679 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Himalaya Email CLI Himalaya is a CLI email client that lets you manage emails from the terminal using IMAP, SMTP, Notmuch, or Sendmail backends. This skill is separate from the Hermes Email gateway adapter. The gateway adapter lets people email the agent and uses Hermes' built-in IMAP/SMTP adapter; this skill lets the agent operate a mailbox from terminal tools and requires the external himalaya CLI. 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) Installation Configuration Setup Run the interactive wizard to set up an account: Or create ~/.config/himalaya/config.toml manually: Heads up on the alias syntax. Pre-v1.2.0 docs used a [accounts.NAME.folder.alias] sub-section (singular alias). v1.2.0 silently ignores that form — TOML parses fine, but the alias resolver never reads it, so every lookup falls through to the canonical name. On Gmail this means save-to-Sent fails after SMTP delivery succeeds, and himalaya message send exits non-zero. Any caller (agent, script, user) that retries on that exit code will re-run the entire send — including SMTP — producing duplicate emails to recipients. Always use folder.aliases.X (plural, dotted keys, directly under [accounts.NAME]). Hermes Integration Notes Reading, listing, searching, moving, deleting all work directly through the terminal tool Composing/replying/forwarding — piped input (cat << EOF himalaya template send) is recommended for reliability. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills nousresearch/himalaya