slashmail

CLI for searching, managing, and bulk-operating on emails via IMAP. Defaults to localhost:1143 (plain TCP) but works with any IMAP server via --tls.

Install

From crates.io

cargo install slashmail

From GitHub Releases

Download a prebuilt binary from Releases, extract it, and place it on your PATH.

From source

Requires Rust and a C compiler (for OpenSSL bindings).

git clone https://github.com/mwmdev/slashmail.git
cd slashmail
cargo build --release
cp target/release/slashmail ~/.local/bin/   # or anywhere on your PATH

Platform notes

Usage

slashmail [OPTIONS] <COMMAND>

Commands:
  search   Search messages by criteria
  delete   Search + delete matching messages (move to Trash)
  move     Search + move matching messages to a folder
  export   Search + export matching messages as .eml files
  mark     Search + set/unset flags on matching messages
  count    Count matching messages (no FETCH)
  quota    Show mailbox quota usage
  status   Show per-folder message statistics

Connection options

--host <HOST>      IMAP host [default: 127.0.0.1]
--port <PORT>      IMAP port [default: 1143 plain, 993 TLS]
--tls              Use TLS (required for remote IMAP servers)
-u, --user <USER>  IMAP username (or SLASHMAIL_USER env)

Password is read from SLASHMAIL_PASS env var or prompted interactively.

Connection options are global and can appear before or after the subcommand.

Filter options

All commands that operate on messages share the same filter options:

-f, --folder <FOLDER>    Folder to search [default: INBOX]
    --all-folders        Search across all folders (excludes Trash, Spam)
    --subject <TEXT>     Subject contains
    --from <TEXT>        From address contains
    --since <DATE>       Messages since date (YYYY-MM-DD)
    --before <DATE>      Messages before date (YYYY-MM-DD)
    --larger <SIZE>      Messages larger than N bytes (supports K/M suffix)
-n, --limit <N>          Limit number of results

All filter criteria are AND'd together. Omitting all criteria matches all messages.

Action options

Commands that modify messages (delete, move, mark) support:

--yes       Skip confirmation prompt
--dry-run   Show what would happen without acting

export supports --yes, --force (overwrite existing files), and -o, --output-dir.

mark takes one or more flags: --read, --unread, --flagged, --unflagged.

Examples

# Search INBOX (all messages, newest first)
slashmail search -u user@example.com

# Search with filters
slashmail search -u user@example.com --from "newsletter" --since 2025-01-01
slashmail search -u user@example.com --subject "invoice" --larger 1M

# Show only the 10 most recent matches
slashmail search -u user@example.com --from "alerts" -n 10

# Search across all folders
slashmail search -u user@example.com --all-folders --from "noreply"

# Delete with interactive confirmation
slashmail delete -u user@example.com --from "spam@example.com"

# Batch delete (no prompt)
slashmail delete -u user@example.com --subject "unsubscribe" --yes

# Preview what would be deleted
slashmail delete -u user@example.com --from "old-list" --dry-run

# Move messages to a folder
slashmail move -u user@example.com --from "receipts" --to Archive

# Export messages as .eml files
slashmail export -u user@example.com --subject "contract" -o ./backup

# Mark messages as read
slashmail mark -u user@example.com --from "notifications" --read

# Flag important messages
slashmail mark -u user@example.com --subject "urgent" --flagged

# Count matching messages (fast, no FETCH)
slashmail count -u user@example.com --from "newsletter"

# Show folder statistics
slashmail status -u user@example.com

# Show mailbox quota
slashmail quota -u user@example.com

# Use with a remote IMAP server (Gmail, Fastmail, etc.)
slashmail search --tls --host imap.gmail.com -u user@gmail.com

# Use env vars to avoid typing credentials
export SLASHMAIL_USER=user@example.com
export SLASHMAIL_PASS=app-password
slashmail status

Shell completions

# Bash
slashmail completions bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/slashmail

# Zsh
slashmail completions zsh > ~/.zfunc/_slashmail

# Fish
slashmail completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/slashmail.fish

Tested with

• Gmail (via --tls --host imap.gmail.com)
• Fastmail (via --tls --host imap.fastmail.com)
• Dovecot
• Any standard IMAP4rev1 server

How it works

• All filtering runs server-side via IMAP SEARCH
• Uses IMAP SORT extension (RFC 5256) when available; falls back to client-side sort
• With SORT, --limit truncates results before fetching (fewer bytes over the wire)
• search, delete, move, mark, count only fetch headers and size -- never full messages
• export fetches full message bodies via BODY.PEEK[]
• Uses BODY.PEEK to avoid marking messages as read
• UID sets are compressed into ranges and chunked to stay within IMAP command length limits
• Passwords are securely zeroed from memory after login