Post

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name: post version: 1.5.0 description: > Manage IMAP email with the Post CLI and local daemon. Use when reading, searching, fetching, drafting, replying, reply-all, moving, archiving, trashing, exporting, or downloading attachments from email accounts configured in Post. Also use when setting up Post credentials, starting the daemon, or restricting agents to specific mail servers with scoped Post API keys. homepage: https://github.com/Cocoanetics/Post metadata: openclaw: emoji: "🏤" os: ["darwin"] requires: bins: ["post", "postd"] install: - id: brew kind: brew formula: cocoanetics/tap/post bins: ["post", "postd"] label: "Install post via Homebrew"

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Post

Use the post CLI for email tasks and postd for the background daemon.

Read First

Read SETUP.md for first-time install, keychain credentials, daemon setup, and scoped API keys.

Read references/common-tasks.md for concrete workflows and reply recipes.

Core Rules

Treat UIDs as mailbox-scoped, not globally unique. If a message is not in INBOX, pass --reply-mailbox when replying.

Prefer --json when the result will be parsed or reused in a later step.

Prefer scoped API keys for agents. Use --token for one-off commands or set POST_API_KEY only in that agent’s environment.

Use post draft --replying-to for threaded replies. This auto-derives from, to, and subject, and sets In-Reply-To / References.

Omit --body to create a Mail-style reply draft with quoted original content ready for inline editing.

Use --reply-all only when you really want all original recipients copied.

Fast Command Map

Inspect accounts and folders

post servers
post folders --server 
post status --server  --mailbox INBOX

Find mail

post list --server  --mailbox INBOX --limit 20
post search --server  --from "someone@example.com" --since 2026-03-01
post fetch  --server  --mailbox INBOX
post fetch  --server  --mailbox INBOX --json

Draft and reply

# New draft
post draft --server  --from me@example.com --to you@example.com \
  --subject "Hello" --body reply.md
Threaded reply with body
post draft --server  --replying-to  --body reply.md
Threaded reply, reply-all
post draft --server  --replying-to  --reply-all --body reply.md
Threaded reply for inline editing in Mail.app
post draft --server  --replying-to 
Reply to a message outside INBOX
post draft --server  --replying-to  --reply-mailbox Archive --body reply.md

Attachments and exports

post attachment  --server  --mailbox INBOX --output /tmp/mail
post pdf  --server  --mailbox INBOX --output /tmp/
post eml  --server  --mailbox INBOX --output /tmp/

Organize mail

post move  Archive --server  --mailbox INBOX
post archive  --server  --mailbox INBOX
post trash  --server  --mailbox INBOX
post junk  --server  --mailbox INBOX

Reply Workflow Guidance

For real replies, prefer one of these two modes:

1. Compose in Markdown first - Fetch the original message - Write a .md file with your reply - Use post draft --replying-to --body reply.md

2. Create a native Mail-style draft - Use post draft --replying-to - Open and finish it in Mail.app

For multi-question emails, fetch the message first, identify each question, and write an interleaved Markdown reply using blockquotes. See references/common-tasks.md for a full example.

Security / Agent Isolation

Use per-agent API keys instead of sharing a full-access environment:

post api-key create --servers work
post api-key create --servers personal

Then either:

post servers --token 

or set only that agent’s environment:

export POST_API_KEY=

Details and setup examples live in SETUP.md.