> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.opencompany.sh/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Email

> Send, read, and react to email over IMAP and SMTP with any mail provider

# Email

Three provider-agnostic email nodes that work with any IMAP/SMTP mail account: send messages, read and manage your mailbox, and trigger workflows when new mail arrives. Under the hood they drive the [Himalaya](https://github.com/pimalaya/himalaya) CLI, so anything Himalaya can talk to, these nodes can too.

If your mail lives in Gmail and you want richer, API-native operations (labels, Gmail search syntax, OAuth sign-in), use the dedicated [Google Workspace](/nodes/google-workspace) nodes instead. The nodes on this page are the right choice for Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, ProtonMail, Fastmail, self-hosted servers — or Gmail over plain IMAP.

| Node          | Kind              | What it does                                                  |
| ------------- | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Email Send    | Action + AI tool  | Send an email over SMTP                                       |
| Email Read    | Action + AI tool  | List, search, read, move, delete, and flag messages over IMAP |
| Email Receive | Trigger (polling) | Fires when a new email lands in a watched folder              |

***

## Set up an email account

Click the key icon to open **API Credentials** and select **Email (IMAP/SMTP)** under the Email category. The panel provides:

* A **provider** dropdown with built-in presets: Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud, ProtonMail, Fastmail, and custom. Presets fill in the IMAP/SMTP host, port, and encryption for you.
* **Email address** and **password** inputs.
* A custom IMAP/SMTP block (host + port for each) that appears only when the provider is **custom** — for self-hosted or unlisted servers.
* **Save** writes the credentials; **Remove** clears them.

Most providers expect an app password here rather than your regular login. An app password is a single-purpose password your mail provider generates specifically for third-party apps, so you never hand out your real account password.

| Provider             | Password to use              | Notes                                                                  |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Gmail                | App Password                 | Requires 2-Step Verification; generate under Google Account → Security |
| Outlook / Office 365 | Account or App Password      |                                                                        |
| Yahoo                | App Password                 |                                                                        |
| iCloud               | App-Specific Password        | Generate at appleid.apple.com                                          |
| ProtonMail           | Bridge password              | Requires ProtonMail Bridge running locally                             |
| Fastmail             | App Password                 | Generate under Settings → Privacy & Security                           |
| Custom               | Whatever your server accepts | Fill in the IMAP/SMTP host and port fields                             |

<Warning>
  The `himalaya` CLI must be installed and on your PATH — install via `brew install himalaya`, `cargo install himalaya`, or the pre-built binaries on its GitHub releases page. If it is missing, the nodes return an error with install instructions.
</Warning>

You can also override any credential field per node: a node parameter always wins over the provider preset, which wins over the stored credential.

***

## Email Send

Send an email over SMTP. Also usable as an AI tool (`email_send`) — wire it to an AI Agent's tools handle and the agent fills the same parameters.

### Parameters

<ParamField path="provider" type="select" default="gmail">
  `gmail`, `outlook`, `yahoo`, `icloud`, `protonmail`, `fastmail`, or `custom` — picks the connection preset
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="to" type="string" required>
  Recipient(s), comma-separated
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="subject" type="string" required>
  Email subject line
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="body" type="string">
  Email body — plain text or HTML depending on `body_type`
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="cc" type="string">
  CC recipients
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="bcc" type="string">
  BCC recipients
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="body_type" type="select" default="text">
  `text` or `html`. HTML sends a `multipart/alternative` MIME message.
</ParamField>

### Output

```json theme={null}
{
  "from": "you@example.com"
}
```

The result includes `from` (the resolved sender address) merged with whatever the underlying send command returns — often an empty object on success, or `raw_output` when the CLI output is not JSON.

### Example: Send a status update

```
Provider: gmail
To: team@example.com
Subject: Nightly build finished
Body: The nightly build completed successfully.
Body Type: text
```

<Warning>
  Attachments are not supported — the node composes a single text or HTML part.
</Warning>

***

## Email Read

Read and manage an IMAP mailbox: list envelopes, search, fetch a full message, list folders, move, delete, and flag. One node, seven operations selected by the **Operation** parameter. Also usable as an AI tool (`email_read`).

| Operation | Description                                |
| --------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| list      | List envelopes in a folder (paginated)     |
| search    | Search a folder with Himalaya query syntax |
| read      | Fetch one full message by ID               |
| folders   | List all folders                           |
| move      | Move a message to another folder           |
| delete    | Delete a message                           |
| flag      | Add or remove a flag on a message          |

### Parameters

<ParamField path="provider" type="select" default="gmail">
  Connection preset (same choices as Email Send)
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="operation" type="select" default="list">
  `list`, `search`, `read`, `folders`, `move`, `delete`, or `flag`
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="folder" type="string" default="INBOX">
  IMAP folder to operate on
</ParamField>

Operation-specific parameters:

| Parameter       | Used by                  | Default | Description                                                   |
| --------------- | ------------------------ | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `query`         | search                   |         | Himalaya search expression, e.g. `from:alice subject:invoice` |
| `message_id`    | read, move, delete, flag |         | IMAP message ID                                               |
| `target_folder` | move                     |         | Destination folder                                            |
| `flag`          | flag                     |         | `Seen`, `Answered`, `Flagged`, `Draft`, or `Deleted`          |
| `flag_action`   | flag                     | `add`   | `add` or `remove`                                             |
| `page`          | list, search             | `1`     | 1-based page number                                           |
| `page_size`     | list, search             | `20`    | Items per page (1-500)                                        |

### Output

```json theme={null}
{
  "operation": "list",
  "folder": "INBOX",
  "data": [
    {"id": "1042", "from": "alice@example.com", "subject": "Invoice #204", "date": "2026-07-15"}
  ]
}
```

The result always echoes `operation` and `folder`. When the CLI returns a JSON object its keys are merged in; a list is wrapped under `data`; non-JSON output lands in `raw_output`.

### Example: Find invoices

```
Operation: search
Folder: INBOX
Query: from:billing subject:invoice
Page Size: 20
```

<Warning>
  The `delete` operation is permanent and does not ask for confirmation — treat it carefully, especially when this node is exposed to an AI agent as a tool.
</Warning>

***

## Email Receive

Polling trigger that fires when a new email lands in a watched IMAP folder. The first poll establishes a baseline so existing mail is not replayed; subsequent polls diff message IDs to detect new arrivals.

### Parameters

<ParamField path="provider" type="select" default="gmail">
  Connection preset (same choices as Email Send)
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="folder" type="string" default="INBOX">
  IMAP folder to watch
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="poll_interval" type="number" default="60">
  Seconds between polls (clamped to 30-3600)
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="filter_query" type="string">
  Reserved — not currently applied during polling
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="mark_as_read" type="boolean" default="false">
  Add the `Seen` flag to the new message after fetching it
</ParamField>

### Output

```json theme={null}
{
  "message_id": "1043",
  "folder": "INBOX",
  "from": "customer@example.com",
  "to": "support@example.com",
  "subject": "Order question",
  "date": "2026-07-15T09:12:00Z",
  "body": "Hi, I have a question about my order..."
}
```

`message_id` and `folder` are always present; the remaining fields are whatever the message read returns (`from`, `to`, `subject`, `date`, `body`, ...).

### Example: Watch the support inbox

```
Provider: fastmail
Folder: INBOX
Poll Interval: 60
Mark As Read: true
```

<Warning>
  Only the first new message per poll cycle is emitted — others arriving in the same window are absorbed into the baseline. The baseline is in-memory, so mail arriving while the server is offline will not fire the trigger after a restart.
</Warning>

***

## Example: Auto-reply triage

Answer incoming support mail automatically:

```
[Email Receive] --> [AI Agent] --> [Email Send]
```

1. **Email Receive**
   * Folder: `INBOX`
   * Poll Interval: 60
   * Mark As Read: true

2. **AI Agent**
   * Prompt: "Read the incoming email and draft a short, polite reply. If it is a billing question, say the billing team will follow up within one business day."

3. **Email Send**
   * To: the sender of the incoming message
   * Subject: `Re:` plus the original subject
   * Body: the agent's draft

Deploy the workflow so the trigger keeps polling continuously instead of running once.

***

## Tips

<Tip>
  Provider presets cover the connection details — for the seven built-in providers you only ever enter your address and an app password.
</Tip>

<Tip>
  ProtonMail requires the ProtonMail Bridge running locally; the preset already points at the Bridge's local IMAP/SMTP ports.
</Tip>

<Tip>
  Wire Email Send and Email Read to the same AI Agent to build a full mailbox assistant: the agent can search, read, and reply within a single conversation.
</Tip>

***

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Google Workspace" icon="envelope" href="/nodes/google-workspace">
    API-native Gmail nodes with OAuth sign-in
  </Card>

  <Card title="AI Agents" icon="robot" href="/nodes/ai-agent">
    Use the email nodes as AI tools
  </Card>

  <Card title="Schedulers & Triggers" icon="clock" href="/nodes/schedulers">
    Combine email with scheduled workflows
  </Card>

  <Card title="Messaging & Social" icon="comments" href="/nodes/messaging">
    Telegram, Twitter/X, and social nodes
  </Card>
</CardGroup>