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Email

Pawz can read and send email through your existing accounts using Himalaya, an IMAP/SMTP CLI client.

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Prerequisites

Install Himalaya: 
# macOS
brew install himalaya

# Linux
cargo install himalaya

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Configuration

Himalaya uses a TOML config file at ~/.config/himalaya/config.toml: 
[accounts.personal]
email = "you@gmail.com"
display-name = "Your Name"

[accounts.personal.imap]
host = "imap.gmail.com"
port = 993
login = "you@gmail.com"
passwd.cmd = "security find-generic-password -s gmail -w"

[accounts.personal.smtp]
host = "smtp.gmail.com"
port = 465
login = "you@gmail.com"
passwd.cmd = "security find-generic-password -s gmail -w"

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Skills setup

Enable the Email skill in the Skills tab and provide:
CredentialExample
SMTP_HOSTsmtp.gmail.com
SMTP_PORT465
SMTP_USERyou@gmail.com
SMTP_PASSyour app password
IMAP_HOSTimap.gmail.com
IMAP_USERyou@gmail.com
IMAP_PASSyour app password
:::tip For Gmail, use an App Password — not your regular password. :::

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Agent tools

With the Email skill enabled, agents get:
ToolApprovalDescription
email_readAutoRead inbox, search emails
email_sendHIL requiredSend emails (human must approve)

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Mail permissions

Each account can have granular permissions:
PermissionDescription
readAllow reading emails
sendAllow sending emails
deleteAllow deleting emails
manageAllow folder management

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Provider icons

The mail view auto-detects your provider and shows the appropriate icon:
ProviderIcon
GmailG
OutlookO
YahooY
iCloudiC
FastmailFM
OtherM

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Provider presets

The account setup wizard auto-fills IMAP/SMTP settings for popular providers:
ProviderIMAP ServerIMAP PortSMTP ServerSMTP PortAuth notes
Gmailimap.gmail.com993smtp.gmail.com465Requires App Password
Outlook / Hotmailoutlook.office365.com993smtp.office365.com587Regular password or App Password with 2FA
Yahoo Mailimap.mail.yahoo.com993smtp.mail.yahoo.com465App Password from Yahoo Security settings
iCloud Mailimap.mail.me.com993smtp.mail.me.com587App-Specific Password from appleid.apple.com
Fastmailimap.fastmail.com993smtp.fastmail.com465App Password from Privacy & Security
Custom(manual)993(manual)465Enter your own IMAP/SMTP details
:::info All connections use TLS encryption. Passwords are stored in the OS keychain (macOS Keychain / libsecret on Linux), never in plain text files. :::

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Email filtering and folders

Agents can work with email folders to organize messages:
ActionToolDescription
List inboxemail_readFetch emails from INBOX or any named folder
Move to foldermove_emailMove a message to a different folder (e.g. Archive)
Delete emaildelete_emailMove to trash or permanently delete
Searchemail_readSearch by subject, sender, or content

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Folder support

Himalaya supports standard IMAP folders:
  • INBOX — default inbox
  • [Gmail]/All Mail — Gmail archive
  • [Gmail]/Drafts — drafts folder
  • Sent / [Gmail]/Sent Mail — sent items
  • Custom folders created by the user

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Attachment handling

Email attachments are managed through the Himalaya CLI:
  • Reading — email_read retrieves the full message body including inline content
  • Downloading — the agent can save attachments to the local filesystem via Himalaya commands
  • Sending — attachments can be included when composing messages through the Himalaya skill

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AI email actions

The mail view includes built-in AI actions for each email. These send a pre-composed prompt to your agent:
ActionWhat the agent does
SummarizeGenerates a concise summary of the email content
Draft ReplyComposes a professional reply based on the email context
Extract TasksIdentifies action items and tasks mentioned in the email

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Compose and reply

The built-in compose modal supports:
  • Reply — pre-fills the recipient and subject with Re: prefix
  • Forward — pre-fills the subject with Fwd: prefix and includes the original message
  • New email — opens the chat with a compose prompt for the agent to draft and send
:::tip For AI-composed messages, the agent drafts the email and uses Himalaya to send it. All outgoing email through the email_send tool requires human-in-the-loop (HIL) approval — you must confirm before any email is actually sent. :::

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Credential Vault

Email accounts are protected by the Credential Vault with a full audit trail:
  • Permission toggles — enable/disable read, send, delete, and manage permissions per account
  • Activity log — every agent email action is logged with timestamps
  • Blocked actions — attempts to use a disabled permission are logged and denied
  • Revoke access — instantly remove an account and delete credentials from the device

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Channel integration

Email can also be set up as a channel — see Channel Routing for details.