gmailcli

gmailctl - Command-Line Gmail Client

A standalone CLI tool for Gmail operations with a resource-oriented command structure.

Installation

go build ./cmd/gmailctl

Configuration

First-time setup requires OAuth authentication:

./gmailctl configure

This will:

1. Open your browser for Google OAuth
2. Save credentials to ~/.cmdg/cmdg.conf
3. Share authentication with cmdg TUI

Usage

Messages

List messages:

gmailctl messages list                      # List inbox
gmailctl messages list --label "Work"       # List specific label
gmailctl messages list --unread-only        # Unread only
gmailctl messages list --json               # JSON output

Read message:

gmailctl messages read <message-id>
gmailctl messages read <message-id> --json
gmailctl messages read <message-id> --raw          # RFC822 format
gmailctl messages read <message-id> --headers-only

Search messages:

gmailctl messages search "from:[email protected]"
gmailctl messages search "subject:urgent is:unread"
gmailctl messages search "has:attachment after:2025/01/01"

Send message:

gmailctl messages send \
  --to [email protected] \
  --subject "Hello" \
  --body "Message text"

# With attachments
gmailctl messages send \
  --to [email protected] \
  --subject "Files" \
  --attach file1.pdf --attach file2.jpg \
  --body "See attached"

# Read body from stdin
echo "Message content" | gmailctl messages send \
  --to [email protected] \
  --subject "Test"

Delete messages:

gmailctl messages delete <message-id> --force

# Batch delete from search
gmailctl messages search "from:[email protected]" --json | \
  jq -r '.[].id' | \
  gmailctl messages delete --stdin --force

Mark read/unread:

gmailctl messages mark-read <message-id>
gmailctl messages mark-unread <message-id>

# Batch operations
gmailctl messages list --unread-only --json | \
  jq -r '.[].id' | \
  gmailctl messages mark-read --stdin

Move messages:

gmailctl messages move <message-id> --to "Archive"
gmailctl messages move <message-id> --to "Work/Projects"

# Batch move
cat message-ids.txt | gmailctl messages move --stdin --to "Done"

Labels

List labels:

gmailctl labels list
gmailctl labels list --system      # System labels only
gmailctl labels list --user-only   # User labels only
gmailctl labels list --json

Create label:

gmailctl labels create "Work/Projects"
gmailctl labels create "Important" --color "#ff0000"

Delete label:

gmailctl labels delete "Old Label" --force

Apply/remove labels:

gmailctl labels apply "Important" --message <message-id>
gmailctl labels remove "Spam" --message <message-id>

# Batch operations
gmailctl messages search "from:[email protected]" --json | \
  jq -r '.[].id' | \
  gmailctl labels apply "Important" --stdin

Attachments

List attachments:

gmailctl attachments list <message-id>
gmailctl attachments list <message-id> --json

Download attachments:

# Download all attachments
gmailctl attachments download <message-id>

# Download to specific directory
gmailctl attachments download <message-id> --output-dir ./downloads

# Download specific attachment
gmailctl attachments download <message-id> \
  --attachment-id <att-id> \
  --output custom-name.pdf

Global Flags

• --config <path> - Config file path (default: ~/.cmdg/cmdg.conf)
• --json - JSON output format
• --verbose - Verbose logging
• --no-color - Disable colored output

Exit Codes

• 0: Success
• 1: User error (invalid arguments)
• 2: API error
• 3: Authentication error
• 4: Not found

Examples

Archive read messages:

gmailctl messages list --json | \
  jq -r '.[] | select(.labels | contains(["UNREAD"]) | not) | .id' | \
  gmailctl messages move --stdin --to "Archive"

Download all attachments from a label:

gmailctl messages list --label "Invoices" --json | \
  jq -r '.[].id' | \
  while read id; do
    gmailctl attachments download "$id" --output-dir ./invoices
  done

Delete old promotional emails:

gmailctl messages search "category:promotions older_than:30d" --json | \
  jq -r '.[].id' | \
  gmailctl messages delete --stdin --force

Authentication

gmailctl shares the same OAuth configuration as cmdg. If you already use cmdg, no additional setup is needed.

Config location: ~/.cmdg/cmdg.conf

License

Same as cmdg project.