NuGet package

.NET CLI

A native .NET global tool for managing email accounts, sending messages, creating scoped API tokens, and automating workflows. Rich terminal output with Spectre.Console.

NuGet
Quick start 
# Install
dotnet tool install --global inbox-api-cli

# Configure your API token
mail-cli configure --api-token cw_your_token

# List your email accounts
mail-cli accounts list

# Read your latest unread messages
mail-cli messages list --unread

# Send an email
mail-cli send --account <id> --to "bob@example.com" --subject "Hello" --body "Hi Bob!"

# Search across all accounts
mail-cli search "invoice Q3"

Node.js CLI vs .NET CLI

Both CLIs provide the same core functionality. Choose based on your environment:

@inbox-api/cli (Node.js)
  • Requires Node.js 18+
  • Install via npm
  • Address parsing: "Name <email>"
inbox-api-cli (.NET)
  • Requires .NET 9 runtime
  • Install via dotnet tool
  • Short ID prefix matching
  • Rich Spectre.Console output

Installation 

                  Install as a .NET global tool:

dotnet tool install --global inbox-api-cli

Verify the installation:

mail-cli --help

Requirements: .NET 9 runtime or SDK

Authentication 

                  The .NET CLI authenticates using API tokens (prefixed with cw_).

Three ways to provide credentials, checked in order:

# 1. CLI flags (highest priority)
mail-cli accounts list --api-token cw_your_token --api-url https://api.example.com

# 2. Environment variables
export CLOUDWORKS_API_TOKEN=cw_your_token
export CLOUDWORKS_API_URL=https://api.example.com

# 3. Config file (saved by 'configure' command)
mail-cli configure

Saves credentials to ~/.cloudworks/config.json.

Global Options 

                  Available on every command:

  --json              Output as JSON
  --no-color          Disable colored output
  --debug             Show debug information

configure 

                  Set up API connection. Tests the connection before saving.

mail-cli configure
mail-cli configure --api-url https://api.example.com --api-token cw_your_token

Options:
  --api-url <url>     API base URL (default: http://localhost:5015)
  --api-token <token>  API token

accounts list 

                  List all connected email accounts.

mail-cli accounts list

┌──────────────────────┬─────────────────────┬──────────────┬────────────┬──────────┐
│ ID                   │ Email               │ Display Name │ Sync       │ Messages │
├──────────────────────┼─────────────────────┼──────────────┼────────────┼──────────┤
│ a1b2c3d4-...         │ me@gmail.com        │ Personal     │ Synced     │ 1,247    │
│ e5f6g7h8-...         │ work@company.com    │ Work         │ Syncing... │ 3,891    │
└──────────────────────┴─────────────────────┴──────────────┴────────────┴──────────┘

accounts add 

                  Connect a new email account via IMAP/SMTP.

mail-cli accounts add \
  --email "me@company.com" \
  --imap-host "imap.company.com" \
  --smtp-host "smtp.company.com" \
  --password "app-password"

Options:
  --email <email>         Email address (required)
  --imap-host <host>      IMAP server hostname (required)
  --smtp-host <host>      SMTP server hostname (required)
  --display-name <name>  Display name
  --imap-port <port>      IMAP port (default: 993)
  --smtp-port <port>      SMTP port (default: 587)
  --no-ssl               Disable SSL for both IMAP and SMTP
  --password <password>   Account password

accounts remove 

                  Disconnect and remove an email account. Supports short ID prefix matching.

mail-cli accounts remove <account-id>
mail-cli accounts remove <account-id> --force  # skip confirmation

# Short ID matching — just type the first few characters
mail-cli accounts remove a1b2c3

messages list 

                  List messages with filtering and pagination.

mail-cli messages list
mail-cli messages list --account <id> --unread
mail-cli messages list --page 2 --page-size 50

Options:
  --account <id>         Filter by account
  --folder <id>          Filter by folder
  --unread               Show only unread messages
  --start-date <date>    Filter from date
  --end-date <date>      Filter to date
  --page <n>             Page number (default: 1)
  --page-size <n>        Results per page (default: 50, max: 100)

messages get 

                  Get message details, optionally including the body.

mail-cli messages get <message-id>
mail-cli messages get <message-id> --body       # include text body
mail-cli messages get <message-id> --body --html # include HTML body

Options:
  --body     Display the message body
  --html     Show HTML body instead of plain text (requires --body)

send 

                  Send a new email. At least --body or --html-body is required.

mail-cli send \
  --account <account-id> \
  --to "alice@example.com,bob@example.com" \
  --subject "Weekly Update" \
  --body "Hi team, here's the weekly update."

Options:
  --account <id>          Account to send from (required)
  --to <emails>          Comma-separated recipients (required)
  --subject <subject>    Email subject (required)
  --body <text>          Plain text body
  --html-body <html>     HTML body
  --cc <emails>          Comma-separated CC recipients
  --bcc <emails>         Comma-separated BCC recipients

reply 

                  Reply to an existing message.

mail-cli reply <message-id> --body "Thanks, looks good!"
mail-cli reply <message-id> --body "Noted, thanks everyone." --reply-all

Options:
  --body <text>       Reply body (required)
  --html-body <html> HTML reply body
  --reply-all         Reply to all recipients

drafts list 

                  List saved drafts.

mail-cli drafts list
mail-cli drafts list --account <id>

Options:
  --account <id>       Filter by account
  --page <n>           Page number (default: 1)
  --page-size <n>      Results per page (default: 50)

drafts create 

                  Create a new draft.

mail-cli drafts create \
  --account <account-id> \
  --to "alice@example.com" \
  --subject "Proposal" \
  --body "Here's the draft proposal..."

Options:
  --account <id>       Account for the draft (required)
  --to <emails>       Comma-separated recipients
  --subject <subject> Subject line
  --body <text>       Plain text body
  --html-body <html> HTML body

drafts update 

                  Update an existing draft.

mail-cli drafts update <draft-id> --subject "Updated Subject"

drafts send 

                  Send a saved draft.

mail-cli drafts send <draft-id>

drafts delete 

                  Delete a draft.

mail-cli drafts delete <draft-id>
mail-cli drafts delete <draft-id> --force  # skip confirmation

folders list 

                  List folders for an email account.

mail-cli folders list <account-id>

┌──────────────────────┬──────────┬──────────────────┬──────────┐
│ Name                 │ Path     │ Type             │ Messages │
├──────────────────────┼──────────┼──────────────────┼──────────┤
│ INBOX                │ INBOX    │ Inbox            │ 1,247    │
│ Sent                 │ Sent     │ Sent             │ 892      │
│ Drafts               │ Drafts   │ Drafts           │ 3        │
└──────────────────────┴──────────┴──────────────────┴──────────┘
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