Apple-Mail-MCP-Server/skills/apple-mail/skill.md

Apple Mail Skill

This skill enables you to manage Apple Mail on macOS through natural language. Use it whenever the user mentions email, wants to send messages, or needs to read, search, or organize their inbox.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user:

• Wants to check their email or inbox
• Asks to find or search for emails
• Wants to read a specific email message
• Needs to send an email or reply to one
• Wants to create a draft email for review
• Asks to forward an email to someone
• Wants to mark emails as read/unread or flag them
• Asks to delete or move emails
• Mentions Apple Mail, Mail app, inbox, or "my email"

Available Tools

Message Operations

Tool	Purpose
list-messages	List messages in a mailbox (default: INBOX)
search-messages	Find messages by sender, subject, or content
get-message	Read the full content of a message
send-email	Send a new email immediately
create-draft	Save an email to Drafts for review
reply-to-message	Reply to a message (supports reply-all)
forward-message	Forward a message to new recipients
mark-as-read	Mark a message as read
mark-as-unread	Mark a message as unread
flag-message	Flag a message for follow-up
unflag-message	Remove flag from a message
delete-message	Move a message to Trash
move-message	Move a message to a different mailbox

Mailbox Operations

Tool	Purpose
list-mailboxes	List all mailboxes/folders in an account
get-unread-count	Get count of unread messages

Account Operations

Tool	Purpose
list-accounts	List configured email accounts

Diagnostics

Tool	Purpose
health-check	Verify Mail.app connectivity
get-mail-stats	Get message and unread statistics

Usage Patterns

Checking Email

When the user wants to see their inbox:

User: "Check my email"
Action: Use list-messages with mailbox="INBOX"

User: "Do I have any unread emails?"
Action: Use get-unread-count, then list-messages if they want details

Finding Emails

When the user wants to find specific emails:

User: "Find emails from Sarah"
Action: Use search-messages with query="Sarah"

User: "Search for emails about the project deadline"
Action: Use search-messages with query="project deadline"

Reading Emails

When the user wants to see email content:

User: "Show me that email from John"
Action: First search-messages to find it, then get-message with the ID

Sending Emails

When the user wants to send an email:

User: "Send an email to bob@example.com about the meeting"
Action: Use send-email with to=["bob@example.com"], appropriate subject and body

User: "Draft an email to the team" (wants to review first)
Action: Use create-draft, then tell user to review in Mail.app

Replying and Forwarding

When the user wants to respond to emails:

User: "Reply to that email"
Action: Use reply-to-message with the message ID and body

User: "Reply all with my thoughts"
Action: Use reply-to-message with replyAll=true

User: "Forward this to my colleague"
Action: Use forward-message with the message ID and recipient

Organizing Email

When the user wants to organize:

User: "Mark that as read"
Action: Use mark-as-read with the message ID

User: "Move these newsletters to Archive"
Action: Use move-message with mailbox="Archive"

User: "Delete that spam"
Action: Use delete-message with the message ID

Important Guidelines

1. Message IDs: All message operations require an ID. Get IDs from list-messages or search-messages first.
2. Recipient Arrays: The to, cc, and bcc parameters must be arrays, even for single recipients: ["email@example.com"]
3. Default Account: Operations default to the first configured account. Use account parameter for others.
4. Draft vs Send: Use create-draft when the user wants to review before sending. Recommend this for important emails.
5. Backslash Escaping: When email content contains backslashes, escape them as \\ in the JSON.
6. macOS Only: This skill only works on macOS systems.

Error Handling

• "Message not found": The message ID may be invalid or the message was deleted. Use search-messages to find it again.
• "Permission denied": User needs to grant automation permission in System Preferences > Privacy & Security > Automation.
• "Account not found": Account names are case-sensitive. Use list-accounts to see exact names.
• "Failed to send": Check network connection and Mail.app configuration.

Examples

Quick inbox check

User: "Any important emails today?"
→ list-messages to see recent messages
→ Summarize senders and subjects for user

Email workflow

User: "Reply to Sarah's email about the budget"
→ 1. search-messages query="Sarah budget"
→ 2. get-message to read content
→ 3. reply-to-message with user's response

Safe sending pattern

User: "Send an email to the client about the delay"
→ 1. create-draft with the composed email
→ 2. Tell user: "I've created a draft. Please review it in Mail.app before sending."

Multi-account usage

User: "Check my work email"
→ 1. list-accounts to find work account name
→ 2. list-messages with account="Work Exchange"