Postbode

A fast, simple IMAP mail client for powerusers and developers, with rules that keep your mailbox clean. Postbode syncs your mail into a local store, moves it into folders and deletes transient mail such as sign-in codes and magic links once you no longer need it. Agents can propose rules; you approve them.

postbode gui opens a keyboard-driven mail window; everything also works from the command line. Agents can use it over MCP: see Agents over MCP.

Quickstart

cargo install --git https://github.com/pataar/postbode
postbode account add                # asks for host, user and password, then tests the login
postbode sync                       # first sync of every folder
postbode list                       # newest mail in INBOX
postbode gui                        # the mail window
postbode mcp install claude-desktop # let Claude read your inbox and propose rules

Add rules to rules.toml next to config.toml, in ~/.config/postbode/ on Linux or ~/Library/Application Support/postbode/ on macOS:

[[rules]]
name = "purge sign-in codes"
match.subject = { regex = "(?i)sign.?in|verification code|magic link" }
match.older_than = "1h"
match.seen = true
actions = ["delete"]

postbode rules test       # dry run: what would each rule do?
postbode run              # keep syncing and applying rules in the foreground
postbode service install  # run in the background at login

Deleted mail is kept as .eml for 30 days: postbode trash list and postbode trash restore FILE.

Postbode is licensed under MIT or Apache-2.0, at your option.

More

• Documentation: install, accounts, rules, agent guide and CLI reference
• Contributing and Code of Conduct
• Security policy: how to report a vulnerability
• Changelog