Email, calendar, and contacts from your terminal.
Pipe-friendly, headless-first. Give any agent email, calendar, and contacts in one command.
Nylas CLI is a free, open-source command-line tool that provides unified access to email, calendar, and contacts across Gmail, Microsoft 365, Exchange, Yahoo, iCloud, and IMAP providers. It includes a built-in MCP server for AI agents, GPG encryption, webhook management, and 72+ commands for scripting and automation.
Features
Agent-native
Built-in MCP server lets Claude, Cursor, and VS Code read and send email in one command. Typed tools across email, calendar, and contacts — no API keys or middleware required.
Runs anywhere
Works over SSH, inside containers, and in CI pipelines. No GUI, no browser, no display server. Pipe JSON output to jq, scripts, or other CLI tools.
Unified email
One interface for Gmail, Outlook, Exchange, Yahoo, iCloud, and any IMAP server. Send, search, list, and read email across 6 providers with a single command.
Calendar
List, create, update, and delete events. AI scheduling with natural language, DST-aware timezone handling, and free/busy availability checks.
Contacts
Search and sync contacts across every connected provider. List contact groups, look up by name or email, and export as JSON for automation.
Sandboxed
OAuth tokens stored in your OS keyring. GPG signing and encryption keep messages private. Your credentials and keys never leave your machine.
Guides
Learn by doing
Automate Meeting Notes to Email
Record meetings, generate AI summaries from transcripts, and email notes to attendees automatically. Combines notetaker bots with scheduled email sends.
Summarize Email Threads with AI
Summarize long email threads with an LLM from the command line. Extract action items, decisions, and deadlines from threaded conversations in one pipeline.
Build an AI Email Auto-Responder
Build an AI auto-responder that reads incoming email, drafts context-aware replies with an LLM, and sends after human approval. Python and CLI pipeline.
Gmail Labels API: Create and Manage
Manage Gmail labels with the Gmail API. Create, list, modify, and apply labels to messages. Batch label operations, system vs user labels, and CLI alternatives.
Email Templates from the CLI
Create, manage, and send email templates from the command line. Variable substitution, HTML rendering, and reusable message patterns for outbound sends.
Manage Contacts from Terminal
List, search, create, and update contacts from the command line. Export to CSV, manage contact groups, and sync address books across Gmail and Outlook.
Install
One install. Then pipe it to anything.
brew install nylas/nylas-cli/nylasThen run guided setup
- 1.Run
nylas init— log in, create or choose an app, generate an API key, and sync grants. - 2.Prefer manual setup? Sign up at dashboard-v3.nylas.com.
- 3.Start using commands — the same setup works across email, calendar, contacts, and MCP.
nylas init