MCP server built in · pipe to any agent

Email, calendar, and contacts from your terminal.

Pipe-friendly and headless-first. Give any script or AI agent a real inbox in one command. Free and open source.

250+ commands26 categories485 guidesMIT licensed

What is the Nylas CLI?

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 250+ commands for scripting and automation.

The Nylas CLI in action

Pick a topic, read the commands. Every one runs the same in a script, a cron job, or an agent.

List, read, search, send, and draft mail across Gmail, Outlook, Exchange, and IMAP. Add --json to pipe results into jq, grep, or a cron job.

$ nylas email list --unread --limit 3

ID SUBJECT FROM

msg_a1f2 Q4 Planning Doc sarah@team.io

msg_b3c4 Deploy to prod ci@infra.dev

2 messages (2 unread)

Your inbox is one command away.

Install in seconds. Connect five accounts free. No card required.

brew install nylas/nylas-cli/nylas

Then run guided setup

nylas init

Signs you up, creates an app and API key, and connects your email in one flow.

Prefer manual setup? Already have an API key? Log in with nylas auth config.

Full setup guide

View source Documentation

Give your agent its own inbox

A real, managed email address on a Nylas domain — with policies and rules that decide what your agent can act on. No OAuth handshake, no borrowed mailbox.

Real, managed address
A live address like support@you.nylas.email, provisioned on a Nylas domain.
Policy guardrails
Rules block, archive, or flag anything outside your policy — before the agent acts on it.
No OAuth dance
No third-party mailbox and no borrowed credentials — the agent owns the inbox.

Browse agent commands

$ nylas agent account create support@acme.nylas.email ✓ Agent account created Email: support@acme.nylas.email Grant ID: grant_x7k9m2 $ nylas agent rule create --name "Acme guardrail" \ --condition from.domain,is,spam.io --action block ✓ Rule created (rule_v2w5)

Start here

Three short paths to your first result. Each one is copy-paste commands, start to finish.

Send your first email

Install, connect a mailbox, and fire off a message in under two minutes — no SMTP server, no OAuth app.

Give an AI agent email

Expose the CLI as an MCP server so Cursor, Claude, or your own agent can read and send mail with one command.

Build an email agent

Wire the CLI into a script or workflow that triages, replies, and acts on an inbox on your behalf.

Browse all 485 guides