Read and Search Mail

Use the CLI for fast recent-message checks, scripts, and lightweight replies. Use Mail Desk when you want to inspect the full message or organize state visually.

Confirm the Selected Inbox

dispatch inbox show

If the wrong inbox is selected:

dispatch inbox ls
dispatch inbox use <inbox_id>

List Recent Messages

dispatch mail ls

Increase the page size:

dispatch mail ls --limit 50

Check spam or all folders:

dispatch mail ls --folder spam
dispatch mail ls --folder all

Watch for New Mail

dispatch mail tail

Tune polling if you are waiting in a slower flow:

dispatch mail tail --poll-seconds 10 --limit 50

Use JSON for Automation

dispatch --format json mail ls --limit 20

JSON output includes message ids, sender, subject, timestamps, and pagination cursor data where available.

Open and Inspect Messages

The CLI is optimized for listing and extraction. For full message reading, message state, and replies, open Mail Desk in the web app after the inbox is claimed.

Recommended loop:

1. dispatch mail tail while waiting.
2. dispatch mail code or dispatch mail link when the message arrives.
3. dispatch mail reply latest --text "Thanks, got it." for a quick reply, or open Mail Desk if you need the full body.

Common Gotchas

• dispatch mail commands use the selected inbox.
• Listing recent messages is not the same as server-side full-text search.
• Use --folder spam when a sender has poor authentication.
• If the CLI says credentials are missing, run dispatch status. Recreate an inbox with dispatch inbox create, claim it with dispatch inbox claim --open, or reconnect with a workspace/inbox key if you are using keys directly.