Atomic Mail

Atomic Mail exposes a programmable inbox over JMAP with PoW signup and JWT rotation. This skill ships a single CLI entrypoint with three commands: `register`, `jmap_request`, and `help` — matching the MCP server.

When to use this skill

• Register a new inbox or log in with an existing API key.
• Send JMAP batches (inline JSON or preset files).
• Read built-in documentation (JMAP cheatsheet, presets, troubleshooting) or the

package README (atomicmail help --topic readme).

Call `atomicmail help` early and often — before guessing placeholders, using URNs, or cron setup. Start with help --topic overview, then presets before custom jmap_request calls and cron after register. If installed behavior disagrees with docs elsewhere, trust help from the running package.

Commands

{baseDir}/scripts/atomicmail register --username "myagent"

{baseDir}/scripts/atomicmail jmap_request --ops-file list_inbox.json

Run `atomicmail --help` or `atomicmail <command> --help` for flags.

Defaults

• authUrl: https://auth.atomicmail.ai
• apiUrl: https://api.atomicmail.ai
• credentials directory: ~/.atomicmail

Workflow

1. Register (new account)

{baseDir}/scripts/atomicmail register \
  --username "alice"

Writes credentials.json, session.jwt, capability.jwt. Prints JSON including inbox and accountId.

Required next step: after register, arrange hourly inbox polling per your runtime (see Hourly inbox polling). Native cron hosts schedule an agent job with list_inbox.json; hosts without native cron should ask the operator or remind manual fetch. Do not cron atomicmail jmap_request alone.

Usernames must be 5–21 characters (local-part of your @atomicmail.ai address).

If credentials already exist for a different username, register fails by default to protect the old account. To add another inbox without replacing the current one, pass a separate --credentials-dir (MCP: credentials_dir on register / jmap_request). Use --forced only when you intend to replace credentials in the same directory (after backing it up).

2. Register (existing API key, in case losing the credentials file)

{baseDir}/scripts/atomicmail register \
  --api-key "..."

3. JMAP request

{baseDir}/scripts/atomicmail jmap_request \
  --ops '[["Mailbox/get", {"accountId": "$ACCOUNT_ID"}, "m0"]]'

$ACCOUNT_ID, $INBOX, $INBOX_MAILBOX_ID, $UPLOAD_URL, and $DOWNLOAD_URL resolve from the session/credentials. Other placeholders such as $TO or $SUBJECT require --vars with a JSON object of strings (same substitution applies to --ops and --ops-file).

Preset file:

{baseDir}/scripts/atomicmail jmap_request \
  --ops-file list_inbox.json

With custom placeholders:

{baseDir}/scripts/atomicmail jmap_request \
  --ops-file send_mail.json \
  --vars '{"TO":"[email protected]","SUBJECT":"Hello","BODY":"Hi there"}'

Bundled presets (no local file creation required):

• send_mail.json ($TO, $SUBJECT, $BODY)
• send_mail_attachment.json ($TO, $SUBJECT, $BODY, $ATTACHMENT_BASE64,

$ATTACHMENT_TYPE, $ATTACHMENT_NAME)

• send_mail_blob_attachment.json ($TO, $SUBJECT, $BODY; pair with

repeatable `--attachment PATH` for RFC 8620 upload → $ATTACHMENT_0_BLOB_ID, …)

• list_inbox.json (latest 50; uses $INBOX_MAILBOX_ID) — used for hourly inbox polling
• reply.json ($MAIL_ID, $BODY)

Hourly inbox polling (after register)

Registration only creates credentials. Inbound mail should be fetched and triaged about once per hour between interactive sessions.

Choose the path that matches your runtime — do not mix platforms.

If your host supports scheduled jobs

OpenClaw, Hermes, atomic-agent, and similar hosts with native cron: set up an hourly agent job after the first successful register. Wire Atomic Mail MCP or AgentSkill into that agent. The scheduled turn should call list_inbox.json inside the agent prompt.

If your host does not support scheduled jobs

Claude, Pi, Cursor, and other chat agents without a cron API: do not spend tokens trying to work around this — no wrapper scripts, OS crontab/LaunchAgent setup, or scheduling on a different platform.

After register, either ask your operator to set up hourly polling on a capable host (share the examples below), or remind your operator to fetch mail manually when needed.

Forbidden: cross-platform scheduling

Do not register in one runtime and schedule the cron job on another (e.g. Pi runs register, then creates an OpenClaw cron job).

Do not cron atomicmail jmap_request alone (no agent). Do not use headless one-shot CLIs (claude -p, pi -p, codex exec) if you want to continue the thread.

Scheduling examples (capable hosts or operators)

Full options, agent prompt, and operator OS-scheduling notes: atomicmail help --topic cron or MCP help topic cron.

Agent prompt (all workflows)

Use Atomic Mail to fetch my inbox (MCP jmap_request with ops_file list_inbox.json, or atomicmail jmap_request --ops-file list_inbox.json). Summarize new messages, highlight what needs a reply, and stay available — I may ask you to reply, forward, search, or dig into something important.

Built-in cron examples

OpenClaw — cron docs: isolated session, --announce for delivery.

Hermes — cron docs: --deliver origin (or telegram, discord, email, …); not --no-agent.

atomic-agent — atomic-agent task create --cron "0 * * * *" --message "<prompt>"

For operator OS-scheduling patterns on terminal hosts, see help --topic cron.

4. Help

{baseDir}/scripts/atomicmail help
{baseDir}/scripts/atomicmail help --topic jmap_cheatsheet

Security

• credentials.json holds the API key (mode 0600). Do not commit it.
• JWT files are bearer secrets — do not log them.

Attachments and blobs

Use `send_mail_attachment.json` (in-band base64) or `send_mail_blob_attachment.json` with repeatable `--attachment PATH` (RFC 8620 upload — same flow as MCP `attachments`). Rules, limits, and Blob/upload JSON shape: `atomicmail help --topic jmap_cheatsheet`.

{baseDir}/scripts/atomicmail jmap_request \
  --ops-file send_mail_attachment.json \
  --vars '{"TO":"[email protected]","SUBJECT":"Hi","BODY":"See file","ATTACHMENT_BASE64":"SGVsbG8=","ATTACHMENT_TYPE":"text/plain","ATTACHMENT_NAME":"note.txt"}'

Overriding defaults

• Endpoints: --auth-url, --api-url or ATOMIC_MAIL_AUTH_URL,

ATOMIC_MAIL_API_URL

• Credentials path: --credentials-dir or ATOMIC_MAIL_CREDENTIALS_DIR
• PoW salt: --scrypt-salt or ATOMIC_MAIL_SCRYPT_SALT

Platform notes

• Credentials directory: Default ~/.hermes/atomicmail on Hermes (not ~/.atomicmail). The bundled skill launcher sets ATOMIC_MAIL_CREDENTIALS_DIR when unset; operator env or atomicmail.credentials_dir config overrides it.
• After register: On Hermes, accept the hourly inbox blueprint via /suggestions — do not skip inbox polling setup.
• Never cron raw CLI: Do not schedule {baseDir}/scripts/atomicmail jmap_request alone without an agent turn. The Hermes blueprint uses no_agent: false so each run is a full agent session with list_inbox.json.
• Multi-account: Pass --credentials-dir on register / jmap_request only when operating multiple inboxes at once — not needed for the default single-inbox flow.