shellmail

What This Skill Does

The ShellMail skill provides a robust email interface directly within the OpenClaw environment, specifically engineered for AI agent workflows. It allows agents to autonomously manage email inboxes, track incoming verification codes (OTPs), and search through message threads without requiring manual browser interaction or human intervention. By integrating shellmail.ai, the skill ensures that agents can authenticate against services that require email verification, effectively bridging the gap between agent automation and legacy web security protocols.

Installation

To add the ShellMail skill to your OpenClaw environment, execute the following command in your terminal:

clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/aaronbatchelder/shellmail

Once installed, you must perform a one-time configuration. If you do not have a pre-existing token, ask the agent to create a new inbox using the create <name> <recovery_email> command. Once generated, ensure the returned token is saved using the gateway config.patch command provided in the documentation to ensure the skill remains authenticated across sessions. Always keep this token secure as it provides full access to your email data.

Use Cases

ShellMail is ideal for:

• Automated account registration requiring email verification.
• Retrieving time-sensitive OTP codes for multi-factor authentication (MFA) flows.
• Monitoring specific email threads or sender notifications (e.g., GitHub alerts, billing invoices) and performing automated actions based on the content.
• Managing inbox hygiene by archiving or deleting messages programmatically.

Example Prompts

1. "Check my inbox for any new unread messages and summarize the latest one."
2. "I just signed up for a service, please wait for the verification code from [email protected] and tell me what it is."
3. "Search for all emails from Stripe in the last day and let me know if there are any invoices."

Tips & Limitations

When using ShellMail, always specify the --wait flag when expecting an OTP to allow the agent enough time to poll the inbox for incoming mail. If an email address is already taken during creation, avoid guessing; simply prompt the user to choose a unique identifier or use the 'auto' generation feature. Remember that token recovery should only be performed by the user if they have lost access to their specific shellmail.ai instance, as this involves the registered recovery email address. Keep in mind that heavy polling of the inbox may impact latency, so prioritize targeted searches where possible.