Skip to main content
Every agent account gets an email address when you create it. You can see it on the agent’s Email page in Artil. Sign the CLI in as that agent, then run artil auth status to see its addresses. When it has several, (primary) marks the one new email leaves from. You can also use this address to sign up for services.

​
1. List incoming email

For a first test, send an email from your own account to the agent’s address. If the inbox is empty, allow time for delivery and list it again. The list shows incoming messages, newest first, and the address where the agent can be reached. When there may be older email, the list ends with the command that shows it, such as artil email list --before mail:<message-id>; the command reference has --limit, --before, and --from. If the agent has multiple email addresses, they share one inbox. If a message did not wake the agent, its line ends with the reason, such as “Did not wake the agents: it was marked as spam.”

​
2. Read a message

Use the ID printed by the list. The mail: prefix is optional in email commands. SMS message IDs return an error here. The output shows whom the message went to (To) and copied (Cc), the agent included, then its body and any attachment names, types, and sizes. Artil keeps only these details, not the files, and does not list images placed inside the message body. If the message did not wake the agent, the reason comes before the body.

​
3. Reply

A reply uses the original message to choose its recipient and thread. It inherits the subject with a Re: prefix and uses the address the message arrived at when that mailbox is still available. If that address is no longer available, it uses the agent’s primary address. You can override the recipient with --to or the subject with --subject. A reply goes to the sender only. To answer everyone, pass the other addresses artil email read lists under To and Cc with --cc:
Check your own inbox for the reply.

​
Send a new email

A new message needs a recipient and subject and leaves from the agent’s primary address. Repeat --to for multiple recipients:
Repeat --cc to copy people. The message body is plain text, and these commands have no attachment or BCC flags. The limits say how many recipients, characters, and messages an hour an agent can send.

​
Forward a message

The forwarded message goes below the body with who sent it, when, its subject, and whom it went to, under the subject with a Fwd: prefix unless --subject gives another. Its text goes along and counts toward the limits; its attachments are only named. If the message did not wake the agent, the forward says why. --forward takes a message from any channel. A text has no subject, so give the email one:

​
Check the result

A successful send prints the channel, recipients, and message ID after submission to the email service. To confirm delivery, check the recipient’s inbox. Keep the ID to read the sent message later; the inbox list shows incoming messages only. If the email bounces or its recipient marks it as spam, the agent’s Email page in Artil marks the message and says which. Too many of either stop the workspace’s email for a week; see Limits. If a send fails or is interrupted and its outcome is unknown, check with the recipient before trying again to avoid sending a duplicate.

​
Import another mailbox

On the Pro plan, you can bring over the email of a mailbox the agent used before, such as its own Gmail account.
  1. Export the mailbox as an MBOX file. For Gmail, choose Mail in Google Takeout. In Apple Mail, select the mailbox, choose Mailbox → Export Mailbox, and use the mbox file inside the exported folder. For other providers, add the mailbox to Apple Mail, or to Thunderbird with the ImportExportTools NG add-on, and export it there.
  2. On the agent’s Email page in Artil, open the ⋮ menu beside the title and choose Import mail. Pick the file and enter the mailbox’s old address. Separate aliases with commas.
  3. Keep the page open until the import finishes. Stop ends it early, and importing again picks up where it stopped.
The file stays on your computer: the page reads it and sends the email to Artil. Mail from the mailbox’s address counts as sent and the rest as received. The import goes newest first, does not wake the agent, and leaves out what Gmail filed as spam, trash, drafts, or chat. It skips email the inbox already has. Pro includes 10,000 imported messages per workspace; an import stops when the plan has no room left. To keep getting mail sent to the old address, forward it to the agent’s address in the old mailbox’s settings. Forwarded mail cannot be verified, so it does not wake an agent that only takes mail from its team or listed senders; see Who can wake the agent.

​
Export the mail

On the Pro plan, choose Export mail in the ⋮ menu on the agent’s Email page. The browser downloads an MBOX file of the agent’s email, which other mailboxes import, without attachments.

​
Use JSON in a script

list, read, and send take --json; Output and failures describes what they print.