Himalaya Configuration Reference

Configuration file location: ~/.config/himalaya/config.toml

Minimal IMAP + SMTP Setup

[accounts.default]
email = "user@example.com"
display-name = "Your Name"
default = true

# IMAP backend for reading emails
backend.type = "imap"
backend.host = "imap.example.com"
backend.port = 993
backend.encryption.type = "tls"
backend.login = "user@example.com"
backend.auth.type = "password"
backend.auth.raw = "your-password"

# SMTP backend for sending emails
message.send.backend.type = "smtp"
message.send.backend.host = "smtp.example.com"
message.send.backend.port = 587
message.send.backend.encryption.type = "start-tls"
message.send.backend.login = "user@example.com"
message.send.backend.auth.type = "password"
message.send.backend.auth.raw = "your-password"

# Folder aliases — required whenever server folder names differ
# from himalaya's canonical names. See "Folder Aliases" below.
folder.aliases.inbox = "INBOX"
folder.aliases.sent = "Sent"
folder.aliases.drafts = "Drafts"
folder.aliases.trash = "Trash"

Password Options

Raw password (testing only, not recommended)

backend.auth.raw = "your-password"

Password from command (recommended)

backend.auth.cmd = "pass show email/imap"
# backend.auth.cmd = "security find-generic-password -a user@example.com -s imap -w"

System keyring (requires keyring feature)

backend.auth.keyring = "imap-example"

Then run himalaya account configure <account> to store the password.

Gmail Configuration

[accounts.gmail]
email = "you@gmail.com"
display-name = "Your Name"
default = true

backend.type = "imap"
backend.host = "imap.gmail.com"
backend.port = 993
backend.encryption.type = "tls"
backend.login = "you@gmail.com"
backend.auth.type = "password"
backend.auth.cmd = "pass show google/app-password"

message.send.backend.type = "smtp"
message.send.backend.host = "smtp.gmail.com"
message.send.backend.port = 587
message.send.backend.encryption.type = "start-tls"
message.send.backend.login = "you@gmail.com"
message.send.backend.auth.type = "password"
message.send.backend.auth.cmd = "pass show google/app-password"

# Gmail folder mapping. Without these, save-to-Sent fails after
# SMTP delivery succeeds (Gmail's Sent folder is `[Gmail]/Sent Mail`,
# not `Sent`), and `himalaya message send` exits non-zero. Any
# caller that retries on that error will re-run SMTP — duplicate
# emails to recipients. Always include this block for Gmail.
folder.aliases.inbox = "INBOX"
folder.aliases.sent = "[Gmail]/Sent Mail"
folder.aliases.drafts = "[Gmail]/Drafts"
folder.aliases.trash = "[Gmail]/Trash"

Note: Gmail requires an App Password if 2FA is enabled.

iCloud Configuration

[accounts.icloud]
email = "you@icloud.com"
display-name = "Your Name"

backend.type = "imap"
backend.host = "imap.mail.me.com"
backend.port = 993
backend.encryption.type = "tls"
backend.login = "you@icloud.com"
backend.auth.type = "password"
backend.auth.cmd = "pass show icloud/app-password"

message.send.backend.type = "smtp"
message.send.backend.host = "smtp.mail.me.com"
message.send.backend.port = 587
message.send.backend.encryption.type = "start-tls"
message.send.backend.login = "you@icloud.com"
message.send.backend.auth.type = "password"
message.send.backend.auth.cmd = "pass show icloud/app-password"

Note: Generate an app-specific password at appleid.apple.com

Folder Aliases

Map himalaya's canonical folder names (inbox, sent, drafts, trash) to whatever the server actually calls them. Use the v1.2.0 folder.aliases.X syntax (plural, dotted keys, directly under [accounts.NAME]):

[accounts.default]
# ... other account config ...

folder.aliases.inbox = "INBOX"
folder.aliases.sent = "Sent"
folder.aliases.drafts = "Drafts"
folder.aliases.trash = "Trash"

The equivalent TOML sub-section form also works in v1.2.0:

[accounts.default.folder.aliases]
inbox = "INBOX"
sent = "Sent"
drafts = "Drafts"
trash = "Trash"

Don't use the singular alias form. Pre-v1.2.0 docs showed [accounts.NAME.folder.alias] (singular). v1.2.0 silently ignores that sub-section — TOML parses without error, but the alias resolver never reads it. Every lookup then falls through to the canonical name. On Gmail (where sent is actually [Gmail]/Sent Mail) this means save-to-Sent fails after SMTP delivery succeeds, and himalaya message send exits non-zero. Any caller (agent, script, user) that retries on that error code will re-run the send — including SMTP — producing duplicate emails to recipients. Always use folder.aliases.X (plural).

Multiple Accounts

[accounts.personal]
email = "personal@example.com"
default = true
# ... backend config ...

[accounts.work]
email = "work@company.com"
# ... backend config ...

Switch accounts with --account:

himalaya --account work envelope list

Notmuch Backend (local mail)

[accounts.local]
email = "user@example.com"

backend.type = "notmuch"
backend.db-path = "~/.mail/.notmuch"

OAuth2 Authentication (for providers that support it)

backend.auth.type = "oauth2"
backend.auth.client-id = "your-client-id"
backend.auth.client-secret.cmd = "pass show oauth/client-secret"
backend.auth.access-token.cmd = "pass show oauth/access-token"
backend.auth.refresh-token.cmd = "pass show oauth/refresh-token"
backend.auth.auth-url = "https://provider.com/oauth/authorize"
backend.auth.token-url = "https://provider.com/oauth/token"

Additional Options

Signature

[accounts.default]
signature = "Best regards,\nYour Name"
signature-delim = "-- \n"

Downloads directory

[accounts.default]
downloads-dir = "~/Downloads/himalaya"

Editor for composing

Set via environment variable:

export EDITOR="vim"