mail_read_email
Retrieve the full content of an Apple Mail email using its ID from search results. Get subject, sender, recipients, date, read status, and body text.
Instructions
Read the full content of a specific Apple Mail email by its ID.
Decodes the opaque email_id produced by mail_search_emails, locates the message in Apple Mail, and returns its complete content: subject, sender, recipients (To, CC), date received, read-status, and full body text.
Strictly read-only — the message read-status is NOT changed by this call.
Args: params (ReadEmailInput): Input containing: - email_id (str): Opaque ID from mail_search_emails. Required. - response_format (str): 'markdown' (default) or 'json'.
Returns: str: Full email content.
Markdown example:
# Email: Invoice for March
- **From**: billing@example.com
- **To**: you@icloud.com
- **CC**: (none)
- **Date**: Monday, 3 March 2025 at 09:14:02
- **Read**: Yes
- **Mailbox**: iCloud / INBOX
## Body
Hi there, please find your invoice attached...
JSON example:
{
"subject": "Invoice for March",
"sender": "billing@example.com",
"to": "you@icloud.com",
"cc": "",
"date": "Monday, 3 March 2025 at 09:14:02",
"read": true,
"account": "iCloud",
"mailbox": "INBOX",
"body": "Hi there, please find your invoice attached..."
}Examples: - Use when: "Read the email about invoices" (after searching) → pass the email_id from search results - Don't use when: You don't have an email_id yet → use mail_search_emails first
Error Handling: - Returns an error if the email_id is malformed or expired. - Returns an error if the message cannot be found (e.g. deleted since search). - Returns an error if Mail.app cannot be reached. - Reads on very large mailboxes (>30k messages) can take up to a minute; the mailbox is rescanned per read.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| params | Yes |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| result | Yes |