MailOS Env Command

The mailos env command shows and manages MailOS environment variables and project send defaults.

Use it when you need to verify what mailos send will see from the current directory, including values resolved from a parent emailos.json or emailos.toml.

To select a repository-specific global account config through direnv, export MAILOS_CONFIG_PATH:

# .envrc
export MAILOS_CONFIG_PATH="$PWD/.private/emailos-config.json"

MAILOS_CONFIG_PATH controls the account config normally loaded from ~/.email/config.json. It is separate from emailos.toml, which stores commit-safe project send defaults such as from_address, from_name, and signature.

Basic Usage

mailos env

To apply a saved global project profile to the current folder:

mailos env work

This copies ~/.email/configs/work.toml to ./emailos.toml and adds emailos.toml to the current repository's local .git/info/exclude.

The output includes:

• resolved non-secret MailOS send variables
• the nearest parent emailos.json or emailos.toml path when one is found
• the source of MAILOS_FROM_EMAIL
• a reminder that MAILOS_FROM_EMAIL controls the outgoing From address and --account selects credentials

Project Config Profiles

Project config profiles are reusable TOML send defaults stored on the user's machine under ~/.email/configs.

Save the nearest project config as a global profile:

mailos env --save-profile work

List saved profiles and their resolved sender values:

mailos env list

Apply a profile to the current folder:

mailos env work

Applying a profile writes ./emailos.toml. By default MailOS adds emailos.toml to the current repository's local .git/info/exclude, so the generated folder-specific config does not show up in code review or git status. Pass --no-exclude when you intentionally want Git to see the file.

If ./emailos.json exists, MailOS refuses to apply the profile because JSON takes precedence over TOML in the same folder.

Flags

Flag	Type	Description	Example
--set-email	string	Set MAILOS_EMAIL_ADDRESS in local ./.env	mailos env --set-email [email protected]
--set-from-email	string	Set MAILOS_FROM_EMAIL in local ./.env	mailos env --set-from-email [email protected]
--set-signature	string	Set MAILOS_SIGNATURE in local ./.env	mailos env --set-signature "Regards"
--set-password	string	Set MAILOS_APP_PASSWORD in local ./.env	mailos env --set-password app-password
--set-license	string	Set MAILOS_LICENSE_KEY in local ./.env	mailos env --set-license license-key
--set-picture	string	Set MAILOS_PICTURE in local ./.env	mailos env --set-picture /path/to/me.jpg
--show-local	bool	Show local ./.env contents	mailos env --show-local
--show-global	bool	Show global ~/.email/.env contents	mailos env --show-global
--edit-local	bool	Print commands for editing local ./.env	mailos env --edit-local
--edit-global	bool	Print commands for editing global ~/.email/.env	mailos env --edit-global
--list	bool	List resolved MailOS environment variables	mailos env --list
--export	bool	Print resolved non-secret send values as shell exports	mailos env --export
--save-profile	string	Save nearest project config as ~/.email/configs/<name>.toml	mailos env --save-profile work
--list-profiles	bool	List global project config profiles	mailos env list
--no-exclude	bool	Do not add generated emailos.toml to local .git/info/exclude	mailos env work --no-exclude

Resolution Sources

For send diagnostics, MailOS combines:

1. existing exported environment variables
2. local ./.env.mailos
3. local ./.env
4. nearest parent emailos.json or emailos.toml
5. global ~/.email/.env

Most file-based values only fill unset variables, so already-exported values normally win. from_address in project config is the exception: it deliberately controls the outgoing sender for that project and becomes MAILOS_FROM_EMAIL.

Export for AI Clients

Some AI clients, shell wrappers, and IDE integrations only inspect real environment variables with commands such as printenv. They will not see values that MailOS resolves from a parent project config unless you export them first.

From the project folder, run:

eval "$(mailos env --export)"

Then tools in that shell can see values such as:

printenv MAILOS_FROM_EMAIL

mailos env --export emits shell-safe exports for non-secret send values only:

export MAILOS_EMAIL_ADDRESS='[email protected]'
export MAILOS_FROM_EMAIL='[email protected]'
export MAILOS_FROM_NAME='Sender Name'

It does not emit secrets such as MAILOS_APP_PASSWORD, MAILOS_LICENSE_KEY, or account-specific password variables.

Related Commands

Use mailos whoami or mailos config --values for a compact source report:

mailos whoami
mailos config --values

Use mailos send --dry-run --verbose to verify the final From, signature, media, and recipients before sending.