Dbochman/managing-outlook-email

<!-- Progressive Disclosure: - Level 1 (YAML front matter): Skill metadata - Level 2 (This file): Overview, quick start, commands - Level 3: workflows/ for detailed procedures Related skills: - managing-calendar: For calendar and scheduling - reading-meeting-transcripts: For Teams meeting transcripts -->

Outlook Email Management

Manage Microsoft Outlook email via outlook-cli - search, read, triage, archive, and organize messages.

Verify Installation

# Check tool is available
outlook-cli --version

# Test authentication (will prompt for login if needed)
outlook-cli find --only-unread --limit 1 --toon

If command not found, see installation page. For calendar operations, see managing-calendar. For meeting transcripts, see reading-meeting-transcripts.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when users want to:

• Check inbox: View unread emails, recent messages
• Search email: Find messages by sender, subject, date, content
• Triage inbox: Review and process unread messages
• Organize mail: Move to folders, archive old messages
• Track follow-ups: Flag emails, find flagged items
• Bulk operations: Archive by date, mark by sender

Quick Start Examples

Check Unread Emails

# List unread emails (compact output)
outlook-cli find --only-unread --toon

# Unread from specific sender
outlook-cli find --only-unread --from [email protected] --toon

# Unread with specific subject
outlook-cli find --only-unread --subject "urgent" --toon

Read Email Content

# Read full email (HTML converted to markdown by default)
outlook-cli read <message-id> --toon

# Read with raw HTML
outlook-cli read <message-id> --no-markdown --toon

Open in Outlook

# Open email in browser (Outlook on the web)
outlook-cli open <message-id>

# Print URL without opening browser
outlook-cli open <message-id> --no-browser

Search Emails

# By sender
outlook-cli find --from [email protected] --toon

# By date range
outlook-cli find --after 2025-01-01 --before 2025-01-31 --toon

# By subject and sender
outlook-cli find --from [email protected] --subject "budget" --toon

# With attachments
outlook-cli find --has-attachments --after 2025-01-01 --toon

Organize Emails

# List folders
outlook-cli list --toon

# Move to folder
outlook-cli move <message-id> Archive --toon

# Mark as read
outlook-cli mark <message-id> --read --toon

# Flag for follow-up
outlook-cli mark <message-id> --flag --toon

Bulk Operations

# Archive old emails
outlook-cli move --all --before 2025-01-01 Archive --toon

# Mark sender's emails as read
outlook-cli mark --all --from [email protected] --read --toon

# Move read emails from inbox to archive
outlook-cli move --all --folder Inbox --only-read Archive --toon

Run outlook-cli --help for all commands and flags. Run outlook-cli <command> --help for detailed options.

Workflows

1. Email Triage (workflows/email-triage.md)

   • Review unread emails systematically
   • Take action: read, archive, flag, skip

2. Email Search (workflows/search-emails.md)

   • Build queries from natural language
   • Filter and refine results

3. Priority Review (workflows/priority-review.md)

   • Search based on user priorities
   • Rank by relevance

4. Evidence Review (workflows/evidence-review.md)

   • Systematic search for fact-checking
   • Categorize findings

5. Open Loops Review (workflows/open-loops-review.md)

   • Check flagged emails and pending items
   • Cross-references calendar for invites

Troubleshooting

Authentication errors:

rm ~/.ai-pim-utils/auth-cache
outlook-cli find --limit 1  # Triggers re-authentication

Command not found:

• macOS/Linux: Add ~/.local/bin to PATH
• Windows: Restart PowerShell after installation

No results from search:

• Check date format (use YYYY-MM-DD)
• Try broader filters first
• Verify folder name with outlook-cli list

See: installation page for more troubleshooting.