--- title: "openemail contacts" description: "Every command in this namespace, with its arguments, flags and examples." url: "https://openemail.uk/docs/cli/reference/contacts" area: "CLI" category: "Reference" --- # openemail contacts Every command in this namespace, with its arguments, flags and examples. ## Commands ### `openemail contacts list` List the workspace contacts, most recently seen first ```bash openemail contacts list [flags] ``` Returns one page of the workspace address book, ordered by `lastSeenAt` with the most recent first and contacts that have never been mailed last. `source` says where a row came from: `manual` for a contact somebody saved, in the app or through `create`, and `auto` for an address recorded when a member sent mail to it from the app composer. A saved contact stays `manual` when it is mailed later. `--source` narrows the page to one origin, so `{ source: 'manual' }` is the contacts somebody saved on purpose and `{ source: 'auto' }` the ones the composer recorded. `--q` searches the name and the address. This lists saved contacts only. `listPeople` lists everyone the Contacts page in the app shows, the addresses seen in mail included, with thread counts. Paging is keyset. `--limit` takes 1 to 200 and defaults to 50, and `nextCursor` goes back as `--cursor` while `hasMore` is true. Never build a cursor yourself. Contacts belong to the whole workspace rather than to any one address, so a key limited to particular addresses or domains reads and writes the same book as every other key. An app connected by a member who reaches only some addresses is refused with 422 `capability_unsupported` on `addressAllowlist`, on every contacts, audiences and broadcasts route. Add `--all` to walk every page: a table on a terminal, one JSON object per line when piped or with `--ndjson`, and one `{ items, hasMore, nextCursor }` document with `--json`. `--max ` stops after that many items. - Scopes: `contacts:read`. - Needs a sign-in. - Aliases: `ls`. **Flags** - `--limit ` (default `50`): Rows per page, a whole number from 1 to 200. The server defaults to 50. - `--cursor `: The `nextCursor` from the previous page. Never build one yourself. - `--source `: `manual` or `auto`. Leave it out for the whole book. - `--q `: Searches the name and the address, up to 200 characters. When nothing matches exactly on the first page, close spellings are returned instead, and the pages that follow keep matching the same way. - `--all`: Fetch every page and stream the items as they arrive. - `--max `: Stop after this many items. Implies `--all`. - `--ndjson`: Print every item as one JSON object per line. Implies `--all` **Examples** ```bash openemail contacts list ``` With optional flags ```bash openemail contacts list --limit 200 --source manual ``` Walk every page and stop after 100 items ```bash openemail contacts list --all --max 100 ``` One JSON object per line when piped ```bash openemail contacts list --all > contacts.ndjson ``` Also available in: API [`GET /contacts`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#get-contacts); SDK [`contacts.list()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#list). ### `openemail contacts get` Read one contact by email address ```bash openemail contacts get [flags] ``` Looks up a contact by address in the workspace address book. The address is trimmed and lower cased before the lookup, so `Grace@Example.com` finds `grace@example.com`, and the SDK URL encodes it for the path. A 404 means only that the address is not in the book. It says nothing about whether mail has been exchanged with it, since received mail never creates contacts. - Scopes: `contacts:read`. - Needs a sign-in. - Aliases: `show`, `view`. **Arguments** - `` (required): The contact's address, matched case insensitively. **Examples** ```bash openemail contacts get grace@example.com ``` Print the raw JSON ```bash openemail contacts get grace@example.com --json ``` Also available in: API [`GET /contacts/{email}`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#get-contacts-email); SDK [`contacts.get()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#get). ### `openemail contacts create` Save a contact in the workspace address book ```bash openemail contacts create --email [flags] openemail contacts create --data [flags] ``` Adds one address to the workspace address book and returns the saved row. `email` is trimmed and lower cased before it is stored, so `Grace@Example.com` and `grace@example.com` are the same contact. The contact is saved with `source` set to `manual`, the same value a contact typed into the app carries, and it joins the default audience as it is written. Every contact is in that audience for as long as it exists, so there is nothing to add afterwards. Name audiences of your own in `--audience-ids` to put it in them in the same call, or add it later with `audiences.addContact`. Sending `--audience-ids` also requires the `audiences:write` scope, since it writes memberships as well as a contact. An address can be in the book once. A second create for an address that is already there is refused with 409 `contact_exists` rather than merged, so a retry cannot quietly overwrite a name somebody edited in the app. Read the existing row with `get` and change it with `update`. - Scopes: `contacts:write`. - Needs a sign-in. - Aliases: `new`, `add`. **Flags** - `--email `: The address to save, trimmed and lower cased before it is stored. Required, here or in `--data`. - `--name `: Display name. Leave it out to save the contact without one. - `--notes `: Free text kept with the contact and shown beside it in the app. - `--audience-ids ` (repeatable): Up to 25 audience ids to put the new contact in. The default audience is joined whether or not it is named. When this is present the key also needs `audiences:write`, or the call is refused with 403 before anything is saved. - `--data `: The whole `body` as JSON, inline, from a file with @path, or - for standard input. Flags override its keys. **Examples** The required values only ```bash openemail contacts create --email grace@example.com ``` With optional flags ```bash openemail contacts create --email grace@example.com --name 'Grace Hopper' --notes 'Met at the compiler workshop' ``` Read the whole body from a JSON file ```bash openemail contacts create --data @contact.json ``` Also available in: API [`POST /contacts`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#post-contacts); SDK [`contacts.create()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#create). ### `openemail contacts update` Change a contact's name or notes ```bash openemail contacts update [flags] ``` Changes the fields you send and leaves the rest alone. A key you leave out keeps its stored value, and an explicit null clears it, so `{ notes: null }` empties the notes while `{}` changes nothing. The address cannot be changed. It is the contact's identity, its path segment and the unique key of the book, so moving a contact to a new address is a `delete` and a `create`, and that new contact starts with no audience membership beyond the default one. `source` and `lastSeenAt` are the server's to set and are not accepted here. A contact recorded automatically stays `auto` after you give it a name. - Scopes: `contacts:write`. - Needs a sign-in. - Aliases: `edit`. **Arguments** - `` (required): The contact's address, matched case insensitively. **Flags** - `--name `: New display name. Null clears it. - `--notes `: New notes. Null clears them. - `--data `: The whole `patch` as JSON, inline, from a file with @path, or - for standard input. Flags override its keys. **Examples** With optional flags ```bash openemail contacts update grace@example.com --name 'Grace Hopper' ``` Print the raw JSON ```bash openemail contacts update grace@example.com --name 'Grace Hopper' --json ``` Also available in: API [`PATCH /contacts/{email}`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#patch-contacts-email); SDK [`contacts.update()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#update). ### `openemail contacts delete` Delete somebody from the contacts and hide the address ```bash openemail contacts delete [flags] ``` Does what Delete does on the Contacts page in the app. A saved contact goes with its notes, its photo and every audience it was in, the default one included. The address is then hidden: `listPeople` leaves it out, and mail sent to it from the app composer no longer records it as a contact. The address can be one that was only ever seen in mail, which is how you take somebody off the people list, and `wasSaved` says which it was. Nothing else moves: the mail exchanged with the address stays in the mailbox, and the address can still be written to. There is no undo. `create` or `save` afterwards brings the address back as a new contact with no name, no notes and no membership beyond the default audience. - Scopes: `contacts:write`. - Needs a sign-in. - Asks you to confirm. - Aliases: `rm`, `del`, `remove`. **Arguments** - `` (required): The contact's address, matched case insensitively. **Examples** ```bash openemail contacts delete grace@example.com ``` Skip the confirmation, for scripts ```bash openemail contacts delete grace@example.com --yes ``` Also available in: API [`DELETE /contacts/{email}`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#delete-contacts-email); SDK [`contacts.delete()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#delete). ### `openemail contacts set-audiences` Set exactly which audiences a contact is in ```bash openemail contacts set-audiences --audience-ids [flags] openemail contacts set-audiences --data [flags] ``` Makes the contact's audiences match the list you send, the way the audience picker on a contact does in the app. The contact joins every listed audience it is not in yet and leaves every other one, in one transaction, and memberships it keeps keep their `addedAt`. The default audience is always kept, whether or not you name it, so `{ audienceIds: [] }` leaves the contact in the default audience alone. To add or remove one audience without restating the rest, use `audiences.addContact` or `audiences.removeContact`. The address is trimmed and lower cased, the SDK URL encodes it for the path, and it has to be a contact already: an address that is not in the book is a 404 `contact_not_found` on `email`. Create it with `create`, which takes `--audience-ids` too. An id that is not an audience of this workspace is a 404 `audience_not_found` on `--audience-ids`, and nothing is changed. - Scopes: `audiences:write`. - Needs a sign-in. **Arguments** - `` (required): The contact's address, matched case insensitively. **Flags** - `--audience-ids ` (repeatable): Every audience the contact should be in, up to 100 ids. A repeated id counts once. More than 100 is a 422 `invalid_parameter` on `--audience-ids`, and an empty id is the same error on that entry, such as `audienceIds.0`. Required, here or in `--data`. - `--data `: The whole `body` as JSON, inline, from a file with @path, or - for standard input. Flags override its keys. **Examples** ```bash openemail contacts set-audiences grace@example.com --audience-ids aud_9f2c4b7e1a0d63d84c5f2e7b,aud_1c4e7a9b2d0f36e85a7c1b4d ``` Read the whole body from a JSON file ```bash openemail contacts set-audiences grace@example.com --data @contact.json ``` Also available in: API [`PUT /contacts/{email}/audiences`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#put-contacts-email-audiences); SDK [`contacts.setAudiences()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#setAudiences). ### `openemail contacts list-people` List everyone on the Contacts page, saved or seen in mail ```bash openemail contacts list-people [flags] ``` Returns one page of the people the Contacts page in the app lists: the saved contacts, and every address seen in mail as the sender or a recipient of a thread's newest message. Each row says whether it is `saved`, how many `threads` it shares with the mailbox and when mail last moved (`lastAt`). A person seen in mail and saved is one row. `list` is the saved contacts alone. The addresses seen in mail are included only when the key also holds `threads:read`, because they are read out of the mail. Without it the page holds the saved contacts and `seen` is false. Deleted addresses and the mailbox's own addresses are never listed. `sort` is `recent`, newest mail first and saved contacts never seen in mail after them, `name`, by name or else by address, ignoring case, or `threads`, most threads first. `blockedBy` on each row names the workspace blocklist rule that blocks it, and `blocked: true` narrows the page to those rows. Paging is keyset. `--limit` takes 1 to 100 and defaults to 25, and `nextCursor` goes back as `--cursor`, with the same `sort`, `q` and `blocked`, while `hasMore` is true. Add `--all` to walk every page: a table on a terminal, one JSON object per line when piped or with `--ndjson`, and one JSON document with `--json`, shaped as Returns describes. `--max ` stops after that many items. - Scopes: `contacts:read`. - Needs a sign-in. **Flags** - `--q `: Searches names, addresses and notes, up to 200 characters. When nothing matches exactly on the first page, close spellings are returned instead. - `--email `: One address only, matched case insensitively: the way to read one person's thread count and last mail. - `--sort ` (default `"recent"`): `recent` (the default), `name` or `threads`. - `--blocked`: `true` for only the people the workspace blocklist blocks, whole-domain rules included. - `--limit ` (default `25`): Rows per page, 1 to 100. The server defaults to 25. - `--cursor `: The `nextCursor` from the previous page. Never build one yourself. - `--all`: Fetch every page and stream the items as they arrive. - `--max `: Stop after this many items. Implies `--all`. - `--ndjson`: Print every item as one JSON object per line. Implies `--all` **Examples** ```bash openemail contacts list-people ``` With optional flags ```bash openemail contacts list-people --sort threads --limit 50 ``` Walk every page and stop after 100 items ```bash openemail contacts list-people --all --max 100 ``` One JSON object per line when piped ```bash openemail contacts list-people --all > contacts.ndjson ``` Also available in: API [`GET /contacts/people`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#get-contacts-people); SDK [`contacts.listPeople()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#listPeople). ### `openemail contacts save` Save an address as a contact, or keep one that was recorded ```bash openemail contacts save [flags] ``` Does what Add to contacts and Keep in contacts do in the app, and is safe to call whatever state the address is in. An address that is not a contact yet becomes one with `source` `manual`. A contact recorded from a send becomes `manual`. A contact already saved keeps what it has. A deleted address is brought back. `--name` replaces the stored name and leaving it out keeps it. `--notes` replaces the stored notes and `null` clears them. Unlike `create`, an address already in the book is not an error, and unlike `update`, an address not in the book is not one either. - Scopes: `contacts:write`. - Needs a sign-in. **Arguments** - `` (required): The address, trimmed and lower cased on the server. **Flags** - `--name `: Up to 200 characters. Left out, the stored name is kept. - `--notes `: Up to 5,000 characters. `null` clears the notes; left out, they are kept. - `--data `: The whole `body` as JSON, inline, from a file with @path, or - for standard input. Flags override its keys. **Examples** The required values only ```bash openemail contacts save grace@example.com ``` With optional flags ```bash openemail contacts save grace@example.com --name 'Grace Hopper' ``` Also available in: API [`PUT /contacts/{email}`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#put-contacts-email); SDK [`contacts.save()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#save). ### `openemail contacts delete-many` Delete up to 200 contacts in one call ```bash openemail contacts delete-many [flags] ``` Deletes every address in `emails` the way `delete` deletes one: a saved contact goes with its notes, its photo and every audience membership, and every address is hidden, so mail sent to it from the app composer does not record it again. Addresses that were only seen in mail are hidden too. An entry that is not an address comes back in `invalid` and the rest still go through. A repeated address counts once. There is no undo. - Scopes: `contacts:write`. - Needs a sign-in. - Asks you to confirm. **Arguments** - `` (required): 1 to 200 addresses, matched case insensitively. More than 200, or none, is a 422 on `emails`. **Examples** ```bash openemail contacts delete-many ada@example.com grace@example.com ``` Skip the confirmation, for scripts ```bash openemail contacts delete-many ada@example.com grace@example.com --yes ``` Also available in: API [`POST /contacts/batch-delete`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#post-contacts-batch-delete); SDK [`contacts.deleteMany()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#deleteMany). ### `openemail contacts set-photo` Upload the photo shown for a contact ```bash openemail contacts set-photo [flags] ``` Sends the image bytes as the request body, replacing any photo the contact had. PNG, JPEG, WebP and GIF are accepted, up to 5 MB. The server fits the image into a 512 pixel square, stores it as WebP, keeps the first frame of an animation, and answers with the contact and its new `photoUrl`. `data` is a `Blob`, an `ArrayBuffer` or a `Uint8Array`. The type is read from `--content-type`, or from a `Blob`'s own type when that is left out. Without either the bytes go as `application/octet-stream` and the server refuses them with 422 `invalid_image`. The address has to be a saved contact already: `save` it first. - Scopes: `contacts:write`. - Needs a sign-in. **Arguments** - `` (required): The contact's address, matched case insensitively. - `` (required): The image: a `Blob`, `ArrayBuffer` or `Uint8Array`. **Flags** - `--content-type `: `image/png`, `image/jpeg`, `image/webp` or `image/gif`. Required unless `data` is a `Blob` with a type. **Examples** The required values only ```bash openemail contacts set-photo grace@example.com ./photo.jpg ``` With optional flags ```bash openemail contacts set-photo grace@example.com ./photo.jpg --content-type image/jpeg ``` Also available in: API [`PUT /contacts/{email}/photo`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#put-contacts-email-photo); SDK [`contacts.setPhoto()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#setPhoto). ### `openemail contacts remove-photo` Remove a contact photo ```bash openemail contacts remove-photo [flags] ``` Takes the photo off the contact and deletes the stored image, the way Remove does on a contact in the app. The contact answers with `photoUrl` null. Removing a photo from a contact that has none changes nothing. - Scopes: `contacts:write`. - Needs a sign-in. - Asks you to confirm. **Arguments** - `` (required): The contact's address, matched case insensitively. **Examples** ```bash openemail contacts remove-photo grace@example.com ``` Skip the confirmation, for scripts ```bash openemail contacts remove-photo grace@example.com --yes ``` Also available in: API [`DELETE /contacts/{email}/photo`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#delete-contacts-email-photo); SDK [`contacts.removePhoto()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#removePhoto). ### `openemail contacts block` Block an address ```bash openemail contacts block [flags] ``` Puts the address on the workspace blocklist, the same list `settings.update` edits as `blockedSenders`, so mail from it is refused from then on. This is Block on a contact in the app. A plus tag is dropped: blocking `ada+news@example.com` blocks `ada@example.com`, and every tag of it. When a rule already blocks the address, a whole-domain rule included, nothing is added: `created` is false and `blockedBy` names that rule. The address does not have to be a contact. - Scopes: `settings:write`. - Needs a sign-in. **Arguments** - `` (required): The address to block. **Examples** ```bash openemail contacts block spammer@example.com ``` Print the raw JSON ```bash openemail contacts block spammer@example.com --json ``` Also available in: API [`POST /contacts/{email}/block`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#post-contacts-email-block); SDK [`contacts.block()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#block). ### `openemail contacts unblock` Unblock an address ```bash openemail contacts unblock [flags] ``` Takes every workspace blocklist rule that blocks the address off the list and lists them in `removed`. This is Unblock on a contact in the app. When one of them is a whole-domain rule, in `blockedDomains`, everybody at that domain is unblocked with it, so check `removed` when that matters. Rules set for one address or one domain in the settings are not touched. An address that no rule blocks answers with `removed` empty. - Scopes: `settings:write`. - Needs a sign-in. - Asks you to confirm. **Arguments** - `` (required): The address to unblock. **Examples** ```bash openemail contacts unblock friend@example.com ``` Skip the confirmation, for scripts ```bash openemail contacts unblock friend@example.com --yes ``` Also available in: API [`DELETE /contacts/{email}/block`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#delete-contacts-email-block); SDK [`contacts.unblock()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#unblock). ### `openemail contacts list-threads` List the conversations with one person ```bash openemail contacts list-threads [flags] ``` Returns one page of the threads the address wrote or was written to, in every folder: the Mail tab on a contact in the app. Each row is a summary, `subject`, `from`, `receivedAt`, `messageCount`, `hasUnread` and `labels`, and `threads.get` reads the messages behind its `id`. `--limit` takes 1 to 100 and defaults to 25. Pass `nextCursor` back as `--cursor`, with the same `q` and `sort`, while `hasMore` is true. Add `--all` to walk every page: a table on a terminal, one JSON object per line when piped or with `--ndjson`, and one `{ items, hasMore, nextCursor }` document with `--json`. `--max ` stops after that many items. - Scopes: `threads:read`. - Needs a sign-in. **Arguments** - `` (required): The address. It does not have to be a saved contact. **Flags** - `--q `: Searches inside those threads, with the mailbox search syntax, up to 200 characters. - `--sort ` (default `"newest"`): `newest` (the default), `oldest`, `sender` or `subject`. - `--limit ` (default `25`): Threads per page, 1 to 100. The server defaults to 25. - `--cursor `: The `nextCursor` from the previous page. Never build one yourself. - `--all`: Fetch every page and stream the items as they arrive. - `--max `: Stop after this many items. Implies `--all`. - `--ndjson`: Print every item as one JSON object per line. Implies `--all` **Examples** The required values only ```bash openemail contacts list-threads ada@example.com ``` With optional flags ```bash openemail contacts list-threads ada@example.com --q invoice ``` Walk every page and stop after 100 items ```bash openemail contacts list-threads ada@example.com --all --max 100 ``` One JSON object per line when piped ```bash openemail contacts list-threads ada@example.com --all > contacts.ndjson ``` Also available in: API [`GET /contacts/{email}/threads`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#get-contacts-email-threads); SDK [`contacts.listThreads()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#listThreads). ### `openemail contacts activity` Read how mail with one person has gone over a window ```bash openemail contacts activity [flags] ``` Returns the numbers behind the Activity tab on a contact in the app, over a window that ends now: messages received from the address and sent to it per bucket, the threads that moved, the threads whose newest message is theirs and so waits on a reply from the mailbox, when each side last wrote, and the median time each side takes to answer, in milliseconds. `--minutes` sets how far back the window reaches, 90 days by default. `grain` sets the bucket width and the key shape, `YYYY-MM-DD`, `YYYY-MM-DDTHH` or `YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM`, and `--offset-minutes` shifts the boundaries so days break where the reader's day does. `buckets` is sparse and oldest first. Mail in the bin or in spam is left out. - Scopes: `threads:read`. - Needs a sign-in. **Arguments** - `` (required): The address. It does not have to be a saved contact. **Flags** - `--minutes ` (default `129600`): Window length in minutes, from 1 to about 20 years. The server defaults to 90 days. - `--grain ` (default `"day"`): Bucket width: `minute`, `hour` or `day`, defaulting to `day`. - `--offset-minutes ` (default `0`): Minutes east of UTC to cut the buckets in, from -840 to 840, defaulting to 0. Pass `-new Date().getTimezoneOffset()` for the local zone. **Examples** ```bash openemail contacts activity ada@example.com ``` Print the raw JSON ```bash openemail contacts activity ada@example.com --json ``` Also available in: API [`GET /contacts/{email}/activity`](https://openemail.uk/docs/api/reference/contacts#get-contacts-email-activity); SDK [`contacts.activity()`](https://openemail.uk/docs/sdk/reference/contacts#activity).