mail-needs-reply

Mail Needs Reply — Unanswered Emails

Looking for: unread emails from humans (not bots) with no follow-up in your Sent.

Step 1: Get unread emails from non-automated senders

DB="$HOME/Library/Mail/V10/MailData/Envelope Index"
# Use SQLite date expressions — never compute Unix epochs manually.

sqlite3 "$DB" "
SELECT datetime(m.date_received,'unixepoch','localtime') as dt,
       s.subject, a.address as sender, a.comment as name,
       mb.url as mailbox, m.ROWID, m.conversation_id,
       m.date_received
FROM messages m
JOIN subjects  s  ON m.subject = s.ROWID
JOIN addresses a  ON m.sender  = a.ROWID
JOIN mailboxes mb ON m.mailbox = mb.ROWID
WHERE datetime(m.date_received,'unixepoch','localtime') >= date('now','-7 days','localtime')
  AND m.read = 0
  AND m.deleted = 0
  AND m.automated_conversation = 0
  AND m.unsubscribe_type = 0
  AND mb.url NOT LIKE '%Spam%' AND mb.url NOT LIKE '%Trash%'
  AND mb.url NOT LIKE '%Junk%' AND mb.url NOT LIKE '%Sent%'
ORDER BY m.date_received ASC;" 2>/dev/null

Step 2: Check if a reply exists in the same conversation

For each candidate, check if there's a sent message in the same conversation:

sqlite3 "$DB" "
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM messages m
JOIN mailboxes mb ON m.mailbox = mb.ROWID
WHERE m.conversation_id = <CONVERSATION_ID>
  AND (mb.url LIKE '%Sent%' OR mb.url LIKE '%sent%')
  AND m.date_received > <ORIGINAL_DATE>;" 2>/dev/null

If count > 0, you already replied — skip this email.

Step 3: Age-based prioritization

Group by urgency:

• Overdue (>3 days unread): oldest first — likely forgotten
• Aging (1-3 days): need attention soon
• Recent (<1 day): just came in

Step 4: Read the most overdue ones

python3 ~/.claude/skills/_mail-shared/parser.py <ROWID1> <ROWID2>

Output Format

Emails Waiting for Your Reply

For each:

• Age | From | Subject | [brief context from body if readable]

Group: Overdue → Aging → Recent Total count up front. Note longest-waiting email specifically. Offer to draft a reply to any of them.