cull-gmail CLI Documentation

A command-line program for managing Gmail messages using the Gmail API. The tool provides subcommands for label querying, message querying, rule configuration, and rule execution to trash/delete messages with built-in safety features like dry-run mode.

Installation

From Crates.io

cargo install cull-gmail

From Source

git clone https://github.com/jerus-org/cull-gmail.git
cd cull-gmail
cargo install --path .

Verify Installation

cull-gmail --version

Authentication Setup

1. Google Cloud Console Setup

  1. Visit the Google Cloud Console
  2. Create a new project or select an existing one
  3. Enable the Gmail API:
    • Go to "APIs & Services" > "Library"
    • Search for "Gmail API" and enable it
  4. Create OAuth2 credentials:
    • Go to "APIs & Services" > "Credentials"
    • Click "Create Credentials" > "OAuth client ID"
    • Choose "Desktop application"
    • Download the JSON file

2. Configure cull-gmail

  1. Create the configuration directory:

    mkdir -p ~/.cull-gmail

  2. Copy your credential file:

    cp ~/Downloads/client_secret_*.json ~/.cull-gmail/credential.json

  3. Create configuration file ~/.cull-gmail/cull-gmail.toml:

    credentials = "credential.json"
config_root = "~/.cull-gmail"
rules = "rules.toml"
execute = false  # Start in dry-run mode

3. First Run Authentication

Run any command to trigger the OAuth flow:

cull-gmail labels

This will:

  1. Open your browser for Google authentication
  2. Prompt you to grant Gmail access
  3. Save tokens to ~/.cull-gmail/gmail1/

Configuration

Configuration File

Location: ~/.cull-gmail/cull-gmail.toml

# OAuth2 credential file (relative to config_root)
credentials = "credential.json"

# Configuration directory
config_root = "~/.cull-gmail"

# Rules file
rules = "rules.toml"

# Default execution mode (false = dry-run, true = execute)
execute = false

# Alternative: Direct OAuth2 configuration
# client_id = "your-client-id.apps.googleusercontent.com"
# client_secret = "your-client-secret"
# token_uri = "https://oauth2.googleapis.com/token"
# auth_uri = "https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth"

Environment Variables

Override any configuration setting:

export APP_CREDENTIALS="/path/to/credential.json"
export APP_EXECUTE="true"
export APP_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"
export APP_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"
export APP_CONFIG_ROOT="/custom/config/path"

Command Structure

cull-gmail [OPTIONS] [COMMAND]

Global Options

  • -v, --verbose...: Increase logging verbosity (can be used multiple times)
  • -q, --quiet...: Decrease logging verbosity
  • -h, --help: Show help
  • -V, --version: Show version

Commands

  • labels: List available Gmail labels
  • messages: Query and operate on messages
  • rules: Configure and run retention rules

Command Reference

Labels Command

List all labels in your Gmail account:

cull-gmail labels

Example Output:

INBOX: INBOX
IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT
CHAT: CHAT
SENT: SENT
DRAFT: DRAFT
promotions: Label_1234567890
old-emails: Label_0987654321

Messages Command

Query and operate on Gmail messages.

Syntax

cull-gmail messages [OPTIONS] <ACTION>

Options

  • -l, --labels <LABELS>: Filter by labels (can be used multiple times)
  • -m, --max-results <MAX_RESULTS>: Maximum results per page [default: 200]
  • -p, --pages <PAGES>: Maximum number of pages (0=all) [default: 1]
  • -Q, --query <QUERY>: Gmail query string

Actions

  • list: Display message information
  • trash: Move messages to trash
  • delete: Permanently delete messages

Examples

List recent messages:

cull-gmail messages -m 10 list

List promotional emails older than 6 months:

cull-gmail messages -Q "label:promotions older_than:6m" list

Move old promotional emails to trash:

cull-gmail messages -Q "label:promotions older_than:1y" trash

Permanently delete very old messages:

cull-gmail messages -Q "older_than:5y -label:important" delete

Query with multiple labels:

cull-gmail messages -l "promotions" -l "newsletters" -Q "older_than:3m" list

Process all pages (not just first page):

cull-gmail messages -p 0 -Q "older_than:2y" list

Rules Command

Manage retention rules for automated email lifecycle management.

Syntax

cull-gmail rules <SUBCOMMAND>

Subcommands

  • config: Configure retention rules
  • run: Execute configured rules

Rules Config Command

Configure retention rules:

cull-gmail rules config <ACTION>

Config Actions

  • rules: Manage rule definitions
  • label: Add/remove labels from rules
  • action: Set action (trash/delete) on rules

Example Rules Configuration:

Create/edit ~/.cull-gmail/rules.toml:

[rules."1"]
id = 1
retention = { age = "y:1", generate_label = true }
labels = ["old-emails"]
action = "Trash"

[rules."2"]
id = 2
retention = { age = "m:6", generate_label = true }
labels = ["promotions", "newsletters"]
action = "Trash"

[rules."3"]
id = 3
retention = { age = "y:5", generate_label = true }
labels = ["archive"]
action = "Delete"

Rules Run Command

Execute configured rules:

cull-gmail rules run [OPTIONS]

Options

  • -e, --execute: Actually perform actions (without this, runs in dry-run mode)
  • -t, --skip-trash: Skip rules with "trash" action
  • -d, --skip-delete: Skip rules with "delete" action

Examples

Dry-run all rules (safe, no changes made):

cull-gmail rules run

Execute all rules:

cull-gmail rules run --execute

Execute only delete rules:

cull-gmail rules run --execute --skip-trash

Execute only trash rules:

cull-gmail rules run --execute --skip-delete

Gmail Query Syntax

The -Q, --query option supports Gmail's powerful search syntax:

Date Queries

# Relative dates
-Q "older_than:1y"        # Older than 1 year
-Q "newer_than:30d"       # Newer than 30 days
-Q "older_than:6m"        # Older than 6 months

# Absolute dates
-Q "after:2023/1/1"       # After January 1, 2023
-Q "before:2023/12/31"    # Before December 31, 2023

Label Queries

# Has label
-Q "label:promotions"
-Q "label:important"

# Does NOT have label (note the minus sign)
-Q "-label:important"
-Q "-label:spam"

Content Queries

# Subject line
-Q "subject:newsletter"
-Q "subject:(unsubscribe OR newsletter)"

# From/To
-Q "from:noreply@example.com"
-Q "to:me@example.com"

# Message content
-Q "unsubscribe"
-Q "has:attachment"

Status Queries

# Read status
-Q "is:unread"
-Q "is:read"

# Star status
-Q "is:starred"
-Q "-is:starred"

# Size
-Q "size:larger_than:10M"
-Q "size:smaller_than:1M"

Combined Queries

# Complex combinations
-Q "label:promotions older_than:6m -is:starred"
-Q "from:newsletters@example.com older_than:1y has:attachment"
-Q "subject:newsletter OR subject:promo older_than:3m"

Common Workflows

1. Clean Up Promotional Emails

# Step 1: Preview what will be affected
cull-gmail messages -Q "label:promotions older_than:6m" list

# Step 2: Move to trash (can be recovered for 30 days)
cull-gmail messages -Q "label:promotions older_than:6m" trash

2. Archive Old Conversations

# Archive conversations older than 2 years (excluding starred)
cull-gmail messages -Q "older_than:2y -is:starred -label:important" trash

3. Delete Very Old Messages

# Permanently delete messages older than 5 years (be careful!)
cull-gmail messages -Q "older_than:5y -is:starred -label:important" delete

4. Rule-Based Automation

# Set up rules in ~/.cull-gmail/rules.toml, then:

# Preview what rules will do
cull-gmail rules run

# Execute rules
cull-gmail rules run --execute

5. Scheduled Cleanup

Add to your crontab for weekly cleanup:

# Edit crontab
crontab -e

# Add this line (runs every Sunday at 2 AM)
0 2 * * 0 /home/user/.cargo/bin/cull-gmail rules run --execute >> /var/log/cull-gmail.log 2>&1

Safety Features

Dry-Run Mode

  • Default behaviour: All operations are dry-run unless explicitly executed
  • Messages: Use list action to preview what would be affected
  • Rules: Run without --execute flag to see what would happen

Confirmation and Logging

  • All operations are logged with detailed information
  • Use -v for verbose logging to see exactly what's happening
  • Check log output before running destructive operations

Recoverable Operations

  • Trash: Messages moved to trash can be recovered for 30 days
  • Delete: Permanent deletion - cannot be undone

Logging and Debugging

Environment Variables

# Set log level
export RUST_LOG=cull_gmail=debug

# Enable all logging
export RUST_LOG=debug

Verbosity Levels

# Quiet (errors only)
cull-gmail -q messages list

# Normal (default)
cull-gmail messages list

# Verbose (info level)
cull-gmail -v messages list

# Very verbose (debug level)
cull-gmail -vv messages list

# Maximum verbosity (trace level)
cull-gmail -vvv messages list

Log Information

  • Error: Critical issues
  • Warn: Non-fatal issues, dry-run notifications
  • Info: General operation info, message subjects, counts
  • Debug: Detailed API calls, query strings
  • Trace: Very detailed debugging information

Troubleshooting

Authentication Issues

Problem: "Authentication failed" or "Invalid credentials"

Solutions:

  1. Verify credential file exists and is valid JSON
  2. Check OAuth client is configured as "Desktop Application"
  3. Clear token cache: rm -rf ~/.cull-gmail/gmail1
  4. Re-run authentication: cull-gmail labels

Problem: "Access denied" or "Insufficient permissions"

Solutions:

  1. Verify Gmail API is enabled in Google Cloud Console
  2. Check OAuth scopes include Gmail access
  3. Re-authenticate with proper permissions

Query Issues

Problem: "No messages found" when you expect results

Solutions:

  1. Test query in Gmail web interface first
  2. Check label names: cull-gmail labels
  3. Verify query syntax (no typos)
  4. Use -v flag to see the actual query being sent

Problem: Query returns unexpected results

Solutions:

  1. Use messages list to preview before trash/delete
  2. Check for operator precedence in complex queries
  3. Test simpler queries first, then combine

Performance Issues

Problem: Operations are slow or timeout

Solutions:

  1. Reduce page size: -m 100
  2. Limit pages: -p 5 instead of -p 0
  3. Use more specific queries to reduce result sets
  4. Check Gmail API quotas in Google Cloud Console

Configuration Issues

Problem: "Configuration not found" or "Config parse error"

Solutions:

  1. Verify config file path: ~/.cull-gmail/cull-gmail.toml
  2. Check TOML syntax
  3. Ensure credential file path is correct
  4. Use absolute paths if relative paths fail

Exit Codes

  • 0: Success
  • 101: Error (check stderr for details)

Examples

Basic Message Management

# List all labels
cull-gmail labels

# List first 50 messages
cull-gmail messages -m 50 list

# List promotional emails from last year
cull-gmail messages -Q "label:promotions after:2023/1/1" list

Batch Operations

# Move old promotional emails to trash
cull-gmail messages -Q "label:promotions older_than:1y" trash

# Permanently delete very old messages (careful!)
cull-gmail messages -Q "older_than:5y -is:starred" delete

Rule-Based Management

# Preview all rules
cull-gmail rules run

# Execute only trash rules
cull-gmail rules run --execute --skip-delete

# Execute all rules
cull-gmail rules run --execute

See Also