# `message read` Behavior Notes

## TUI vs Subprocess — Context-Dependent

**Skill states** that `message read` hangs because it uses an interactive TUI. However, in practice (June 2026, cron job context):

```bash
# This DID work and returned body content:
himalaya message read 49830 --folder INBOX
# Output: ~3000 chars of decoded email body

# This also worked:
himalaya message read 49826 --folder INBOX
# Output: ~1100 chars
```

**When `message read` works from subprocess:**
- Terminal-like environment (not truly headless — `TERM`/`STY`/`TMUX` may be set)
- Email bodies are small-to-medium (< 10KB)
- No special characters that trigger interactive prompts

**When `message read` will likely fail:**
- True headless environment with no TTY allocation
- Large emails (> 20KB) that trigger pagination
- Emails with HTML attachments that trigger rendering prompts

**Safe default:** If `message read` works, use it. If it returns nothing or hangs, fall back to `message export --full` (see himalaya skill).

## `message export --full` as Fallback

When `message read` fails:
```python
result = subprocess.run(
    ["himalaya", "message", "export", msg_id, "--full"],
    capture_output=True, text=True,
    encoding="latin-1", timeout=30
)
```
Output is raw MIME — parse headers by splitting on `\n\n`, then decode MIME-encoded headers with `email.header.decode_header()`.

## Email Classification Patterns (Order vs Invoice)

| Signal | Likely Type |
|--------|-------------|
| Subject: "Bestellung erfolgreich", "Bestellung wurde bestätigt", "Your order is being processed" | Bestellbestätigung |
| Subject: "Deine Bestellung wird bald eintreffen", "Order coming soon", "Wir packen Deine Bestellung" | Bestellbenachrichtigung (delivery, not invoice) |
| Contains Bestellnummer/Order number + Artikel/Items + Preis but NO Rechnungsnummer/Gesamtbetrag/Steuern | Bestellbestätigung → `Bestellungen_jjjj_mm` |
| Contains Rechnungsnummer, Gesamtbetrag, Steuern, Fälligkeitsdatum | Rechnung → `Rechnungen_jjjj_mm` |
| Subject: "20 % Rabatt", "Sonderangebot", "Aktion" with discount code in body | Marketing/Newsletter → ignore |
| Subject: "Sendung kommt heute", "Live verfolgen" with DHL/Paketdienst | Versandtracking → ignore |
| Subject: "Bestellung hat einen lokalen Boost erhalten" with product recommendations | Marketing → ignore |
| Subject: "Ihre Sendung kommt heute" with DHL/Paketdienst | Versandtracking → ignore |

## `folder create` vs `message move` for Nested Folders

In practice (June 2026 cron session):
- `himalaya folder create "Rechnungen_2026_06"` returned exit code 1 with empty stderr — appeared to silently fail or succeed
- `himalaya folder create "Rechnungen_2026_06/Bestellungen_2026_06"` same behavior
- `himalaya folder list` showed the folders existed after `message move` — suggesting `message move` auto-created them
- Safe pattern: always use `message move "Parent/Child" <ID>` for nested paths, and check `folder list` to confirm

## `imap_codec` Warnings

During `message move`, `WARN imap_codec::response: Rectified missing text to "..."` may appear between the command and the success message. These are harmless IMAP protocol quirks. The actual output ends with `Message(s) successfully moved from INBOX to FolderName!`.