Email Extractor Skill

You are an expert in extracting and analyzing email content from .eml files, converting them to AI-friendly markdown format with proper thread handling and attachment extraction.

⚠️ CRITICAL REQUIREMENT: ALWAYS USE FULL FILE PATHS

YOU MUST ALWAYS use absolute/full paths when working with .eml files.

✅ CORRECT:

~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor extract /Users/sebastien.morand/Downloads/message.eml
~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor extract ~/Downloads/email.eml -o ~/Documents/extracted

❌ INCORRECT:

~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor extract message.eml
~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor extract ./message.eml

Why: Always use full absolute paths or paths starting with ~/ for the input .eml file to ensure reliable file access.

Core Capabilities

• •Email content extraction from .eml files
• •Thread-aware parsing (preserves email conversation flow)
• •Attachment extraction (all file types)
• •Markdown conversion with proper formatting
• •Header parsing (From, To, Cc, Subject, Date)
• •HTML email rendering to readable text
• •Multi-part email handling
• •Smart default output paths based on email subject
• •Optional cleanup for temporary extractions

Quick Start

Basic Usage

Binary Location: ~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor

# Basic extraction (creates folder in .eml's directory)
~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor extract /path/to/message.eml

# Extract to specific output directory
~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor extract ~/Downloads/email.eml -o ~/Documents/extracted

# Get help on available commands
~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor --help
~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor extract --help

Default Output Paths

When no output directory specified:

• •Email: /path/to/message.eml
• •Output: /path/to/message_email/ (same directory as .eml)

When custom output directory specified:

• •Email: /path/to/message.eml
• •Custom output: /target/
• •Final output: /target/message_email/ (sanitized subject or filename appended)

Examples:

# Extract ~/Downloads/original_msg.eml → Output: ~/Downloads/original_msg_email/
~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor extract ~/Downloads/original_msg.eml

# Extract to custom location → Output: ~/Documents/extracted/
~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor extract ~/Downloads/original_msg.eml -o ~/Documents/extracted

Output Structure

Every extraction creates:

email_name/
├── email.md              # Email content with thread structure
└── attachments/          # Folder containing all attachments (if any)
    ├── document.pdf
    ├── image.png
    └── ...

Common Workflows

1. Extract and Analyze Email

# Extract email
~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor extract ~/Downloads/message.eml

# Read content
cat ~/Downloads/message_email/email.md
ls ~/Downloads/message_email/attachments/

Process: Extract → Read email.md → Review attachments → Analyze content and thread structure

2. Extract Email from Downloads

When user says "We have an email" with a subject/title, emails are in ~/Downloads/ as .eml files:

# Search for .eml files
find ~/Downloads -name "*.eml" -type f

# Extract the matching email
~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor extract ~/Downloads/found_email.eml

3. Batch Process Multiple Emails

# Process all .eml files in directory
for eml in ~/Downloads/*.eml; do
    ~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor extract "$eml"
done

4. Extract to Custom Location

# Extract to specific output directory
~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor extract ~/Downloads/temp.eml -o /tmp/email-analysis

Email Markdown Format

The generated email.md file includes:

Header Section

• •From: Sender name and email
• •To: Recipients
• •Cc: Carbon copy recipients (if any)
• •Date: Sent date/time
• •Subject: Email subject line

Thread Structure

Emails are organized respecting the conversation thread:

# Email: [Subject]

## Metadata
- **From:** John Doe <john@example.com>
- **To:** Jane Smith <jane@example.com>
- **Date:** 2024-11-11 10:30:00
- **Subject:** Project Update

## Attachments
- document.pdf (attachments/document.pdf)
- image.png (attachments/image.png)

---

## Message Thread

### Latest Message (2024-11-11 10:30)
**From:** John Doe

[Message content]

---

### Previous Message (2024-11-10 15:20)
**From:** Jane Smith

[Message content]

Binary Details

How It Works

The email-extractor is a compiled Go binary that:

• •Parses .eml files using Go's native email libraries
• •Extracts email content, headers, and attachments
• •Generates structured markdown output
• •Handles multi-part emails and complex MIME structures
• •No runtime dependencies required (static binary)

Available Commands

~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor extract <input_eml> [flags]

Command: extract

• •<input_eml> (required): Full path to .eml file
• •-o, --output (optional): Output directory path
• •-h, --help: Show help for extract command

Global Commands:

• •--help: Show all available commands and global options
• •version: Show binary version information

Prerequisites & Setup

Required

• •None - The binary is statically compiled and has no runtime dependencies

Installation

The binary is already compiled and located in:

~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor

To rebuild from source (if needed), see the CLAUDE.md file in this skill directory.

Response Approach

When helping with email extraction:

1. •Understand task: What information needed? Are attachments important? Need thread structure?
2. •Locate email: Check mentioned locations, search ~/Downloads for .eml files
3. •Extract content: Use appropriate method (cleanup vs. permanent)
4. •Process: Read email.md, identify attachments, understand thread flow
5. •Provide results: Summarize email content, list attachments, highlight key information
6. •Clean up: Note extraction location, provide commands for further analysis

Performance & Best Practices

Performance:

• •Near-instant extraction (compiled binary)
• •No setup time required
• •No runtime dependencies
• •No API calls or external services
• •Minimal memory footprint

When to use default path: Single emails, permanent archives, files organized alongside .eml files

When to use -o flag: Multiple extractions, analysis projects, separating source and processed files, organizing output in specific directories

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Email file not found":

ls -lh /path/to/file.eml
find ~/Downloads -name "*.eml" -type f

"Cannot decode email":

• •Email might be corrupted
• •Try opening in email client first
• •Check file size: ls -lh file.eml

Binary permission issues:

# Make binary executable if needed
chmod +x ~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor

# Verify binary works
~/.claude/skills/email-extractor/scripts/email-extractor --help

Integration with Topic Management

This skill integrates with the topic-manager skill:

Trigger Keywords:

• •User says "Extract email information"
• •User says "Using the email information"
• •User says "Update topic [name] with email" or "Update topic [name] using the email"
• •User mentions .eml files in context of topic updates

Workflow when updating topics with email information:

1. •Invoke email-extractor skill to extract email content and attachments
2. •Upload email.md to topic's Emails folder using google-drive-manager
3. •Upload attachments to appropriate topic folders:
   • •Presentations (PPT, PDF) → Prez folder
   • •Audio/video → Records folder
   • •Other documents → Misc or appropriate location
4. •Extract content from attachments if needed:
   • •Use pdf-extractor for PDFs and presentations
   • •Use speech-to-text for audio/video files
5. •Analyze email content to identify:
   • •Meeting attendees (From, To, Cc fields)
   • •Date and subject
   • •Key decisions and action items
   • •Risks mentioned
6. •Reference email in topic's minutes with link to uploaded email.md
7. •Update topic Google Doc with extracted information

Example Flow:

User: "Update topic 'Q2 Planning' using the email information"

Assistant Process:
1. Search ~/Downloads for .eml file matching "Q2 Planning"
2. Run: email-extractor extract ~/Downloads/q2_planning.eml
3. Review email.md and attachments
4. Upload email.md to topic's Emails folder
5. Process any attachments (extract PDFs, etc.)
6. Update topic with extracted information

Use Cases

• •Extract meeting invitations with attachments
• •Parse email threads for topic updates
• •Analyze email conversations for action items
• •Extract presentation files from emails
• •Process email archives for documentation
• •Prepare email content for AI analysis
• •Convert email threads to readable markdown