thunderbird_search_emails

Thunderbird · macOS · Windows

Effect: read (strongest supported action). Status: gated.

Gated means the tool requires an installed app, a connected account, permission, or runtime availability. Check those requirements on the listed platform before using it.

macOS

Purpose

Searches one Thunderbird account's messages for `query` in subject, sender, recipients and body text, ignoring case and accents, newest first within each folder. `folder` narrows it to one folder; `since` and `until` to a period. The messages are read from the mail files, so a large mailbox is searched up to a bound: `complete` says whether everything was searched and `folders_not_searched` names what was not. A message larger than 4 MB is matched on its headers only. Only messages stored on this computer are seen: for an IMAP account that is what Thunderbird has downloaded, not everything on the server.

Required inputs

query — Text to look for.

Permissions and confirmation

No explicit confirmation parameter is exposed in this snapshot. This does not grant permission to act: obtain user authorization before any real action.

Use only the apps, accounts and resources authorized by the user on this platform. Consult this tool's platform-specific description for its connection and permission requirements; this catalog does not assert additional OAuth scopes or OS entitlements.

Full input schema — macOS

{
  "properties": {
    "account": {
      "description": "Account id, name or address from thunderbird_list_accounts. Optional when the profile has one mail account.",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "folder": {
      "description": "Folder path. Optional: every folder of the account, INBOX first.",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "limit": {
      "description": "Messages per page (default 20, max 100).",
      "type": "integer"
    },
    "offset": {
      "description": "Matches to skip (default 0).",
      "type": "integer"
    },
    "profile": {
      "description": "Thunderbird profile name. Optional: the default profile is used.",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "query": {
      "description": "Text to look for.",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "since": {
      "description": "Only messages dated on or after this day or instant (2026-01-31 or 2026-01-31T10:00:00Z).",
      "type": "string"
    },
    "until": {
      "description": "Only messages dated on or before this day or instant.",
      "type": "string"
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "query"
  ],
  "type": "object"
}

Documentation example

Do not execute this example. These concrete inputs refer to a fictional demonstration dataset. Resolve real handles and obtain user authorization before any real call.

{
  "account": "alex@example.com",
  "query": "launch checklist",
  "since": "2026-10-01"
}

Windows