Inkbox CLI

Command-line interface for the Inkbox API — identities, email, phone, text/SMS, encrypted vault, mailboxes, phone numbers, signing keys, and webhook utilities.

Auth & Runtime

Set credentials via env vars or global flags:

export INKBOX_API_KEY="ApiKey_..."
export INKBOX_VAULT_KEY="my-vault-key"   # only needed for vault decrypt/create flows

Global options:

--api-key <key>      Inkbox API key (or set INKBOX_API_KEY)
--vault-key <key>    Vault key for decrypt operations (or set INKBOX_VAULT_KEY)
--base-url <url>     Override API base URL
--json               Output as JSON instead of formatted tables

If INKBOXAPIKEY is missing and --api-key is not passed, the CLI exits with an error.

Prefer --json when the result will be parsed or fed into another tool. Use the default table/record output when the user wants a quick human-readable summary. With --json, success stays on stdout and API failures write one structured error object to stderr, retaining error.detail and error.retryAfterSeconds.

Install & Local Repo Usage

Published package:

npm install -g @inkbox/cli

Or run without a global install:

npx @inkbox/cli <command>

Requires Node.js >= 22.

Inside this repository, prefer running the local source instead of assuming a global install:

npm --prefix cli run dev -- <command>

Examples:

npm --prefix cli run dev -- --json identity list
npm --prefix cli run dev -- email list -i support-bot --limit 10

High-Risk Operations

These commands can send real traffic or mutate real resources. Confirm with the user before running them:

• signup create
• a2a invites create, a2a invites revoke, and a2a invites accept
• email send
• email drafts send
• text send
• phone call
• identity delete
• email delete
• email delete-thread
• email drafts delete
• vault delete
• identity update --mail-filter-mode ... / --phone-filter-mode ... (admin-only; flips allow/block semantics for that identity's channel)
• mailbox update --filter-mode ... (DEPRECATED channel path; admin-only)
• number release
• number update --filter-mode ... (DEPRECATED channel path; admin-only)
• phone incoming-action <action> / number update --incoming-call-action ... (changes what answers that identity's inbound calls — hosted_agent makes the platform voice agent pick up)
• identity signing-key rotate <handle> (rotates that identity's webhook signing key)
• signing-key create (DEPRECATED org-level path)

contacts delete, contacts bulk-delete, contacts facts delete, notes delete, identity mail-rules delete, identity phone-rules delete, mailbox rules delete (deprecated), and number rules delete (deprecated) remove data or affect downstream filtering — confirm intent before running.

Also confirm before creating or rotating secrets if the values were not explicitly provided by the user.

Agent Signup

For the full self-signup flow and API semantics, read the shared reference:

See: skills/inkbox-agent-self-signup/SKILL.md

CLI commands:

inkbox signup create
inkbox signup verify --code <code>
inkbox signup resend-verification
inkbox signup status

signup create is the main command that does not require an API key. The later signup commands require the signup-issued API key to be passed back via --api-key or exported as INKBOXAPIKEY; the CLI does not persist it automatically.

Identities

inkbox identity list
inkbox identity get <handle>
inkbox identity create <handle> [--display-name <name>] [--description <text>]
                                 [--imessage-enabled]
                                 [--contact-sharing-enabled true|false]
                                 [--email-local-part <part>]
                                 [--sending-domain <name> | --platform-domain]
                                 [--tls-mode edge|passthrough]
inkbox identity delete <handle>
inkbox identity update <handle> [--new-handle <handle>] [--display-name <name>]
                                 [--description <text> | --clear-description]
                                 [--imessage-enabled true|false]
                                 [--contact-sharing-enabled true|false]
                                 [--mail-filter-mode whitelist|blacklist]
                                 [--phone-filter-mode whitelist|blacklist]
inkbox identity refresh <handle>

--mail-filter-mode / --phone-filter-mode set the identity's contact-rule mode (admin-only). Unlike the deprecated mailbox update --filter-mode / number update --filter-mode, the identity path does not print a change notice. --phone-filter-mode requires the identity to have a phone number (else a 422).

identity create atomically provisions the mailbox AND the tunnel. The JSON output includes both (mailbox, tunnel.publicHost, tunnel.tlsMode).

New identities default contact sharing to enabled. If a dedicated iMessage line is attached, it automatically offers the identity's display name (or handle as fallback) and optional avatar. Use --contact-sharing-enabled false during identity creation to opt out, or inkbox identity update <handle> --contact-sharing-enabled false to disable it later. Pass true to enable it again.

--sending-domain <name> binds the agent's mailbox to a verified custom domain (bare name, e.g. mail.acme.com); --platform-domain forces the platform sending domain; the two are mutually exclusive. --tls-mode defaults to edge and is fixed at create time (changing it later requires deleting the identity + recreating).

For identity update, --description "" and --clear-description both send explicit null to clear; omitting both leaves the field untouched.

Notes:

• identity delete cascades to the linked mailbox + tunnel and revokes any identity-scoped API keys.
• identity get and identity refresh return mailbox, phone-number, and tunnel assignments when present.
• Most email, phone, and text commands require -i, --identity <handle>.

Identity-Scoped Secrets

These require a vault key:

inkbox identity create-secret <handle> --name <name> --type <type> ...
inkbox identity get-secret <handle> <secret-id>
inkbox identity delete-secret <handle> <secret-id>
inkbox identity revoke-access <handle> <secret-id>
inkbox identity set-totp <handle> <secret-id> --uri <otpauth-uri>
inkbox identity remove-totp <handle> <secret-id>
inkbox identity totp-code <handle> <secret-id>

Secret types:

login, api_key, ssh_key, key_pair, other

Identity Contact Rules

Allow/block lists are scoped to the agent identity (keyed by handle), combined with the identity's mail/phone filter mode (inkbox identity update --mail-filter-mode / --phone-filter-mode). Mail matches by exact email or domain; phone matches by exact E.164 number.

# Mail rules
inkbox identity mail-rules list <handle> [--action allow|block] [--match-type exact_email|domain] [--limit <n>] [--offset <n>]
inkbox identity mail-rules list-all [--agent-identity-id <id>] [--action …] [--match-type …]   # admin-only, org-wide
inkbox identity mail-rules get <handle> <rule-id>
inkbox identity mail-rules create <handle> --action allow|block --match-type exact_email|domain --match-target <value>
inkbox identity mail-rules update <handle> <rule-id> --action allow|block   # admin-only
inkbox identity mail-rules delete <handle> <rule-id>                                                    # admin-only

# Phone rules — require the identity to have a phone number; only exact_number is supported.
inkbox identity phone-rules list <handle> [--action allow|block] [--match-type exact_number] [--limit <n>] [--offset <n>]
inkbox identity phone-rules list-all [--agent-identity-id <id>] [--action …]   # admin-only, org-wide
inkbox identity phone-rules get <handle> <rule-id>
inkbox identity phone-rules create <handle> --action allow|block --match-target <e164> [--match-type exact_number]
inkbox identity phone-rules update <handle> <rule-id> --action allow|block   # admin-only
inkbox identity phone-rules delete <handle> <rule-id>                                                    # admin-only

New rules always start active. These replace the deprecated inkbox mailbox rules / inkbox number rules groups below.

Identity Signing Key

Each identity has its own webhook signing key:

inkbox identity signing-key status <handle>
inkbox identity signing-key rotate <handle>   # mints or rotates; prints the plaintext secret ONCE

Email

All email commands are identity-scoped and require -i <handle>.

inkbox email send -i <handle> \
  --to [email protected] \
  --subject "Hello" \
  --body-html '<p>Hi</p><img src="cid:chart">' \
  --attach ./report.pdf \        # optional; repeatable file attachment
  --inline-image chart=./chart.png \  # optional, repeatable; embeds <img src="cid:chart"> (needs --body-html, image/*)
  --track-opens                 # optional; embed a tracking pixel (needs --body-html)

inkbox email reply-all <message-id> -i <handle> --body-html "<p>Thanks</p>" --attach ./notes.txt
inkbox email forward <message-id> -i <handle> --to [email protected] --attach ./extra.pdf --track-opens

inkbox email list -i <handle> --limit 10
inkbox email get <message-id> -i <handle>   # fetching an inbound message marks it read
inkbox email search -i <handle> -q "invoice"
inkbox email unread -i <handle> --limit 10
inkbox email mark-read <ids...> -i <handle>
inkbox email mark-unread <ids...> -i <handle>
inkbox email download-attachment <message-id> <filename> -i <handle>   # time-limited download URL
inkbox email delete <message-id> -i <handle>
inkbox email delete-thread <thread-id> -i <handle>
inkbox email star <message-id> -i <handle>
inkbox email unstar <message-id> -i <handle>
inkbox email thread <thread-id> -i <handle>

(--inline-image is send/reply-all only — forwards reject inline images.)

Drafts

inkbox email drafts create -i <handle> --subject "Work in progress" \
  --idempotency-key draft-create-2026-08-19-1
inkbox email drafts list -i <handle>
inkbox email drafts get <draft-id> -i <handle>
inkbox email drafts update <draft-id> -i <handle> --generation <n> \
  --to [email protected] --clear-subject
inkbox email drafts duplicate <draft-id> -i <handle> --generation <n>
inkbox email drafts delete <draft-id> -i <handle> --generation <n>
inkbox email drafts send <draft-id> -i <handle> --generation <n>

inkbox email drafts attachment add <draft-id> -i <handle> \
  --generation <n> --attach ./notes.txt
inkbox email drafts attachment remove <draft-id> <part-index> -i <handle> \
  --generation <n>
inkbox email drafts attachment download <draft-id> <part-index> -i <handle> \
  --generation <n> --output ./notes.txt

Create accepts incomplete content. Update supports explicit-null --clear-* flags; omission leaves a field unchanged. Use the generation printed by the latest read or mutation for every following mutation. Attachment part indexes belong to that generation, so run get again after an edit. Drafts share the mailbox's standard Drafts folder with connected mail clients. Reuse one --idempotency-key and the exact same arguments when retrying a logical create after an ambiguous result. Use a new key after the original draft is sent or deleted. Forward-only flags require --forward-message-id.

Successful send prints the sent message and removes the draft; an exact-generation retry may return the same sent message. On HTTP 409, refresh for draftgenerationconflict and retry the same ID and generation for draftsendinprogress. Never resend draftdelivery_uncertain; after checking sent mail, duplicate or delete it instead.

Use email search only when the identity already has a mailbox assigned.

Before sending, confirm recipients, subject, and body with the user.

email send, email reply-all, and email forward all fail with HTTP 402 when the mailbox is at its plan storage cap. The CLI prints the server's message plus a hint: free space with inkbox email delete <message-id> -i <handle> / inkbox email delete-thread <thread-id> -i <handle> (reclaim is immediate), or upgrade the plan at the printed billing URL. Check headroom first with inkbox mailbox list (the storage column).

Phone

Phone commands require -i <handle>, except phone hosted-agent voices, which discovers the organization-scoped voice catalog without an identity.

inkbox phone call -i <handle> --to +15551234567 --ws-url wss://example.com/ws
inkbox phone call -i <handle> --to +15551234567 --hosted --reason "Confirm tomorrow's 3pm appointment"
inkbox phone call -i <handle> --to +15551234567 --origination shared_imessage_number
inkbox phone calls -i <handle> --limit 10 --offset 0
inkbox phone hangup <call-id> -i <handle>
inkbox phone transcripts <call-id> -i <handle>
inkbox phone search-transcripts -i <handle> -q "refund" --party remote
inkbox phone incoming-action -i <handle>                       # print the incoming-call config
inkbox phone incoming-action hosted_agent -i <handle>          # or auto_accept | auto_reject | webhook
inkbox phone incoming-action forward -i <handle> --forward-to-phone +15551234567
inkbox phone incoming-action forward -i <handle> --forward-to-sip sip:[email protected]
inkbox phone hosted-agent voices
inkbox phone hosted-agent voices --json                     # { voices, defaultVoice }
inkbox phone hosted-agent get -i <handle>
inkbox phone hosted-agent set -i <handle> --voice <voice> --instructions <text>

Before placing a call, confirm the destination number, origination, and the websocket URL (or the --reason task brief for Voice AI calls) with the user.

--origination selects dedicatednumber (the default) or sharedimessagenumber. Shared-line calls use the identity's iMessage-line assignment and do not require a dedicated phone number. The recipient must already have a shared iMessage connection to the identity; otherwise the call fails with 409 noshared_connection.

--hosted places a call Inkbox Voice AI drives end to end — no WebSocket, no code. It requires --reason (the agent's task brief) and conflicts with --ws-url; everything else is server policy surfaced as an API error (e.g. 503 hostedagentunavailable / hostedagentatcapacity where Voice AI isn't available). The call's mode / reason and Voice AI's recorded postcallactionitems (open items only, seq-ascending) ride the call object — read them with --json on phone calls; the default table does not show them.

inkbox phone incoming-action gets or sets the identity's incoming-call action (autoaccept | autoreject | webhook | hostedagent | forward, with --ws-url / --webhook-url where applicable). forward requires exactly one of --forward-to-phone or --forward-to-sip. hostedagent needs no URL.

phone hosted-agent voices returns voice IDs, names, descriptions, availability, optional previewUrl values, and the catalog's defaultVoice. Unavailable entries are retained; choose an entry with available: true and pass its string id to --voice. Do not maintain a fixed voice allowlist.

inkbox phone hosted-agent set is a full replace: an omitted flag resets that field to the server default. Read the current config and include its existing --instructions when changing only the voice.

inkbox phone hangup ends a live call from outside it. The carrier confirms the teardown asynchronously, so the printed call can still show its live status for a moment; a call that has already ended (or has no active carrier leg yet) surfaces the server's 409.

Text Messages

All text commands are identity-scoped and require -i <handle>.

Outbound SMS limits and gates (current):

• Allowed only from local numbers, not toll-free.
• 100 recipient sends per phone number per rolling 24h. A 3-recipient group message counts as 3 recipient sends. A single accepted send may push usage past the cap; the next capped send returns 429 senderratelimited.
• A freshly provisioned local number needs ~10-15 min for 10DLC carrier propagation. Inspect with inkbox number get <id>; sending is gated until smsStatus reads ready (otherwise 409 sendersmspending).
• Recipient must have texted START to any number in the org. Unknown → 403 recipientnotoptedin. STOP → 403 recipientopted_out. Inspect / override consent state via inkbox sms-opt-in (see below).
• Beta: Group MMS and conversation sends are beta. Some carriers may reject group chats or MMS from 10DLC numbers even when the sender is ready and recipients have opted in.

Customer-managed 10DLC brands/campaigns lift the default per-number cap to the carrier-assigned tier. Toll-free SMS sending is still coming soon.

inkbox text send -i <handle> --to +15551234567 --text "Hello from Inkbox"
inkbox text send -i <handle> --to +15551234567,+15557654321 --text "Hello group" --media-url https://example.com/photo.jpg
inkbox text send -i <handle> --conversation-id <conversation-uuid> --text "Reply all"
inkbox text list -i <handle> --limit 20
inkbox text get <text-id> -i <handle>
inkbox text conversations -i <handle> --limit 20 --include-groups
inkbox text conversation <conversation-key> -i <handle> --limit 50
inkbox text search -i <handle> -q "invoice"
inkbox text mark-read <text-id> -i <handle>
inkbox text mark-conversation-read <conversation-key> -i <handle>

iMessage

All iMessage commands are identity-scoped and require -i <handle>. Shared service requires the recipient to message first; dedicated identities may initiate one-to-one and group conversations. The identity must be opted in (inkbox identity update <handle> --imessage-enabled true).

inkbox imessage triage-number   # the router number + the connect command humans text to it
inkbox imessage send -i <handle> --to +15551234567 --text "Hello over iMessage"
inkbox imessage send -i <handle> --to +15551234567,+15557654321 --text "Hello group" --media-url https://example.com/group-photo.jpg --send-style confetti # dedicated line only
inkbox imessage send -i <handle> --conversation-id <group-conversation-id> --text "Reply" --media-url https://example.com/follow-up.jpg --send-style lasers
inkbox imessage list -i <handle> --limit 20 --unread-only --include-groups
inkbox imessage assignments -i <handle> --limit 20   # active connections, newest first
inkbox imessage conversations -i <handle> --limit 20 --include-groups
inkbox imessage conversation <conversation-id> -i <handle> --limit 50
inkbox imessage react <message-id> -i <handle> --reaction like
inkbox imessage unreact <reaction-id> -i <handle>   # take your own tapback back
inkbox imessage mark-conversation-read <conversation-id> -i <handle>
inkbox imessage typing <conversation-id> -i <handle>
inkbox imessage upload-media ./photo.jpg -i <handle> --content-type image/jpeg

# Contact rules are scoped to the identity (not a phone number):
inkbox imessage contact-rule list -i <handle>
inkbox imessage contact-rule create -i <handle> --action block --match-target +15559999999
inkbox imessage contact-rule update <rule-id> -i <handle> --action allow|block   # admin-only
inkbox imessage contact-rule delete <rule-id> -i <handle>                   # admin-only
inkbox imessage contact-rule list-all                                       # admin-only, org-wide

Group conversation output includes groupCreationStatus (creating, not_created, or ready). A rejected initial creation remains on the same conversation; send again by conversation id to retry. react supports inbound one-to-one and group messages. Its named choices are love, like, dislike, laugh, emphasize, question, and eyes; arbitrary custom emoji are inbound-only. unreact takes back a tapback this identity sent, addressed by the reaction id from react or from a message's live reactions; only the sender can. A failed removal leaves the tapback in place rather than clearing it locally, so the call can be retried. Read receipts and typing remain one-to-one only. Group creation and conversation-id replies accept the same 13 expressive styles as one-to-one sends, with or without --media-url.

SMS Opt-Ins

Per-recipient SMS consent state, keyed by (your org, recipient number). The registry is updated automatically when recipients text START / STOP to any of your numbers (source=sms). Reads work for any admin caller; writes require your org to be on its own active, customer-managed 10DLC campaign — default-campaign orgs share consent state and get 409 customercampaignrequired on writes (audit event recorded with source=api).

# List your org's consent rows, newest-updated first
inkbox sms-opt-in list
inkbox sms-opt-in list --status opted_out --limit 100
inkbox --json sms-opt-in list

# Look up one recipient — 404 if no row exists
inkbox sms-opt-in get +15551234567

# Programmatic writes (customer-managed 10DLC campaign only)
inkbox sms-opt-in opt-in  +15551234567
inkbox sms-opt-in opt-out +15551234567

Agent-to-Agent (A2A)

Invitation management is inkbox a2a invites create|list|show|revoke and uses an admin-scoped API key. Acceptance is agent-only: inkbox a2a invites accept first verifies a claimed agent-scoped API key and never falls back to admin auth. It reads an exact-origin share URL or raw token from a hidden prompt, INKBOXA2AINVITATION, or deliberate --invitation-stdin. Token-named sources remain aliases; there is no capability argument, decline, resend, or automatic retry command. For invitation-assisted signup create, use the explicit --invitation-prompt, --invitation-stdin, or INKBOXA2AINVITATION; ordinary signup never prompts for an invitation.

# Organization directory by default; add --public for public discovery.
inkbox a2a directory --query support
inkbox a2a directory --public --query research --limit 25

# Inspect and change discovery settings.
inkbox a2a settings -i researcher
inkbox a2a publicly-discoverable true -i researcher
inkbox a2a public-egress true -i researcher

# Bilateral admission: the requester allows outbound work to the worker, and
# the worker independently allows inbound work from the requester.
inkbox a2a rules add -i coordinator --handle researcher \
  --action allow --direction outbound
inkbox a2a rules add -i researcher --handle coordinator \
  --action allow --direction inbound

# Unified task history. Omit --direction for the receiver inbox.
inkbox a2a tasks -i coordinator --direction both \
  --requester coordinator --worker researcher \
  --state working --query "quarterly report" --limit 25

# Individual matching messages with task/context and participant provenance.
inkbox a2a messages -i coordinator --direction outbound \
  --worker researcher --role agent --query revenue --limit 25 --json

# Continue with the same filters and the opaque cursor from the previous page.
inkbox a2a messages -i coordinator --direction outbound \
  --worker researcher --role agent --query revenue \
  --cursor '<nextCursor>' --limit 25 --json

# Outbound-only alias and task detail.
inkbox a2a sent -i coordinator --worker researcher
inkbox a2a sent-task <task-id> -i coordinator

# Shared context history and naming.
inkbox a2a contexts -i coordinator --direction both
inkbox a2a context <context-id> -i researcher
inkbox a2a sent-contexts -i coordinator
inkbox a2a sent-context <context-id> -i coordinator
inkbox a2a rename-context <context-id> -i coordinator \
  --name "Quarterly Research Review"

# Reusing a context without --task starts a sibling task.
inkbox a2a call https://example.test/a2a/researcher/card \
  -i coordinator --context <context-id> --text "Review the findings"

# Multi-turn worker flow.
inkbox a2a reply <task-id> -i researcher --ask --text "Which quarter?"
inkbox a2a reply <task-id> -i researcher --complete --text "Done."

Task filters are optional and ANDed: direction, requester, worker, state, context, query, since, cursor, and limit. Message history additionally supports task and role; role is the message author (caller or agent), independent of task direction. Message direction defaults to both. JSON list output contains items and nextCursor; human output prints a next-cursor hint. Search covers string and numeric content values from text and data parts, excludes metadata, and is newest-first rather than relevance-ranked. Task detail exposes messages and current state. Contact-rule directions are inbound, outbound, and both; every request must pass both the requester outbound policy and the worker inbound policy. New contexts start with the persisted name New A2A Session. That exact default may be replaced with a name based on the first task message. Either participant can rename a context at any time; automatic naming does not replace a non-default name. Context-level requester and worker stay in original-open orientation; each task carries its own direction, and tasks may run concurrently in both directions. Cross-endpoint context reuse is supported between Inkbox identities; external A2A services may define different behavior.

Vault

Vault decryption and secret creation require a vault key via INKBOXVAULTKEY or --vault-key.

inkbox vault init --vault-key <key>
inkbox vault info
inkbox vault secrets
inkbox vault get <secret-id>
inkbox vault create --name <name> --type <type> ...
inkbox vault delete <secret-id>
inkbox vault keys
inkbox vault grant-access <secret-id> -i <handle>
inkbox vault revoke-access <secret-id> -i <handle>
inkbox vault access-list <secret-id>
inkbox vault logins -i <handle>
inkbox vault api-keys -i <handle>
inkbox vault ssh-keys -i <handle>
inkbox vault key-pairs -i <handle>

Secret type flags:

# login
--password <pass> [--username <user>] [--email <email>] [--url <url>] [--totp-uri <uri>] [--notes <text>]

# api_key
--key <key> [--endpoint <url>] [--notes <text>]

# key_pair
--access-key <key> --secret-key <key> [--endpoint <url>] [--notes <text>]

# ssh_key
--private-key <key> [--public-key <key>] [--fingerprint <fp>] [--passphrase <pass>] [--notes <text>]

# other
--data <json> [--notes <text>]

Mailboxes

Import historical mail

inkbox mailbox imports run <email> <archive.mbox> \
  --original-address [email protected]
inkbox mailbox imports get <email> <job-id>
inkbox mailbox imports list <email>
inkbox mailbox imports wait <email> <job-id> --poll-interval 5
inkbox mailbox imports cancel <email> <job-id>

run supports --source-format auto|mbox|eml|zip, repeatable --original-address, --mark-unread, --no-wait, --timeout, and --poll-interval. A ZIP may hold .eml and/or .mbox files (a Gmail Takeout ZIP imports as-is); other entries, including nested archives, are ignored. Progress is stderr-only; --json stdout contains one job object. Failed or cancelled run/wait jobs exit nonzero. A local timeout or Ctrl-C does not cancel the job. Counters are cumulative and never go backwards, so a stalled counter is a signal, not normal churn; counters may still remain unchanged while a slow message is processed, and they are not a percentage. Jobs run one at a time per organization and share overall import capacity, so a long queued stretch is normal; do not cancel and recreate. Unsafe imported content may be rejected.

run re-issues the 5-minute upload target and retries once after a transport failure or rejected upload target, then cancels the job it created. After an interrupted run, use imports list + imports cancel to release the mailbox; otherwise the abandoned job blocks new imports for 24 hours. Limits: 1 GiB per upload, 50 MiB per message, 100,000 messages and 20 --original-address values per job, 65,000 entries per ZIP, and 20 import jobs per organization per 24 hours.

Mailboxes are provisioned atomically by inkbox identity create and removed by inkbox identity delete (cascade); there is no standalone create / delete here. The human-readable name lives on the identity now — inkbox identity update --display-name; the mailbox PATCH endpoint hard-rejects display_name with a 422.

inkbox mailbox list                              # includes a humanized `storage` column
inkbox mailbox get <email-address>               # includes storageUsedBytes / storageLimitBytes
inkbox mailbox update <email-address> [--filter-mode whitelist|blacklist]
inkbox mailbox client-settings <email-address>   # IMAP/SMTP settings for a mail client
# To attach a webhook receiver, use `inkbox webhook subscription create
# --mailbox-id <id> --url <url> --event-type message.received ...`.

mailbox list / get / update rows include filterMode and agentIdentityId. mailbox update --filter-mode is the deprecated channel path (admin-only; prints a stderr change note when the value actually changes). Prefer inkbox identity update <handle> --mail-filter-mode whitelist|blacklist, which sets the mode on the identity and prints no change note.

Storage

mailbox list shows a storage column (1.2 GiB / 2 GiB) and mailbox get shows storageUsedBytes / storageLimitBytes. --json keeps the raw byte counts; only the table humanizes them. The caps are binary (2 GiB is 2 * 1024³ = 2,147,483,648 bytes), so readouts are labeled GiB/MiB — never GB. A - limit means the server resolved no cap. Sending from a mailbox at its cap fails with HTTP 402; free space with email delete <message-id> -i <handle> / email delete-thread <thread-id> -i <handle>, or upgrade.

Mail Clients (IMAP/SMTP)

An inbox can be attached to a regular mail client (Thunderbird, Apple Mail, mutt, …) with the API key you already have — there is no separate credential to create. inkbox mailbox client-settings <email-address> prints these:

Mint the password with inkbox api-keys create --label <name> --identity-id <uuid>. Admin-scoped keys are rejected — one key maps to exactly one mailbox. Revoking the key revokes mail-client access. client-settings never prints a password.

Constraints that bite:

• From must be the authenticated inbox address, and exactly one address — aliases / "send as" are rejected.
• On the Free plan, signed/encrypted mail (S/MIME, PGP) cannot be sent over SMTP — the required footer can't be injected without breaking the signature, so the send is refused. Send unsigned, or upgrade.
• Leave "save a copy of sent messages" on — Inkbox recognizes the client's copy as the message it already stored, so you get one Sent entry, charged against the storage cap once.

client-settings derives the hosts from the configured API base URL; when that URL isn't a recognized Inkbox API host it errors instead of printing hosts it would have to guess. Full walkthrough: https://inkbox.ai/docs/capabilities/email/mail-clients

Tunnels

Tunnels are provisioned atomically by inkbox identity create and removed by inkbox identity delete (cascade). The inkbox tunnel subcommand is read + update + sign-csr only.

inkbox tunnel list
inkbox tunnel get <id-or-handle>
inkbox tunnel update <id> [--metadata <json>]
inkbox tunnel sign-csr <id> --csr <path-or-pem> [--out <path>]

tunnel get accepts either a UUID or the owning identity's agent handle. tunnel update is metadata-only; pass --metadata "{}" to clear. tunnel sign-csr is passthrough-only and uses an elevated 180-second timeout (the server runs DNS validation + cert issuance synchronously).

Data-plane auth uses the same API key the CLI was invoked with — admin-scoped or identity-scoped (matching the tunnel's identity). There is no per-tunnel connect secret; mint an identity-scoped key via inkbox api-keys create --identity-id <uuid> for an agent.

Custom Sending Domains

inkbox domain list [--status verified]
inkbox domain set-default <domain-name>

domain list shows registered custom domains for your org, optionally filtered by status (e.g. verified). domain set-default requires an admin-scoped API key; pass the bare custom domain name to set it, or pass the platform sending domain (e.g. inkboxmail.com in production) to revert. Domain registration, DNS records, verification, DKIM rotation, and deletion stay in the console.

Mailbox Contact Rules (inkbox mailbox rules …) — DEPRECATED

Deprecated (Sunset 2026-08-31) — use inkbox identity mail-rules … (keyed by agent handle) instead. Per-mailbox allow/block rules (combined with the mailbox's filterMode).

inkbox mailbox rules list --mailbox <email> [--action allow|block] [--match-type exact_email|domain] [--limit <n>] [--offset <n>]
inkbox mailbox rules list --all-mailboxes [--mailbox-id <id>] [--action …] [--match-type …]    # admin-only
inkbox mailbox rules get <rule-id> --mailbox <email>
inkbox mailbox rules create --mailbox <email> --action allow|block --match-type exact_email|domain --match-target <value>
inkbox mailbox rules update <rule-id> --mailbox <email> --action allow|block   # admin-only
inkbox mailbox rules delete <rule-id> --mailbox <email>                                                    # admin-only

Admin-Only Phone Numbers

inkbox number list
inkbox number get <id>
inkbox number provision --handle <handle> [--type local] [--state NY]   # local only; toll_free is rejected (422)
inkbox number update <id> [--incoming-call-action auto_accept|auto_reject|webhook|hosted_agent|forward] [--forward-to-phone <number> | --forward-to-sip <uri>] [--filter-mode whitelist|blacklist] ...
inkbox number release <number-id>

Use --state only when provisioning a local number. Phone-number rows also carry filterMode / agentIdentityId; number update --filter-mode is the deprecated channel path (admin-only; prints a stderr note when the value changes). Prefer inkbox identity update <handle> --phone-filter-mode whitelist|blacklist.

Number Contact Rules (inkbox number rules …) — DEPRECATED

Deprecated (Sunset 2026-08-31) — use inkbox identity phone-rules … (keyed by agent handle) instead. Per-number allow/block rules (combined with the number's filterMode).

inkbox number rules list --number <id> [--action allow|block] [--match-type exact_number] [--limit <n>] [--offset <n>]
inkbox number rules list --all-numbers [--phone-number-id <id>] [--action …] [--match-type …]   # admin-only
inkbox number rules get <rule-id> --number <id>
inkbox number rules create --number <id> --action allow|block --match-target <e164> [--match-type exact_number]
inkbox number rules update <rule-id> --number <id> --action allow|block   # admin-only
inkbox number rules delete <rule-id> --number <id>                                                    # admin-only

Contacts

Organization-wide address book with lifecycle review, memory, correspondence, and vCard import/export.

Merging requires an admin-scoped API key. Active memories have per-kind and contact-wide limits. Delete a fact from each kind named by a merge error, or any active fact when it names total, then retry. Untyped memories count toward the total.

inkbox contacts list [--q <query>] [--order name|recent] [--review-status <status>] [--limit <n>] [--offset <n>]  # offset max 10000
inkbox contacts get <contact-id>
inkbox contacts create --json <payload>
inkbox contacts update <contact-id> --json <patch>
inkbox contacts delete <contact-id>
inkbox contacts bulk-delete <contact-id...>
inkbox contacts lookup (--email <email> | --email-contains <s> | --email-domain <d> | --phone <e164> | --phone-contains <s>)
inkbox contacts import <file.vcf>
inkbox contacts export <contact-id> [--out <file>] # vCard 4.0 to stdout or file
inkbox contacts export-many <contact-id...> [--out <file>]
inkbox contacts facts list <contact-id> [--include-expired]
inkbox contacts facts get <contact-id> <fact-id>
inkbox contacts facts citation <contact-id> <fact-id> <citation-id>
inkbox contacts facts citation-url <source-url>
inkbox contacts facts create <contact-id> --content <text> --kind <profile|preference|context>  # admin only
inkbox contacts facts update <contact-id> <fact-id> [--content <text>] [--kind <kind>]  # admin only
inkbox contacts facts delete <contact-id> <fact-id>  # admin only
inkbox contacts correspondence <contact-id> [--identity <uuid>] [--channels <channel>]
inkbox contacts merge <survivor-id> --losing <contact-id...> [--field-sources <json>]  # admin-scoped API key required
inkbox contacts access list <contact-id>             # compatibility read only

Unlocked generated context facts leave the default facts list at expiresAt; locked facts remain active. --include-expired returns expired facts. Any facts update makes the fact manually maintained, clears its expiry, and revives it; changing content also removes confidence and source links.

contacts lookup requires exactly one filter flag. For create / update, construct the payload carefully — fields include preferredName, givenName, familyName, companyName, jobTitle, birthday, notes, and lists emails / phones / websites / dates / addresses / customFields (each list item has label / value).

Notes

Admin-only free-form notes with per-identity grants (no wildcard).

inkbox notes list [--q <query>] [--identity <uuid>] [--order recent|created] [--limit <n>] [--offset <n>]
inkbox notes get <note-id>
inkbox notes create --body <text> [--title <text>]
inkbox notes update <note-id> [--title <text>] [--body <text>]   # pass --title "" to clear
inkbox notes delete <note-id>

# Per-note access grants
inkbox notes access list <note-id>
inkbox notes access grant <note-id> <identity-id>    # admin + JWT only
inkbox notes access revoke <note-id> <identity-id>

Whoami, Signing Keys, Webhooks

Each agent identity has its own webhook signing key. Manage it with the per-identity commands; the org-level inkbox signing-key create is deprecated (with an agent-scoped key it still rotates that identity's key; with an admin key the server returns 409).

inkbox whoami
inkbox identity signing-key status <handle>
inkbox identity signing-key rotate <handle>   # mints/rotates; prints the secret ONCE
inkbox signing-key create                     # DEPRECATED — use the per-identity commands above
inkbox webhook verify --payload <payload> --secret <secret> -H "X-Header: value"

# Webhook subscriptions (fan-out per (owner, url, event_types)):
inkbox webhook subscription list [--mailbox-id <id>] [--phone-number-id <id>] [--agent-identity-id <id>]
inkbox webhook subscription create --mailbox-id <id> --url <url> --event-type message.received
inkbox webhook subscription create --phone-number-id <id> --url <url> \
  --event-type text.received --event-type text.delivered
inkbox webhook subscription create --agent-identity-id <id> --url <url> \
  --event-type imessage.received --event-type imessage.reaction_received
inkbox webhook subscription create --agent-identity-id <id> --url <url> \
  --event-type call.ended
# Opt into per-class conversation context on received events (count:N | window:H):
inkbox webhook subscription create --mailbox-id <id> --url <url> \
  --event-type message.received --context-email count:10 --context-texts window:24
# Bearer token sent as Authorization on every delivery (returned by reads):
inkbox webhook subscription create --mailbox-id <id> --url <url> \
  --event-type message.received --auth-token-stdin   # token read from stdin
inkbox webhook subscription update <sub-id> [--url <url>] [--event-type <type>...] \
  [--context-email <spec>] [--context-texts <spec>] [--context-calls <spec>] [--clear-context] \
  [--auth-token-stdin] [--clear-auth-token]
inkbox webhook subscription delete <sub-id>

Every subscription row carries ownerIdentityId (the resolved owning agent identity). The first subscription created for an identity that has no signing key yet returns that identity's signingKey once in the create output (otherwise null) — capture it then, it cannot be retrieved again (use --json to read it reliably).

The --context-email / --context-texts / --context-calls flags each take count:N (1..50) or window:H (1..168) and opt a mail, text, or iMessage subscription into per-class conversation history delivered under data.context on received events. A2A subscriptions do not support these flags. On update, a --context-* flag replaces the stored config and --clear-context removes it (the two are mutually exclusive).

--auth-token-stdin sets an optional bearer token for endpoints that require their own Authorization header; every delivery (and replay) then carries Authorization: Bearer <token> alongside the signature headers. Reads return the token: get and --json output include authToken, while list tables show only the hasAuthToken flag. The token is only ever read from stdin via --auth-token-stdin, so it never lands in argv or shell history. On update it replaces the stored token and --clear-auth-token removes it (mutually exclusive).

Use whoami --json when you need the authenticated caller shape exactly.

inkbox webhook verify is event-type-agnostic — it operates on raw bytes and only checks the X-Inkbox-Signature HMAC. The body can be any of:

• Mail (envelope): message.received, message.sent,

message.forwarded, message.delivered, message.bounced, message.failed. Subscribe via inkbox webhook subscription create --mailbox-id .... On message.received, data.message carries the plain-text body (whole under a size cap, else a prefix with bodytruncated: true); when truncated, fetch the full message by its id (via the API/SDK) — not messageid (the RFC 5322 header).

• Text (envelope): text.received, text.sent, text.delivered,

text.deliveryfailed, text.deliveryunconfirmed. Subscribe via inkbox webhook subscription create --phone-number-id ....

• iMessage (envelope): imessage.received,

imessage.reactionreceived, imessage.sent, imessage.delivered, imessage.deliveryfailed. Subscribe via inkbox webhook subscription create --agent-identity-id ... — owned by the agent identity, since shared iMessage pool numbers are not org resources.

• Call lifecycle (envelope, fire-and-forget + replayable):

call.ended. Subscribe via inkbox webhook subscription create --agent-identity-id ... — owned by the agent identity, like iMessage. The payload carries the call (with mode / reason), resolved contacts/identities, an always-present data.transcripturl (authoritative verbatim), an inline abridged data.transcript when the platform captured a transcript for the call (otherwise null), plus data.outcome (completed | noanswer | declined | failed; null iff the call was client-driven) and data.postcallaction_items (open items only, seq-ascending). Voice AI calls fire call.ended on every terminal state, not just connected calls. One subscription carries a single channel, so an identity sub cannot mix imessage.* with call.ended.

• Inbound call (flat, no envelope; response controls call routing).

Not subscribable; URL stays on the phone-number resource as incomingCallWebhookUrl (contrast the replayable call.ended above).

Mail and text payloads carry data.contacts and data.agentidentities (both always-present lists; mail entries also carry bucket + address). Outbound mail payloads also include data.message.bccaddresses (null on inbound). Group text events carry per-recipient delivery rows in data.textmessage.recipients; outbound group lifecycle events name the event target in data.recipientphonenumber (one webhook per recipient leg). Inbound and outbound 1:1 events leave data.recipientphonenumber as null — the singular peer is already in data.textmessage.remotephonenumber (inbound) or data.textmessage.recipients[0] (outbound 1:1). Inbound-call payloads carry contacts and agentidentities at the top level (no envelope). For the typed receiver-side shapes, see the SDK skills (inkbox-ts, inkbox-python).

Practical Guidance

• Prefer the local repo command npm --prefix cli run dev -- ... when working in this codebase.
• Prefer --json for anything that needs stable parsing.
• Use the identity handle, not mailbox address or phone number, for identity-scoped commands.
• If a command fails because the identity lacks a mailbox or phone number, inspect it first with inkbox identity get <handle>.