nylas tui for Developers — Quick Reference

#cli #email #terminal #tui

Launch the terminal UI for browsing email, calendar, and contacts in an interactive interface.

The nylas tui command opens a full-screen terminal interface for managing email, calendar events, and contacts. Navigate your inbox with keyboard shortcuts, read and reply to messages, and switch between accounts — all without leaving the terminal.

When to use `nylas tui` vs individual commands

Scenario	Use TUI	Use individual commands
Quick inbox check	✓ — visual scan, arrow keys	Overkill — too many flags
Scripted automation	✗ — interactive, no pipe support	✓ — `nylas email list --json`
Triaging 20+ messages	✓ — mark read, star, archive inline	Slow — one command per message
Demo to non-technical stakeholder	✓ — looks like a real email client	✗ — JSON output confuses them

TUI is the right tool when you want a visual overview. Individual commands are better when you need machine-readable output or scripting.

Quick Start

brew install nylas/nylas-cli/nylas
nylas init
nylas tui

Launches in under 2 seconds on most terminals. Requires an authenticated account — run nylas auth login first if you haven't.

Keyboard shortcuts

Key	Action
`j` / `k`	Move down / up
`Enter`	Open message
`r`	Reply
`s`	Star / unstar
`d`	Delete
`q`	Quit
`Tab`	Switch panel (email → calendar → contacts)

Examples

Launch the terminal UI:

nylas tui

Launch with verbose logging for debugging:

nylas tui --verbose

Common Issues

TUI shows blank screen or garbled output
Ensure your terminal supports 256 colors and is at least 80x24 characters. Try a different terminal emulator if the issue persists.

No emails shown in TUI
Run nylas auth whoami to verify an account is connected. The TUI requires an active grant — run nylas auth login if needed.