Notes about reading messages with the Python email packages

https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/python/EmailPackagesNotes

Comments

dwedgeMay 25, 2026, 12:11 PM
I know this is terminal based and kind of the point but I found it interesting that neither this post, nor any of the linked ones or linked email software clients he uses have screenshots. I know they are TUIs but I was still curious how they look.
theamkMay 26, 2026, 2:30 PM
It is not even TUI, it is just library/API. It cannot print the text on the screen, it returns python's internal data structures.

I guess if one really wanted to show off the libraries, they could create some sample programs that'd render some sample messages to plain text, TUI or even a web page, but that seems pretty out-of-scope for the simple blog post like that one.

threecheeseMay 25, 2026, 8:17 PM
Author is blocking AdGuard VPN; while I understand the goal - especially today - this is the only tool I’ve found which appears to reduce tracking, and I just never turn it off. Without it (for example) my Amazon visits become TikTok ads within minutes.
postdoc74May 25, 2026, 5:29 PM
I've had a lot of fun vibe coding my own text-based email client and reader using mostly Python's stdlib. It is my daily driver and found no problem with parsing so far. It also leads to a very efficient and simple HTML reader submodule.

https://juanjosegarciaripoll.github.io/pony/

nsagentMay 25, 2026, 6:33 PM
I use mblaze as it's just a suite of commandline tools that are conducive to the Unix philosophy (easy to pipe output to build more complex usecases), but I'll take a look at yours to see how it compares. Thanks for sharing!

https://git.vuxu.org/mblaze/

InsimwytimMay 25, 2026, 5:56 PM
My LTS Firefox deemed too old by this page. (302 to https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/cspace-bad/cspace-old-browser....)

Hasn't happened just a month ago or so.

Funnily enough, curl (not a recent version, I might add) works fine.

P.S. Downvote all you want, but provide a reason. My message just stated facts, not an opinion.

ian_holtMay 26, 2026, 1:08 AM
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mrenzoMay 25, 2026, 5:44 PM
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naina12May 25, 2026, 8:07 PM
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