TL;DR
MailPilot is a local terminal user interface that wraps your AI agent and sends each interaction as an email, letting agents continue work while you’re away. It supports two-way email threads (including CC to teammates) and works with multiple agent backends.
What happened
A developer released MailPilot, a local TUI that forwards every agent turn into a formatted email and accepts replies back into the agent session. The tool is intended to let users step away from their desks while the agent continues tasks, with the user receiving status updates and being able to respond by email. An advertised capability is adding coworkers via CC: forwarding a thread to a teammate causes their email reply to be incorporated into the agent’s context, effectively turning a single local session into an asynchronous multiplayer thread. The creator says they built it initially for personal use and then productized it. MailPilot is reported to work out of the box with several agent backends, and the author is accepting questions from interested users.
Why it matters
- Enables hands-off, asynchronous agent workflows without constant desktop presence.
- Email as an interface lowers the barrier for non-technical participants to interact with agent sessions.
- CC-to-agent integration can convert private sessions into collaborative, async threads.
- Compatibility with multiple agent backends could ease adoption across existing setups.
Key facts
- MailPilot is a local TUI (terminal user interface) that wraps an AI agent and sends each turn as an email.
- It supports two-way communication: agents email you and you can reply to continue the session.
- Forwarding a thread to a coworker lets their reply feed back into the agent context (async multiplayer thread).
- The tool reportedly works out of the box with Claude, Codex, Gemini, Copilot, and OpenCode.
- The author built MailPilot initially for personal use and later turned it into a product.
- The project is being discussed on Hacker News and linked from mailpilot.chat.
- The creator states they are available to answer questions about the tool.
What to watch next
- Pricing and licensing details: not confirmed in the source
- Security, data handling, and privacy model for email-agent exchanges: not confirmed in the source
- Platform and installation requirements (OS, dependencies): not confirmed in the source
- Long-term support and roadmap: not confirmed in the source
Quick glossary
- TUI: Terminal User Interface — a text-based interface you operate from a terminal or command line.
- Agent: An AI system that carries out tasks or multi-step workflows, often driven by a language model backend.
- Turn: A single exchange in a conversation or interaction between a user and an agent.
- Asynchronous: Interaction that does not require participants to be present simultaneously; responses can come later.
- CC: Carbon copy — including additional recipients on an email so they receive the same thread.
Reader FAQ
Which agent backends does MailPilot support?
The source says it works out of the box with Claude, Codex, Gemini, Copilot, and OpenCode.
Is MailPilot cloud-hosted or local?
The source describes MailPilot as a local TUI.
Can teammates participate in the same agent session?
Yes. Forwarding or CCing teammates on the email thread will incorporate their replies into the agent context, creating an async multiplayer thread.
Is the code open-source?
not confirmed in the source
What are the pricing and licensing terms?
not confirmed in the source
https://mailpilot.chat What is this? A local TUI (like Claude, Codex, Gemini, OpenCode or Copilot) that wraps your agent and sends each turn to an email in a nice format. What…
Sources
- Show HN: MailPilot – Freedom to go anywhere while your agents work
- InboxPilot: AI that writes your email replies
- The Calm Inbox: Introducing the new Mail Pilot
- InboxPilot
Related posts
- tprof: a targeting profiler for Python 3.12+ that times selected functions
- Raspberry Pi 5 gains local LLM capability with the AI HAT+ 2 module
- OpenAI launches ChatGPT Translate as a direct rival to Google Translate