callaginn / jxa

Javascript for Automation Experiments

Javascript for Automation

First off, I understand how difficult it is to use Apple's Javascript for Automation (JXA). JXA should be a great language for quickly automating stuff with tons of support, since it's based on javascript. However, it is not. Apple seems to have sidelined it, with is a real pity IMHO.

That being said, from what I've read, the few developers who use it, expect it to be supported for years to come -- and some of them are hoping for a revival. I'm with the first camp and would LOVE to see the latter.

Anyways, the following is a collection of JXA scripts that I developed for Apple Mail. Hope this helps someone going down this rabbit trail of zero documentation madness.

Apple Mail

The following examples were built for ProtonMail. To adapt them for other clients, try changing the baseFolder from "Folders" to "Inbox". Warning: This has NOT been tested yet.

Get account properties

var mail = Application('Mail'),
	account = mail.accounts['ProtonMail']

console.log(JSON.stringify(account.properties(), null, 4))

Search for Messages

Search your inbox within your account for messages between two specific dates from a specific sender

var mail = new Application("Mail"),
	account = mail.accounts['ProtonMail']

mail.accounts().forEach(account => {	
	var account = mail.accounts.whose({ name: { _contains: account.name() } }, {ignoring: 'case'}),
		mailbox = account.mailboxes.whose({ name: { _contains: 'INBOX' } }, {ignoring: 'case'})

	var messages = mailbox.messages.whose({ 
		sender: { _contains: '[email protected]' },
		_and: [
			{ dateSent: { '>': new Date(2016,1,1) } },
			{ dateSent: { '<': new Date(2022,7,1) } },
		]
	});

	var subjects = []
	
	for (var i in messages) {
		subjects.push(messages[i].subject());
	}
		
	console.log(subjects);
});

Find Messages from last 30 days

var mail = new Application("Mail")

mail.accounts().forEach(account => {	
	var account = mail.accounts.whose({ name: { _contains: account.name() } }, {ignoring: 'case'}),
		mailbox = account.mailboxes.whose({ name: { _contains: 'INBOX' } }, {ignoring: 'case'}),
		messages = mailbox.messages.whose({ 
			dateSent: { '>': new Date(new Date().setDate(new Date().getDate() - 30)) }
		});
	
	for (var i in messages) {
		console.log(messages[i].subject())
	}
});

Flip the > sign, if you want to see messages older than 30 days...

Find Unread messages older than 30 days old

This example includes an account selector

var mail = new Application("Mail"),
	app = Application.currentApplication()

app.includeStandardAdditions = true

var accountList = mail.accounts().reduce((arr, x) => {
	arr.push(x.name()); return arr
}, [])

var accountName = app.chooseFromList(accountList, {
	withPrompt: "Select account to search:",
	defaultItems: accountList[0]
})[0]

var account = mail.accounts.whose({ name: { _contains: accountName } }, {ignoring: 'case'}),
	mailbox = account.mailboxes.whose({ name: { _contains: 'INBOX' } }, {ignoring: 'case'}),
	messages = mailbox.messages.whose({
		readStatus: false,
		dateReceived: { '<': new Date(new Date().setDate(new Date().getDate() - 30)) }
	});

for (var i in messages) {
	console.log(messages[i].subject())
}

List mailboxes?

Option A

var mail = Application('Mail')
var account = mail.accounts['ProtonMail']

var thisList = []

for (var i in account.mailboxes) {	
	if (account.mailboxes[i].container().properties().pcls == "container") {
		thisList.push(account.mailboxes[i].properties())
	}
}

console.log(JSON.stringify(thisList, null, 4))

Option B

Btw -- the variable for this doesn't make sense : P

var accountList = account.mailboxes().reduce((arr, x) => arr + "," + x.name(), '').split(',').filter(n => n);

Create new mailbox

var mail = Application('Mail'),
	account = mail.accounts['ProtonMail'];

mb = mail.Mailbox({name: "Folders/Lorem D"});
account.mailboxes.push(mb);

Create New Mailboxes

This example includes an account selector

var baseFolder = "Folders/",
	mailboxNames = ["Lorem A", "Lorem B", "Lorem D"];

var mail = new Application("Mail"),
	app = Application.currentApplication();

app.includeStandardAdditions = true;

var accountList = mail.accounts().reduce((arr, x) => {
		arr.push(x.name()); return arr;
	}, []),
	accountName = app.chooseFromList(accountList, {
		withPrompt: "Select account to search:",
		defaultItems: accountList[0]
	})[0],
	account = mail.accounts[accountName];

for (mailboxName of mailboxNames) {
	var thisMailbox = baseFolder + mailboxName,
		mailbox = account.mailboxes.whose({ name: { _contains: mailboxName } });
		
	if (! mailbox[0].exists()) {
		mb = mail.Mailbox({name: thisMailbox});
		account.mailboxes.push(mb);
	}	
}