{"id":12591,"date":"2026-07-17T09:21:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T09:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/?p=12591"},"modified":"2026-07-17T09:21:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T09:21:48","slug":"how-to-install-and-use-the-official-cli-for-the-hostinger-mail-api","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/how-to-install-and-use-the-official-cli-for-the-hostinger-mail-api\/","title":{"rendered":"How to install and use the official CLI for the Hostinger Mail API"},"content":{"rendered":"

You can manage your Hostinger email accounts<\/strong>, messages, folders, webhooks, and quotas directly from your system terminal using the official command-line interface (CLI)<\/strong> tool. This official tool eliminates the need for writing custom scripts or handling HTTP requests manually.<\/span><\/p>

This guide covers how to install the <\/span>hostinger-mail<\/span> CLI tool on macOS, Linux, and Windows<\/strong>, how to authenticate your account, and how to run basic commands.<\/span><\/p>

Before<\/b> you start<\/b><\/h2>

To use the Hostinger Mail API CLI<\/strong> tool, ensure you have the following:<\/span><\/p>

    \n
  • An active Hostinger email account.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • An API key generated from your Hostinger account panel.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • A terminal environment on a supported operating system (Linux, macOS, or Windows).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>

    Step 1 – Install the Hostinger Mail CLI<\/b><\/h2>

    The installation method depends on the operating system you are using. Follow the instructions for your specific platform.<\/span><\/p>

    Option A – macOS (Homebrew)<\/b><\/h3>

    If you are using macOS<\/strong>, you can install the tool using Homebrew<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>

      \n
    1. Open your terminal.<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Run the following command to tap the official repository and install the binary:<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>

      Bash<\/span><\/p>

      brew install hostinger\/tap\/hostinger-mail<\/span><\/pre>
      Option B – Linux and Windows<\/b><\/h3>
      For Linux and Windows<\/strong>, download the latest cross-platform binary directly from the official repository release page.<\/span><\/p>
        \n
      1. Download the executable file corresponding to your operating system architecture.<\/span><\/li>\n
      2. Place the binary file into a directory included in your system execution path (PATH variable) to run it from anywhere.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>
        Step 2 – Authenticate with your API key<\/b><\/h2>
        The tool requires API key authentication<\/strong> to safely connect to your mailbox services. You can configure your credentials using either a configuration file or environment variables.<\/span><\/p>
        Option A – Use a configuration file (Persistent)<\/b><\/h3>
          \n
        1. Create a configuration file in your home directory named <\/span>\n
          .hostinger-mail.yaml<\/span>.<\/span><\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
        2. Open the file in a text editor and paste your token using the following format:
          \n<\/span><\/span>YAML<\/span>\n
          api_key: YOUR_API_KEY_HERE<\/span><\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
        3. Save the file. The tool will automatically look for this file when executing operations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>
          Option B – Use environment variables (Temporary)<\/b><\/h3>
            \n
          1. Set the variable directly in your terminal session.<\/span>\n
              \n
            1. \n
              On Linux and macOS, run:\r\n<\/span>Bash\r\n<\/span>export HOSTINGER_MAIL_API_KEY=\"YOUR_API_KEY_HERE\"<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
            2. \n
              On Windows PowerShell, run:\r\n<\/span>PowerShell\r\n<\/span>$env:HOSTINGER_MAIL_API_KEY=\"YOUR_API_KEY_HERE\"<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>
              Environment variables are temporary and will clear automatically when you close your current terminal window. Use the configuration file method for a permanent setup.<\/div>
              Step 3 – Manage your emails via commands<\/b><\/h2>
              Once configured, each Mail API operation<\/strong> is accessible as a dedicated subcommand inside the terminal. The tool provides multiple output structures, including clean tables, raw JSON, and visual trees.<\/span><\/p>
                \n
              1. To view a complete list of commands and global options, append the help flag to the tool:
                \n<\/span><\/span>Bash<\/span>\n
                hostinger-mail --help<\/span><\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
              2. Run a specific subcommand to manage your mailbox resources. For example, to view your current usage limits:
                \n<\/span><\/span>Bash<\/span>\n
                hostinger-mail quota get<\/span><\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
              3. To view folders or send a message, execute the respective operations:
                \n<\/span><\/span>Bash<\/span>\n
                hostinger-mail folders list<\/span>\r\n\r\nhostinger-mail messages send --to=\"recipient@example.com\" --subject=\"Terminal Test\" --body=\"Sent via CLI.\"<\/span><\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>
                Step 4 – Enable shell autocompletion (Optional)<\/b><\/h2>
                You can enable shell auto-completion so that the command structure finishes automatically when you press the <\/span>TAB<\/b> key.<\/span><\/p>
                  \n
                1. Generate the autocompletion script for your specific shell environment (such as Bash, Zsh, fish, or PowerShell) by running the completion command:
                  \n<\/span><\/span>Bash<\/span>\n
                  hostinger-mail completion bash<\/span><\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
                2. Follow the terminal instructions to append the generated script to your profile configuration file, then restart your terminal window.<\/span>
                  \n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>
                  You can now manage your Hostinger email settings, monitor webhooks, check data quotas, and process messages faster from your system command line.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
                  Install and use the official Hostinger Mail API command-line interface to manage your emails directly from your terminal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":596,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"include_on_kodee":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[315],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hostinger-mail-api"],"hreflangs":[],"include_on_kodee":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12591"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12604,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12591\/revisions\/12604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hostinger.com\/support\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}