Exporting Data

Export as EML

Export a single message as a standard .eml file:

# By internal message ID
msgvault export-eml --message-id 12345 --output message.eml

# By Gmail message ID
msgvault export-eml --gmail-id 18abc123def --output message.eml

# Output to stdout
msgvault export-eml --gmail-id 18abc123def

Flag	Description
--message-id	Internal database message ID
--gmail-id	Gmail message ID (hex string)
--output	Output file path (default: stdout)

The exported .eml file contains the original raw MIME data, decompressed from the zlib-compressed storage in the database.

---

Export a single attachment

Export an attachment by its SHA-256 content hash. Get the hash from show-message --json:

# Find the content hash
msgvault show-message 45 --json | jq '.attachments[0].content_hash'

# Export to a file
msgvault export-attachment <content-hash> -o invoice.pdf

# Output to stdout (binary)
msgvault export-attachment <content-hash> -o -

# Output as base64
msgvault export-attachment <content-hash> --base64

# JSON output with base64-encoded data
msgvault export-attachment <content-hash> --json

Flag	Description
-o, --output	Output file path (use - for stdout)
--base64	Output raw base64 to stdout
--json	Output as JSON with base64-encoded data

The --json, --base64, and --output flags are mutually exclusive.

---

Export all attachments from a message

Export every attachment from a message as individual files with their original filenames:

# Export all attachments to the current directory
msgvault export-attachments 45

# Export to a specific directory
msgvault export-attachments 45 -o ~/Downloads

# By Gmail message ID
msgvault export-attachments 18f0abc123def

Flag	Description
-o, --output	Output directory (default: current directory)

Filenames are sanitized and deduplicated automatically. Existing files are never overwritten — a numeric suffix is appended on conflict.