# Build a Manus skill for Nylas email & calendar Source: https://developer.nylas.com/docs/cookbook/cli/manus-skill/ A Manus Skill is a self-contained bundle that teaches an agent how to do something — instructions, scripts, reference material. This recipe packages the Nylas CLI as a skill so any Manus sandbox can install it, authenticate, and start using 70+ email and calendar commands without you wiring it up by hand each time. The end result: a user types `/nylas-cli` in chat, Manus loads the skill, and they can say "schedule a 30-minute meeting with Ada next Tuesday at 2pm" or "show me unread emails from this week". ## Directory layout ``` nylas-cli/ ├── SKILL.md └── scripts/ └── setup.sh ``` That's it. Two files. ## SKILL.md The frontmatter follows the Agent Skills specification. The body is Markdown documentation that teaches the agent which CLI commands map to which user intents. ```markdown --- name: nylas-cli description: > Read, send, and search email. Create, update, and list calendar events. Check availability and find meeting times across Gmail, Microsoft 365, Exchange, Yahoo, iCloud, and IMAP. compatibility: Requires internet access and a Nylas API key. metadata: author: nylas version: "1.0" --- # Nylas CLI ## Email - `nylas email list --limit 20 --json` — recent messages (use --json to parse) - `nylas email search "quarterly report" --limit 10 --json` — keyword search - `nylas email send --to "" --subject "" --body "" --yes` - `nylas email read --json` — single message ## Calendar - `nylas calendar events list --days 7 --json` — upcoming - `nylas calendar events create --title "..." --start "..." --end "..." --participant "..."` - `nylas calendar schedule ai ""` — let the AI pick a time - `nylas calendar find-time --participants "..." --duration 30m` — find a slot ## Rules - Always use `--json` when parsing output. - Always use `--yes` on send to avoid hanging on a prompt. - Confirm recipient, subject, and body with the user before sending. ``` The "Rules" section is what protects users from agents that send mail before they should. Manus pays attention to it. ## scripts/setup.sh The install script gets the CLI into the sandbox, authenticates against the user's API key, and verifies it works. The sandbox has no Go toolchain, so we fetch a pre-built binary instead of `go install`: ```bash #!/usr/bin/env bash set -euo pipefail ARCH="$(uname -m)" case "$ARCH" in x86_64) TAG="linux_amd64" ;; aarch64|arm64) TAG="linux_arm64" ;; *) echo "Unsupported arch: $ARCH"; exit 1 ;; esac # Fetch latest release curl -fsSL "https://github.com/nylas/cli/releases/latest/download/nylas_${TAG}.tar.gz" \ | tar -xz -C /tmp # Install on PATH if [ -w /usr/local/bin ]; then mv /tmp/nylas /usr/local/bin/nylas else mkdir -p "$HOME/.local/bin" mv /tmp/nylas "$HOME/.local/bin/nylas" export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH" fi # Configure auth if [ -z "${NYLAS_API_KEY:-}" ]; then read -rp "Nylas API key: " NYLAS_API_KEY fi nylas auth config --api-key "$NYLAS_API_KEY" # Verify nylas auth whoami ``` Drop it in `scripts/setup.sh` and make it executable. ## Deploy the skill Three options: - Upload the folder directly to your Manus **Skills** tab. - Push to a GitHub repo and import from URL. - Have Manus package an existing workflow into a skill (it'll prompt you for the structure). Once installed, users invoke it with `/nylas-cli` in chat, then drive it conversationally. ## Things to know - **API key as a sandbox secret.** Store `NYLAS_API_KEY` as a Manus secret rather than baking it into the skill — the skill is shareable, the secret isn't. - **Architecture detection.** The install script handles `x86_64` and `aarch64`. Manus sandboxes are usually Linux; if a future variant ships, extend the `case` block. - **Versioning.** The frontmatter `version` lets Manus warn when the installed skill is older than what's published. - **The "Rules" section is load-bearing.** If you remove "confirm before sending", agents will start sending without confirming. Keep it. ## Next steps - [Build an LLM agent with email & calendar tools](/docs/cookbook/cli/llm-agent-with-tools/) - [Connect voice agents to email & calendar](/docs/cookbook/cli/connect-voice-agents/) - [Nylas CLI](https://cli.nylas.com/) — installation and command reference