Turn a mail into task candidates, and into nothing else (#246)

The extraction half. internal/email.Extractor asks the resident Qwen3-1.7B,
under a GBNF grammar, what one message requires of him, and returns at most
three short candidates with an optional date.

Everything it can produce is a row in `tasks` with status "candidate",
written through the intake seam #130 built for exactly this (Source
"email:<mailbox>", Evidence = the subject line). No reminder, no fact, no
note, no calendar event. That bound is the design: a reminder FIRES, so a
1.7B misreading "встреча была в четверг" as a future appointment would wake
him up about it, whereas a wrong candidate is a line he dismisses in one
click. A due date the model read out of the mail is stored on the candidate,
where no scheduler reads it — the review page sorts by it. Relative wording
("до пятницы") is deliberately left in the text rather than resolved to a
date the model would get wrong.

The prompt is written against the two things a small model does here: it
summarises when asked to extract, and it invents an obligation out of a
polite closing line. Hence the demand for a verb phrase, and an explicit
empty array — most mail contains no task, and a model with no way to say
"nothing" says something.

Wiring: core owns extraction because llama-server lives in core's process,
so the reader hands messages over a new ipc.MethodIngestMail. It is a Server
hook (like StepUp/UnlockFn), not a CoreAPI method — not a store operation,
and no CoreAPI implementation should have to carry it. The hook stays nil
without an `email` config block or without a llama-server phraser, so the
method answers ErrUnknownMethod: off unless configured, twice over. There is
no keyword fallback on purpose — "the subject became a task" is a mailbox
rendered as a to-do list, not extraction.

Privacy: junk is refused before the model is called, mail text is never
search input, extraction errors carry byte counts rather than the reply, the
stored evidence is a truncated subject, and the log line names the mailbox
and the UID only.

cmd/mavend/mail.go

@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+// mavend/mail.go — core's half of the email reader (Vikunja #246,
+// docs/plans/01-email-reader.md).
+//
+// The split: cmd/mavmaild holds the IMAP credential, connects to the mailbox
+// and converts messages to plaintext; it hands each message to core over
+// ipc.MethodIngestMail. Core runs the extraction on the resident model —
+// llama-server lives in this process, spawned by the phraser — and writes what
+// comes back through the one task intake seam.
+//
+// What this file may produce is exactly one thing: rows in `tasks` with status
+// "candidate". No fact, no reminder, no note, no nudge, no calendar event. A
+// 1.7B misreading a mail can therefore put a wrong line on a review page and
+// nothing else; it can never make Maven speak, and it can never make her
+// recite something out of an advert as true.
+//
+// Off unless configured twice over: no `email` block in mavend.json ⇒ the IPC
+// method does not exist; no llama-server phraser ⇒ same. A reader pointed at a
+// core that is not set up for mail gets ErrUnknownMethod rather than silence.
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/config"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/email"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/ipc"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/llm"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/phraser"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/store"
+)
+
+// evidenceMaxChars — how much of the subject line is kept as a candidate's
+// evidence. Enough to recognise the mail on /tasks, not enough to turn the task
+// list into a copy of his mailbox.
+const evidenceMaxChars = 160
+
+// mailIntake — extraction + capture for one message at a time.
+type mailIntake struct {
+	st      *store.Store
+	ex      *email.Extractor
+	timeout time.Duration
+	now     func() time.Time
+}
+
+// newMailIntake returns nil when mail ingestion must not be available, which is
+// the default. Both preconditions are real:
+//
+//   - no cfg.Email ⇒ not configured, and a capability is off unless configured;
+//   - no llama-server phraser ⇒ nothing to extract with. There is deliberately
+//     no keyword fallback: "the subject line became a task" is not extraction,
+//     it is a mailbox rendered as a to-do list, and it would fill the review
+//     page faster than he could clear it.
+func newMailIntake(st *store.Store, phr phraser.Phraser, cfg *config.Config) *mailIntake {
+	if cfg.Email == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	lp, ok := phr.(*phraser.LLMPhraser)
+	if !ok {
+		log.Printf("mail intake: configured but no llama-server phraser — mail ingestion disabled")
+		return nil
+	}
+	timeout := time.Duration(cfg.Email.Timeout)
+	if timeout <= 0 {
+		timeout = config.DefaultEmailTimeout
+	}
+	ex := email.NewExtractor(llm.New(lp.BaseURL(), timeout), cfg.Email.MaxTasks, contextBlockFn(cfg, time.Now))
+	log.Printf("mail intake: enabled (max %d candidates per message, timeout %s)", cfg.Email.MaxTasks, timeout)
+	return &mailIntake{st: st, ex: ex, timeout: timeout, now: time.Now}
+}
+
+// ingest handles one ipc.MethodIngestMail call.
+//
+// Junk and empty messages are answered Skipped without touching the model — the
+// reader's header filter is what keeps the resident model off newsletters.
+//
+// Every candidate is captured with Status "candidate", Source "email:<mailbox>"
+// and the subject as Evidence. CaptureTask dedupes on normalised text among
+// live rows, so a mailbox re-read after a restart produces Created=0 rather
+// than a second copy of every task.
+func (m *mailIntake) ingest(ctx context.Context, req ipc.IngestMailReq) (ipc.IngestMailResp, error) {
+	msg := email.Message{
+		UID:     req.UID,
+		From:    req.From,
+		Subject: req.Subject,
+		Date:    req.Date,
+		Body:    req.Body,
+		Junk:    req.Junk,
+	}
+	if msg.Junk || (msg.Subject == "" && msg.Body == "") {
+		return ipc.IngestMailResp{Skipped: true}, nil
+	}
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, m.timeout)
+	defer cancel()
+	cands, err := m.ex.Extract(ctx, msg)
+	if err != nil {
+		// The error from internal/email never carries mail text; keep it that way
+		// by not adding the subject here.
+		return ipc.IngestMailResp{}, fmt.Errorf("mail intake: uid %d: %w", req.UID, err)
+	}
+	if len(cands) == 0 {
+		return ipc.IngestMailResp{}, nil
+	}
+
+	source := email.SourcePrefix + req.Mailbox
+	evidence := truncateRunes(req.Subject, evidenceMaxChars)
+	now := m.now()
+	var resp ipc.IngestMailResp
+	for _, c := range cands {
+		t := store.Task{
+			CreatedTs: now,
+			Text:      c.Text,
+			Source:    source,
+			Evidence:  evidence,
+			// The one status this path may ever write. Anything Maven derived from
+			// something she read is a suggestion until he confirms it on /tasks.
+			Status: store.TaskCandidate,
+		}
+		if due, ok := email.ParseDue(c.Due); ok {
+			t.Due = &due
+		}
+		id, created, err := m.st.CaptureTask(ctx, t)
+		if err != nil {
+			return resp, fmt.Errorf("mail intake: capture: %w", err)
+		}
+		resp.TaskIDs = append(resp.TaskIDs, id)
+		if created {
+			resp.Created++
+		}
+	}
+	// Counts only: the log line names the mailbox and the UID, never the subject,
+	// the sender or the task text. Reviewing a candidate is what /tasks is for.
+	log.Printf("mail intake: %s uid %d → %d candidate(s), %d new", source, req.UID, len(cands), resp.Created)
+	return resp, nil
+}
+
+// wireMailIntake installs the IPC hook, or leaves it nil so the method reports
+// ErrUnknownMethod. Called on both startup paths (unlocked boot and passkey
+// unlock) so mail behaves the same either way.
+func wireMailIntake(srv *ipc.Server, st *store.Store, phr phraser.Phraser, cfg *config.Config) {
+	mi := newMailIntake(st, phr, cfg)
+	if mi == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	srv.IngestMailFn = mi.ingest
+}
+
+// truncateRunes cuts a string to n runes, marking the cut.
+func truncateRunes(s string, n int) string {
+	r := []rune(s)
+	if len(r) <= n {
+		return s
+	}
+	return string(r[:n]) + "…"
+}

cmd/mavend/mail_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,182 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/config"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/email"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/ipc"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/llm"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/store"
+)
+
+// mailLLM — a canned extraction reply.
+type mailLLM struct {
+	reply string
+	calls int
+}
+
+func (m *mailLLM) Complete(_ context.Context, _ llm.Req) (string, error) {
+	m.calls++
+	return m.reply, nil
+}
+
+func newTestIntake(t *testing.T, reply string) (*mailIntake, *store.Store, *mailLLM) {
+	t.Helper()
+	st := newTestStore(t)
+	fake := &mailLLM{reply: reply}
+	return &mailIntake{
+		st:      st,
+		ex:      email.NewExtractor(fake, 0, nil),
+		timeout: 5 * time.Second,
+		now:     func() time.Time { return time.Date(2026, 8, 1, 10, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC) },
+	}, st, fake
+}
+
+func ingestReq() ipc.IngestMailReq {
+	return ipc.IngestMailReq{
+		Mailbox: "INBOX", UID: 42,
+		From:    "billing@isp.example",
+		Subject: "Счёт за интернет",
+		Body:    "Оплатите счёт до 5 августа.",
+	}
+}
+
+// The one property that matters: a mail-derived task is a candidate, attributed
+// to the mailbox, with the subject as reviewable evidence — and nothing else is
+// written.
+func TestIngestCapturesCandidates(t *testing.T) {
+	mi, st, _ := newTestIntake(t, `[{"text":"оплатить счёт за интернет","due":"2026-08-05"}]`)
+	resp, err := mi.ingest(context.Background(), ingestReq())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ingest: %v", err)
+	}
+	if resp.Created != 1 || len(resp.TaskIDs) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("resp = %+v, want one created task", resp)
+	}
+	tasks, err := st.ListTasks(context.Background(), "")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("list: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(tasks) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("got %d tasks, want 1", len(tasks))
+	}
+	got := tasks[0]
+	if got.Status != store.TaskCandidate {
+		t.Errorf("status = %q, want %q — mail may only produce candidates", got.Status, store.TaskCandidate)
+	}
+	if got.Source != "email:INBOX" {
+		t.Errorf("source = %q, want email:INBOX", got.Source)
+	}
+	if got.Evidence != "Счёт за интернет" {
+		t.Errorf("evidence = %q, want the subject line", got.Evidence)
+	}
+	if got.Due == nil || got.Due.Format("2006-01-02") != "2026-08-05" {
+		t.Errorf("due = %v, want 2026-08-05", got.Due)
+	}
+	// Nothing else may have been written: no reminder, no fact.
+	rem, err := st.ListReminders(context.Background(), 10)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("list reminders: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(rem) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("mail created %d reminders; a misread mail must never be able to fire", len(rem))
+	}
+}
+
+// Re-reading a mailbox must not grow the list — CaptureTask dedupes among live
+// rows, and the intake relies on exactly that.
+func TestIngestSameMailTwiceIsIdempotent(t *testing.T) {
+	mi, st, _ := newTestIntake(t, `[{"text":"оплатить счёт","due":""}]`)
+	if _, err := mi.ingest(context.Background(), ingestReq()); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("first ingest: %v", err)
+	}
+	resp, err := mi.ingest(context.Background(), ingestReq())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("second ingest: %v", err)
+	}
+	if resp.Created != 0 || len(resp.TaskIDs) != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("resp = %+v, want the existing row and Created=0", resp)
+	}
+	tasks, _ := st.ListTasks(context.Background(), "")
+	if len(tasks) != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("got %d tasks after two reads, want 1", len(tasks))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIngestJunkSkipsTheModel(t *testing.T) {
+	mi, st, fake := newTestIntake(t, `[{"text":"купить со скидкой","due":""}]`)
+	req := ingestReq()
+	req.Junk = true
+	resp, err := mi.ingest(context.Background(), req)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ingest: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !resp.Skipped || resp.Created != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("resp = %+v, want skipped", resp)
+	}
+	if fake.calls != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("model called %d times for junk, want 0", fake.calls)
+	}
+	if tasks, _ := st.ListTasks(context.Background(), ""); len(tasks) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("junk produced %d tasks, want 0", len(tasks))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIngestEmptyMessageSkipped(t *testing.T) {
+	mi, _, fake := newTestIntake(t, "[]")
+	resp, err := mi.ingest(context.Background(), ipc.IngestMailReq{Mailbox: "INBOX", UID: 1})
+	if err != nil || !resp.Skipped {
+		t.Fatalf("resp = %+v, err = %v; want skipped", resp, err)
+	}
+	if fake.calls != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("model called %d times for an empty message, want 0", fake.calls)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIngestNoTasksWritesNothing(t *testing.T) {
+	mi, st, _ := newTestIntake(t, "[]")
+	resp, err := mi.ingest(context.Background(), ingestReq())
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ingest: %v", err)
+	}
+	if resp.Created != 0 || len(resp.TaskIDs) != 0 || resp.Skipped {
+		t.Errorf("resp = %+v, want nothing captured and not skipped", resp)
+	}
+	if tasks, _ := st.ListTasks(context.Background(), ""); len(tasks) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("got %d tasks, want 0", len(tasks))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIngestTruncatesEvidence(t *testing.T) {
+	mi, st, _ := newTestIntake(t, `[{"text":"дело","due":""}]`)
+	req := ingestReq()
+	req.Subject = strings.Repeat("щ", 400)
+	if _, err := mi.ingest(context.Background(), req); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ingest: %v", err)
+	}
+	tasks, _ := st.ListTasks(context.Background(), "")
+	if len(tasks) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("got %d tasks, want 1", len(tasks))
+	}
+	if n := len([]rune(tasks[0].Evidence)); n > evidenceMaxChars+1 {
+		t.Errorf("evidence kept %d runes, want ≤ %d", n, evidenceMaxChars)
+	}
+}
+
+// Off unless configured: no email block ⇒ no intake, so the IPC method does not
+// exist at all.
+func TestNewMailIntakeOffWithoutConfig(t *testing.T) {
+	st := newTestStore(t)
+	if mi := newMailIntake(st, nil, &config.Config{}); mi != nil {
+		t.Error("no email block must mean no mail intake")
+	}
+	// Configured but with a non-LLM phraser: still off — there is no fallback
+	// extraction, by design.
+	if mi := newMailIntake(st, nil, &config.Config{Email: &config.EmailConfig{}}); mi != nil {
+		t.Error("without a llama-server phraser there is nothing to extract with")
+	}
+}

cmd/mavend/main.go

@@ -320,6 +320,13 @@ func run(args []string) error {
 
 	srv.StepUp = func(ctx context.Context) error { return passkeySess.Assert(ctx, auth.Scope{}) }
 
+	// Mail ingestion (Vikunja #246): the hook stays nil unless an email block is
+	// configured and there is a llama-server to extract with, in which case
+	// ipc.MethodIngestMail reports ErrUnknownMethod.
+	if !locked {
+		wireMailIntake(srv, st, phr, cfg)
+	}
+
 	// WrapKeyFn — wraps the env key with a passkey credential public key and
 	// persists the wrapped blob. Only wired when the daemon has the key in
 	// memory (env key mode). Called by mavweb after passkey enrollment.
@@ -457,6 +464,7 @@ func run(args []string) error {
 			}
 			srv.SetAPI(newAPI)
 			srv.Check = (&auth.Gate{Enrollment: auth.NewFloorEnrollment(), Session: passkeySess}).Check
+			wireMailIntake(srv, st, phr, cfg)
 
 			// Start voice server.
 			if voiceW != nil {

internal/auth/policy.go

@@ -74,7 +74,12 @@ func Requirement(m ipc.Method) Authority {
 		// existing analogue.
 		ipc.MethodCaptureTask,
 		ipc.MethodListTasks,
-		ipc.MethodSetTaskStatus:
+		ipc.MethodSetTaskStatus,
+		// Mail ingestion (Vikunja #246). AuthRead because of what the method can
+		// produce: candidate tasks and nothing else. It cannot write a fact, set a
+		// reminder, or touch the tool allowlist, so a compromised mail reader can
+		// at worst put junk on a review page he clears in one click.
+		ipc.MethodIngestMail:
 		return AuthRead
 	}
 	// Unknown method ⇒ AuthRead, but ipc.dispatch returns ErrUnknownMethod

internal/config/config.go

@@ -150,6 +150,12 @@ type Config struct {
 	// absent ⇒ no evaluation loop at all. See MemoryEvalConfig.
 	MemoryEval *MemoryEvalConfig `json:"memory_eval,omitempty"`
 
+	// Email — mail ingestion (Vikunja #246). nil / absent ⇒ core refuses
+	// ipc.MethodIngestMail outright, so a mail reader cannot make Maven read a
+	// mailbox by merely existing. See EmailConfig; the IMAP host and credential
+	// live in the reader (cmd/mavmaild), never here.
+	Email *EmailConfig `json:"email,omitempty"`
+
 	// Praxis — the ecosystem attention-state service. When configured, maven
 	// calls the Praxis HTTP tools API for attention listing and item lifecycle.
 	// Maven never touches Praxis's database directly (ecosystem invariant: no
@@ -418,6 +424,26 @@ type MemoryEvalConfig struct {
 	MinConfidence float64 `json:"min_confidence,omitempty"`
 }
 
+// EmailConfig — core's half of the email reader: how many task candidates one
+// message may produce, and how long the extraction call may take.
+//
+// There is deliberately nothing about a mailbox here. Core does not connect to
+// IMAP, does not know an account exists, and holds no mail credential — the
+// reader daemon does, the same split mavpoll uses for the zenmoney token. This
+// block only says "extraction is allowed, with these bounds".
+type EmailConfig struct {
+	// MaxTasks — candidates per message. 0 ⇒ email.MaxCandidates (3).
+	MaxTasks int `json:"max_tasks,omitempty"`
+
+	// Timeout — per-message extraction budget. 0 ⇒ DefaultEmailTimeout. This is
+	// a Thinking model reading a mail; nobody is waiting on the answer, but a
+	// hung llama-server must not pin the reader's connection forever.
+	Timeout Duration `json:"timeout,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// DefaultEmailTimeout — extraction budget per message.
+const DefaultEmailTimeout = 2 * time.Minute
+
 // PhraserConfig — the LLM-backed phraser seam. The daemon spawns llama-server
 // as a managed subprocess and sends chat-completion requests to phrase nudge
 // and reminder messages. nil ⇒ the template-based Stub is used instead.
@@ -607,6 +633,12 @@ func (c *Config) applyDefaults() {
 		c.MemoryEval.Interval = Duration(DefaultMemoryEvalInterval)
 	}
 
+	// Same rule again: absent stays nil (⇒ mail ingestion refused), present gets
+	// the timeout default so `{}` is a valid "on with the defaults".
+	if c.Email != nil && c.Email.Timeout <= 0 {
+		c.Email.Timeout = Duration(DefaultEmailTimeout)
+	}
+
 	if c.Voice != nil {
 		if c.Voice.RouterThreshold <= 0 {
 			c.Voice.RouterThreshold = DefaultRouterThreshold

internal/email/extract.go

@@ -0,0 +1,226 @@
+package email
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/llm"
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/persona"
+)
+
+// Extraction — turning one mail into task CANDIDATES, and nothing else.
+//
+// The output of this file can only ever become rows in `tasks` with status
+// "candidate" (store.TaskCandidate), written through the one intake seam
+// (ipc.CaptureTaskReq, Vikunja #130). That bound is the whole design:
+//
+//   - No reminder. A reminder FIRES; it speaks to him unprompted. A 1.7B that
+//     misreads "встреча была в четверг" as a future appointment would then wake
+//     him up about it. A candidate that is wrong is a line on a review page he
+//     dismisses in one click, which is the correct cost of a model being wrong
+//     about someone's mail.
+//   - No fact. A fact is a claim Maven will later recite as true. Nothing read
+//     out of a marketing mail deserves that standing.
+//   - No calendar event, no note, no action. Extraction writes candidates or
+//     writes nothing.
+//
+// The due date the model may return is stored on the candidate (tasks.due_ts),
+// which no scheduler reads — it is there so the review page can sort by it.
+//
+// Privacy: the mail text goes to the resident model on this box and nowhere
+// else. It is never search input (CLAUDE.md: "his notes and facts are never
+// search input" — mail is the same class), and Evidence keeps only the subject
+// line, so the review page shows him where a candidate came from without the
+// store growing a copy of his mailbox.
+
+// MaxCandidates — at most this many candidates per message, enforced by the
+// grammar. A mail with four tasks in it is a mail he has to read himself; a
+// model allowed ten will produce ten.
+const MaxCandidates = 3
+
+// SourcePrefix — provenance for everything this package captures. The mailbox
+// name is appended: "email:INBOX". Same vocabulary as tap:voice / poll:netdata.
+const SourcePrefix = "email:"
+
+// Candidate — one piece of work the model thinks the mail is asking for.
+type Candidate struct {
+	Text string `json:"text"`
+	// Due — "YYYY-MM-DD" or empty. A date the model read out of the text, not a
+	// date it computed: relative wording ("до пятницы") is left in Text, because
+	// a small model resolving "пятница" against today's date gets it wrong often
+	// enough that a stored wrong date is worse than no date.
+	Due string `json:"due"`
+}
+
+// Completer — the llama-server seam, same shape memeval and the router use, so
+// the one resident model serves this caller too.
+type Completer interface {
+	Complete(ctx context.Context, r llm.Req) (string, error)
+}
+
+// Extractor reads a message and returns candidates. It holds no store and no
+// writer on purpose: this type cannot persist anything, so "extraction never
+// acts" is a property of the code, not of a review.
+type Extractor struct {
+	llm Completer
+	// MaxCandidates — 0 ⇒ MaxCandidates.
+	max int
+	// ContextBlock — the shared persona block, optional. Extraction output is
+	// not spoken, so the persona matters less here than in the phraser; it is
+	// wired anyway so a candidate reads in her voice on the review page.
+	contextBlock func() string
+}
+
+func NewExtractor(c Completer, max int, contextBlock func() string) *Extractor {
+	if max <= 0 || max > MaxCandidates {
+		max = MaxCandidates
+	}
+	return &Extractor{llm: c, max: max, contextBlock: contextBlock}
+}
+
+// extractGrammar — GBNF pinning the answer to a bounded array of fixed-shape
+// candidates. Same reasoning as memeval's evalGrammar and the router's
+// routeGrammar: the shape and the length bound are what keep a small model from
+// drifting into prose or spending the token budget repeating one field.
+//
+// The empty array is reachable, deliberately: most mail contains no task, and a
+// model with no way to say "nothing" invents something.
+const extractGrammar = `
+root  ::= "[" ws (item ("," ws item){0,2})? ws "]"
+item  ::= "{" ws "\"text\"" ws ":" ws text "," ws "\"due\"" ws ":" ws due ws "}"
+text  ::= "\"" ([^"\\] | "\\" .){1,120} "\""
+due   ::= "\"\"" | "\"" [0-9]{4} "-" [0-9]{2} "-" [0-9]{2} "\""
+ws    ::= [ \t\n]*
+`
+
+// extractSystem — the extraction prompt.
+//
+// Written around the two failure modes a small model has on this task: it
+// summarises when asked to extract (turning a mail into "письмо от Антона"),
+// and it invents an obligation from any polite closing sentence. Hence the
+// insistence on a verb phrase, and the explicit permission to return [].
+const extractSystem = `Ты читаешь одно письмо из его почты и достаёшь из него дела, которые письмо от него требует.
+
+Правила:
+- Отвечай ТОЛЬКО массивом JSON. Каждый элемент: {"text": "...", "due": "ГГГГ-ММ-ДД" или ""}.
+- text — короткая формулировка дела по-русски, с глаголом: "оплатить счёт за интернет", "отправить акт". Не пересказывай письмо и не описывай его.
+- Дело — это то, что должен сделать ОН. Рассылка, реклама, уведомление, отчёт, письмо «просто к сведению» — дел не содержат.
+- Если письмо ничего от него не требует, верни пустой массив []. Это нормальный ответ, так бывает чаще всего.
+- Ничего не придумывай. Если срока в письме нет — "".
+- due заполняй только когда в письме стоит конкретная дата. Слова вроде «до пятницы» оставь в text, дату не вычисляй.
+- Максимум три дела. Лучше одно точное, чем три общих.`
+
+// Extract returns the candidates in one message.
+//
+// Junk is refused without an LLM call — cheapest possible defence, and the
+// reason the header filter exists. An empty message (no subject, no body) is
+// likewise not worth a round trip.
+//
+// A parse failure is an error the caller logs and moves past. It is never
+// silently turned into zero candidates, because "the model went off the rails"
+// and "the mail contains no task" want different reactions from a human reading
+// the log.
+func (e *Extractor) Extract(ctx context.Context, msg Message) ([]Candidate, error) {
+	if msg.Junk {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	user := renderForModel(msg)
+	if user == "" {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	raw, err := e.llm.Complete(ctx, llm.Req{
+		System:        persona.Prepend(e.contextBlock, extractSystem),
+		User:          user,
+		Grammar:       extractGrammar,
+		MaxTokens:     512,
+		RepeatPenalty: 1.1,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("email: extract: %w", err)
+	}
+	items, err := parseCandidates(raw)
+	if err != nil {
+		// The raw reply is NOT in the error: it is a transformation of his mail,
+		// and this error reaches the daemon log.
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("email: extract: unparsable reply (%d bytes)", len(raw))
+	}
+	out := make([]Candidate, 0, len(items))
+	seen := map[string]bool{}
+	for _, it := range items {
+		it.Text = strings.TrimSpace(it.Text)
+		if it.Text == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		key := strings.ToLower(strings.Join(strings.Fields(it.Text), " "))
+		if seen[key] {
+			continue // the model repeating itself is not two tasks
+		}
+		seen[key] = true
+		if _, ok := ParseDue(it.Due); !ok {
+			it.Due = "" // a date the grammar allowed but the calendar does not
+		}
+		out = append(out, it)
+		if len(out) >= e.max {
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// renderForModel is the user turn: subject, sender and body, labelled. Only
+// these three fields — no headers, no recipient list, no message-id, nothing
+// that would let the model start reasoning about routing metadata.
+func renderForModel(msg Message) string {
+	var b strings.Builder
+	if msg.From != "" {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&b, "От: %s\n", msg.From)
+	}
+	if msg.Subject != "" {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&b, "Тема: %s\n", msg.Subject)
+	}
+	if msg.Body != "" {
+		fmt.Fprintf(&b, "\n%s\n", msg.Body)
+	}
+	if msg.Subject == "" && msg.Body == "" {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return b.String()
+}
+
+// parseCandidates decodes the grammar-constrained reply, tolerating the
+// wrappers a Thinking model sometimes leaves around it (a fenced block, or
+// leading reasoning before the array).
+func parseCandidates(raw string) ([]Candidate, error) {
+	s := strings.TrimSpace(raw)
+	if i := strings.Index(s, "["); i > 0 {
+		s = s[i:]
+	}
+	if j := strings.LastIndex(s, "]"); j >= 0 {
+		s = s[:j+1]
+	}
+	var out []Candidate
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(s), &out); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// ParseDue turns the model's "YYYY-MM-DD" into a time in UTC. Exported because
+// the daemon-side intake stores it on the candidate.
+//
+// The zero-value/empty case returns ok=false rather than an error: no date is
+// the common answer, not a failure.
+func ParseDue(s string) (time.Time, bool) {
+	s = strings.TrimSpace(s)
+	if s == "" {
+		return time.Time{}, false
+	}
+	t, err := time.Parse("2006-01-02", s)
+	if err != nil {
+		return time.Time{}, false
+	}
+	return t, true
+}

internal/email/extract_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,143 @@
+package email
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/kami/maven/internal/llm"
+)
+
+// fakeLLM returns a canned reply and records the request, so a test can assert
+// on the grammar and on what of the mail was sent.
+type fakeLLM struct {
+	reply string
+	err   error
+	got   llm.Req
+	calls int
+}
+
+func (f *fakeLLM) Complete(_ context.Context, r llm.Req) (string, error) {
+	f.calls++
+	f.got = r
+	return f.reply, f.err
+}
+
+func msgFor(subject, body string) Message {
+	return Message{UID: 1, From: "anton@example.org", Subject: subject, Body: body}
+}
+
+func TestExtractCandidates(t *testing.T) {
+	f := &fakeLLM{reply: `[{"text":"отправить акт","due":""},{"text":"оплатить счёт","due":"2026-08-05"}]`}
+	e := NewExtractor(f, 0, nil)
+	got, err := e.Extract(context.Background(), msgFor("Акт и счёт", "Надо отправить акт и оплатить счёт до 5 августа."))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("extract: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(got) != 2 {
+		t.Fatalf("got %d candidates, want 2: %+v", len(got), got)
+	}
+	if got[0].Text != "отправить акт" || got[1].Due != "2026-08-05" {
+		t.Errorf("candidates = %+v", got)
+	}
+	if f.got.Grammar == "" {
+		t.Error("extraction must be grammar-constrained")
+	}
+	// The subject and body go to the model; nothing else about the message does.
+	if !strings.Contains(f.got.User, "Акт и счёт") || !strings.Contains(f.got.User, "оплатить счёт") {
+		t.Errorf("user turn = %q", f.got.User)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestExtractEmptyArrayIsNotAnError(t *testing.T) {
+	f := &fakeLLM{reply: "[]"}
+	got, err := NewExtractor(f, 0, nil).Extract(context.Background(), msgFor("FYI", "Просто к сведению."))
+	if err != nil || len(got) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("got (%v, %v), want (empty, nil) — no task is the normal answer", got, err)
+	}
+}
+
+// Junk must never reach the model: the header filter exists so the resident
+// model is not spent on newsletters.
+func TestExtractSkipsJunkWithoutCallingModel(t *testing.T) {
+	f := &fakeLLM{reply: `[{"text":"купить всё со скидкой","due":""}]`}
+	msg := msgFor("Скидки", "Sale!")
+	msg.Junk = true
+	got, err := NewExtractor(f, 0, nil).Extract(context.Background(), msg)
+	if err != nil || got != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("got (%v, %v), want (nil, nil)", got, err)
+	}
+	if f.calls != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("model called %d times for junk, want 0", f.calls)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestExtractEmptyMessageIsNotSent(t *testing.T) {
+	f := &fakeLLM{reply: "[]"}
+	if _, err := NewExtractor(f, 0, nil).Extract(context.Background(), Message{UID: 3}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("extract: %v", err)
+	}
+	if f.calls != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("model called %d times for an empty message, want 0", f.calls)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestExtractCaps(t *testing.T) {
+	f := &fakeLLM{reply: `[{"text":"a","due":""},{"text":"b","due":""},{"text":"c","due":""}]`}
+	got, err := NewExtractor(f, 2, nil).Extract(context.Background(), msgFor("s", "b"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("extract: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(got) != 2 {
+		t.Errorf("got %d, want the configured cap of 2", len(got))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestExtractDropsRepeatsAndBadDates(t *testing.T) {
+	f := &fakeLLM{reply: `[{"text":"Отправить акт","due":"2026-02-31"},{"text":"отправить  акт","due":""},{"text":"  ","due":""}]`}
+	got, err := NewExtractor(f, 0, nil).Extract(context.Background(), msgFor("s", "b"))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("extract: %v", err)
+	}
+	if len(got) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("got %d candidates, want 1 (repeat and blank dropped): %+v", len(got), got)
+	}
+	if got[0].Due != "" {
+		t.Errorf("due = %q, want empty — 2026-02-31 is not a date", got[0].Due)
+	}
+}
+
+// A Thinking model sometimes wraps the array; and when it emits something
+// unparsable the caller must hear about it rather than see "no tasks".
+func TestParseCandidatesTolerance(t *testing.T) {
+	got, err := parseCandidates("думаю... [{\"text\":\"x\",\"due\":\"\"}] всё")
+	if err != nil || len(got) != 1 || got[0].Text != "x" {
+		t.Fatalf("got (%+v, %v)", got, err)
+	}
+	if _, err := parseCandidates("нет никакого JSON"); err == nil {
+		t.Error("unparsable output must be an error")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestExtractParseErrorHidesMailText(t *testing.T) {
+	f := &fakeLLM{reply: "он просил отправить акт, вот такой ответ"}
+	_, err := NewExtractor(f, 0, nil).Extract(context.Background(), msgFor("Акт", "секретный текст"))
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("want an error")
+	}
+	if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "акт") || strings.Contains(err.Error(), "секретный") {
+		t.Errorf("error text leaks mail content: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseDue(t *testing.T) {
+	if _, ok := ParseDue(""); ok {
+		t.Error("empty due must be (zero, false)")
+	}
+	if got, ok := ParseDue("2026-08-05"); !ok || got.Year() != 2026 || got.Month() != 8 || got.Day() != 5 {
+		t.Errorf("ParseDue = (%v, %v)", got, ok)
+	}
+	if _, ok := ParseDue("05.08.2026"); ok {
+		t.Error("a non-ISO date must not parse")
+	}
+}

internal/ipc/api.go

@@ -138,6 +138,44 @@ type CaptureTaskResp struct {
 	Created bool  `json:"created"`
 }
 
+// IngestMailReq — one message a mail reader has fetched, handed to core for
+// extraction (Vikunja #246).
+//
+// The mail reader (cmd/mavmaild) holds the IMAP credential and core never sees
+// it, the same split mavpoll uses for the zenmoney token. What crosses this
+// boundary is only the message text, because extraction runs on the resident
+// model and llama-server lives inside core's process.
+//
+// Body is already plaintext and truncated by internal/email; core does not
+// re-parse MIME and never stores the body. Junk means the reader's header
+// filter already classified the message as bulk — core is told rather than
+// asked, so a junk message can be counted without a model call.
+//
+// This method is available only when core has an email block configured AND a
+// llama-server phraser; otherwise it answers ErrUnknownMethod, which is what
+// "off unless configured" looks like at the wire.
+type IngestMailReq struct {
+	Mailbox string `json:"mailbox"`
+	UID     uint32 `json:"uid"`
+	From    string `json:"from,omitempty"`
+	Subject string `json:"subject,omitempty"`
+	Date    string `json:"date,omitempty"`
+	Body    string `json:"body,omitempty"`
+	Junk    bool   `json:"junk,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// IngestMailResp — what core did with the message. TaskIDs are the rows
+// CaptureTask returned; Created counts the ones that were new (a re-read
+// mailbox dedupes to Created=0). Skipped is set when nothing was asked of the
+// model at all — junk, or an empty message.
+//
+// Nothing here echoes the mail back. The reader logs counts.
+type IngestMailResp struct {
+	TaskIDs []int64 `json:"task_ids,omitempty"`
+	Created int     `json:"created"`
+	Skipped bool    `json:"skipped,omitempty"`
+}
+
 type listTasksReq struct {
 	Status string `json:"status"` // "" all | "live" | candidate|open|done|dropped
 }

internal/ipc/client.go

@@ -448,6 +448,17 @@ func (c *Client) SetTaskStatus(ctx context.Context, id int64, status string, ts
 	return c.call(ctx, MethodSetTaskStatus, setTaskStatusReq{ID: id, Status: status, Ts: ts}, nil)
 }
 
+// IngestMail hands one fetched message to core for extraction. ErrUnknownMethod
+// means core has no email block configured — the caller should stop asking, not
+// retry.
+func (c *Client) IngestMail(ctx context.Context, req IngestMailReq) (IngestMailResp, error) {
+	var r IngestMailResp
+	if err := c.call(ctx, MethodIngestMail, req, &r); err != nil {
+		return IngestMailResp{}, err
+	}
+	return r, nil
+}
+
 func (c *Client) DismissProposedRoutine(ctx context.Context, id int64) error {
 	return c.call(ctx, MethodDismissProposedRoutine, dismissProposedRoutineReq{ID: id}, nil)
 }

internal/ipc/ipc_test.go

@@ -565,3 +565,36 @@ func mustJSON(v any) []byte {
 	}
 	return b
 }
+
+// TestIngestMail_OffUnlessConfigured — with no IngestMailFn set (the default,
+// and what an unconfigured core looks like) the method does not exist. A mail
+// reader gets a refusal it can act on rather than a silent success.
+func TestIngestMail_OffUnlessConfigured(t *testing.T) {
+	_, _, cli, _ := newServerWithStore(t)
+	if _, err := cli.IngestMail(context.Background(), IngestMailReq{Mailbox: "INBOX", UID: 1}); !errors.Is(err, ErrUnknownMethod) {
+		t.Fatalf("IngestMail error = %v, want ErrUnknownMethod", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestIngestMail_Hook — when the daemon wires the hook, the message crosses the
+// boundary intact and the response comes back.
+func TestIngestMail_Hook(t *testing.T) {
+	_, srv, cli, _ := newServerWithStore(t)
+	var got IngestMailReq
+	srv.IngestMailFn = func(_ context.Context, req IngestMailReq) (IngestMailResp, error) {
+		got = req
+		return IngestMailResp{TaskIDs: []int64{7}, Created: 1}, nil
+	}
+	resp, err := cli.IngestMail(context.Background(), IngestMailReq{
+		Mailbox: "INBOX", UID: 12, Subject: "Счёт", Body: "Оплатить.", Junk: false,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("IngestMail: %v", err)
+	}
+	if resp.Created != 1 || len(resp.TaskIDs) != 1 || resp.TaskIDs[0] != 7 {
+		t.Errorf("resp = %+v", resp)
+	}
+	if got.UID != 12 || got.Subject != "Счёт" || got.Body != "Оплатить." {
+		t.Errorf("req across the wire = %+v", got)
+	}
+}

internal/ipc/server.go

@@ -421,6 +421,17 @@ type Server struct {
 	// Set by the daemon; nil ⇒ MethodStoreEncryptionKey returns ErrUnknownMethod.
 	WrapKeyFn WrapKeyFunc
 
+	// IngestMailFn — extracts task candidates from one fetched message. Set by
+	// the daemon only when an email block is configured AND there is a
+	// llama-server to extract with; nil ⇒ MethodIngestMail returns
+	// ErrUnknownMethod, so a mail reader pointed at a core that is not
+	// configured for mail is refused rather than silently ignored.
+	//
+	// Like StepUp/WrapKeyFn/UnlockFn this bypasses CoreAPI: it is not a store
+	// operation, it needs the resident model, and it must not become a method
+	// every CoreAPI implementation has to carry.
+	IngestMailFn IngestMailFunc
+
 	// UnlockFn — unwraps the store encryption key from the wrapped blob using
 	// the passkey credential public key, opens the encrypted store, and wires
 	// the rest of the daemon (voice, loop, delivery). Set by the daemon when
@@ -439,6 +450,9 @@ type WrapKeyFunc func(ctx context.Context, publicKey []byte) error
 // public key and completes daemon initialization.
 type UnlockFunc func(ctx context.Context, publicKey []byte) error
 
+// IngestMailFunc — core-side mail extraction. Returns what was captured.
+type IngestMailFunc func(ctx context.Context, req IngestMailReq) (IngestMailResp, error)
+
 // CheckFunc — the auth hook signature. Wired by the daemon (auth.Gate.Check
 // satisfies this); dispatch calls it once per request after param-unmarshal
 // independence (it gets the raw params, may unmarshal what it needs — ipc
@@ -606,9 +620,10 @@ func withoutParams[R any](fn func(ctx context.Context, api CoreAPI) (R, error))
 // existed) as an argument — so SetAPI's runtime swap (the unlock transition)
 // is still honored on the very next request with no extra plumbing here.
 //
-// MethodAssertStepUp, MethodStoreEncryptionKey and MethodUnlock are NOT in
+// MethodAssertStepUp, MethodStoreEncryptionKey, MethodUnlock and
-// this table: they bypass CoreAPI entirely (s.StepUp / s.WrapKeyFn /
+// MethodIngestMail are NOT in this table: they bypass CoreAPI entirely
-// s.UnlockFn), so dispatch special-cases them before consulting the table.
+// (s.StepUp / s.WrapKeyFn / s.UnlockFn / s.IngestMailFn), so dispatch
+// special-cases them before consulting the table.
 var methodTable = map[Method]handlerFunc{
 	MethodWriteFact: withParams(func(ctx context.Context, api CoreAPI, p WriteFactReq) (idResp, error) {
 		id, err := api.WriteFact(ctx, p)
@@ -816,7 +831,7 @@ func (s *Server) dispatch(ctx context.Context, req Request) (json.RawMessage, er
 		}
 	}
 
-	// These three bypass CoreAPI entirely — they drive Server fields set
+	// These bypass CoreAPI entirely — they drive Server fields set
 	// directly by the daemon (StepUp / WrapKeyFn / UnlockFn), not store
 	// state, so they can never be table entries keyed on a CoreAPI method.
 	switch req.Method {
@@ -845,6 +860,20 @@ func (s *Server) dispatch(ctx context.Context, req Request) (json.RawMessage, er
 			return marshalResult(nil), s.UnlockFn(ctx, p.PublicKey)
 		}
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", ErrUnknownMethod, req.Method)
+
+	case MethodIngestMail:
+		if s.IngestMailFn != nil {
+			var p IngestMailReq
+			if err := unmarshalParams(req.Params, &p); err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			resp, err := s.IngestMailFn(ctx, p)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+			return marshalResult(resp), nil
+		}
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", ErrUnknownMethod, req.Method)
 	}
 
 	h, ok := methodTable[req.Method]

internal/ipc/wire.go

@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ const (
 	MethodCaptureTask            Method = "capture_task"
 	MethodListTasks              Method = "list_tasks"
 	MethodSetTaskStatus          Method = "set_task_status"
+	MethodIngestMail             Method = "ingest_mail"
 )
 
 // Request — one frame from module to core. Params is the JSON-encoded argument