Buttondown newsletter

mnml-msg-buttondown is a terminal browser for Buttondown. List drafts, browse sent newsletters with per-issue open + click stats, peek the scheduled queue, and manage subscribers. Runs standalone in any terminal.

┌─ buttondown ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ▸1.drafts (3)  2.sent (47)  3.scheduled (1)  4.subscribers (1248+)    │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌─ drafts (3) ──────────────────┐ ┌─ detail ────────────────────────────┐
│ ▸ Issue #48 — half-baked      │ │ Subject     Issue #48 — half-baked  │
│   Reply to last week          │ │ Status      draft                   │
│   Untitled scratch            │ │ Created     2026-06-05T00:00:00Z    │
│                               │ │ Word count  812                     │
└───────────────────────────────┘ └─────────────────────────────────────┘
  1-9 tab · Enter open · y ID · p publish · X unsubscribe · r refresh · q quit

Install

cargo install --git https://github.com/chris-mclennan/mnml-msg-buttondown mnml-msg-buttondown
mnml-msg-buttondown --install

Setup

Buttondown uses a single API key.

export BUTTONDOWN_API_KEY=...   # Settings → Programming
mnml-msg-buttondown --check     # verify env + config

The API key grants full newsletter access — read, schedule, delete subscribers. Treat like a password. The TUI never logs the key; --check shows length + last 4 chars only.

Config

~/.config/mnml-msg-buttondown/config.toml (scaffolded first run):

refresh_interval_secs = 60

[[tabs]]
name = "drafts"
kind = "drafts"

[[tabs]]
name = "sent"
kind = "sent"

[[tabs]]
name = "scheduled"
kind = "scheduled"

[[tabs]]
name = "subscribers"
kind = "subscribers"

Tab kinds

kind	What it shows
drafts	Unsent drafts. p schedules the focused draft 5 min from now (v0.2 will add a picker).
sent	Already-shipped emails with open / click counts when reported.
scheduled	Emails queued for a future send.
subscribers	Every subscriber, color-coded by type. X unsubscribes the focused one.

Keys

Chord	Action
1-9 / Tab	Switch tabs
↑ / k, ↓ / j, PgUp / PgDn, g / G	Navigate
Enter / o	Open in Buttondown web UI
y	Yank the focused item’s id
p	Publish draft (drafts tab). PATCH /emails/{id} → status=scheduled, publish_date=+5m. Confirms [y/n].
X	Unsubscribe (subscribers tab). DELETE /subscribers/{id}. Confirms [y/n].
r	Refresh active tab
q / Esc / Ctrl+C	Quit

Two run modes

Standalone

mnml-msg-buttondown

Hosted as a mnml Pty pane

:term mnml-msg-buttondown

Or <leader>iB after mnml-msg-buttondown --install.

Errors + rate limits

• 4xx surfaces as buttondown: <detail> verbatim from Buttondown’s error body.
• Buttondown allows ~600 req/min; TUI never auto-retries 429 — refresh manually with r.

Pagination

v0.1 fetches page 1 only (Buttondown default is 100 per page). When more results exist, the tab badge shows (N+). Real pagination is v0.2.

Source

github.com/chris-mclennan/mnml-msg-buttondown. MIT.