How a command is built

proton <app> <collection> <verb> [TARGET...] [--flags]

proton mail messages list
proton drive items move /report.pdf --into /Archive
proton pass items get github.com
proton calendar events create --title Standup --start 2026-04-16T09:00

• App - mail, drive, calendar, pass, contacts, account, or api.
• Collection - the kind of thing you are working with: messages, items, events, vaults.
• Verb - what to do: list, get, create, send.
• Target - which thing. See Naming what to act on.

A group on its own never does anything. proton mail settings prints help; proton mail settings get shows your settings.

The verbs

Each word means one thing, everywhere it appears.

Verb	What it does
list	Show a collection
get	Show one thing in full
create · update · delete	Make, change, remove permanently
trash · restore · empty	Remove reversibly, put back, clear out
move --into · copy --into	Put into another container
upload · download	Move bytes to or from your disk
export · import	Write documents to disk, or read them back
send · reply · forward	Mail going out
label · unlabel · star · unstar	Attach or detach
enable · disable	Turn something on or off
add · remove	Put a member into a container, or take one out
accept · decline	Answer an invitation
revoke	Stop something working
set	Write one setting
login · logout	Your session

To rename anything, use update --name. There is no rename verb.

Flags that mean the same thing everywhere

Flag	Always means
--to	An email recipient, or a filter matching one
--into	A container on Proton’s side: a folder, a vault, a calendar
--dest	A path on your disk
--force	Overwrite what is already there
--all	Everything in scope, rather than a subset
--limit	How many an answer holds, or a verb acts on
--after · --before	The first and last day a selection includes
--access	What somebody may do with a shared thing
--expires	How long before it stops working, or never
--x-file	Where to read a secret from; - is standard input

proton mail messages send --to alice@proton.me       # a recipient
proton mail messages list --to alice@proton.me       # matching a recipient
proton mail messages move REF --into archive         # a container over there
proton drive items download /report.pdf --dest .     # a path over here
proton pass vaults share add Work jane@proton.me --access editor
proton account login --user me@proton.me --password-file /run/secrets/proton

Five flags have a single-letter form: -p profile, -o output, -n dry run, -q quiet, -y yes. They cluster, so -qn is a quiet dry run.

Saying none

Removing an optional value takes one of three spellings, and each flag’s help says which:

Spelling	Used when	Example
The value itself	The word cannot be mistaken for a real value	--expires never, --catch-all none
--no-x	The flag names a state	calendar events update REF --no-remind
--clear-x	The value cannot carry the word: text, or a secret read from a file	--clear-signature, --clear-link-password

Getting help

Every command documents itself and links to its own page:

$ proton mail messages send --help
Compose and send a message
…
Global flags:    proton --help
Full reference:  https://proton-cli.lerchster.dev/mail/messages/#send

proton help mail messages send shows the same screen.

The page a command links to is named after the command. proton drive items upload is documented at /drive/items/#upload.

Shell completion knows the whole tree, including which values each flag accepts. See Install.

What to read next

Page	What it covers
Naming what to act on	IDs, short IDs, names, paths
Filters and bulk changes	Acting on many things at once
Dry runs and confirmations	Previewing a change, and what asks first
Output and exit codes	What comes back, and what a failure means
All commands	Every command in one table