<h1>NOTMUCH-SEARCH(1)</h1>
<h2>NAME</h2>
<pre>
notmuch-search - search for messages matching the given search terms
</pre>
<h2>SYNOPSIS</h2>
<pre>
<b>notmuch</b> <b>search</b> [<u>option</u> ...] <<u>search-term</u>> ...
</pre>
<h2>DESCRIPTION</h2>
<pre>
Search for messages matching the given search terms, and display as re‐
sults the threads containing the matched messages.
The output consists of one line per thread, giving a thread ID, the
date of the newest (or oldest, depending on the sort option) matched
message in the thread, the number of matched messages and total mes‐
sages in the thread, the names of all participants in the thread, and
the subject of the newest (or oldest) message.
See <a href='../notmuch-search-terms-7/'>notmuch-search-terms</a>(7) for details of the supported syntax for
<search-terms>.
Supported options for <b>search</b> include
<b>--format=(json|sexp|text|text0)</b>
Presents the results in either JSON, S-Expressions, newline
character separated plain-text (default), or null character sep‐
arated plain-text (compatible with <b>xargs</b>(1) -0 option where
available).
<b>--format-version=N</b>
Use the specified structured output format version. This is in‐
tended for programs that invoke <a href='../notmuch-1/'>notmuch</a>(1) internally. If omit‐
ted, the latest supported version will be used.
<b>--output=(summary|threads|messages|files|tags)</b>
<b>summary</b>
Output a summary of each thread with any message matching
the search terms. The summary includes the thread ID,
date, the number of messages in the thread (both the num‐
ber matched and the total number), the authors of the
thread and the subject. In the case where a thread con‐
tains multiple files for some messages, the total number
of files is printed in parentheses (see below for an ex‐
ample).
<b>threads</b>
Output the thread IDs of all threads with any message
matching the search terms, either one per line (<b>--for-</b>
<b>mat=text</b>), separated by null characters (<b>--format=text0</b>),
as a JSON array (<b>--format=json</b>), or an S-Expression list
(<b>--format=sexp</b>).
<b>messages</b>
Output the message IDs of all messages matching the
search terms, either one per line (<b>--format=text</b>), sepa‐
rated by null characters (<b>--format=text0</b>), as a JSON ar‐
ray (<b>--format=json</b>), or as an S-Expression list (<b>--for-</b>
<b>mat=sexp</b>).
<b>files</b> Output the filenames of all messages matching the search
terms, either one per line (<b>--format=text</b>), separated by
null characters (<b>--format=text0</b>), as a JSON array (<b>--for-</b>
<b>mat=json</b>), or as an S-Expression list (<b>--format=sexp</b>).
Note that each message may have multiple filenames asso‐
ciated with it. All of them are included in the output
(unless limited with the <b>--duplicate=N</b> option). This may
be particularly confusing for <b>folder:</b> or <b>path:</b> searches
in a specified directory, as the messages may have dupli‐
cates in other directories that are included in the out‐
put, although these files alone would not match the
search.
<b>tags</b> Output all tags that appear on any message matching the
search terms, either one per line (<b>--format=text</b>), sepa‐
rated by null characters (<b>--format=text0</b>), as a JSON ar‐
ray (<b>--format=json</b>), or as an S-Expression list (<b>--for-</b>
<b>mat=sexp</b>).
<b>--sort=(newest-first|oldest-first)</b>
This option can be used to present results in either chronologi‐
cal order (<b>oldest-first</b>) or reverse chronological order (<b>new-</b>
<b>est-first</b>).
Note: The thread order will be distinct between these two op‐
tions (beyond being simply reversed). When sorting by <b>old-</b>
<b>est-first</b> the threads will be sorted by the oldest message in
each thread, but when sorting by <b>newest-first</b> the threads will
be sorted by the newest message in each thread.
By default, results will be displayed in reverse chronological
order, (that is, the newest results will be displayed first).
<b>--offset=[-]N</b>
Skip displaying the first N results. With the leading '-', start
at the Nth result from the end.
<b>--limit=N</b>
Limit the number of displayed results to N.
<b>--exclude=(true|false|all|flag)</b>
A message is called "excluded" if it matches at least one tag in
search.exclude_tags that does not appear explicitly in the
search terms. This option specifies whether to omit excluded
messages in the search process.
<b>true</b> <b>(default)</b>
Prevent excluded messages from matching the search terms.
<b>all</b> Additionally prevent excluded messages from appearing in
displayed results, in effect behaving as though the ex‐
cluded messages do not exist.
<b>false</b> Allow excluded messages to match search terms and appear
in displayed results. Excluded messages are still marked
in the relevant outputs.
<b>flag</b> Only has an effect when <b>--output=summary</b>. The output is
almost identical to <b>false</b>, but the "match count" is the
number of matching non-excluded messages in the thread,
rather than the number of matching messages.
<b>--duplicate=N</b>
For <b>--output=files</b>, output the Nth filename associated with each
message matching the query (N is 1-based). If N is greater than
the number of files associated with the message, don't print
anything.
For <b>--output=messages</b>, only output message IDs of messages
matching the search terms that have at least N filenames associ‐
ated with them.
Note that this option is orthogonal with the <b>folder:</b> search pre‐
fix. The prefix matches messages based on filenames. This option
filters filenames of the matching messages.
</pre>
<h2>EXAMPLE</h2>
<pre>
The following shows an example of the summary output format, with one
message having multiple filenames.
% notmuch search date:today.. and tag:bad-news
thread:0000000000063c10 Today [1/1] Some Persun; To the bone (bad-news inbox unread)
thread:0000000000063c25 Today [1/1(2)] Ann Other; Bears (bad-news inbox unread)
thread:0000000000063c00 Today [1/1] A Thurd; Bites, stings, sad feelings (bad-news unread)
</pre>
<h2>EXIT STATUS</h2>
<pre>
This command supports the following special exit status codes
<b>20</b> The requested format version is too old.
<b>21</b> The requested format version is too new.
</pre>
<h2>SEE ALSO</h2>
<pre>
<a href='../notmuch-1/'>notmuch</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-address-1/'>notmuch-address</a>(1) <a href='../notmuch-config-1/'>notmuch-config</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-count-1/'>notmuch-count</a>(1),
<a href='../notmuch-dump-1/'>notmuch-dump</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-hooks-5/'>notmuch-hooks</a>(5), <a href='../notmuch-insert-1/'>notmuch-insert</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-new-1/'>notmuch-new</a>(1),
<a href='../notmuch-reply-1/'>notmuch-reply</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-restore-1/'>notmuch-restore</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-search-terms-7/'>notmuch-search-terms</a>(7), <a href='../notmuch-show-1/'>not‐</a>
<a href='../notmuch-show-1/'>much-show</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-tag-1/'>notmuch-tag</a>(1)
</pre>
<h2>AUTHOR</h2>
<pre>
Carl Worth and many others
</pre>
<h2>COPYRIGHT</h2>
<pre>
2009-2022, Carl Worth and many others
</pre>
<h2>0.35</h2>
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