1 <h1>NOTMUCH-SEARCH(1)</h1>
5 notmuch-search - search for messages matching the given search terms
10 <b>notmuch</b> <b>search</b> [<u>option</u> ...] <<u>search-term</u>> ...
15 Search for messages matching the given search terms, and display as
16 results the threads containing the matched messages.
18 The output consists of one line per thread, giving a thread ID, the
19 date of the newest (or oldest, depending on the sort option) matched
20 message in the thread, the number of matched messages and total mes-
21 sages in the thread, the names of all participants in the thread, and
22 the subject of the newest (or oldest) message.
24 See <a href='../notmuch-search-terms-7/'>notmuch-search-terms</a>(7) for details of the supported syntax for
27 Supported options for <b>search</b> include
29 <b>--format=(json|sexp|text|text0)</b>
31 Presents the results in either JSON, S-Expressions, newline
32 character separated plain-text (default), or null character
33 separated plain-text (compatible with <b>xargs</b>(1) -0 option
36 <b>--format-version=N</b>
38 Use the specified structured output format version. This is
39 intended for programs that invoke <a href='../notmuch-1/'>notmuch</a>(1) internally. If
40 omitted, the latest supported version will be used.
42 --output=(summary|threads|messages|files|tags)
46 Output a summary of each thread with any message matching
47 the search terms. The summary includes the thread ID,
48 date, the number of messages in the thread (both the num-
49 ber matched and the total number), the authors of the
50 thread and the subject.
54 Output the thread IDs of all threads with any message
55 matching the search terms, either one per line (--for-
56 mat=text), separated by null characters (--format=text0),
57 as a JSON array (--format=json), or an S-Expression list
62 Output the message IDs of all messages matching the
63 search terms, either one per line (--format=text), sepa-
64 rated by null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON
65 array (--format=json), or as an S-Expression list (--for-
70 Output the filenames of all messages matching the search
71 terms, either one per line (--format=text), separated by
72 null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array (--for-
73 mat=json), or as an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
75 Note that each message may have multiple filenames asso-
76 ciated with it. All of them are included in the output
77 (unless limited with the --duplicate=N option). This may
78 be particularly confusing for <b>folder:</b> or <b>path:</b> searches
79 in a specified directory, as the messages may have dupli-
80 cates in other directories that are included in the out-
81 put, although these files alone would not match the
86 Output all tags that appear on any message matching the
87 search terms, either one per line (--format=text), sepa-
88 rated by null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON
89 array (--format=json), or as an S-Expression list (--for-
92 <b>--sort=(newest-first|oldest-first)</b>
94 This option can be used to present results in either chrono-
95 logical order (<b>oldest-first</b>) or reverse chronological order
96 (<b>newest-first</b>).
98 Note: The thread order will be distinct between these two
99 options (beyond being simply reversed). When sorting by <b>old-</b>
100 <b>est-first</b> the threads will be sorted by the oldest message
101 in each thread, but when sorting by <b>newest-first</b> the threads
102 will be sorted by the newest message in each thread.
104 By default, results will be displayed in reverse chronologi-
105 cal order, (that is, the newest results will be displayed
110 Skip displaying the first N results. With the leading '-',
111 start at the Nth result from the end.
115 Limit the number of displayed results to N.
117 <b>--exclude=(true|false|all|flag)</b>
119 A message is called "excluded" if it matches at least one
120 tag in search.tag_exclude that does not appear explicitly in
121 the search terms. This option specifies whether to omit
122 excluded messages in the search process.
124 The default value, <b>true</b>, prevents excluded messages from
125 matching the search terms.
127 <b>all</b> additionally prevents excluded messages from appearing
128 in displayed results, in effect behaving as though the
129 excluded messages do not exist.
131 <b>false</b> allows excluded messages to match search terms and
132 appear in displayed results. Excluded messages are still
133 marked in the relevant outputs.
135 <b>flag</b> only has an effect when --output=summary. The output is
136 almost identical to <b>false</b>, but the "match count" is the num-
137 ber of matching non-excluded messages in the thread, rather
138 than the number of matching messages.
142 Effective with --output=files, output the Nth filename asso-
143 ciated with each message matching the query (N is 1-based).
144 If N is greater than the number of files associated with the
145 message, don't print anything.
147 Note that this option is orthogonal with the <b>folder:</b> search
148 prefix. The prefix matches messages based on filenames. This
149 option filters filenames of the matching messages.
154 This command supports the following special exit status codes
158 The requested format version is too old.
162 The requested format version is too new.
167 <a href='../notmuch-1/'>notmuch</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/'>not-</a>
168 <a href='../notmuch-hooks-5/'>much-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),
169 <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/'>notmuch-show</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-tag-1/'>not-</a>
170 <a href='../notmuch-tag-1/'>much-tag</a>(1)
175 Carl Worth and many others
180 2014, Carl Worth and many others