- "<thread-id>\n\n"
- "\t\tShow the thread with the given thread ID (see 'search').",
- "\t\tThread ID values are given as the first column in the\n"
- "\t\toutput of the \"notmuch search\" command. These are the\n"
- "\t\trandom-looking strings of 32 characters." },
+ "<search-terms> [...]\n\n"
+ "\t\tShows all messages matching the search terms.",
+ "\t\tSee the documentation of \"notmuch search\" for details\n"
+ "\t\tof the supported syntax of search terms.\n\n"
+ "\t\tA common use of \"notmuch show\" is to display a single\n"
+ "\t\tthread of email messages. For this, use a search term of\n"
+ "\t\t\"thread:<thread-id>\" as can be seen in the first column\n"
+ "\t\tof output from the \"notmuch search\" command.\n\n"
+ "\t\tAll messages will be displayed in date order. The output\n"
+ "\t\tformat is plain-text, with all text-content MIME parts\n"
+ "\t\tdecoded. Various components in the output, ('message',\n"
+ "\t\t'header', 'body', 'attachment', and MIME 'part') will be\n"
+ "\t\tdelimited by easily-parsed markers. Each marker consists\n"
+ "\t\tof a Control-L character (ASCII decimal 12), the name of\n"
+ "\t\tthe marker, and then either an opening or closing brace,\n"
+ "\t\t'{' or '}' to either open or close the component."},