1 [[!img notmuch-logo.png alt="Notmuch logo" class="left"]]
2 # Frequently Asked Questions
6 ## How come this query matches mails in folder:2013? `notmuch search --output=files folder:inbox`
8 You have duplicates of a message (or messages) in both folders.
10 Notmuch searches are message based. Multiple files may be associated
11 with the same message (i.e. the files have identical Message-ID). A
12 `folder:` search will match the folder of any of the files. The
13 `--output=files` option outputs all the files of all matching messages.
15 ## Shouldn't notmuch support inline PGP?
17 [Why it might not be a good idea](https://dkg.fifthhorseman.net/notes/inline-pgp-harmful/)
19 ## How do I delete messages
23 ## How do I configure the citation line when replying in Emacs?
25 (setq message-citation-line-format "On %a, %d %b %Y, %f wrote:")
26 (setq message-citation-line-function 'message-insert-formatted-citation-line)
28 See help for `message-citation-line-format` for details.
30 ## What are sexp queries?
32 For the syntax of sexp queries, see [the manual
33 page](https://notmuchmail.org/doc/latest/man7/notmuch-sexp-queries.html).
35 To see if your version of notmuch supports them, run
37 $ notmuch config get built_with.sexp_queries
39 ## How do I search for messages that have no tags?
41 To do this directly, you need a recent notmuch compiled with sexp
42 queries (see above). You can then run
44 $ notmuch search --query=sexp --output=messages '(not (tag *))'
46 The same style of query should work for any prefix, even user defined
47 prefixes like `List` (see below).
49 Otherwise, it's possible to accomplish this using two searches in shell. First,
50 you need to query all tags in the database, and transform the result into a
51 query that matches messages that have none of those tags:
53 $ notmuch search --output=tags \* | sed 's/^/not tag:/;2~1s/^/and /'
55 Next, use that to query the messages:
57 $ notmuch search $(notmuch search --output=tags \* | \
58 sed 's/^/not tag:/;2~1s/^/and /')
60 ## How do I search for punctuation, specific special characters, or regexp?
62 Please see the [[notmuch-search-terms manual
63 page|manpages/notmuch-search-terms-7]] first.
65 The main thing to understand is that Xapian, and therefore Notmuch, searches are
66 closer to natural language searches than regular expression
67 searches. Punctuation is mostly ignored.
69 The boolean prefix searches (see Boolean and Probabilistic Prefixes in the man
70 page), such as tag: or path: searches, need an exact match.
72 ## How do I search for folders or paths with spaces?
74 The spaces in the names must be escaped. For example if you use bash or zsh,
75 you can search for messages with tag `foo` in folder `INBOX/folder with spaces`
78 $ notmuch search tag:foo 'folder:"INBOX/folder with spaces"'
80 ## How do I search for the `List-Id:` header?
82 See `index.header.<prefix>` in `notmuch-config(1)` for details. TLD;R:
84 notmuch config set index.header.List List-Id
86 ## Can I use notmuch with grsec?
88 Sure! It works out of the box. If you have TPE enabled (trusted path execution),
89 make sure the user is executing the script belongs to the
90 `kernel.grsecurity.tpe_gid` (in debian this is grsec-tpe).
91 This is required in order to run the `pre-new` and `post-new` hooks.
95 No. Tagging is message based.
97 It is possible, however, to make tags propagate to all messages in a thread
98 using a little bit of scripting in the [[post-new
99 hook|manpages/notmuch-hooks-5]]. For example, to add the muted tag to all
100 messages in threads that have at least one message with the muted tag:
103 for tag in "$THREAD_TAGS"; do
104 notmuch tag +$tag $(notmuch search --output=threads tag:$tag)
107 You can add other tags to `THREAD_TAGS` as needed. Note that this is one way
108 only; you need to explicitly remove the tag from all the messages in a thread to
109 stop it from propagating again.
112 ## How can I extract a git patchset for an email thread?
114 See [notmuch-extract-patch](https://github.com/aaptel/notmuch-extract-patch).
116 ## T150-tagging.sh is failing with Xapian 1.4.6
118 This is (probably) a bug in this point release of Xapian, should be
119 fixed in 1.4.7. Try reverting Xapian commit
120 `093999529acc2f86900d91fed0c7f7af301ab94a`, e.g. with the following
124 index 80e578b85..a47f14a68 100644
125 --- a/xapian-core/backends/glass/glass_postlist.cc
126 +++ b/xapian-core/backends/glass/glass_postlist.cc
127 @@ -759,7 +759,7 @@ GlassPostList::open_nearby_postlist(const std::string & term_,
131 - if (!this_db.get() || this_db->postlist_table.is_modified())
132 + if (!this_db.get() || this_db->postlist_table.is_writable())
134 RETURN(new GlassPostList(this_db, term_, cursor->clone()));