.. _notmuch-emacs: ========================== Emacs Frontend for Notmuch ========================== About this Manual ================= This manual covers only the Emacs interface to Notmuch. For information on the command line interface, see section “Description” in the Notmuch Manual Pages. To save typing, we will sometimes use *notmuch* in this manual to refer to the Emacs interface to Notmuch. When this distinction is important, we’ll refer to the Emacs interface as *notmuch-emacs*. Notmuch-emacs is highly customizable via the Emacs customization framework (or just by setting the appropriate variables). We try to point out relevant variables in this manual, but in order to avoid duplication of information, you can usually find the most detailed description in the variables' docstring. notmuch-hello ============= .. index:: single: notmuch-hello single: notmuch ``notmuch-hello`` is the main entry point for Notmuch. You can start it with ``M-x notmuch`` or ``M-x notmuch-hello``. The startup screen looks something like the following. There are some hints at the bottom of the screen. There are three main parts to the notmuch-hello screen, discussed below. The **bold** text indicates buttons you can click with a mouse or by positioning the cursor and pressing ```` | Welcome to **notmuch** You have 52 messages. | | Saved searches: **[edit]** | | 52 **inbox** 52 **unread** | | Search: ____________________________________ | | All tags: **[show]** | | Hit \`?' for context-sensitive help in any Notmuch screen. | Customize Notmuch or this page. You can change the overall appearance of the notmuch-hello screen by customizing the variables .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-hello-sections |docstring::notmuch-hello-sections| .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-hello-thousands-separator |docstring::notmuch-hello-thousands-separator| .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-show-logo |docstring::notmuch-show-logo| .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-column-control Controls the number of columns for saved searches/tags in notmuch view. This variable has three potential types of values: .. describe:: t Automatically calculate the number of columns possible based on the tags to be shown and the window width. .. describe:: integer A lower bound on the number of characters that will be used to display each column. .. describe:: float A fraction of the window width that is the lower bound on the number of characters that should be used for each column. So: - if you would like two columns of tags, set this to 0.5. - if you would like a single column of tags, set this to 1.0. - if you would like tags to be 30 characters wide, set this to 30. - if you don't want to worry about all of this nonsense, leave this set to `t`. .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-show-empty-saved-searches |docstring::notmuch-show-empty-saved-searches| notmuch-hello key bindings -------------------------- .. el:define-key:: Move to the next widget (button or text entry field) .. el:define-key:: Move to the previous widget. .. el:define-key:: Activate the current widget. .. el:define-key:: g = Refresh the buffer; mainly update the counts of messages for various saved searches. .. el:define-key:: G Import mail, See :ref:`importing` .. el:define-key:: m Compose a message .. el:define-key:: s Search the notmuch database using :ref:`notmuch-search` .. el:define-key:: v Print notmuch version .. el:define-key:: q Quit .. _saved-searches: Saved Searches -------------- Since notmuch is entirely search-based, it's often useful to organize mail around common searches. To facilitate this, the first section of notmuch-hello presents a customizable set of saved searches. Saved searches can also be accessed from anywhere in notmuch by pressing ``j`` to access :ref:`notmuch-jump`. The saved searches default to various common searches such as ``tag:inbox`` to access the inbox and ``tag:unread`` to access all unread mail, but there are several options for customization: .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-saved-searches The list of saved searches, including names, queries, and additional per-query options. .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-saved-search-sort-function This variable controls how saved searches should be sorted. A value of ``nil`` displays the saved searches in the order they are stored in ‘notmuch-saved-searches’. Search Box ---------- The search box lets the user enter a Notmuch query. See section “Description” in Notmuch Query Syntax, for more info on Notmuch query syntax. A history of recent searches is also displayed by default. The latter is controlled by the variable `notmuch-hello-recent-searches-max`. .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-hello-recent-searches-max |docstring::notmuch-hello-recent-searches-max| Known Tags ---------- One special kind of saved search provided by default is for each individual tag defined in the database. This can be controlled via the following variables. .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-hello-tag-list-make-query Control how to construct a search (“virtual folder”) from a given tag. .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-hello-hide-tags Which tags not to display at all. .. _notmuch-search: notmuch-search ============== ``notmuch-search-mode`` is used to display the results from executing a query via ``notmuch-search``. The syntax for these queries is the the same as :ref:`saved-searches`. For details of this syntax see info:notmuch-search-terms By default the output approximates that of the command line See section “Description” in notmuch search command. The main purpose of the ``notmuch-search-mode`` buffer is to act as a menu of results that the user can explore further by pressing ```` on the appropriate line. .. el:define-key:: n C-n Move to next line .. el:define-key:: p C-p Move to previous line .. el:define-key:: Open thread on current line in :ref:`notmuch-show` mode .. el:define-key:: g = Refresh the buffer .. el:define-key:: ? Display full set of key bindings The presentation of results can be controlled by the following variables. .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-search-result-format |docstring::notmuch-search-result-format| If the car of an element in notmuch-search-result-format is a function, insert the result of calling the function into the buffer. This allows a user to generate custom fields in the output of a search result. For example, with the following settings, the first few characters on each line of the search result are used to show information about some significant tags associated with the thread. .. code:: lisp (defun -notmuch-result-flags (format-string result) (let ((tags-to-letters '(("flagged" . "!") ("unread" . "u") ("mine" . "m") ("sent" . "s") ("replied" . "r"))) (tags (plist-get result :tags))) (format format-string (mapconcat (lambda (t2l) (if (member (car t2l) tags) (cdr t2l) " ")) tags-to-letters "")))) (setq notmuch-search-result-format '((-notmuch-result-flags . "%s ") ("date" . "%12s ") ("count" . "%9s ") ("authors" . "%-30s ") ("subject" . "%s ") ("tags" . "(%s)"))) See also :el:defcustom:`notmuch-tree-result-format` and :el:defcustom:`notmuch-unthreaded-result-format`. .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-search-oldest-first Display the oldest threads at the top of the buffer It is also possible to customize how the name of buffers containing search results is formatted using the following variables: .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-search-buffer-name-format |docstring::notmuch-search-buffer-name-format| .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-saved-search-buffer-name-format |docstring::notmuch-saved-search-buffer-name-format| .. _notmuch-show: notmuch-show ============ ``notmuch-show-mode`` is used to display a single thread of email from your email archives. By default, various components of email messages, (citations, signatures, already-read messages), are hidden. You can make these parts visible by clicking with the mouse button or by pressing RET after positioning the cursor on a hidden part. .. el:define-key:: Scroll the current message (if necessary), advance to the next message, or advance to the next thread (if already on the last message of a thread). .. el:define-key:: c :ref:`show-copy` .. el:define-key:: N Move to next message .. el:define-key:: P Move to previous message (or start of current message) .. el:define-key:: n Move to next matching message .. el:define-key:: p Move to previous matching message .. el:define-key:: + - Add or remove arbitrary tags from the current message. .. el:define-key:: ! |docstring::notmuch-show-toggle-elide-non-matching| .. el:define-key:: ? Display full set of key bindings Display of messages can be controlled by the following variables; see also :ref:`show-large`. .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-message-headers |docstring::notmuch-message-headers| .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-message-headers-visible |docstring::notmuch-message-headers-visible| .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-show-header-line |docstring::notmuch-show-header-line| .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-multipart/alternative-discouraged Which mime types to hide by default for multipart messages. Can either be a list of mime types (as strings) or a function mapping a plist representing the current message to such a list. The following example function would discourage `text/html` and `multipart/related` generally, but discourage `text/plain` should the message be sent from `whatever@example.com`. .. code:: lisp (defun my--determine-discouraged (msg) (let* ((headers (plist-get msg :headers)) (from (or (plist-get headers :From) ""))) (cond ((string-match "whatever@example.com" from) (list "text/plain")) (t (list "text/html" "multipart/related"))))) .. _show-large: Dealing with large messages and threads --------------------------------------- If you are finding :ref:`notmuch-show` is annoyingly slow displaying large messages, you can customize :el:defcustom:`notmuch-show-max-text-part-size`. If you want to speed up the display of large threads (with or without large messages), there are several options. First, you can display the same query in one of the other modes. :ref:`notmuch-unthreaded` is the most robust for extremely large queries, but :ref:`notmuch-tree` is also be faster than :ref:`notmuch-show` in general, since it only renders a single message a time. If you prefer to stay with the rendered thread ("conversation") view of :ref:`notmuch-show`, you can customize the variables :el:defcustom:`notmuch-show-depth-limit`, :el:defcustom:`notmuch-show-height-limit` and :el:defcustom:`notmuch-show-max-text-part-size` to limit the amount of rendering done initially. Note that these limits are implicitly *OR*-ed together, and combinations might have surprising effects. .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-show-depth-limit |docstring::notmuch-show-depth-limit| .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-show-height-limit |docstring::notmuch-show-height-limit| .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-show-max-text-part-size |docstring::notmuch-show-max-text-part-size| .. _show-copy: Copy to kill-ring ----------------- You can use the usually Emacs ways of copying text to the kill-ring, but notmuch also provides some shortcuts. These keys are available in :ref:`notmuch-show`, and :ref:`notmuch-tree`. A subset are available in :ref:`notmuch-search`. .. el:define-key:: c F M-x notmuch-show-stash-filename |docstring::notmuch-show-stash-filename| .. el:define-key:: c G M-x notmuch-show-stash-git-send-email |docstring::notmuch-show-stash-git-send-email| .. el:define-key:: c I M-x notmuch-show-stash-message-id-stripped |docstring::notmuch-show-stash-message-id-stripped| .. el:define-key:: c L M-x notmuch-show-stash-mlarchive-link-and-go |docstring::notmuch-show-stash-mlarchive-link-and-go| .. el:define-key:: c T M-x notmuch-show-stash-tags |docstring::notmuch-show-stash-tags| .. el:define-key:: c c M-x notmuch-show-stash-cc |docstring::notmuch-show-stash-cc| .. el:define-key:: c d M-x notmuch-show-stash-date |docstring::notmuch-show-stash-date| .. el:define-key:: c f M-x notmuch-show-stash-from |docstring::notmuch-show-stash-from| .. el:define-key:: c i M-x notmuch-show-stash-message-id |docstring::notmuch-show-stash-message-id| .. el:define-key:: c l M-x notmuch-show-stash-mlarchive-link |docstring::notmuch-show-stash-mlarchive-link| .. el:define-key:: c s M-x notmuch-show-stash-subject |docstring::notmuch-show-stash-subject| .. el:define-key:: c t M-x notmuch-show-stash-to |docstring::notmuch-show-stash-to| .. el:define-key:: c ? M-x notmuch-subkeymap-help Show all available copying commands .. _emacs-show-duplicates: Dealing with duplicates ----------------------- If there are multiple files with the same :mailheader:`Message-ID` (see :any:`duplicate-files`), then :any:`notmuch-show` displays the number of duplicates and identifies the current duplicate. In the following example duplicate 3 of 5 is displayed. .. code-block:: :emphasize-lines: 1 M. Mustermann (Sat, 30 Jul 2022 10:33:10 -0300) (inbox signed) 3/5 Subject: Re: Multiple files per message in emacs To: notmuch@notmuchmail.org .. el:define-key:: % M-x notmuch-show-choose-duplicate |docstring::notmuch-show-choose-duplicate| .. _notmuch-tree: notmuch-tree ============ ``notmuch-tree-mode`` displays the results of a "notmuch tree" of your email archives. Each line in the buffer represents a single message giving the relative date, the author, subject, and any tags. .. el:define-key:: c :ref:`show-copy` .. el:define-key:: Displays that message. .. el:define-key:: N Move to next message .. el:define-key:: P Move to previous message .. el:define-key:: n Move to next matching message .. el:define-key:: p Move to previous matching message .. el:define-key:: o M-x notmuch-tree-toggle-order |docstring::notmuch-tree-toggle-order| .. el:define-key:: l M-x notmuch-tree-filter Filter or LIMIT the current search results based on an additional query string .. el:define-key:: t M-x notmuch-tree-filter-by-tag Filter the current search results based on an additional tag .. el:define-key:: g = Refresh the buffer .. el:define-key:: ? Display full set of key bindings As is the case with :ref:`notmuch-search`, the presentation of results can be controlled by the variable ``notmuch-search-oldest-first``. .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-tree-result-format |docstring::notmuch-tree-result-format| The following example shows how to optionally display recipients instead of authors for sent mail (assuming the user is named Mustermann). .. code:: lisp (defun -notmuch-authors-or-to (format-string result) (let* ((headers (plist-get result :headers)) (to (plist-get headers :To)) (author (plist-get headers :From)) (face (if (plist-get result :match) 'notmuch-tree-match-author-face 'notmuch-tree-no-match-author-face))) (propertize (format format-string (if (string-match "Mustermann" author) (concat "To:" (notmuch-tree-clean-address to)) author)) 'face face))) (setq notmuch-tree-result-format '(("date" . "%12s ") (-notmuch-authors-or-to . "%-20.20s") ((("tree" . "%s") ("subject" . "%s")) . " %-54s ") ("tags" . "(%s)"))) See also :el:defcustom:`notmuch-search-result-format` and :el:defcustom:`notmuch-unthreaded-result-format`. .. _notmuch-tree-outline: notmuch-tree-outline -------------------- When this mode is set, each thread and subthread in the results list is treated as a foldable section, with its first message as its header. The mode just makes available in the tree buffer all the keybindings in info:emacs#Outline_Mode, and binds the following additional keys: .. el:define-key:: Cycle visibility state of the current message's tree. .. el:define-key:: Cycle visibility state of all trees in the buffer. The behaviour of this minor mode is affected by the following customizable variables: .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-tree-outline-enabled |docstring::notmuch-tree-outline-enabled| .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-tree-outline-visibility |docstring::notmuch-tree-outline-visibility| .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-tree-outline-auto-close |docstring::notmuch-tree-outline-auto-close| .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-tree-outline-open-on-next |docstring::notmuch-tree-outline-open-on-next| .. _notmuch-unthreaded: notmuch-unthreaded ------------------ ``notmuch-unthreaded-mode`` is similar to :any:`notmuch-tree` in that each line corresponds to a single message, but no thread information is presented. Keybindings are the same as :any:`notmuch-tree`. .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-unthreaded-result-format |docstring::notmuch-unthreaded-result-format| See also :el:defcustom:`notmuch-search-result-format` and :el:defcustom:`notmuch-tree-result-format`. Global key bindings =================== Several features are accessible from most places in notmuch through the following key bindings: .. el:define-key:: j Jump to saved searches using :ref:`notmuch-jump`. .. el:define-key:: k Tagging operations using :ref:`notmuch-tag-jump` .. el:define-key:: C-_ C-/ C-x u Undo previous tagging operation using :any:`notmuch-tag-undo` .. _notmuch-jump: notmuch-jump ------------ Saved searches configured through :ref:`saved-searches` can include a "shortcut key" that's accessible through notmuch-jump. Pressing ``j`` anywhere in notmuch followed by the configured shortcut key of a saved search will immediately jump to that saved search. For example, in the default configuration ``j i`` jumps immediately to the inbox search. When you press ``j``, notmuch-jump shows the saved searches and their shortcut keys in the mini-buffer. .. _notmuch-tag-jump: notmuch-tag-jump ---------------- Tagging operations configured through ``notmuch-tagging-keys`` can be accessed via :kbd:`k` in :ref:`notmuch-show`, :ref:`notmuch-search` and :ref:`notmuch-tree`. With a prefix (:kbd:`C-u k`), notmuch displays a menu of the reverses of the operations specified in ``notmuch-tagging-keys``; i.e. each ``+tag`` is replaced by ``-tag`` and vice versa. .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-tagging-keys |docstring::notmuch-tagging-keys| notmuch-tag-undo ---------------- Each notmuch buffer supporting tagging operations (i.e. buffers in :any:`notmuch-show`, :any:`notmuch-search`, :any:`notmuch-tree`, and :any:`notmuch-unthreaded` mode) keeps a local stack of tagging operations. These can be undone via :any:`notmuch-tag-undo`. By default this is bound to the usual Emacs keys for undo. .. el:define-key:: C-_ C-/ C-x u M-x notmuch-tag-undo |docstring::notmuch-tag-undo| Buffer navigation ================= .. el:define-key:: M-x notmuch-cycle-notmuch-buffers |docstring::notmuch-cycle-notmuch-buffers| Configuration ============= .. _importing: Importing Mail -------------- .. el:define-key:: M-x notmuch-poll |docstring::notmuch-poll| .. el:defcustom:: notmuch-poll-script |docstring::notmuch-poll-script| Sending Mail ------------ .. el:defcustom:: mail-user-agent Emacs consults the variable :code:`mail-user-agent` to choose a mail sending package for commands like :code:`report-emacs-bug` and :code:`compose-mail`. To use ``notmuch`` for this, customize this variable to the symbol :code:`notmuch-user-agent`. .. el:defcustom:: message-dont-reply-to-names When composing mail replies, Emacs's message mode uses the variable :code:`message-dont-reply-to-names` to exclude recipients matching a given collection of regular expressions or satisfying an arbitrary predicate. Notmuch's MUA inherits this standard mechanism and will honour your customization of this variable. Init File --------- When Notmuch is loaded, it will read the ``notmuch-init-file`` (``~/.emacs.d/notmuch-config`` by default) file. This is normal Emacs Lisp file and can be used to avoid cluttering your ``~/.emacs`` with Notmuch stuff. If the file with ``.elc``, ``.elc.gz``, ``.el`` or ``.el.gz`` suffix exist it will be read instead (just one of these, chosen in this order). Most often users create ``~/.emacs.d/notmuch-config.el`` and just work with it. If Emacs was invoked with the ``-q`` or ``--no-init-file`` options, ``notmuch-init-file`` is not read.