section below for more details on the supported syntax.
The
-.BR search " and "show
+.BR search ", " show " and " count
commands are used to query the email database.
.RS 4
.TP 4
Presents the results in either JSON or plain-text (default).
.RE
+
+.RS 4
+.TP 4
+.B \-\-output=(summary|threads|messages|files|tags)
+
+.RS 4
+.TP 4
+.B summary
+
+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 number matched and the total number),
+the authors of the thread and the subject.
+.RE
+.RS 4
+.TP 4
+.B threads
+
+Output the thread IDs of all threads with any message matching the
+search terms, either one per line (\-\-format=text) or as a JSON array
+(\-\-format=json).
+.RE
+.RS 4
+.TP 4
+.B messages
+
+Output the message IDs of all messages matching the search terms,
+either one per line (\-\-format=text) or as a JSON array
+(\-\-format=json).
+.RE
+.RS 4
+.TP 4
+.B files
+
+Output the filenames of all messages matching the search terms, either
+one per line (\-\-format=text) or as a JSON array (\-\-format=json).
+.RE
+.RS 4
+.TP 4
+.B tags
+
+Output all tags that appear on any message matching the search terms,
+either one per line (\-\-format=text) or as a JSON array
+(\-\-format=json).
+.RE
+.RE
+
.RS 4
.TP 4
.BR \-\-sort= ( newest\-first | oldest\-first )
.RS 4
.TP 4
-.B \-\-format=(json|text)
+.B \-\-format=(text|json|mbox|raw)
.RS 4
.TP 4
-.B text
+.BR text " (default for messages)"
-The default plain-text format has text-content MIME parts
+The default plain-text format has all text-content MIME parts
decoded. Various components in the output,
.RB ( message ", " header ", " body ", " attachment ", and MIME " part ),
will be delimited by easily-parsed markers. Each marker consists of a
Control-L character (ASCII decimal 12), the name of the marker, and
then either an opening or closing brace, ('{' or '}'), to either open
-or close the component.
-
+or close the component. For a multipart MIME message, these parts will
+be nested.
.RE
.RS 4
.TP 4
.B json
-Format output as Javascript Object Notation (JSON). JSON output always
-includes all messages in a matching thread; in effect
+The output is formatted with Javascript Object Notation (JSON). This
+format is more robust than the text format for automated
+processing. The nested structure of multipart MIME messages is
+reflected in nested JSON output. JSON output always includes all
+messages in a matching thread; in effect
.B \-\-format=json
implies
.B \-\-entire\-thread
.RE
+.RS 4
+.TP 4
+.B mbox
+
+All matching messages are output in the traditional, Unix mbox format
+with each message being prefixed by a line beginning with "From " and
+a blank line separating each message. Lines in the message content
+beginning with "From " (preceded by zero or more '>' characters) have
+an additional '>' character added. This reversible escaping
+is termed "mboxrd" format and described in detail here:
+
+.nf
+.nh
+http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jonathan.deboynepollard/FGA/mail-mbox-formats.html
+.hy
+.fi
+.
+.RE
+.RS 4
+.TP 4
+.BR raw " (default for a single part, see \-\-part)"
+
+For a message, the original, raw content of the email message is
+output. Consumers of this format should expect to implement MIME
+decoding and similar functions.
+
+For a single part (\-\-part) the raw part content is output after
+performing any necessary MIME decoding.
+
+The raw format must only be used with search terms matching single
+message.
+.RE
+.RE
+
+.RS 4
+.TP 4
+.B \-\-part=N
+
+Output the single decoded MIME part N of a single message. The search
+terms must match only a single message. Message parts are numbered in
+a depth-first walk of the message MIME structure, and are identified
+in the 'json' or 'text' output formats.
+.RE
+
+.RS 4
+.TP 4
+.B \-\-verify
+
+Compute and report the validity of any MIME cryptographic signatures
+found in the selected content (ie. "multipart/signed" parts). Status
+of the signature will be reported (currently only supported with
+--format=json), and the multipart/signed part will be replaced by the
+signed data.
+.RE
+
+.RS 4
+.TP 4
+.B \-\-decrypt
+
+Decrypt any MIME encrypted parts found in the selected content
+(ie. "multipart/encrypted" parts). Status of the decryption will be
+reported (currently only supported with --format=json) and the
+multipart/encrypted part will be replaced by the decrypted
+content.
+.RE
+
A common use of
.B notmuch show
is to display a single thread of email messages. For this, use a
.B "SEARCH SYNTAX"
section below for details of the supported syntax for <search-terms>.
.RE
+.RS 4
+.TP 4
+.BR count " <search-term>..."
+
+Count messages matching the search terms.
+
+The number of matching messages is output to stdout.
+
+With no search terms, a count of all messages in the database will be
+displayed.
+.RE
.RE
The
section below for details of the supported syntax for <search-terms>.
.RE
+The
+.B config
+command can be used to get or set settings int the notmuch
+configuration file.
+
+.RS 4
+.TP 4
+.BR "config get " <section> . <item>
+
+The value of the specified configuration item is printed to stdout. If
+the item has multiple values, each value is separated by a newline
+character.
+
+Available configuration items include at least
+
+ database.path
+
+ user.name
+
+ user.primary_email
+
+ user.other_email
+
+ new.tags
+.RE
+
+.RS 4
+.TP 4
+.BR "config set " <section> . "<item> [values ...]"
+
+The specified configuration item is set to the given value. To
+specify a multiple-value item, provide each value as a separate
+command-line argument.
+
+If no values are provided, the specified configuration item will be
+removed from the configuration file.
+.RE
+
.SH SEARCH SYNTAX
Several notmuch commands accept a common syntax for search terms.
terms/phrases in the body, the subject, or any of the sender or
recipient headers.
+As a special case, a search string consisting of exactly a single
+asterisk ("*") will match all messages.
+
In addition to free text, the following prefixes can be used to force
terms to match against specific portions of an email, (where
<brackets> indicate user-supplied values):
thread:<thread-id>
+ folder:<directory-path>
+
The
.B from:
prefix is used to match the name or address of the sender of an email
thread ID values can be seen in the first column of output from
.B "notmuch search"
+The
+.B folder:
+prefix can be used to search for email message files that are
+contained within particular directories within the mail store. Only
+the directory components below the top-level mail database path are
+available to be searched.
+
In addition to individual terms, multiple terms can be
combined with Boolean operators (
.BR and ", " or ", " not
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