X-Git-Url: https://git.llucax.com/software/mutt-debian.git/blobdiff_plain/14c29200cb58d3c4a0830265f2433849781858d0..ee66c1452ad6f627879c9ec8156342f5e90c2253:/doc/manual.xml.head diff --git a/doc/manual.xml.head b/doc/manual.xml.head index b751aaf..ddd994f 100644 --- a/doc/manual.xml.head +++ b/doc/manual.xml.head @@ -4,39 +4,38 @@ - The Mutt E-Mail Client - - MichaelElkins - me@cs.hmc.edu - - version @VERSION@ - - - - ``All mail clients suck. This one just sucks less.'' -me, circa 1995 - - +The Mutt E-Mail Client + +MichaelElkins +me@cs.hmc.edu + +version @VERSION@ + + + +All mail clients suck. This one just sucks less. — +me, circa 1995 + + Introduction -Mutt is a small but very powerful text-based MIME mail client. Mutt is -highly configurable, and is well suited to the mail power user with advanced -features like key bindings, keyboard macros, mail threading, regular -expression searches and a powerful pattern matching language for selecting -groups of messages. +Mutt is a small but very powerful +text-based MIME mail client. Mutt is highly configurable, and is well +suited to the mail power user with advanced features like key bindings, +keyboard macros, mail threading, regular expression searches and a +powerful pattern matching language for selecting groups of messages. Mutt Home Page -http://www.mutt.org/ +The official homepage can be found at +http://www.mutt.org/. @@ -45,93 +44,174 @@ url="http://www.mutt.org/" Mailing Lists -To subscribe to one of the following mailing lists, send a message with the -word subscribe in the body to -list-name-request@mutt.org. +To subscribe to one of the following mailing lists, send a message with +the word subscribe in the body to +list-name-request@mutt.org. - - -mutt-announce-request@mutt.org -- low traffic list for announcements +mutt-announce-request@mutt.org — low traffic list for +announcements -mutt-users-request@mutt.org -- help, bug reports and feature requests +mutt-users-request@mutt.org — help, bug reports and +feature requests -mutt-dev-request@mutt.org -- development mailing list +mutt-dev-request@mutt.org — development mailing list + +All messages posted to mutt-announce are +automatically forwarded to mutt-users, so you do +not need to be subscribed to both lists. + + + + + +Getting Mutt + + +Mutt releases can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.mutt.org/mutt/. For a +list of mirror sites, please refer to http://www.mutt.org/download.html. -Note: all messages posted to mutt-announce are automatically -forwarded to mutt-users, so you do not need to be subscribed to both -lists. +For nightly tarballs and version control access, please refer to the +Mutt development site. - -Software Distribution Sites + +Mutt Online Resources + + + +Bug Tracking System + +The official Mutt bug tracking system can be found at +http://bugs.mutt.org/ + + + - + +Wiki + +An (unofficial) wiki can be found +at http://wiki.mutt.org/. + + + + +IRC + -ftp://ftp.mutt.org/mutt/ +For the IRC user community, visit channel #mutt on +irc.freenode.net. + - + +USENET + + +For USENET, see the newsgroup comp.mail.mutt. + + + + + + + + + +Contributing to Mutt + + +There are various ways to contribute to the Mutt project. + + +Especially for new users it may be helpful to meet other new and +experienced users to chat about Mutt, talk about problems and share +tricks. + + + +Since translations of Mutt into other languages are highly appreciated, +the Mutt developers always look for skilled translators that help +improve and continue to maintain stale translations. -For a list of mirror sites, please refer to http://www.mutt.org/download.html. +For contributing code patches for new features and bug fixes, please +refer to the developer pages at +http://dev.mutt.org/ for more details. - -IRC + +Typographical Conventions -Visit channel #mutt on -irc.freenode.net to chat with -other people interested in Mutt. +This section lists typographical conventions followed throughout this +manual. See table for typographical +conventions for special terms. - + +Typographical conventions for special terms + + +ItemRefers to... + + +printf(3)UNIX manual pages, execute man 3 printf +<PageUp>named keys +<create-alias>named Mutt function +^GControl+G key combination +$mail_checkMutt configuration option +$HOMEenvironment variable + + +
+ + +Examples are presented as: + - -USENET + +mutt -v + -See the newsgroup comp.mail.mutt. +Within command synopsis, curly brackets ({}) denote a set +of options of which one is mandatory, square brackets +([]) denote optional arguments, three dots +denote that the argument may be repeated arbitrary times. @@ -140,28 +220,28 @@ url="news:comp.mail.mutt" Copyright -Mutt is Copyright (C) 1996-2005 Michael R. Elkins -me@cs.hmc.edu and others +Mutt is Copyright © 1996-2009 Michael R. Elkins +me@mutt.org and others. -This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify -it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by -the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or -(at your option) any later version. +This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it +under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the +Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your +option) any later version. -This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, -but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of -MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the -GNU General Public License for more details. +This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but +WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of +MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU +General Public License for more details. -You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License -along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software -Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA. +You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along +with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., +51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA. @@ -172,57 +252,262 @@ Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA. Getting Started -This section is intended as a brief overview of how to use Mutt. There are -many other features which are described elsewhere in the manual. There -is even more information available in the Mutt FAQ and various web -pages. See the Mutt Page for more details. +This section is intended as a brief overview of how to use Mutt. There +are many other features which are described elsewhere in the manual. +There is even more information available in the Mutt FAQ and various web +pages. See the Mutt homepage +for more details. -The keybindings described in this section are the defaults as distributed. -Your local system administrator may have altered the defaults for your site. -You can always type ``?'' in any menu to display the current bindings. +The keybindings described in this section are the defaults as +distributed. Your local system administrator may have altered the +defaults for your site. You can always type ? in any +menu to display the current bindings. -The first thing you need to do is invoke mutt, simply by typing mutt -at the command line. There are various command-line options, see -either the mutt man page or the reference. +The first thing you need to do is invoke Mutt, simply by typing +mutt at the command line. There are various +command-line options, see either the Mutt man page or the reference. - -Moving Around in Menus + +Core Concepts + + +Mutt is a text-based application which interacts with users through +different menus which are mostly line-/entry-based or page-based. A +line-based menu is the so-called index menu (listing all +messages of the currently opened folder) or the alias +menu (allowing you to select recipients from a list). Examples for +page-based menus are the pager (showing one message at a +time) or the help menu listing all available key +bindings. + + + +The user interface consists of a context sensitive help line at the top, +the menu's contents followed by a context sensitive status line and +finally the command line. The command line is used to display +informational and error messages as well as for prompts and for entering +interactive commands. + + + +Mutt is configured through variables which, if the user wants to +permanently use a non-default value, are written to configuration +files. Mutt supports a rich config file syntax to make even complex +configuration files readable and commentable. + + + +Because Mutt allows for customizing almost all key bindings, there are +so-called functions which can be executed manually (using +the command line) or in macros. Macros allow the user to bind a sequence +of commands to a single key or a short key sequence instead of repeating +a sequence of actions over and over. + + + +Many commands (such as saving or copying a message to another folder) +can be applied to a single message or a set of messages (so-called +tagged messages). To help selecting messages, Mutt +provides a rich set of message patterns (such as recipients, sender, +body contents, date sent/received, etc.) which can be combined into +complex expressions using the boolean and and +or operations as well as negating. These patterns +can also be used to (for example) search for messages or to limit the +index to show only matching messages. + + + +Mutt supports a hook concept which allows the user to +execute arbitrary configuration commands and functions in certain +situations such as entering a folder, starting a new message or replying +to an existing one. These hooks can be used to highly customize Mutt's +behavior including managing multiple identities, customizing the +display for a folder or even implementing auto-archiving based on a +per-folder basis and much more. + + + +Besides an interactive mode, Mutt can also be used as a command-line +tool only send messages. It also supports a +mailx(1)-compatible interface, see for a complete list of command-line +options. + + + + + +Screens and Menus + + +Index + + +The index is the screen that you usually see first when you start +Mutt. It gives an overview over your emails in the currently opened +mailbox. By default, this is your system mailbox. The information you +see in the index is a list of emails, each with its number on the left, +its flags (new email, important email, email that has been forwarded or +replied to, tagged email, ...), the date when email was sent, its +sender, the email size, and the subject. Additionally, the index also +shows thread hierarchies: when you reply to an email, and the other +person replies back, you can see the other person's email in a +"sub-tree" below. This is especially useful for personal email between +a group of people or when you've subscribed to mailing lists. + + + + + +Pager + + +The pager is responsible for showing the email content. On the top of +the pager you have an overview over the most important email headers +like the sender, the recipient, the subject, and much more +information. How much information you actually see depends on your +configuration, which we'll describe below. + + + +Below the headers, you see the email body which usually contains the +message. If the email contains any attachments, you will see more +information about them below the email body, or, if the attachments are +text files, you can view them directly in the pager. + + + +To give the user a good overview, it is possible to configure Mutt to +show different things in the pager with different colors. Virtually +everything that can be described with a regular expression can be +colored, e.g. URLs, email addresses or smileys. + + + + + +File Browser + + +The file browser is the interface to the local or remote file +system. When selecting a mailbox to open, the browser allows custom +sorting of items, limiting the items shown by a regular expression and a +freely adjustable format of what to display in which way. It also allows +for easy navigation through the file system when selecting file(s) to +attach to a message, select multiple files to attach and many more. + + + + + +Help + + +The help screen is meant to offer a quick help to the user. It lists the +current configuration of key bindings and their associated commands +including a short description, and currently unbound functions that +still need to be associated with a key binding (or alternatively, they +can be called via the Mutt command prompt). + + + + + +Compose Menu + + +The compose menu features a split screen containing the information +which really matter before actually sending a message by mail: who gets +the message as what (recipients and who gets what kind of +copy). Additionally, users may set security options like deciding +whether to sign, encrypt or sign and encrypt a message with/for what +keys. Also, it's used to attach messages, to re-edit any attachment +including the message itself. + + + + + +Alias Menu + + +The alias menu is used to help users finding the recipients of +messages. For users who need to contact many people, there's no need to +remember addresses or names completely because it allows for searching, +too. The alias mechanism and thus the alias menu also features grouping +several addresses by a shorter nickname, the actual alias, so that users +don't have to select each single recipient manually. + + + + + +Attachment Menu -Information is presented in menus, very similar to ELM, see -for common keys used to navigate menus in Mutt. +As will be later discussed in detail, Mutt features a good and stable +MIME implementation, that is, it supports sending and receiving messages +of arbitrary MIME types. The attachment menu displays a message's +structure in detail: what content parts are attached to which parent +part (which gives a true tree structure), which type is of what type and +what size. Single parts may saved, deleted or modified to offer great +and easy access to message's internals. + + + + + +Moving Around in Menus + +The most important navigation keys common to line- or entry-based menus +are shown in and in for page-based menus. + - -Most common navigation keys +
+Most common navigation keys in entry-based menus KeyFunctionDescription -j or Downnext-entrymove to the next entry -k or Upprevious-entrymove to the previous entry -z or PageDnpage-downgo to the next page -Z or PageUppage-upgo to the previous page -= or Homefirst-entryjump to the first entry -* or Endlast-entryjump to the last entry -qquitexit the current menu -?helplist all keybindings for the current menu +j or <Down><next-entry>move to the next entry +k or <Up><previous-entry>move to the previous entry +z or <PageDn><page-down>go to the next page +Z or <PageUp><page-up>go to the previous page += or <Home><first-entry>jump to the first entry +* or <End><last-entry>jump to the last entry +q<quit>exit the current menu +?<help>list all keybindings for the current menu
- + +Most common navigation keys in page-based menus + + +KeyFunctionDescription + + +J or <Return><next-line>scroll down one line +<Backspace><previous-line>scroll up one line +K, <Space> or <PageDn><next-page>move to the next page +- or <PageUp><previous-page>move the previous page +<Home><top>move to the top +<End><bottom>move to the bottom + + +
@@ -233,15 +518,13 @@ for common keys used to navigate menus in Mutt. Introduction -Mutt has a built-in line editor for inputting text, e.g. email -addresses or filenames. The keys used to manipulate text input are -very similar to those of Emacs. See for a full -reference of available functions, their default key bindings, and -short descriptions. +Mutt has a built-in line editor for inputting text, e.g. email addresses +or filenames. The keys used to manipulate text input are very similar to +those of Emacs. See for a full +reference of available functions, their default key bindings, and short +descriptions. - - Most common line editor keys @@ -249,39 +532,37 @@ short descriptions. KeyFunctionDescription -ˆA or <Home>bolmove to the start of the line -ˆB or <Left>backward-charmove back one char -Esc Bbackward-wordmove back one word -ˆD or <Delete>delete-chardelete the char under the cursor -ˆE or <End>eolmove to the end of the line -ˆF or <Right>forward-charmove forward one char -Esc Fforward-wordmove forward one word -<Tab>completecomplete filename or alias -ˆTcomplete-querycomplete address with query -ˆKkill-eoldelete to the end of the line -ESC dkill-eowdelete to the end ot the word -ˆWkill-wordkill the word in front of the cursor -ˆUkill-linedelete entire line -ˆVquote-charquote the next typed key -<Up>history-uprecall previous string from history -<Down>history-downrecall next string from history -<BackSpace>backspacekill the char in front of the cursor -Esc uupcase-wordconvert word to upper case -Esc ldowncase-wordconvert word to lower case -Esc ccapitalize-wordcapitalize the word -ˆGn/aabort +^A or <Home><bol>move to the start of the line +^B or <Left><backward-char>move back one char +Esc B<backward-word>move back one word +^D or <Delete><delete-char>delete the char under the cursor +^E or <End><eol>move to the end of the line +^F or <Right><forward-char>move forward one char +Esc F<forward-word>move forward one word +<Tab><complete>complete filename or alias +^T<complete-query>complete address with query +^K<kill-eol>delete to the end of the line +Esc d<kill-eow>delete to the end of the word +^W<kill-word>kill the word in front of the cursor +^U<kill-line>delete entire line +^V<quote-char>quote the next typed key +<Up><history-up>recall previous string from history +<Down><history-down>recall next string from history +<BackSpace><backspace>kill the char in front of the cursor +Esc u<upcase-word>convert word to upper case +Esc l<downcase-word>convert word to lower case +Esc c<capitalize-word>capitalize the word +^Gn/aabort<Return>n/afinish editing
- - -You can remap the editor functions using the -bind command. For example, to make -the Delete key delete the character in front of -the cursor rather than under, you could use +You can remap the editor functions using the bind command. For example, to +make the <Delete> key delete the character in front of the cursor +rather than under, you could use: @@ -294,11 +575,14 @@ bind editor <delete> backspace History -The number of items in the built-in editor's history is controlled by -the $history variable. You may -cycle through them at an editor prompt by using the -history-up and/or history-down -commands. +Mutt maintains a history for the built-in editor. The number of items +is controlled by the $history variable +and can be made persistent using an external file specified using $history_file. You may cycle through them +at an editor prompt by using the <history-up> +and/or <history-down> commands. But notice that +Mutt does not remember the currently entered text, it only cycles +through history and wraps around at the end or beginning. @@ -306,26 +590,20 @@ Mutt maintains several distinct history lists, one for each of the following categories: - -muttrc commands +.muttrc commands addresses and aliases shell commands filenames patterns everything else - - - -Mutt automatically filters out repeated items from the history. It -also mimics the behavior of some shells by ignoring items starting -with a space. - -The latter feature can be useful in macros to not clobber the history's -valuable entries with unwanted entries. +Mutt automatically filters out consecutively repeated items from the +history. It also mimics the behavior of some shells by ignoring items +starting with a space. The latter feature can be useful in macros to not +clobber the history's valuable entries with unwanted entries. @@ -333,13 +611,14 @@ valuable entries with unwanted entries. -Reading Mail - The Index and Pager +Reading Mail Similar to many other mail clients, there are two modes in which mail is -read in Mutt. The first is the index of messages in the mailbox, which is -called the ``index'' in Mutt. The second mode is the display of the -message contents. This is called the ``pager.'' +read in Mutt. The first is a list of messages in the mailbox, which is +called the index menu in Mutt. The second mode is the +display of the message contents. This is called the +pager. @@ -347,16 +626,16 @@ The next few sections describe the functions provided in each of these modes. - + The Message Index Common keys used to navigate through and manage messages in the index -are shown in . +are shown in . How messages are presented +in the index menu can be customized using the $index_format variable. - - Most common message index keys @@ -365,10 +644,10 @@ are shown in . cchange to a different mailbox -ESC cchange to a folder in read-only mode +Esc cchange to a folder in read-only modeCcopy the current message to another mailbox -ESC Cdecode a message and copy it to a folder -ESC sdecode a message and save it to a folder +Esc Cdecode a message and copy it to a folder +Esc sdecode a message and save it to a folderDdelete messages matching a patternddelete the current messageFmark as important @@ -380,7 +659,7 @@ are shown in . ssave-message Ttag messages matching a pattern ttoggle the tag on a message -ESC ttoggle tag on entire message thread +Esc ttoggle tag on entire message thread Uundelete messages matching a pattern uundelete-message vview-attachments @@ -390,255 +669,137 @@ are shown in . @show the author's full e-mail address $save changes to mailbox /search -ESC /search-reverse -ˆLclear and redraw the screen -ˆTuntag messages matching a pattern +Esc /search-reverse +^Lclear and redraw the screen +^Tuntag messages matching a pattern
- - - -Status Flags - In addition to who sent the message and the subject, a short summary of the disposition of each message is printed beside the message number. -Zero or more of the following ``flags'' may appear, which mean: +Zero or more of the flags in may appear, some of which can be turned +on or off using these functions: <set-flag> and +<clear-flag> bound by default to +w and W respectively. - - - -D - - -message is deleted (is marked for deletion) - - - - -d - - -message have attachments marked for deletion - - - - -K - - -contains a PGP public key +Furthermore, the flags in reflect +who the message is addressed to. They can be customized with the $to_chars variable. - - - -N - + + +Message status flags + + +FlagDescription + + +Dmessage is deleted (is marked for deletion) +dmessage has attachments marked for deletion +Kcontains a PGP public key +Nmessage is new +Omessage is old +Pmessage is PGP encrypted +rmessage has been replied to +Smessage is signed, and the signature is successfully verified +smessage is signed +!message is flagged +*message is tagged +nthread contains new messages (only if collapsed) +othread contains old messages (only if collapsed) + + +
+ + +Message recipient flags + + +FlagDescription + + ++message is to you and you only +Tmessage is to you, but also to or CC'ed to others +Cmessage is CC'ed to you +Fmessage is from you +Lmessage is sent to a subscribed mailing list + + +
+ + + + +The Pager + -message is new +By default, Mutt uses its built-in pager to display the contents of +messages (an external pager such as less(1) can be +configured, see $pager variable). The +pager is very similar to the Unix program less(1) +though not nearly as featureful. - - - -O - + + +Most common pager keys + + +KeyDescription + + +<Return>go down one line +<Space>display the next page (or next message if at the end of a message) +-go back to the previous page +nsearch for next match +Sskip beyond quoted text +Ttoggle display of quoted text +?show keybindings +/regular expression search +Esc /backward regular expression search +\toggle highlighting of search matches +^jump to the top of the message + + +
+ -message is old +In addition to key bindings in , many of +the functions from the index menu are also available in the pager, such +as <delete-message> or +<copy-message> (this is one advantage over +using an external pager to view messages). - - - -P - + -message is PGP encrypted +Also, the internal pager supports a couple other advanced features. For +one, it will accept and translate the standard nroff +sequences for bold and underline. These sequences are a series of either +the letter, backspace (^H), the letter again for bold or +the letter, backspace, _ for denoting underline. Mutt +will attempt to display these in bold and underline respectively if your +terminal supports them. If not, you can use the bold and underline color objects to specify a +color or mono attribute for them. - - - -r - + -message has been replied to +Additionally, the internal pager supports the ANSI escape sequences for +character attributes. Mutt translates them into the correct color and +character settings. The sequences Mutt supports are: - - - -S - + + +\e[Ps;Ps;..Ps;m + + -message is signed, and the signature is successfully verified - - - - -s - - -message is signed - - - - -! - - -message is flagged - - - - -* - - -message is tagged - - - - - - - -Some of the status flags can be turned on or off using - - - - - -set-flag (default: w) - - - - - -clear-flag (default: W) - - - - - - - - -Furthermore, the following flags reflect who the message is addressed -to. They can be customized with the -$to_chars variable. - - - - - - -+ - - -message is to you and you only - - - - -T - - -message is to you, but also to or cc'ed to others - - - - -C - - -message is cc'ed to you - - - - -F - - -message is from you - - - - -L - - -message is sent to a subscribed mailing list - - - - - - - - - - - -The Pager - - -By default, Mutt uses its builtin pager to display the body of messages. -The pager is very similar to the Unix program less though not nearly as -featureful. - - - - - -Most common pager keys - - -KeyDescription - - -<Return>go down one line -<Space>display the next page (or next message if at the end of a message) --go back to the previous page -nsearch for next match -Sskip beyond quoted text -Ttoggle display of quoted text -?show keybindings -/search for a regular expression (pattern) -ESC /search backwards for a regular expression -\toggle search pattern coloring -ˆjump to the top of the message - - -
- - - - -In addition to key bindings in , -many of the functions from the index are available in -the pager, such as delete-message or copy-message (this is one -advantage over using an external pager to view messages). - - - -Also, the internal pager supports a couple other advanced features. For -one, it will accept and translate the ``standard'' nroff sequences for -bold and underline. These sequences are a series of either the letter, -backspace (ˆH), the letter again for bold or the letter, backspace, -``_'' for denoting underline. Mutt will attempt to display these -in bold and underline respectively if your terminal supports them. If -not, you can use the bold and underline color -objects to specify a color or mono attribute for them. - - - -Additionally, the internal pager supports the ANSI escape sequences for -character attributes. Mutt translates them into the correct color and -character settings. The sequences Mutt supports are -'\e[Ps;Ps;..Ps;m' -where Ps can be one of the codes shown in -. +where Ps can be one of the codes shown in . @@ -648,7 +809,7 @@ where Ps can be one of the codes shown in Escape codeDescription -0All Attributes Off +0All attributes off1Bold on4Underline on5Blink on @@ -679,12 +840,28 @@ where Ps can be one of the codes shown in
-Mutt uses these attributes for handling text/enriched messages, and they -can also be used by an external autoview -script for highlighting purposes. Note: If you change the colors for your -display, for example by changing the color associated with color2 for -your xterm, then that color will be used instead of green. +Mutt uses these attributes for handling text/enriched +messages, and they can also be used by an external autoview script for highlighting purposes. + + + + +If you change the colors for your display, for example by changing the +color associated with color2 for your xterm, then that color will be +used instead of green. + + + + +Note that the search commands in the pager take regular expressions, +which are not quite the same as the more complex patterns used by the search command in the +index. This is because patterns are used to select messages by criteria +whereas the pager already displays a selected message. + + @@ -692,12 +869,19 @@ your xterm, then that color will be used instead of green. Threaded Mode -When the mailbox is sorted by threads, there are -a few additional functions available in the index and pager modes -as shown in . +So-called threads provide a hierarchy of messages where +replies are linked to their parent message(s). This organizational form +is extremely useful in mailing lists where different parts of the +discussion diverge. Mutt displays threads as a tree structure. +In Mutt, when a mailbox is sorted +by threads, there are a few additional functions +available in the index +and pager modes as shown in +. + Most common thread mode keys @@ -706,229 +890,286 @@ as shown in . KeyFunctionDescription -ˆDdelete-threaddelete all messages in the current thread -ˆUundelete-threadundelete all messages in the current thread -ˆNnext-threadjump to the start of the next thread -ˆPprevious-threadjump to the start of the previous thread -ˆRread-threadmark the current thread as read -ESC ddelete-subthreaddelete all messages in the current subthread -ESC uundelete-subthreadundelete all messages in the current subthread -ESC nnext-subthreadjump to the start of the next subthread -ESC pprevious-subthreadjump to the start of the previous subthread -ESC rread-subthreadmark the current subthread as read -ESC ttag-threadtoggle the tag on the current thread -ESC vcollapse-threadtoggle collapse for the current thread -ESC Vcollapse-alltoggle collapse for all threads -Pparent-messagejump to parent message in thread +^D<delete-thread>delete all messages in the current thread +^U<undelete-thread>undelete all messages in the current thread +^N<next-thread>jump to the start of the next thread +^P<previous-thread>jump to the start of the previous thread +^R<read-thread>mark the current thread as read +Esc d<delete-subthread>delete all messages in the current subthread +Esc u<undelete-subthread>undelete all messages in the current subthread +Esc n<next-subthread>jump to the start of the next subthread +Esc p<previous-subthread>jump to the start of the previous subthread +Esc r<read-subthread>mark the current subthread as read +Esc t<tag-thread>toggle the tag on the current thread +Esc v<collapse-thread>toggle collapse for the current thread +Esc V<collapse-all>toggle collapse for all threads +P<parent-message>jump to parent message in thread
- - -Note: Collapsing a thread displays only the first message -in the thread and hides the others. This is useful when threads -contain so many messages that you can only see a handful of threads on -the screen. See %M in $index_format. -For example, you could use "%?M?(#%03M)&(%4l)?" in $index_format to optionally -display the number of hidden messages if the thread is collapsed. +Collapsing a thread displays only the first message in the thread and +hides the others. This is useful when threads contain so many messages +that you can only see a handful of threads on the screen. See %M in +$index_format. For example, you +could use %?M?(#%03M)&(%4l)? in $index_format to optionally display the +number of hidden messages if the thread is collapsed. The +%?<char>?<if-part>&<else-part>? +syntax is explained in detail in format string conditionals. -See also: $strict_threads. +Technically, every reply should contain a list of its parent messages in +the thread tree, but not all do. In these cases, Mutt groups them by +subject which can be controlled using the $strict_threads variable. - + Miscellaneous Functions -create-alias (default: a) - - - - -Creates a new alias based upon the current message (or prompts for a -new one). Once editing is complete, an alias -command is added to the file specified by the $alias_file variable for future use. Note: -Specifying an $alias_file -does not add the aliases specified there-in, you must also source the file. - - - -check-traditional-pgp (default: ESC P) - +In addition, the index and +pager menus have these interesting functions: - -This function will search the current message for content signed or -encrypted with PGP the "traditional" way, that is, without proper -MIME tagging. Technically, this function will temporarily change -the MIME content types of the body parts containing PGP data; this -is similar to the edit-type function's -effect. - + + + +<create-alias> +(default: a) + + -display-toggle-weed (default: h) - +Creates a new alias based upon the current message (or prompts for a new +one). Once editing is complete, an alias command is added to the +file specified by the $alias_file +variable for future use + -Toggles the weeding of message header fields specified by ignore commands. +Mutt does not read the $alias_file +upon startup so you must explicitly source the file. + + + + + +<check-traditional-pgp> (default: Esc P) + + -edit (default: e) - +This function will search the current message for content signed or +encrypted with PGP the traditional way, that is, without +proper MIME tagging. Technically, this function will temporarily change +the MIME content types of the body parts containing PGP data; this is +similar to the <edit-type> +function's effect. + + + + +<edit> (default: e) + + -This command (available in the ``index'' and ``pager'') allows you to -edit the raw current message as it's present in the mail folder. -After you have finished editing, the changed message will be -appended to the current folder, and the original message will be -marked for deletion. +This command (available in the index and pager) allows you to edit the +raw current message as it's present in the mail folder. After you have +finished editing, the changed message will be appended to the current +folder, and the original message will be marked for deletion; if the +message is unchanged it won't be replaced. + + - -edit-type - -(default: ˆE on the attachment menu, and in the pager and index menus; ˆT on the + + +<edit-type> (default: +^E on the attachment menu, and in the pager and index menus; ^T on the compose menu) - - + + -This command is used to temporarily edit an attachment's content -type to fix, for instance, bogus character set parameters. When -invoked from the index or from the pager, you'll have the -opportunity to edit the top-level attachment's content type. On the -attachment menu, you can change any +This command is used to temporarily edit an attachment's content type to +fix, for instance, bogus character set parameters. When invoked from +the index or from the pager, you'll have the opportunity to edit the +top-level attachment's content type. On the attachment menu, you can change any attachment's content type. These changes are not persistent, and get lost upon changing folders. -Note that this command is also available on the compose -menu. There, it's used to fine-tune the properties of attachments you are going -to send. - - - -enter-command (default: ``:'') - +Note that this command is also available on the compose menu. There, it's used to +fine-tune the properties of attachments you are going to send. + + + + +<enter-command> +(default: :) + + This command is used to execute any command you would normally put in a -configuration file. A common use is to check the settings of variables, or -in conjunction with macros to change settings on the -fly. - - - -extract-keys (default: ˆK) - +configuration file. A common use is to check the settings of variables, +or in conjunction with macros to change +settings on the fly. + + + + +<extract-keys> +(default: ^K) + + This command extracts PGP public keys from the current or tagged message(s) and adds them to your PGP public key ring. + + + + +<forget-passphrase> (default: ^F) + + -forget-passphrase (default: -ˆF) - - - - -This command wipes the passphrase(s) from memory. It is useful, if -you misspelled the passphrase. - - - -list-reply (default: L) - - - - -Reply to the current or tagged message(s) by extracting any addresses which -match the regular expressions given by the lists or subscribe -commands, but also honor any Mail-Followup-To header(s) if the -$honor_followup_to -configuration variable is set. Using this when replying to messages posted -to mailing lists helps avoid duplicate copies being sent to the author of -the message you are replying to. - - - -pipe-message (default: |) - - - - -Asks for an external Unix command and pipes the current or -tagged message(s) to it. The variables $pipe_decode, $pipe_split, -$pipe_sep and $wait_key control the exact behavior of this function. - - - -resend-message (default: ESC e) - - - - -With resend-message, mutt takes the current message as a template for a -new message. This function is best described as "recall from arbitrary -folders". It can conveniently be used to forward MIME messages while -preserving the original mail structure. Note that the amount of headers -included here depends on the value of the $weed -variable. +This command wipes the passphrase(s) from memory. It is useful, if you +misspelled the passphrase. + + + + +<list-reply> (default: +L) + + -This function is also available from the attachment menu. You can use this -to easily resend a message which was included with a bounce message -as a message/rfc822 body part. +Reply to the current or tagged message(s) by extracting any addresses +which match the regular expressions given by the lists or +subscribe commands, but also honor any +Mail-Followup-To header(s) if the $honor_followup_to configuration +variable is set. Using this when replying to messages posted to mailing +lists helps avoid duplicate copies being sent to the author of the +message you are replying to. + + + + +<pipe-message> +(default: |) + + -shell-escape (default: !) - +Asks for an external Unix command and pipes the current or tagged +message(s) to it. The variables $pipe_decode, $pipe_split, $pipe_sep and $wait_key control the exact behavior of this +function. + + + + +<resend-message> +(default: Esc e) + + -Asks for an external Unix command and executes it. The $wait_key can be used to control -whether Mutt will wait for a key to be pressed when the command returns -(presumably to let the user read the output of the command), based on -the return status of the named command. +Mutt takes the current message as a template for a new message. This +function is best described as "recall from arbitrary folders". It can +conveniently be used to forward MIME messages while preserving the +original mail structure. Note that the amount of headers included here +depends on the value of the $weed variable. -toggle-quoted (default: T) - +This function is also available from the attachment menu. You can use +this to easily resend a message which was included with a bounce message +as a message/rfc822 body part. + + + + +<shell-escape> +(default: !) + + -The pager uses the $quote_regexp variable to detect quoted text when -displaying the body of the message. This function toggles the display -of the quoted material in the message. It is particularly useful when -are interested in just the response and there is a large amount of -quoted text in the way. +Asks for an external Unix command and executes it. The $wait_key can be used to control whether Mutt +will wait for a key to be pressed when the command returns (presumably +to let the user read the output of the command), based on the return +status of the named command. If no command is given, an interactive +shell is executed. + + + + +<toggle-quoted> +(default: T) + + -skip-quoted (default: S) - +The pager uses the $quote_regexp +variable to detect quoted text when displaying the body of the message. +This function toggles the display of the quoted material in the message. +It is particularly useful when being interested in just the response and +there is a large amount of quoted text in the way. + + + + +<skip-quoted> +(default: S) + + -This function will go to the next line of non-quoted text which come +This function will go to the next line of non-quoted text which comes after a line of quoted text in the internal pager. + + + + @@ -937,12 +1178,14 @@ after a line of quoted text in the internal pager. Sending Mail - -The bindings shown in are available in the -index for sending messages. - + +Introduction +The bindings shown in are available in +the index and pager to start a +new message. + Most common mail sending keys @@ -951,188 +1194,283 @@ The bindings shown in are available in the KeyFunctionDescription -mcomposecompose a new message -rreplyreply to sender -ggroup-replyreply to all recipients -Llist-replyreply to mailing list address -fforwardforward message -bbouncebounce (remail) message -ESC kmail-keymail a PGP public key to someone +m<compose>compose a new message +r<reply>reply to sender +g<group-reply>reply to all recipients +L<list-reply>reply to mailing list address +f<forward>forward message +b<bounce>bounce (remail) message +Esc k<mail-key>mail a PGP public key to someone
- - -Bouncing a message sends the message as is to the recipient you -specify. Forwarding a message allows you to add comments or -modify the message you are forwarding. These items are discussed -in greater detail in the next chapter ``Forwarding -and Bouncing Mail.'' +Bouncing a message sends the message as-is to the +recipient you specify. Forwarding a message allows +you to add comments or modify the message you are forwarding. These +items are discussed in greater detail in the next section Forwarding and Bouncing Mail. -Mutt will then enter the compose menu and prompt you for the -recipients to place on the ``To:'' header field. Next, it will ask -you for the ``Subject:'' field for the message, providing a default if -you are replying to or forwarding a message. See also -$askcc, -$askbcc, -$autoedit, -$bounce, -$fast_reply, -and $include -for changing how Mutt asks these questions. +Mutt will then enter the compose menu and prompt +you for the recipients to place on the To: header field +when you hit m to start a new message. Next, it will +ask you for the Subject: field for the message, providing +a default if you are replying to or forwarding a message. You again have +the chance to adjust recipients, subject, and security settings right +before actually sending the message. See also $askcc, $askbcc, +$autoedit, $bounce, $fast_reply, and $include for changing how and if Mutt asks +these questions. -Mutt will then automatically start your $editor on the message body. If the $edit_headers variable is set, the headers will be at -the top of the message in your editor. Any messages you are replying -to will be added in sort order to the message, with appropriate $attribution, $indent_string and $post_indent_string. When forwarding a -message, if the $mime_forward -variable is unset, a copy of the forwarded message will be included. If -you have specified a $signature, it -will be appended to the message. +When replying, Mutt fills these fields with proper values depending on +the reply type. The types of replying supported are: + + +Simple reply + -Once you have finished editing the body of your mail message, you are -returned to the compose menu providing the functions -show in . +Reply to the author directly. - + + + +Group reply + - - -Most common compose menu keys +Reply to the author as well to all recipients except you; this consults +alternates. + + + + +List reply + + +Reply to all mailing list addresses found, either specified via +configuration or auto-detected. See for +details. + + + + + + +After getting recipients for new messages, forwards or replies, Mutt +will then automatically start your $editor +on the message body. If the $edit_headers variable is set, the headers +will be at the top of the message in your editor. Any messages you are +replying to will be added in sort order to the message, with appropriate +$attribution, $indent_string and $post_indent_string. When +forwarding a message, if the $mime_forward variable is unset, a copy of +the forwarded message will be included. If you have specified a $signature, it will be appended to the +message. + + + +Once you have finished editing the body of your mail message, you are +returned to the compose menu providing the +functions shown in to modify, send or +postpone the message. + + +
+Most common compose menu keys KeyFunctionDescription -aattach-fileattach a file -Aattach-messageattach message(s) to the message -ESC kattach-keyattach a PGP public key -dedit-descriptionedit description on attachment -Ddetach-filedetach a file -tedit-toedit the To field -ESC fedit-fromedit the From field -redit-reply-toedit the Reply-To field -cedit-ccedit the Cc field -bedit-bccedit the Bcc field -ysend-messagesend the message -sedit-subjectedit the Subject -Ssmime-menuselect S/MIME options -fedit-fccspecify an ``Fcc'' mailbox -ppgp-menuselect PGP options -Ppostpone-messagepostpone this message until later -qquitquit (abort) sending the message -wwrite-fccwrite the message to a folder -iispellcheck spelling (if available on your system) -ˆFforget-passphrasewipe passphrase(s) from memory +a<attach-file>attach a file +A<attach-message>attach message(s) to the message +Esc k<attach-key>attach a PGP public key +d<edit-description>edit description on attachment +D<detach-file>detach a file +t<edit-to>edit the To field +Esc f<edit-from>edit the From field +r<edit-reply-to>edit the Reply-To field +c<edit-cc>edit the Cc field +b<edit-bcc>edit the Bcc field +y<send-message>send the message +s<edit-subject>edit the Subject +S<smime-menu>select S/MIME options +f<edit-fcc>specify an Fcc mailbox +p<pgp-menu>select PGP options +P<postpone-message>postpone this message until later +q<quit>quit (abort) sending the message +w<write-fcc>write the message to a folder +i<ispell>check spelling (if available on your system) +^F<forget-passphrase>wipe passphrase(s) from memory
+ +The compose menu is also used to edit the attachments for a message +which can be either files or other messages. The +<attach-message> function to will prompt you +for a folder to attach messages from. You can now tag messages in that +folder and they will be attached to the message you are sending. + -Note: The attach-message function will prompt you for a folder to -attach messages from. You can now tag messages in that folder and they -will be attached to the message you are sending. Note that certain -operations like composing a new mail, replying, forwarding, etc. are -not permitted when you are in that folder. The %r in $status_format will change to -a 'A' to indicate that you are in attach-message mode. +Note that certain operations like composing a new mail, replying, +forwarding, etc. are not permitted when you are in that folder. The %r +in $status_format will change to a +A to indicate that you are in attach-message mode. + + + - -Editing the message header + +Editing the Message Header -When editing the header of your outgoing message, there are a couple of -special features available. +When editing the header because of $edit_headers being set, there are a +several pseudo headers available which will not be included in sent +messages but trigger special Mutt behavior. + +Fcc: Pseudo Header + If you specify + + Fcc: filename - -Mutt will pick up filename -just as if you had used the edit-fcc function in the compose menu. -You can also attach files to your message by specifying +as a header, Mutt will pick up filename just as if +you had used the <edit-fcc> function in the +compose menu. It can later be changed from the +compose menu. + + + -Attach: filename [ description ] + +Attach: Pseudo Header -where filename is the file to attach and description is an -optional string to use as the description of the attached file. + +You can also attach files to your message by specifying -When replying to messages, if you remove the In-Reply-To: field from -the header field, Mutt will not generate a References: field, which -allows you to create a new message thread. +Attach: filename +[ description ] -Also see $edit_headers. +where filename is the file to attach and +description is an optional string to use as the +description of the attached file. Spaces in filenames have to be escaped +using backslash (\). The file can be removed as well as +more added from the compose menu. - + + + +Pgp: Pseudo Header - -Using Mutt with PGP + +If you want to use PGP, you can specify + -If you want to use PGP, you can specify +Pgp: [ E | S | S<id> ] + -Pgp: [ E | S | S<id> ] +E selects encryption, S selects signing +and S<id> selects signing with the given key, +setting $pgp_sign_as permanently. The +selection can later be changed in the compose menu. + + + + +In-Reply-To: Header + + +When replying to messages, the In-Reply-To: header +contains the Message-Id of the message(s) you reply to. If you remove or +modify its value, Mutt will not generate a +References: field, which allows you to create a new +message thread, for example to create a new message to a mailing list +without having to enter the mailing list's address. -``E'' encrypts, ``S'' signs and -``S<id>'' signs with the given key, setting $pgp_sign_as permanently. +If you intend to start a new thread by replying, please make really sure +you remove the In-Reply-To: header in your +editor. Otherwise, though you'll produce a technically valid reply, some +netiquette guardians will be annoyed by this so-called thread +hijacking. + + + + + +Sending Cryptographically Signed/Encrypted Messages + -If you have told mutt to PGP encrypt a message, it will guide you -through a key selection process when you try to send the message. -Mutt will not ask you any questions about keys which have a -certified user ID matching one of the message recipients' mail -addresses. However, there may be situations in which there are -several keys, weakly certified user ID fields, or where no matching -keys can be found. +If you have told Mutt to PGP or S/MIME encrypt a message, it will guide +you through a key selection process when you try to send the message. +Mutt will not ask you any questions about keys which have a certified +user ID matching one of the message recipients' mail addresses. +However, there may be situations in which there are several keys, weakly +certified user ID fields, or where no matching keys can be found. In these cases, you are dropped into a menu with a list of keys from -which you can select one. When you quit this menu, or mutt can't -find any matching keys, you are prompted for a user ID. You can, as -usually, abort this prompt using ˆG. When you do so, mutt will -return to the compose screen. +which you can select one. When you quit this menu, or Mutt can't find +any matching keys, you are prompted for a user ID. You can, as usually, +abort this prompt using ^G. When you do so, Mutt +will return to the compose screen. -Once you have successfully finished the key selection, the message -will be encrypted using the selected public keys, and sent out. +Once you have successfully finished the key selection, the message will +be encrypted using the selected public keys when sent out. -Most fields of the entries in the key selection menu (see also $pgp_entry_format) -have obvious meanings. But some explanations on the capabilities, flags, -and validity fields are in order. +Most fields of the entries in the key selection menu (see also $pgp_entry_format) have obvious +meanings. But some explanations on the capabilities, flags, and +validity fields are in order. -The flags sequence (%f) will expand to one of the flags in -. +The flags sequence (%f) will expand to one of the flags +in . + PGP key menu flags @@ -1149,157 +1487,111 @@ The flags sequence (%f) will expand to one of the flags in
- - - -The capabilities field (%c) expands to a two-character sequence -representing a key's capabilities. The first character gives -the key's encryption capabilities: A minus sign (-) means -that the key cannot be used for encryption. A dot (.) means that -it's marked as a signature key in one of the user IDs, but may -also be used for encryption. The letter e indicates that -this key can be used for encryption. - - - -The second character indicates the key's signing capabilities. Once -again, a ``-'' implies ``not for signing'', ``.'' implies -that the key is marked as an encryption key in one of the user-ids, and -``s'' denotes a key which can be used for signing. - - - -Finally, the validity field (%t) indicates how well-certified a user-id -is. A question mark (?) indicates undefined validity, a minus -character (-) marks an untrusted association, a space character -means a partially trusted association, and a plus character (+) -indicates complete validity. - - - - - -Sending anonymous messages via mixmaster. - -You may also have configured mutt to co-operate with Mixmaster, an -anonymous remailer. Mixmaster permits you to send your messages -anonymously using a chain of remailers. Mixmaster support in mutt is for -mixmaster version 2.04 (beta 45 appears to be the latest) and 2.03. -It does not support earlier versions or the later so-called version 3 betas, -of which the latest appears to be called 2.9b23. - - - -To use it, you'll have to obey certain restrictions. Most -important, you cannot use the Cc and Bcc headers. To tell -Mutt to use mixmaster, you have to select a remailer chain, using -the mix function on the compose menu. +The capabilities field (%c) expands to a two-character +sequence representing a key's capabilities. The first character gives +the key's encryption capabilities: A minus sign (-) means +that the key cannot be used for encryption. A dot (.) +means that it's marked as a signature key in one of the user IDs, but +may also be used for encryption. The letter e indicates +that this key can be used for encryption. -The chain selection screen is divided into two parts. In the -(larger) upper part, you get a list of remailers you may use. In -the lower part, you see the currently selected chain of remailers. +The second character indicates the key's signing capabilities. Once +again, a - implies not for signing, +. implies that the key is marked as an encryption key in +one of the user-ids, and s denotes a key which can be +used for signing. -You can navigate in the chain using the chain-prev and -chain-next functions, which are by default bound to the left -and right arrows and to the h and l keys (think vi -keyboard bindings). To insert a remailer at the current chain -position, use the insert function. To append a remailer behind -the current chain position, use select-entry or append. -You can also delete entries from the chain, using the corresponding -function. Finally, to abandon your changes, leave the menu, or -accept them pressing (by default) the Return key. - - - -Note that different remailers do have different capabilities, -indicated in the %c entry of the remailer menu lines (see -$mix_entry_format). Most important is -the ``middleman'' capability, indicated by a capital ``M'': This -means that the remailer in question cannot be used as the final -element of a chain, but will only forward messages to other -mixmaster remailers. For details on the other capabilities, please -have a look at the mixmaster documentation. +Finally, the validity field (%t) indicates how +well-certified a user-id is. A question mark (?) +indicates undefined validity, a minus character (-) marks +an untrusted association, a space character means a partially trusted +association, and a plus character (+) indicates complete +validity. - -Sending format=flowed messages + +Sending Format=Flowed Messages - + Concept -format=flowed-style messages (or f=f -for short) are text/plain messages that consist of paragraphs which a receiver's -mail client may reformat to its own needs which mostly means to -customize line lengths regardless of what the sender sent. Technically this is -achieved by letting lines of a ``flowable'' paragraph end in spaces. +format=flowed-style messages (or +f=f for short) are text/plain +messages that consist of paragraphs which a receiver's mail client may +reformat to its own needs which mostly means to customize line lengths +regardless of what the sender sent. Technically this is achieved by +letting lines of a flowable paragraph end in spaces +except for the last line. -While for text-mode clients like mutt it's the best way to assume only a +While for text-mode clients like Mutt it's the best way to assume only a standard 80x25 character cell terminal, it may be desired to let the receiver decide completely how to view a message. - -Mutt support + +Mutt Support Mutt only supports setting the required format=flowed -MIME parameter on outgoing messages if the $text_flowed variable is set. It does not add the -trailing spaces nor does it provide any other feature related to -composing f=f messages (like reformatting -non-f=f parts of a reply to f=f -before calling the editor). +MIME parameter on outgoing messages if the $text_flowed variable is set, specifically +it does not add the trailing spaces. -After editing the initial message text and before entering -the compose menu, mutt properly space-stuffes the message. +After editing the initial message text and before entering the compose +menu, Mutt properly space-stuffs the message. Space-stuffing is required by RfC3676 defining format=flowed and means to prepend a space to: all lines starting with a space -lines starting with the word ``From'' -followed by space -all lines starting with ``>'' which -is not intended to be a quote character +lines starting with the word +From followed by +space +all lines starting with +> which is not intended to be a +quote character + -All leading spaces are to be removed by receiving clients to restore -the original message. +Mutt only supports space-stuffing for the first two types of lines but +not for the third: It is impossible to safely detect whether a leading +> character starts a quote or not. Furthermore, +Mutt only applies space-stuffing once after the +initial edit is finished. + -Note that mutt only support space-stuffing -for the first two types of lines but not for the third: It is impossible to -safely detect whether a leading > character starts a -quote or not. +All leading spaces are to be removed by receiving clients to restore the +original message prior to further processing. - -Editor considerations + +Editor Considerations -As mutt provides no additional features to compose f=f -messages, it's completely up to the user and his editor to produce -proper messages. Please consider your editor's documentation if you -intend to send f=f messages. +As Mutt provides no additional features to compose +f=f messages, it's completely up to the user and his +editor to produce proper messages. Please consider your editor's +documentation if you intend to send f=f messages. @@ -1326,43 +1618,33 @@ fo-table for details. Bouncing and forwarding let you send an existing message to recipients -that you specify. Bouncing a message uses the $sendmail command to send a copy to alternative addresses as if -they were the message's original recipients. Forwarding a message, on -the other hand, allows you to modify the message before it is resent -(for example, by adding your own comments). The default key bindings -are shown in . - - - - - -Message forwarding/bouncing keys - - -KeyFunctionDescription - - -fforwardforward message -bbouncebounce (remail) message - - -
- +that you specify. Bouncing a message sends a verbatim copy of a message +to alternative addresses as if they were the message's original +recipients specified in the Bcc header. Forwarding a message, on the +other hand, allows you to modify the message before it is resent (for +example, by adding your own comments). Bouncing is done using the +<bounce> function and forwarding using the +<forward> function bound to b +and f respectively. Forwarding can be done by including the original message in the new -message's body (surrounded by indicating lines) or including it as a MIME -attachment, depending on the value of the $mime_forward variable. Decoding of attachments, -like in the pager, can be controlled by the $forward_decode and $mime_forward_decode variables, +message's body (surrounded by indicating lines) or including it as a +MIME attachment, depending on the value of the $mime_forward variable. Decoding of +attachments, like in the pager, can be controlled by the $forward_decode and $mime_forward_decode variables, respectively. The desired forwarding format may depend on the content, -therefore $mime_forward is a quadoption which, for -example, can be set to ``ask-no''. +therefore $mime_forward is a +quadoption which, for example, can be set to ask-no. The inclusion of headers is controlled by the current setting of the -$weed variable, unless $mime_forward is set. +$weed variable, unless $mime_forward is set. @@ -1377,30 +1659,36 @@ replying to a message does. At times it is desirable to delay sending a message that you have -already begun to compose. When the postpone-message function is -used in the compose menu, the body of your message and attachments -are stored in the mailbox specified by the $postponed variable. This means that you can recall the -message even if you exit Mutt and then restart it at a later time. +already begun to compose. When the +<postpone-message> function is used in the +compose menu, the body of your message and +attachments are stored in the mailbox specified by the $postponed variable. This means that you can +recall the message even if you exit Mutt and then restart it at a later +time. -Once a message is postponed, there are several ways to resume it. From the -command line you can use the ``-p'' option, or if you compose a new -message from the index or pager you will be prompted if postponed -messages exist. If multiple messages are currently postponed, the -postponed menu will pop up and you can select which message you would -like to resume. +Once a message is postponed, there are several ways to resume it. From +the command line you can use the -p option, or if you +compose a new message from the index or +pager you will be prompted if postponed messages +exist. If multiple messages are currently postponed, the +postponed menu will pop up and you can select which +message you would like to resume. + -Note: If you postpone a reply to a message, the reply setting of -the message is only updated when you actually finish the message and -send it. Also, you must be in the same folder with the message you -replied to for the status of the message to be updated. +If you postpone a reply to a message, the reply setting of the message +is only updated when you actually finish the message and send it. Also, +you must be in the same folder with the message you replied to for the +status of the message to be updated. + -See also the $postpone quad-option. +See also the $postpone quad-option. @@ -1410,285 +1698,456 @@ See also the $postpone quad-option. Configuration + +Location of Initialization Files + -While the default configuration (or ``preferences'') make Mutt -usable right out of the box, it is often desirable to tailor Mutt to -suit your own tastes. When Mutt is first invoked, it will attempt to -read the ``system'' configuration file (defaults set by your local -system administrator), unless the ``-n'' command line option is specified. This file is typically -/usr/local/share/mutt/Muttrc or /etc/Muttrc. Mutt -will next look for a file named .muttrc in your home -directory. If this file does not exist and your home directory has -a subdirectory named .mutt, mutt try to load a file named -.mutt/muttrc. +While the default configuration (or preferences) make +Mutt usable right out of the box, it is often desirable to tailor Mutt +to suit your own tastes. When Mutt is first invoked, it will attempt to +read the system configuration file (defaults set by your +local system administrator), unless the -n command line option is specified. This +file is typically /usr/local/share/mutt/Muttrc or +/etc/Muttrc. Mutt will next look for a file named +.muttrc in your home directory. If this file does +not exist and your home directory has a subdirectory named +.mutt, Mutt tries to load a file named +.mutt/muttrc. -.muttrc is the file where you will usually place your commands to configure Mutt. +.muttrc is the file where you will usually place your +commands to configure Mutt. -In addition, mutt supports version specific configuration files that are -parsed instead of the default files as explained above. For instance, if -your system has a Muttrc-0.88 file in the system configuration -directory, and you are running version 0.88 of mutt, this file will be -sourced instead of the Muttrc file. The same is true of the user -configuration file, if you have a file .muttrc-0.88.6 in your home -directory, when you run mutt version 0.88.6, it will source this file -instead of the default .muttrc file. The version number is the -same which is visible using the ``-v'' command line switch or using the show-version key (default: -V) from the index menu. +In addition, Mutt supports version specific configuration files that are +parsed instead of the default files as explained above. For instance, +if your system has a Muttrc-0.88 file in the system +configuration directory, and you are running version 0.88 of Mutt, this +file will be sourced instead of the Muttrc file. The +same is true of the user configuration file, if you have a file +.muttrc-0.88.6 in your home directory, when you run +Mutt version 0.88.6, it will source this file instead of the default +.muttrc file. The version number is the same which +is visible using the -v command line switch or using the +show-version key (default: V) from the index menu. + + Syntax of Initialization Files -An initialization file consists of a series of commands. Each line of the file may contain one or more commands. -When multiple commands are used, they must be separated by a semicolon (;). +An initialization file consists of a series of commands. Each line of the file may contain +one or more commands. When multiple commands are used, they must be +separated by a semicolon (;). + + +Multiple configuration commands per line set realname='Mutt user' ; ignore x- - -The hash mark, or pound sign -(``#''), is used as a ``comment'' character. You can use it to -annotate your initialization file. All text after the comment character -to the end of the line is ignored. For example, - + +The hash mark, or pound sign (#), is used as a +comment character. You can use it to annotate your +initialization file. All text after the comment character to the end of +the line is ignored. + + +Commenting configuration files -my_hdr X-Disclaimer: Why are you listening to me? # This is a comment +my_hdr X-Disclaimer: Why are you listening to me? # This is a comment - - + -Single quotes (') and double quotes (") can be used to quote strings -which contain spaces or other special characters. The difference between -the two types of quotes is similar to that of many popular shell programs, -namely that a single quote is used to specify a literal string (one that is -not interpreted for shell variables or quoting with a backslash [see -next paragraph]), while double quotes indicate a string for which -should be evaluated. For example, backtics are evaluated inside of double -quotes, but not for single quotes. +Single quotes (') and double quotes (") +can be used to quote strings which contain spaces or other special +characters. The difference between the two types of quotes is similar +to that of many popular shell programs, namely that a single quote is +used to specify a literal string (one that is not interpreted for shell +variables or quoting with a backslash [see next paragraph]), while +double quotes indicate a string for which should be evaluated. For +example, backticks are evaluated inside of double quotes, but +not for single quotes. -\ quotes the next character, just as in shells such as bash and zsh. -For example, if want to put quotes ``"'' inside of a string, you can use -``\'' to force the next character to be a literal instead of interpreted -character. +\ quotes the next character, just as in shells such as +bash and zsh. For example, if want to put quotes " +inside of a string, you can use \ to force the next +character to be a literal instead of interpreted character. + + +Escaping quotes in configuration files set realname="Michael \"MuttDude\" Elkins" - - + -``\\'' means to insert a literal ``\'' into the line. -``\n'' and ``\r'' have their usual C meanings of linefeed and +\\ means to insert a literal \ into the line. +\n and \r have their usual C meanings of linefeed and carriage-return, respectively. -A \ at the end of a line can be used to split commands over -multiple lines, provided that the split points don't appear in the -middle of command names. +A \ at the end of a line can be used to split commands +over multiple lines as it escapes the line end, provided +that the split points don't appear in the middle of command names. Lines +are first concatenated before interpretation so that a multi-line can be +commented by commenting out the first line only. + +Splitting long configuration commands over several lines + +set status_format="some very \ +long value split \ +over several lines" + + + It is also possible to substitute the output of a Unix command in an initialization file. This is accomplished by enclosing the command in -backquotes (``). For example, +backticks (``). In , the output of the +Unix command uname -a will be substituted before the line +is parsed. Since initialization files are line oriented, only the first +line of output from the Unix command will be substituted. + + +Using external command's output in configuration files my_hdr X-Operating-System: `uname -a` - -The output of the Unix command ``uname -a'' will be substituted before the -line is parsed. Note that since initialization files are line oriented, only -the first line of output from the Unix command will be substituted. - + -Both environment variables and mutt variables can be accessed by -prepending ``$'' to the name of the variable. For example, +Both environment variables and Mutt variables can be accessed by +prepending $ to the name of the variable. For example, + +Using environment variables in configuration files set record=+sent_on_$HOSTNAME + -will cause mutt to save outgoing messages to a folder named -``sent_on_kremvax'' if the environment variable HOSTNAME is set to -``kremvax.'' (See $record for -details.) +will cause Mutt to save outgoing messages to a folder named +sent_on_kremvax if the environment variable +$HOSTNAME is set to kremvax. (See +$record for details.) Mutt expands the variable when it is assigned, not when it is used. If -the value of a variable on the right-hand side of an assignment -changes after the assignment, the variable on the left-hand side will -not be affected. +the value of a variable on the right-hand side of an assignment changes +after the assignment, the variable on the left-hand side will not be +affected. -The commands understood by mutt are explained in the next paragraphs. -For a complete list, see the command reference. +The commands understood by Mutt are explained in the next paragraphs. +For a complete list, see the command +reference. - - - -Address groups - -Usage: group [ -group name [ ... ] ] [ -rx EXPR [ ... ] ] [ -addr EXPR [ ... ] ] +All configuration files are expected to be in the current locale as +specified by the $charset variable which +doesn't have a default value since it's determined by Mutt at startup. +If a configuration file is not encoded in the same character set the +$config_charset variable should be +used: all lines starting with the next are recoded from $config_charset to $charset. -group is used to directly add either addresses or -regular expressions to the specified group or groups. The different -categories of arguments to the group command can be -in any order. The flags -rx and +This mechanism should be avoided if possible as it has the following +implications: + + + + +These variables should be set early in a configuration +file with $charset preceding $config_charset so Mutt knows what +character set to convert to. + +If $config_charset +is set, it should be set in each configuration file because the value is +global and not per configuration +file. + +Because Mutt first recodes a line before it attempts to +parse it, a conversion introducing question marks or other characters as +part of errors (unconvertable characters, transliteration) may introduce +syntax errors or silently change the meaning of certain tokens +(e.g. inserting question marks into regular +expressions). + + + + + + +Address Groups + +Usage: + + +group + + +name + + + + +expr + + + +expr + + + +ungroup + + +name + + + +* + + + +expr + + + +expr + + + + + +Mutt supports grouping addresses logically into named groups. An address +or address pattern can appear in several groups at the same time. These +groups can be used in patterns (for searching, limiting and tagging) and +in hooks by using group patterns. This can be useful to classify mail +and take certain actions depending on in what groups the message is. +For example, the mutt user's mailing list would fit into the categories +mailing list and mutt-related. Using send-hook, the sender can +be set to a dedicated one for writing mailing list messages, and the +signature could be set to a mutt-related one for writing to a mutt list +— for other lists, the list sender setting still applies but a +different signature can be selected. Or, given a group only containing +recipients known to accept encrypted mail, +auto-encryption can be achieved easily. + + + +The group command is used to directly add either +addresses or regular expressions to the specified group or groups. The +different categories of arguments to the group +command can be in any order. The flags -rx and -addr specify what the following strings (that cannot begin with a hyphen) should be interpreted as: either a regular expression or an email address, respectively. -These address groups can also be created implicitely by the -alias, lists, -subscribe and -alternates commands by specifying the -optional -group option. +These address groups can also be created implicitly by the alias, lists, subscribe and alternates commands by +specifying the optional -group option. For example, - -Once defined, these address groups can be used in -patterns to search for and limit the -display to messages matching a group. - + +alternates -group me address1 address2 +alternates -group me -group work address3 + -Usage: ungroup [ -group name [ ... ] ] [ * | [ [ -rx EXPR [ ... ] ] [ -addr EXPR [ ... ] ] ] +would create a group named me which contains all your +addresses and a group named work which contains only your +work address address3. Besides many other +possibilities, this could be used to automatically mark your own +messages in a mailing list folder as read or use a special signature for +work-related messages. -ungroup is used to remove addresses or regular -expressions from the specified group or groups. The syntax is similar to -the group command, however the special character -* can be used to empty a group of all of its -contents. +The ungroup command is used to remove addresses or +regular expressions from the specified group or groups. The syntax is +similar to the group command, however the special +character * can be used to empty a group of all of +its contents. As soon as a group gets empty because all addresses and +regular expressions have been removed, it'll internally be removed, too +(i.e. there cannot be an empty group). When removing regular expressions +from a group, the pattern must be specified exactly as given to the +group command or -group argument. -Defining/Using aliases - - -Usage: alias [ -group name [ ... ] ] key address [ , address, ... ] - - - -It's usually very cumbersome to remember or type out the address of someone -you are communicating with. Mutt allows you to create ``aliases'' which map -a short string to a full address. - - - -Note: if you want to create an alias for more than -one address, you must separate the addresses with a comma (``,''). - +Defining/Using Aliases + +Usage: + + +alias + + +name + + +key + + +address + + +address + + +unalias + + +name + + + +* + + +key + + + + + +It's usually very cumbersome to remember or type out the address of +someone you are communicating with. Mutt allows you to create +aliases which map a short string to a full address. + + + + +If you want to create an alias for more than one address, you +must separate the addresses with a comma +(,). + + The optional -group argument to -alias causes the aliased address(es) to be added to +alias causes the aliased address(es) to be added to the named group. -To remove an alias or aliases (``*'' means all aliases): - - - -unalias [ * | key ... ] +To remove an alias or aliases (* means all aliases): - - alias muttdude me@cs.hmc.edu (Michael Elkins) alias theguys manny, moe, jack - - - -Unlike other mailers, Mutt doesn't require aliases to be defined -in a special file. The alias command can appear anywhere in -a configuration file, as long as this file is sourced. Consequently, you can have multiple alias files, or -you can have all aliases defined in your muttrc. - - -On the other hand, the create-alias -function can use only one file, the one pointed to by the $alias_file variable (which is -˜/.muttrc by default). This file is not special either, -in the sense that Mutt will happily append aliases to any file, but in -order for the new aliases to take effect you need to explicitly source this file too. +Unlike other mailers, Mutt doesn't require aliases to be defined in a +special file. The alias command can appear anywhere +in a configuration file, as long as this file is sourced. Consequently, you +can have multiple alias files, or you can have all aliases defined in +your .muttrc. -For example: +On the other hand, the <create-alias> +function can use only one file, the one pointed to by the $alias_file variable (which is +~/.muttrc by default). This file is not special +either, in the sense that Mutt will happily append aliases to any file, +but in order for the new aliases to take effect you need to explicitly +source this file too. - - + +Configuring external alias files source /usr/local/share/Mutt.aliases source ~/.mail_aliases set alias_file=~/.mail_aliases - - + -To use aliases, you merely use the alias at any place in mutt where mutt -prompts for addresses, such as the To: or Cc: prompt. You can -also enter aliases in your editor at the appropriate headers if you have the -$edit_headers variable set. +To use aliases, you merely use the alias at any place in Mutt where Mutt +prompts for addresses, such as the To: or +Cc: prompt. You can also enter aliases in your +editor at the appropriate headers if you have the $edit_headers variable set. -In addition, at the various address prompts, you can use the tab character -to expand a partial alias to the full alias. If there are multiple matches, -mutt will bring up a menu with the matching aliases. In order to be -presented with the full list of aliases, you must hit tab with out a partial -alias, such as at the beginning of the prompt or after a comma denoting -multiple addresses. +In addition, at the various address prompts, you can use the tab +character to expand a partial alias to the full alias. If there are +multiple matches, Mutt will bring up a menu with the matching aliases. +In order to be presented with the full list of aliases, you must hit tab +without a partial alias, such as at the beginning of the prompt or after +a comma denoting multiple addresses. In the alias menu, you can select as many aliases as you want with the -select-entry key (default: RET), and use the exit key -(default: q) to return to the address prompt. +select-entry key (default: <Return>), and use +the exit key (default: q) to return to the address +prompt. -Changing the default key bindings +Changing the Default Key Bindings - -Usage: bind map key function - +Usage: + + +bind + +map + + +key + + +function + + This command allows you to change the default key bindings (operation @@ -1696,12 +2155,11 @@ invoked when pressing a key). -map specifies in which menu the binding belongs. Multiple maps may -be specified by separating them with commas (no additional whitespace is -allowed). The currently defined maps are: +map specifies in which menu the binding belongs. +Multiple maps may be specified by separating them with commas (no +additional whitespace is allowed). The currently defined maps are: - @@ -1711,9 +2169,10 @@ allowed). The currently defined maps are: This is not a real menu, but is used as a fallback for all of the other menus except for the pager and editor modes. If a key is not defined in -another menu, Mutt will look for a binding to use in this menu. This allows -you to bind a key to a certain function in multiple menus instead of having -multiple bind statements to accomplish the same task. +another menu, Mutt will look for a binding to use in this menu. This +allows you to bind a key to a certain function in multiple menus instead +of having multiple bind statements to accomplish the +same task. @@ -1722,8 +2181,8 @@ multiple bind statements to accomplish the same task. The alias menu is the list of your personal aliases as defined in your -muttrc. It is the mapping from a short alias name to the full email -address(es) of the recipient(s). +.muttrc. It is the mapping from a short alias name +to the full email address(es) of the recipient(s). @@ -1731,7 +2190,8 @@ address(es) of the recipient(s). attach -The attachment menu is used to access the attachments on received messages. +The attachment menu is used to access the attachments on received +messages. @@ -1739,8 +2199,8 @@ The attachment menu is used to access the attachments on received messages. browser -The browser is used for both browsing the local directory structure, and for -listing all of your incoming mailboxes. +The browser is used for both browsing the local directory structure, and +for listing all of your incoming mailboxes. @@ -1748,7 +2208,9 @@ listing all of your incoming mailboxes. editor -The editor is the line-based editor the user enters text data. +The editor is used to allow the user to enter a single line of text, such as +the To or Subject prompts in the +compose menu. @@ -1781,12 +2243,21 @@ listings. pgp -The pgp menu is used to select the OpenPGP keys used for encrypting outgoing +The pgp menu is used to select the OpenPGP keys used to encrypt outgoing messages. +smime + + +The smime menu is used to select the OpenSSL certificates used to +encrypt outgoing messages. + + + + postpone @@ -1795,22 +2266,41 @@ recalling a message the user was composing, but saved until later. - + +query + + +The query menu is the browser for results returned by $query_command. - + + + +mix + -key is the key (or key sequence) you wish to bind. To specify a -control character, use the sequence \Cx, where x is the -letter of the control character (for example, to specify control-A use -``\Ca''). Note that the case of x as well as \C is -ignored, so that \CA, \Ca, \cA and \ca are all -equivalent. An alternative form is to specify the key as a three digit -octal number prefixed with a ``\'' (for example \177 is -equivalent to \c?). In addition, key may -be a symbolic name as shown in . +The mixmaster screen is used to select remailer options for outgoing +messages (if Mutt is compiled with Mixmaster support). + + + +key is the key (or key sequence) you wish to bind. +To specify a control character, use the sequence +\Cx, where x is the letter of +the control character (for example, to specify control-A use +\Ca). Note that the case of x as +well as \C is ignored, so that +\CA, \Ca, +\cA and \ca are all +equivalent. An alternative form is to specify the key as a three digit +octal number prefixed with a \ (for example +\177 is equivalent to \c?). In +addition, key may be a symbolic name as shown in +. + Symbolic key names @@ -1819,12 +2309,12 @@ be a symbolic name as shown in . Symbolic nameMeaning -\ttab +\ttab<tab>tab<backtab>backtab / shift-tab -\rcarriage return -\nnewline -\eescape +\rcarriage return +\nnewline +\eescape<esc>escape<up>up arrow<down>down arrow @@ -1846,1623 +2336,2399 @@ be a symbolic name as shown in .
+ +key does not need to be enclosed in quotes unless +it contains a space ( ) or semi-colon +(;). -key does not need to be enclosed in quotes unless it contains a -space (`` ''). +function specifies which action to take when +key is pressed. For a complete list of functions, +see the reference. Note that the +bind expects function to be +specified without angle brackets. -function specifies which action to take when key is pressed. -For a complete list of functions, see the reference. The special function noop unbinds the specified key -sequence. +The special function <noop> unbinds the +specified key sequence. -Defining aliases for character sets +Defining Aliases for Character Sets - - -Usage: charset-hook alias charset -Usage: iconv-hook charset local-charset - - +Usage: + + +charset-hook + +alias + + +charset + + +iconv-hook + +charset + + +local-charset + + -The charset-hook command defines an alias for a character set. -This is useful to properly display messages which are tagged with a -character set name not known to mutt. +The charset-hook command defines an alias for a +character set. This is useful to properly display messages which are +tagged with a character set name not known to Mutt. -The iconv-hook command defines a system-specific name for a -character set. This is helpful when your systems character -conversion library insists on using strange, system-specific names -for character sets. +The iconv-hook command defines a system-specific name +for a character set. This is helpful when your systems character +conversion library insists on using strange, system-specific names for +character sets. -Setting variables based upon mailbox +Setting Variables Based Upon Mailbox - -Usage: folder-hook [!]regexp command - +Usage: + + +folder-hook + +[!]regexp + + +command + + It is often desirable to change settings based on which mailbox you are -reading. The folder-hook command provides a method by which you can execute -any configuration command. regexp is a regular expression specifying -in which mailboxes to execute command before loading. If a mailbox -matches multiple folder-hook's, they are executed in the order given in the -muttrc. +reading. The folder-hook command provides a method +by which you can execute any configuration command. +regexp is a regular expression specifying in which +mailboxes to execute command before loading. If a +mailbox matches multiple folder-hooks, they are +executed in the order given in the .muttrc. + -Note: if you use the ``!'' shortcut for $spoolfile at the beginning of the pattern, you must place it -inside of double or single quotes in order to distinguish it from the -logical not operator for the expression. +If you use the ! shortcut for $spoolfile at the beginning of the pattern, +you must place it inside of double or single quotes in order to +distinguish it from the logical not operator for +the expression. + + -Note that the settings are not restored when you leave the mailbox. -For example, a command action to perform is to change the sorting method -based upon the mailbox being read: +Settings are not restored when you leave the +mailbox. For example, a command action to perform is to change the +sorting method based upon the mailbox being read: - - -folder-hook mutt set sort=threads - - - +folder-hook mutt "set sort=threads" However, the sorting method is not restored to its previous value when -reading a different mailbox. To specify a default command, use the -pattern ``.'': +reading a different mailbox. To specify a default +command, use the pattern . before other +folder-hooks adjusting a value on a per-folder basis +because folder-hooks are evaluated in the order given +in the configuration file. + +The following example will set the sort +variable to date-sent for all folders but to +threads for all folders containing +mutt in their name. + + +Setting sort method based on mailbox name -folder-hook . set sort=date-sent +folder-hook . "set sort=date-sent" +folder-hook mutt "set sort=threads" - - + -Keyboard macros - - -Usage: macro menu key sequence [ description ] - - - -Macros are useful when you would like a single key to perform a series of -actions. When you press key in menu menu, Mutt will behave as if -you had typed sequence. So if you have a common sequence of commands -you type, you can create a macro to execute those commands with a single -key. - - - -menu is the map which the macro will be bound. -Multiple maps may be specified by separating multiple menu arguments by -commas. Whitespace may not be used in between the menu arguments and the -commas separating them. - - - -key and sequence are expanded by the same rules as the key bindings. There are some additions however. The -first is that control characters in sequence can also be specified -as ˆx. In order to get a caret (`ˆ'') you need to use -ˆˆ. Secondly, to specify a certain key such as up -or to invoke a function directly, you can use the format -<key name> and <function name>. For a listing of key -names see the section on key bindings. Functions +Keyboard Macros + +Usage: + + +macro + +menu + + +key + + +sequence + + +description + + + + +Macros are useful when you would like a single key to perform a series +of actions. When you press key in menu +menu, Mutt will behave as if you had typed +sequence. So if you have a common sequence of +commands you type, you can create a macro to execute those commands with +a single key or fewer keys. + + + +menu is the map which +the macro will be bound in. Multiple maps may be specified by +separating multiple menu arguments by commas. Whitespace may not be used +in between the menu arguments and the commas separating them. + + + +key and sequence are expanded +by the same rules as the key bindings with +some additions. The first is that control characters in +sequence can also be specified as +^x. In order to get a caret (^) you +need to use ^^. Secondly, to specify a certain key +such as up or to invoke a function directly, you +can use the format <key name> and +<function name>. For a listing of key names +see the section on key bindings. Functions are listed in the reference. The advantage with using function names directly is that the macros will -work regardless of the current key bindings, so they are not dependent on -the user having particular key definitions. This makes them more robust -and portable, and also facilitates defining of macros in files used by more -than one user (e.g., the system Muttrc). +work regardless of the current key bindings, so they are not dependent +on the user having particular key definitions. This makes them more +robust and portable, and also facilitates defining of macros in files +used by more than one user (e.g., the system Muttrc). -Optionally you can specify a descriptive text after sequence, -which is shown in the help screens. +Optionally you can specify a descriptive text after +sequence, which is shown in the help screens if +they contain a description. + -Note: Macro definitions (if any) listed in the help screen(s), are +Macro definitions (if any) listed in the help screen(s), are silently truncated at the screen width, and are not wrapped. + -Using color and mono video attributes - - - -Usage: color object foreground background [ regexp ] -Usage: color index foreground background pattern -Usage: uncolor index pattern [ pattern ... ] - - - - -If your terminal supports color, you can spice up Mutt by creating your own -color scheme. To define the color of an object (type of information), you -must specify both a foreground color and a background color (it is not -possible to only specify one or the other). +Using Color and Mono Video Attributes + +Usage: + + +color + +object + + +foreground + + +background + + +color + + + + + + + + + +foreground + + +background + + +regexp + + +color + + + + +foreground + + +background + + +pattern + + +uncolor + + + + + + + + + + + + + +* + + +pattern + + + + + +If your terminal supports color, you can spice up Mutt by creating your +own color scheme. To define the color of an object (type of +information), you must specify both a foreground color +and a background color (it is not possible to only +specify one or the other). + + + +header and body match +regexp in the header/body of a message, +index matches pattern (see +) in the message index. object can be one of: - - - +attachment +bold (highlighting bold patterns in the body of messages) +error (error messages printed by Mutt) +hdrdefault (default color of the message header in the pager) +indicator (arrow or bar used to indicate the current item in a menu) +markers (the + markers at the beginning of wrapped lines in the pager) +message (informational messages) +normal +quoted (text matching $quote_regexp in the body of a message) +quoted1, quoted2, ..., quotedN (higher levels of quoting) +search (highlighting of words in the pager) +signaturestatus (mode lines used to display info about the mailbox or message) +tilde (the ~ used to pad blank lines in the pager) +tree (thread tree drawn in the message index and attachment menu) +underline (highlighting underlined patterns in the body of messages) + -attachment +foreground and background can +be one of the following: - - - -body (match regexp in the body of messages) - + +white +black +green +magenta +blue +cyan +yellow +red +default +colorx - + -bold (hiliting bold patterns in the body of messages) +foreground can optionally be prefixed with the +keyword bright to make the foreground color boldfaced +(e.g., brightred). - - -error (error messages printed by Mutt) +If your terminal supports it, the special keyword +default can be used as a transparent color. The +value brightdefault is also valid. If Mutt is +linked against the S-Lang library, you also need to +set the $COLORFGBG environment variable to the +default colors of your terminal for this to work; for example (for +Bourne-like shells): - - - -header (match regexp in the message header) - - - + +set COLORFGBG="green;black" +export COLORFGBG + - -hdrdefault (default color of the message header in the pager) + + +The S-Lang library requires you to use the +lightgray and brown keywords +instead of white and yellow +when setting this variable. + + + + + +The uncolor command can be applied to the index, +header and body objects only. It removes entries from the list. You +must specify the same pattern specified in the +color command for it to be removed. The pattern +* is a special token which means to clear the color list +of all entries. + + + + +Mutt also recognizes the keywords color0, +color1, ..., +colorN-1 +(N being the number of colors supported by your +terminal). This is useful when you remap the colors for your display +(for example by changing the color associated with +color2 for your xterm), since color names may then +lose their normal meaning. + + + + +If your terminal does not support color, it is still possible change the +video attributes through the use of the mono +command. Usage: + + + +mono + +object + + +attribute + + +mono + + + + + + + + + +attribute + + +regexp + + +mono + + + + +attribute + + +pattern + + +unmono + + + + + + + + + + + + + +* + + +pattern + + + + + +For object, see the color +command. attribute can be one of the following: - - - -index (match pattern in the message index) - - - + +none +bold +underline +reverse +standout + + + + + +Message Header Display + + +Header Display -indicator (arrow or bar used to indicate the current item in a menu) +When displaying a message in the pager, Mutt folds long header lines at +$wrap columns. Though there're precise rules +about where to break and how, Mutt always folds headers using a tab for +readability. (Note that the sending side is not affected by this, Mutt +tries to implement standards compliant folding.) - - + + + + +Selecting Headers + +Usage: + + +ignore + +pattern + + +pattern + + +unignore + + +* + + +pattern + + + -markers (the ``+'' markers at the beginning of wrapped lines in the pager) +Messages often have many header fields added by automatic processing +systems, or which may not seem useful to display on the screen. This +command allows you to specify header fields which you don't normally +want to see in the pager. - - -message (informational messages) +You do not need to specify the full header field name. For example, +ignore content- will ignore all header fields that begin +with the pattern content-. ignore * will +ignore all headers. - - -normal +To remove a previously added token from the list, use the +unignore command. The unignore command +will make Mutt display headers with the given pattern. For example, if +you do ignore x- it is possible to unignore +x-mailer. - - -quoted (text matching $quote_regexp in the body of a message) +unignore * will remove all tokens from the ignore list. - - - -quoted1, quoted2, ..., quotedN (higher levels of quoting) - - - + +Header weeding + +# Sven's draconian header weeding +ignore * +unignore from date subject to cc +unignore organization organisation x-mailer: x-newsreader: x-mailing-list: +unignore posted-to: + + - -search (hiliting of words in the pager) - - - + - -signature + +Ordering Displayed Headers + +Usage: + + +hdr_order + +header + + +header + + +unhdr_order + + +* + + +header + + + + + +With the hdr_order command you can specify an order +in which Mutt will attempt to present these headers to you when viewing +messages. - - -status (mode lines used to display info about the mailbox or message) +unhdr_order * will clear all previous +headers from the order list, thus removing the header order effects set +by the system-wide startup file. - - - -tilde (the ``˜'' used to pad blank lines in the pager) + +Configuring header display order + +hdr_order From Date: From: To: Cc: Subject: + + + + + + + +Alternative Addresses + +Usage: + + +alternates + + +name + + +regexp + + +regexp + + +unalternates + + +name + + + +* + + +regexp + + + + + +With various functions, Mutt will treat messages differently, depending +on whether you sent them or whether you received them from someone else. +For instance, when replying to a message that you sent to a different +party, Mutt will automatically suggest to send the response to the +original message's recipients — responding to yourself won't make +much sense in many cases. (See $reply_to.) - - -tree (thread tree drawn in the message index and attachment menu) +Many users receive e-mail under a number of different addresses. To +fully use Mutt's features here, the program must be able to recognize +what e-mail addresses you receive mail under. That's the purpose of the +alternates command: It takes a list of regular +expressions, each of which can identify an address under which you +receive e-mail. - - -underline (hiliting underlined patterns in the body of messages) +As addresses are matched using regular expressions and not exact strict +comparisons, you should make sure you specify your addresses as precise +as possible to avoid mismatches. For example, if you specify: - - - - + +alternates user@example + -foreground and background can be one of the following: +Mutt will consider some-user@example +as being your address, too which may not be desired. As a solution, in +such cases addresses should be specified as: - - - - + +alternates '^user@example$' + -white +The -group flag causes all of the subsequent regular +expressions to be added to the named group. - - -black +The unalternates command can be used to write +exceptions to alternates patterns. If an address +matches something in an alternates command, but you +nonetheless do not think it is from you, you can list a more precise +pattern under an unalternates command. - - -green +To remove a regular expression from the alternates +list, use the unalternates command with exactly the +same regexp. Likewise, if the +regexp for an alternates command +matches an entry on the unalternates list, that +unalternates entry will be removed. If the +regexp for unalternates is +*, all entries on +alternates will be removed. - - - -magenta - - - + - -blue + +Mailing Lists + + +Usage: + + +lists + + +name + + +regexp + + +regexp + + +unlists + + +* + + +regexp + + + +subscribe + + +name + + +regexp + + +regexp + + +unsubscribe + + +* + + +regexp + + + + + +Mutt has a few nice features for handling +mailing lists. In order to take advantage of them, you must +specify which addresses belong to mailing lists, and which mailing lists +you are subscribed to. Mutt also has limited support for auto-detecting +mailing lists: it supports parsing mailto: links in +the common List-Post: header which has the same +effect as specifying the list address via the lists +command (except the group feature). Once you have done this, the <list-reply> +function will work for all known lists. Additionally, when you send a +message to a subscribed list, Mutt will add a Mail-Followup-To header to +tell other users' mail user agents not to send copies of replies to your +personal address. + + + + +The Mail-Followup-To header is a non-standard extension which is not +supported by all mail user agents. Adding it is not bullet-proof +against receiving personal CCs of list messages. Also note that the +generation of the Mail-Followup-To header is controlled by the $followup_to configuration variable since +it's common practice on some mailing lists to send Cc upon replies +(which is more a group- than a list-reply). + + + + +More precisely, Mutt maintains lists of patterns for the addresses of +known and subscribed mailing lists. Every subscribed mailing list is +known. To mark a mailing list as known, use the list +command. To mark it as subscribed, use subscribe. + + + +You can use regular expressions with both commands. To mark all messages +sent to a specific bug report's address on Debian's bug tracking system +as list mail, for instance, you could say - - + + +subscribe [0-9]*.*@bugs.debian.org -cyan +as it's often sufficient to just give a portion of the list's e-mail +address. - - -yellow +Specify as much of the address as you need to to remove ambiguity. For +example, if you've subscribed to the Mutt mailing list, you will receive +mail addressed to mutt-users@mutt.org. So, to tell +Mutt that this is a mailing list, you could add lists +mutt-users@ to your initialization file. To tell Mutt that +you are subscribed to it, add subscribe +mutt-users to your initialization file instead. If you also +happen to get mail from someone whose address is +mutt-users@example.com, you could use +lists ^mutt-users@mutt\\.org$ or +subscribe ^mutt-users@mutt\\.org$ +to match only mail from the actual list. - - -red +The -group flag adds all of the subsequent regular +expressions to the named address group +in addition to adding to the specified address list. - - -default +The unlists command is used to remove a token from the +list of known and subscribed mailing-lists. Use unlists * +to remove all tokens. - - -colorx +To remove a mailing list from the list of subscribed mailing lists, but +keep it on the list of known mailing lists, use +unsubscribe. - - + - + +Using Multiple Spool Mailboxes + +Usage: + + +mbox-hook + +[!]pattern + + +mailbox + + -foreground can optionally be prefixed with the keyword bright to make -the foreground color boldfaced (e.g., brightred). +This command is used to move read messages from a specified mailbox to a +different mailbox automatically when you quit or change folders. +pattern is a regular expression specifying the +mailbox to treat as a spool mailbox and +mailbox specifies where mail should be saved when +read. -If your terminal supports it, the special keyword default can be -used as a transparent color. The value brightdefault is also valid. -If Mutt is linked against the S-Lang library, you also need to set -the COLORFGBG environment variable to the default colors of your -terminal for this to work; for example (for Bourne-like shells): +Unlike some of the other hook commands, only the +first matching pattern is used (it is not possible +to save read mail in more than a single mailbox). - + - -set COLORFGBG="green;black" -export COLORFGBG - + +Monitoring Incoming Mail - +Usage: - -Note: The S-Lang library requires you to use the lightgray -and brown keywords instead of white and yellow when -setting this variable. - + +mailboxes + +mailbox + + +mailbox + + +unmailboxes + + +* + + +mailbox + + + -Note: The uncolor command can be applied to the index object only. It -removes entries from the list. You must specify the same pattern -specified in the color command for it to be removed. The pattern ``*'' is -a special token which means to clear the color index list of all entries. +This command specifies folders which can receive mail and which will be +checked for new messages periodically. -Mutt also recognizes the keywords color0, color1, …, -colorN-1 (N being the number of colors supported -by your terminal). This is useful when you remap the colors for your -display (for example by changing the color associated with color2 -for your xterm), since color names may then lose their normal meaning. +folder can either be a local file or directory +(Mbox/Mmdf or Maildir/Mh). If Mutt was built with POP and/or IMAP +support, folder can also be a POP/IMAP folder +URL. The URL syntax is described in , POP +and IMAP are described in and respectively. -If your terminal does not support color, it is still possible change the video -attributes through the use of the ``mono'' command: +Mutt provides a number of advanced features for handling (possibly many) +folders and new mail within them, please refer to for details (including in what situations and how +often Mutt checks for new mail). - -Usage: mono <object> <attribute> [ regexp ] -Usage: mono index attribute pattern -Usage: unmono index pattern [ pattern ... ] - +The unmailboxes command is used to remove a token from +the list of folders which receive mail. Use unmailboxes * +to remove all tokens. + -where attribute is one of the following: +The folders in the mailboxes command are resolved +when the command is executed, so if these names contain shortcut characters (such as = +and !), any variable definition that affects these +characters (like $folder and $spoolfile) should be set before the +mailboxes command. If none of these shortcuts are +used, a local path should be absolute as otherwise Mutt tries to find it +relative to the directory from where Mutt was started which may not +always be desired. + - + - - + +User-Defined Headers + +Usage: + + +my_hdr + +string + + +unmy_hdr + + +* + + +field + + + -none +The my_hdr command allows you to create your own +header fields which will be added to every message you send and appear +in the editor if $edit_headers is +set. - - -bold +For example, if you would like to add an Organization: +header field to all of your outgoing messages, you can put the command +something like shown in in your +.muttrc. - - + +Defining custom headers + +my_hdr Organization: A Really Big Company, Anytown, USA + + + + -underline +Space characters are not allowed between the +keyword and the colon (:). The standard for electronic +mail (RFC2822) says that space is illegal there, so Mutt enforces the +rule. - - + -reverse +If you would like to add a header field to a single message, you should +either set the $edit_headers +variable, or use the <edit-headers> function +(default: E) in the compose menu so that you can edit the +header of your message along with the body. - - -standout +To remove user defined header fields, use the +unmy_hdr command. You may specify an asterisk +(*) to remove all header fields, or the fields to +remove. For example, to remove all To and +Cc header fields, you could use: - - - - + +unmy_hdr to cc + - -Ignoring (weeding) unwanted message headers + +Specify Default Save Mailbox - -Usage: [un]ignore pattern [ pattern ... ] - +Usage: - -Messages often have many header fields added by automatic processing systems, -or which may not seem useful to display on the screen. This command allows -you to specify header fields which you don't normally want to see. - + +save-hook + +[!]pattern + + +mailbox + + -You do not need to specify the full header field name. For example, -``ignore content-'' will ignore all header fields that begin with the pattern -``content-''. ``ignore *'' will ignore all headers. +This command is used to override the default mailbox used when saving +messages. mailbox will be used as the default if +the message matches pattern, see for information on the exact format. -To remove a previously added token from the list, use the ``unignore'' command. -The ``unignore'' command will make Mutt display headers with the given pattern. -For example, if you do ``ignore x-'' it is possible to ``unignore x-mailer''. +To provide more flexibility and good defaults, Mutt applies the expandos +of $index_format to +mailbox after it was expanded. - -``unignore *'' will remove all tokens from the ignore list. - + +Using %-expandos in <command>save-hook</command> + +# default: save all to ~/Mail/<author name> +save-hook . ~/Mail/%F - -For example: +# save from me@turing.cs.hmc.edu and me@cs.hmc.edu to $folder/elkins +save-hook me@(turing\\.)?cs\\.hmc\\.edu$ +elkins - -# Sven's draconian header weeding -ignore * -unignore from date subject to cc -unignore organization organisation x-mailer: x-newsreader: x-mailing-list: -unignore posted-to: +# save from aol.com to $folder/spam +save-hook aol\\.com$ +spam + + +Also see the fcc-save-hook command. - -Alternative addresses + +Specify Default Fcc: Mailbox When Composing - -Usage: [un]alternates [ -group name [ ... ] ] regexp [ regexp ... ] +Usage: - + +fcc-hook + +[!]pattern + + +mailbox + + -With various functions, mutt will treat messages differently, -depending on whether you sent them or whether you received them from -someone else. For instance, when replying to a message that you -sent to a different party, mutt will automatically suggest to send -the response to the original message's recipients -- responding to -yourself won't make much sense in many cases. (See $reply_to.) +This command is used to save outgoing mail in a mailbox other than $record. Mutt searches the initial list of +message recipients for the first matching regexp +and uses mailbox as the default Fcc: mailbox. If +no match is found the message will be saved to $record mailbox. -Many users receive e-mail under a number of different addresses. To -fully use mutt's features here, the program must be able to -recognize what e-mail addresses you receive mail under. That's the -purpose of the alternates command: It takes a list of regular -expressions, each of which can identify an address under which you -receive e-mail. +To provide more flexibility and good defaults, Mutt applies the +expandos of $index_format to +mailbox after it was expanded. -As addresses are matched using regular expressions and not exact strict -comparisons, you should make sure you specify your addresses as precise -as possible to avoid mismatches. For example, if you specify: +See for information on the exact format +of pattern. - -alternates user@example - +fcc-hook [@.]aol\\.com$ +spammers -mutt will consider ``some-user@example'' as -being your address, too which may not be desired. As a solution, in such -cases addresses should be specified as: +...will save a copy of all messages going to the aol.com domain to the +`+spammers' mailbox by default. Also see the fcc-save-hook command. - -alternates '^user@example$' - + - -The -group flag causes all of the subsequent regular expressions -to be added to the named group. - + +Specify Default Save Filename and Default Fcc: Mailbox at Once - -The unalternates command can be used to write exceptions to -alternates patterns. If an address matches something in an -alternates command, but you nonetheless do not think it is -from you, you can list a more precise pattern under an unalternates -command. - +Usage: + + +fcc-save-hook + +[!]pattern + + +mailbox + + -To remove a regular expression from the alternates list, use the -unalternates command with exactly the same regexp. -Likewise, if the regexp for an alternates command matches -an entry on the unalternates list, that unalternates -entry will be removed. If the regexp for unalternates -is ``*'', all entries on alternates will be removed. +This command is a shortcut, equivalent to doing both a fcc-hook and a save-hook with its +arguments, including %-expansion on mailbox +according to $index_format. - -Mailing lists + +Change Settings Based Upon Message Recipients + + + + +Usage: + + +reply-hook + +[!]pattern + + +command + + +send-hook + +[!]pattern + + +command + + +send2-hook + +[!]pattern + + +command + + - -Usage: [un]lists [ -group name [ ... ] ] regexp [ regexp ... ] -Usage: [un]subscribe [ -group name [ ... ] ] regexp [ regexp ... ] - +These commands can be used to execute arbitrary configuration commands +based upon recipients of the message. pattern is +used to match the message, see for +details. command is executed when +pattern matches. -Mutt has a few nice features for handling mailing lists. In order to take advantage of them, you must -specify which addresses belong to mailing lists, and which mailing -lists you are subscribed to. Once you have done this, the list-reply function will work for all known lists. -Additionally, when you send a message to a subscribed list, mutt will -add a Mail-Followup-To header to tell other users' mail user agents -not to send copies of replies to your personal address. Note that -the Mail-Followup-To header is a non-standard extension which is not -supported by all mail user agents. Adding it is not bullet-proof against -receiving personal CCs of list messages. Also note that the generation -of the Mail-Followup-To header is controlled by the $followup_to configuration variable. +reply-hook is matched against the message you are +replying to, instead of the message you are +sending. send-hook is matched +against all messages, both new and +replies. + -More precisely, Mutt maintains lists of patterns for the addresses -of known and subscribed mailing lists. Every subscribed mailing -list is known. To mark a mailing list as known, use the ``lists'' -command. To mark it as subscribed, use ``subscribe''. +reply-hooks are matched before +the send-hook, regardless of the +order specified in the user's configuration file. + -You can use regular expressions with both commands. To mark all -messages sent to a specific bug report's address on mutt's bug -tracking system as list mail, for instance, you could say -``subscribe [0-9]*@bugs.guug.de''. Often, it's sufficient to just -give a portion of the list's e-mail address. +send2-hook is matched every time a message is +changed, either by editing it, or by using the compose menu to change +its recipients or subject. send2-hook is executed +after send-hook, and can, e.g., be used to set +parameters such as the $sendmail +variable depending on the message's sender address. -Specify as much of the address as you need to to remove ambiguity. For -example, if you've subscribed to the Mutt mailing list, you will receive mail -addressed to mutt-users@mutt.org. So, to tell Mutt -that this is a mailing list, you could add ``lists mutt-users@'' to your -initialization file. To tell mutt that you are subscribed to it, -add ``subscribe mutt-users'' to your initialization file instead. -If you also happen to get mail from someone whose address is -mutt-users@example.com, you could use -``lists ^mutt-users@mutt\\.org$'' -or ``subscribe ^mutt-users@mutt\\.org$'' to -match only mail from the actual list. +For each type of send-hook or +reply-hook, when multiple matches occur, commands are +executed in the order they are specified in the +.muttrc (for that type of hook). -The -group flag adds all of the subsequent regular expressions -to the named group. +Example: send-hook mutt +"set mime_forward signature=''" -The ``unlists'' command is used to remove a token from the list of -known and subscribed mailing-lists. Use ``unlists *'' to remove all -tokens. +Another typical use for this command is to change the values of the +$attribution, $signature and $locale variables in order to change the +language of the attributions and signatures based upon the recipients. + -To remove a mailing list from the list of subscribed mailing lists, -but keep it on the list of known mailing lists, use ``unsubscribe''. +send-hook's are only executed once after getting the +initial list of recipients. Adding a recipient after replying or +editing the message will not cause any send-hook to +be executed, similarly if $autoedit is +set (as then the initial list of recipients is empty). Also note that +my_hdr commands which +modify recipient headers, or the message's subject, don't have any +effect on the current message when executed from a +send-hook. + - -Using Multiple spool mailboxes + +Change Settings Before Formatting a Message + +Usage: + + +message-hook + +[!]pattern + + +command + + -Usage: mbox-hook [!]pattern mailbox +This command can be used to execute arbitrary configuration commands +before viewing or formatting a message based upon information about the +message. command is executed if the +pattern matches the message to be displayed. When +multiple matches occur, commands are executed in the order they are +specified in the .muttrc. -This command is used to move read messages from a specified mailbox to a -different mailbox automatically when you quit or change folders. -pattern is a regular expression specifying the mailbox to treat as a -``spool'' mailbox and mailbox specifies where mail should be saved when -read. +See for information on the exact format +of pattern. -Unlike some of the other hook commands, only the first matching -pattern is used (it is not possible to save read mail in more than a single -mailbox). +Example: + +message-hook ~A 'set pager=builtin' +message-hook '~f freshmeat-news' 'set pager="less \"+/^ subject: .*\""' + + - -Monitoring incoming mail + +Choosing the Cryptographic Key of the Recipient - -Usage: [un]mailboxes folder [ folder ... ] - +Usage: - -This command specifies folders which can receive mail and -which will be checked for new messages. By default, the -main menu status bar displays how many of these folders have -new messages. - + +crypt-hook + +pattern + + +keyid + + -folder can either be a local file or directory -(Mbox/Mmdf or Maildir/Mh). If Mutt was built with POP and/or IMAP -support, folder can also be a POP/IMAP folder -URL. The URL syntax is described in , -POP and IMAP are described in and -respectively. +When encrypting messages with PGP/GnuPG or OpenSSL, you may want to +associate a certain key with a given e-mail address automatically, +either because the recipient's public key can't be deduced from the +destination address, or because, for some reasons, you need to override +the key Mutt would normally use. The crypt-hook +command provides a method by which you can specify the ID of the public +key to be used when encrypting messages to a certain recipient. -When changing folders, pressing space will cycle -through folders with new mail. +The meaning of keyid is to be taken broadly in this +context: You can either put a numerical key ID here, an e-mail address, +or even just a real name. + + + +Adding Key Sequences to the Keyboard Buffer + +Usage: + + +push + +string + + + -Pressing TAB in the directory browser will bring up a menu showing the files -specified by the mailboxes command, and indicate which contain new -messages. Mutt will automatically enter this mode when invoked from the -command line with the -y option. +This command adds the named string to the keyboard buffer. The string +may contain control characters, key names and function names like the +sequence string in the macro command. You +may use it to automatically run a sequence of commands at startup, or +when entering certain folders. For example, shows how to automatically collapse all +threads when entering a folder. + +Embedding <command>push</command> in <command>folder-hook</command> + +folder-hook . 'push <collapse-all>' + + + -The ``unmailboxes'' command is used to remove a token from the list -of folders which receive mail. Use ``unmailboxes *'' to remove all -tokens. +For using functions like shown in the example, it's important to use +angle brackets (< and >) to make +Mutt recognize the input as a function name. Otherwise it will simulate +individual just keystrokes, i.e. push +collapse-all would be interpreted as if you had typed +c, followed by o, followed by +l, ..., which is not desired and may lead to very +unexpected behavior. -Note: the folders in the mailboxes command are resolved when -the command is executed, so if these names contain shortcut characters (such as ``='' and ``!''), any variable -definition that affect these characters (like $folder and $spoolfile) -should be executed before the mailboxes command. If -none of these shorcuts are used, a local path should be absolute as -otherwise mutt tries to find it within the current working directory -from where mutt was started which may not always be desired. +Keystrokes can be used, too, but are less portable because of +potentially changed key bindings. With default bindings, this is +equivalent to the above example: + +folder-hook . 'push \eV' + + -For local folders, new mail is detected by comparing access and/or -modification times of files and folders. The interval in which Mutt -checks for new mail is defined by -$mail_check. +because it simulates that Esc+V was pressed (which is the default +binding of <collapse-all>). + + + +Executing Functions + +Usage: + + +exec + +function + + +function + + + -Special care is required with Mbox and Mmdf -folders as Mutt assumes such a folder has new mail if it wasn't -accessed after it was last modified. Utilities like biff or -frm or any other program which accesses the mailbox might cause -Mutt to never detect new mail for that mailbox if they do not properly reset the -access time. Backup tools are another common reason for updated access times. +This command can be used to execute any function. Functions are listed +in the function reference. +exec function is +equivalent to push <function>. - -User defined headers + +Message Scoring - -Usage: +Usage: + + +score + +pattern + + +value + + +unscore + + +* + + +pattern + + + + + +The score commands adds value to +a message's score if pattern matches it. +pattern is a string in the format described in the +patterns section (note: For efficiency +reasons, patterns which scan information not available in the index, +such as ~b, ~B or +~h, may not be used). value is +a positive or negative integer. A message's final score is the sum +total of all matching score entries. However, you +may optionally prefix value with an equal sign +(=) to cause evaluation to stop at a particular entry if +there is a match. Negative final scores are rounded up to 0. + + + +The unscore command removes score entries from the +list. You must specify the same pattern specified +in the score command for it to be removed. The +pattern * is a special token which means to clear the +list of all score entries. + -my_hdr string + -unmy_hdr field [ field ... ] + +Spam Detection + +Usage: + + +spam + +pattern + + +format + + +nospam + + +* + + +pattern + + + + + +Mutt has generalized support for external spam-scoring filters. By +defining your spam patterns with the spam and +nospam commands, you can limit, +search, and sort your mail +based on its spam attributes, as determined by the external filter. You +also can display the spam attributes in your index display using the +%H selector in the $index_format variable. (Tip: try +%?H?[%H] ? to display spam tags only when they are +defined for a given message.) -The ``my_hdr'' command allows you to create your own header -fields which will be added to every message you send. +Your first step is to define your external filter's spam patterns using +the spam command. pattern should +be a regular expression that matches a header in a mail message. If any +message in the mailbox matches this regular expression, it will receive +a spam tag or spam attribute (unless it +also matches a nospam pattern — see below.) The +appearance of this attribute is entirely up to you, and is governed by +the format parameter. format +can be any static text, but it also can include back-references from the +pattern expression. (A regular expression +back-reference refers to a sub-expression contained +within parentheses.) %1 is replaced with the first +back-reference in the regex, %2 with the second, etc. -For example, if you would like to add an ``Organization:'' header field to -all of your outgoing messages, you can put the command +To match spam tags, mutt needs the corresponding header information +which is always the case for local and POP folders but not for IMAP in +the default configuration. Depending on the spam header to be analyzed, +$imap_headers may need to be +adjusted. -my_hdr Organization: A Really Big Company, Anytown, USA +If you're using multiple spam filters, a message can have more than one +spam-related header. You can define spam patterns for +each filter you use. If a message matches two or more of these patterns, +and the $spam_separator variable +is set to a string, then the message's spam tag will consist of all the +format strings joined together, with the value of +$spam_separator separating them. -in your .muttrc. +For example, suppose one uses DCC, SpamAssassin, and PureMessage, then +the configuration might look like in . + +Configuring spam detection + +spam "X-DCC-.*-Metrics:.*(....)=many" "90+/DCC-%1" +spam "X-Spam-Status: Yes" "90+/SA" +spam "X-PerlMX-Spam: .*Probability=([0-9]+)%" "%1/PM" +set spam_separator=", " + + + -Note: space characters are not allowed between the keyword and -the colon (``:''). The standard for electronic mail (RFC822) says that -space is illegal there, so Mutt enforces the rule. +If then a message is received that DCC registered with +many hits under the Fuz2 checksum, and +that PureMessage registered with a 97% probability of being spam, that +message's spam tag would read 90+/DCC-Fuz2, +97/PM. (The four characters before =many in a +DCC report indicate the checksum used — in this case, +Fuz2.) -If you would like to add a header field to a single message, you should -either set the $edit_headers variable, -or use the edit-headers function (default: ``E'') in the send-menu so -that you can edit the header of your message along with the body. +If the $spam_separator variable is +unset, then each spam pattern match supersedes the previous one. Instead +of getting joined format strings, you'll get only +the last one to match. -To remove user defined header fields, use the ``unmy_hdr'' -command. You may specify an asterisk (``*'') to remove all header -fields, or the fields to remove. For example, to remove all ``To'' and -``Cc'' header fields, you could use: +The spam tag is what will be displayed in the index when you use +%H in the $index_format variable. It's also the +string that the ~H pattern-matching expression +matches against for <search> and +<limit> functions. And it's what sorting by +spam attribute will use as a sort key. -unmy_hdr to cc +That's a pretty complicated example, and most people's actual +environments will have only one spam filter. The simpler your +configuration, the more effective Mutt can be, especially when it comes +to sorting. - - - -Defining the order of headers when viewing messages - -Usage: hdr_order header1 header2 header3 +Generally, when you sort by spam tag, Mutt will sort +lexically — that is, by ordering strings +alphanumerically. However, if a spam tag begins with a number, Mutt will +sort numerically first, and lexically only when two numbers are equal in +value. (This is like UNIX's sort -n.) A message with +no spam attributes at all — that is, one that didn't match +any of your spam patterns +— is sorted at lowest priority. Numbers are sorted next, beginning +with 0 and ranging upward. Finally, non-numeric strings are sorted, with +a taking lower priority than z. Clearly, +in general, sorting by spam tags is most effective when you can coerce +your filter to give you a raw number. But in case you can't, Mutt can +still do something useful. -With this command, you can specify an order in which mutt will attempt -to present headers to you when viewing messages. +The nospam command can be used to write exceptions to +spam patterns. If a header pattern matches something +in a spam command, but you nonetheless do not want it +to receive a spam tag, you can list a more precise pattern under a +nospam command. -``unhdr_order *'' will clear all previous headers from the order list, -thus removing the header order effects set by the system-wide startup -file. +If the pattern given to nospam +is exactly the same as the pattern on an existing +spam list entry, the effect will be to remove the +entry from the spam list, instead of adding an exception. Likewise, if +the pattern for a spam command +matches an entry on the nospam list, that nospam +entry will be removed. If the pattern for +nospam is *, all entries on +both lists will be removed. This might be the default action +if you use spam and nospam in +conjunction with a folder-hook. +You can have as many spam or +nospam commands as you like. You can even do your +own primitive spam detection within Mutt — for +example, if you consider all mail from MAILER-DAEMON +to be spam, you can use a spam command like this: + -hdr_order From Date: From: To: Cc: Subject: +spam "^From: .*MAILER-DAEMON" "999" - - - -Specify default save mailbox - - -Usage: save-hook [!]pattern mailbox - + +Setting and Querying Variables + + +Variable Types -This command is used to override the default mailbox used when saving -messages. mailbox will be used as the default if the message -matches pattern, see for information -on the exact format. +Mutt supports these types of configuration variables: + + +boolean + -To provide more flexibility and good defaults, Mutt applies the -expandos of $index_format to -mailbox after it was expanded. +A boolean expression, either yes or no. - + + + +number + -Examples: +A signed integer number in the range -32768 to 32767. - + + + +string + - - -# default: save all to ~/Mail/<author name> -save-hook . ~/Mail/%F -# save from me@turing.cs.hmc.edu/me@cs.hmc.edu to $folder/elinks -save-hook me@(turing\\.)?cs\\.hmc\\.edu$ +elkins -# save from aol.com to $folder/spam -save-hook aol\\.com$ +spam - - +Arbitrary text. - + + + +path + -Also see the fcc-save-hook command. +A specialized string for representing paths including support for +mailbox shortcuts (see ) as well as tilde +(~) for a user's home directory and more. - - - - -Specify default Fcc: mailbox when composing - + + + +quadoption + -Usage: fcc-hook [!]pattern mailbox +Like a boolean but triggers a prompt when set to ask-yes +or ask-no with yes and no +preselected respectively. - + + + +sort order + -This command is used to save outgoing mail in a mailbox other than -$record. Mutt searches the initial list of -message recipients for the first matching regexp and uses mailbox -as the default Fcc: mailbox. If no match is found the message will be saved -to $record mailbox. +A specialized string allowing only particular words as values depending +on the variable. - + + + +regular expression + -To provide more flexibility and good defaults, Mutt applies the -expandos of $index_format to -mailbox after it was expanded. +A regular expression, see for an introduction. - + + + +folder magic + -See for information on the exact format of pattern. +Specifies the type of folder to use: mbox, +mmdf, mh or +maildir. Currently only used to determine the type +for newly created folders. - + + + +e-mail address + -Example: fcc-hook [@.]aol\\.com$ +spammers +An e-mail address either with or without realname. The older +user@example.org (Joe User) form is +supported but strongly deprecated. - + + + +user-defined + -The above will save a copy of all messages going to the aol.com domain to -the `+spammers' mailbox by default. Also see the fcc-save-hook command. +Arbitrary text, see for details. + + + - + - -Specify default save filename and default Fcc: mailbox at once + +Commands -Usage: fcc-save-hook [!]pattern mailbox +The following commands are available to manipulate and query variables: - -This command is a shortcut, equivalent to doing both a fcc-hook -and a save-hook with its arguments, -including %-expansion on mailbox according -to $index_format. - +Usage: - + +set + + + + + + +variable + + +variable=value + + + - -Change settings based upon message recipients +toggle + +variable + + +variable + + +unset + +variable + + +variable + + +reset + +variable + + +variable + + - -Usage: reply-hook [!]pattern command -Usage: send-hook [!]pattern command -Usage: send2-hook [!]pattern command - +This command is used to set (and unset) configuration variables. There are four +basic types of variables: boolean, number, string and quadoption. +boolean variables can be set +(true) or unset (false). +number variables can be assigned a positive integer +value. string variables consist of any number of +printable characters and must be enclosed in quotes if they contain +spaces or tabs. You may also use the escape sequences \n +and \t for newline and tab, respectively. +quadoption variables are used to control whether or +not to be prompted for certain actions, or to specify a default action. +A value of yes will cause the action to be carried +out automatically as if you had answered yes to the question. +Similarly, a value of no will cause the action to +be carried out as if you had answered no. A value of +ask-yes will cause a prompt with a default answer +of yes and ask-no will provide a +default answer of no. -These commands can be used to execute arbitrary configuration commands based -upon recipients of the message. pattern is a regular expression -matching the desired address. command is executed when regexp -matches recipients of the message. +Prefixing a variable with no will unset it. Example: +set noaskbcc. -reply-hook is matched against the message you are replying -to, instead of the message you are sending. send-hook is -matched against all messages, both new and replies. Note: -reply-hooks are matched before the send-hook, regardless -of the order specified in the user's configuration file. +For boolean variables, you may optionally prefix +the variable name with inv to toggle the value (on or +off). This is useful when writing macros. Example: +set invsmart_wrap. -send2-hook is matched every time a message is changed, either -by editing it, or by using the compose menu to change its recipients -or subject. send2-hook is executed after send-hook, and -can, e.g., be used to set parameters such as the $sendmail variable depending on the message's sender -address. +The toggle command automatically prepends the +inv prefix to all specified variables. -For each type of send-hook or reply-hook, when multiple matches -occur, commands are executed in the order they are specified in the muttrc -(for that type of hook). +The unset command automatically prepends the +no prefix to all specified variables. -See for information on the exact format of pattern. +Using the <enter-command> function in the +index menu, you can query the value of a variable +by prefixing the name of the variable with a question mark: + +set ?allow_8bit + + -Example: send-hook mutt "set mime_forward signature=''" +The question mark is actually only required for boolean and quadoption +variables. -Another typical use for this command is to change the values of the -$attribution, $signature and $locale -variables in order to change the language of the attributions and -signatures based upon the recipients. +The reset command resets all given variables to the +compile time defaults (hopefully mentioned in this manual). If you use +the command set and prefix the variable with +& this has the same behavior as the +reset command. -Note: the send-hook's are only executed ONCE after getting the initial -list of recipients. Adding a recipient after replying or editing the -message will NOT cause any send-hook to be executed. Also note that -my_hdr commands which modify recipient headers, or the message's -subject, don't have any effect on the current message when executed -from a send-hook. +With the reset command there exists the special +variable all, which allows you to reset all variables to +their system defaults. - + - -Change settings before formatting a message + +User-Defined Variables + + +Introduction -Usage: message-hook [!]pattern command +Along with the variables listed in the Configuration variables section, Mutt +supports user-defined variables with names starting with +my_ as in, for example, my_cfgdir. -This command can be used to execute arbitrary configuration commands -before viewing or formatting a message based upon information about the message. -command is executed if the pattern matches the message to be -displayed. When multiple matches occur, commands are executed in the order -they are specified in the muttrc. +The set command either creates a custom +my_ variable or changes its value if it does exist +already. The unset and reset +commands remove the variable entirely. -See for -information on the exact format of pattern. +Since user-defined variables are expanded in the same way that +environment variables are (except for the shell-escape command and backtick +expansion), this feature can be used to make configuration files more +readable. + + + +Examples + -Example: +The following example defines and uses the variable +my_cfgdir to abbreviate the calls of the source command: + + +Using user-defined variables for config file readability -message-hook ~A 'set pager=builtin' -message-hook '~f freshmeat-news' 'set pager="less \"+/^ subject: .*\""' +set my_cfgdir = $HOME/mutt/config + +source $my_cfgdir/hooks +source $my_cfgdir/macros +# more source commands... + + +A custom variable can also be used in macros to backup the current value +of another variable. In the following example, the value of the $delete is changed temporarily while its +original value is saved as my_delete. After the +macro has executed all commands, the original value of $delete is restored. - - - -Choosing the cryptographic key of the recipient + +Using user-defined variables for backing up other config option values + +macro pager ,x '\ +<enter-command>set my_delete=$delete<enter>\ +<enter-command>set delete=yes<enter>\ +...\ +<enter-command>set delete=$my_delete<enter>' + + -Usage: crypt-hook pattern keyid +Since Mutt expands such values already when parsing the configuration +file(s), the value of $my_delete in the +last example would be the value of $delete exactly +as it was at that point during parsing the configuration file. If +another statement would change the value for $delete +later in the same or another file, it would have no effect on +$my_delete. However, the expansion can +be deferred to runtime, as shown in the next example, when escaping the +dollar sign. + +Deferring user-defined variable expansion to runtime + +macro pager <PageDown> "\ +<enter-command> set my_old_pager_stop=\$pager_stop pager_stop<Enter>\ +<next-page>\ +<enter-command> set pager_stop=\$my_old_pager_stop<Enter>\ +<enter-command> unset my_old_pager_stop<Enter>" + + + -When encrypting messages with PGP or OpenSSL, you may want to associate a certain -key with a given e-mail address automatically, either because the -recipient's public key can't be deduced from the destination address, -or because, for some reasons, you need to override the key Mutt would -normally use. The crypt-hook command provides a method by which you can -specify the ID of the public key to be used when encrypting messages to -a certain recipient. +Note that there is a space between +<enter-command> and the set +configuration command, preventing Mutt from recording the +macro's commands into its history. + + + + + +Type Conversions + -The meaning of "key id" is to be taken broadly in this context: You -can either put a numerical key ID here, an e-mail address, or even -just a real name. +Variables are always assigned string values which Mutt parses into its +internal representation according to the type of the variable, for +example an integer number for numeric types. For all queries (including +$-expansion) the value is converted from its internal type back into +string. As a result, any variable can be assigned any value given that +its content is valid for the target. This also counts for custom +variables which are of type string. In case of parsing errors, Mutt will +print error messages. demonstrates type +conversions. - + +Type conversions using variables + +set my_lines = "5" # value is string "5" +set pager_index_lines = $my_lines # value is integer 5 - -Adding key sequences to the keyboard buffer +set my_sort = "date-received" # value is string "date-received" +set sort = "last-$my_sort" # value is sort last-date-received + +set my_inc = $read_inc # value is string "10" (default of $read_inc) +set my_foo = $my_inc # value is string "10" + + -Usage: push string +These assignments are all valid. If, however, the value of +$my_lines would have been +five (or something else that cannot be parsed into a +number), the assignment to +$pager_index_lines would have +produced an error message. -This command adds the named string to the keyboard buffer. The string may -contain control characters, key names and function names like the sequence -string in the macro command. You may use it to -automatically run a sequence of commands at startup, or when entering -certain folders. For example, the following command will automatically -collapse all threads when entering a folder: - - -folder-hook . 'push <collapse-all>' - +Type conversion applies to all configuration commands which take +arguments. But please note that every expanded value of a variable is +considered just a single token. A working example is: - + +set my_pattern = "~A" +set my_number = "10" - -Executing functions +# same as: score ~A +10 +score $my_pattern +$my_number -Usage: exec function [ function ... ] +What does not work is: + +set my_mx = "+mailbox1 +mailbox2" +mailboxes $my_mx +mailbox3 + -This command can be used to execute any function. Functions are -listed in the function reference. -``exec function'' is equivalent to ``push <function>''. +because the value of $my_mx is interpreted as a +single mailbox named +mailbox1 +mailbox2 and not two +distinct mailboxes. + + - -Message Scoring + +Reading Initialization Commands From Another File + +Usage: + + +source + +filename + + - -Usage: score pattern value -Usage: unscore pattern [ pattern ... ] - +This command allows the inclusion of initialization commands from other +files. For example, I place all of my aliases in +~/.mail_aliases so that I can make my +~/.muttrc readable and keep my aliases private. -The score commands adds value to a message's score if pattern -matches it. pattern is a string in the format described in the patterns section (note: For efficiency reasons, patterns -which scan information not available in the index, such as ˜b, -˜B or ˜h, may not be used). value is a -positive or negative integer. A message's final score is the sum total of all -matching score entries. However, you may optionally prefix value with -an equal sign (=) to cause evaluation to stop at a particular entry if there is -a match. Negative final scores are rounded up to 0. +If the filename begins with a tilde (~), it will be +expanded to the path of your home directory. -The unscore command removes score entries from the list. You must -specify the same pattern specified in the score command for it to be -removed. The pattern ``*'' is a special token which means to clear the list -of all score entries. +If the filename ends with a vertical bar (|), then +filename is considered to be an executable program +from which to read input (e.g. source +~/bin/myscript|). - -Spam detection + +Removing Hooks - - -Usage: spam pattern format -Usage: nospam pattern - - +Usage: + + +unhook + + +* + + +hook-type + + + -Mutt has generalized support for external spam-scoring filters. -By defining your spam patterns with the spam and nospam -commands, you can limit, search, and sort your -mail based on its spam attributes, as determined by the external -filter. You also can display the spam attributes in your index -display using the %H selector in the $index_format variable. (Tip: try %?H?[%H] ? -to display spam tags only when they are defined for a given message.) +This command permits you to flush hooks you have previously defined. +You can either remove all hooks by giving the * character +as an argument, or you can remove all hooks of a specific type by saying +something like unhook send-hook. + + + +Format Strings + + +Basic usage + -Your first step is to define your external filter's spam patterns using -the spam command. pattern should be a regular expression -that matches a header in a mail message. If any message in the mailbox -matches this regular expression, it will receive a ``spam tag'' or -``spam attribute'' (unless it also matches a nospam pattern -- see -below.) The appearance of this attribute is entirely up to you, and is -governed by the format parameter. format can be any static -text, but it also can include back-references from the pattern -expression. (A regular expression ``back-reference'' refers to a -sub-expression contained within parentheses.) %1 is replaced with -the first back-reference in the regex, %2 with the second, etc. +Format strings are a general concept you'll find in several locations +through the Mutt configuration, especially in the $index_format, $pager_format, $status_format, and other related +variables. These can be very straightforward, and it's quite possible +you already know how to use them. -If you're using multiple spam filters, a message can have more than -one spam-related header. You can define spam patterns for each -filter you use. If a message matches two or more of these patterns, and -the $spam_separator variable is set to a string, then the -message's spam tag will consist of all the format strings joined -together, with the value of $spam_separator separating -them. +The most basic format string element is a percent symbol followed by +another character. For example, %s represents a +message's Subject: header in the $index_format variable. The +expandos available are documented with each format +variable, but there are general modifiers available with all formatting +expandos, too. Those are our concern here. -For example, suppose I use DCC, SpamAssassin, and PureMessage. I might -define these spam settings: - - -spam "X-DCC-.*-Metrics:.*(....)=many" "90+/DCC-%1" -spam "X-Spam-Status: Yes" "90+/SA" -spam "X-PerlMX-Spam: .*Probability=([0-9]+)%" "%1/PM" -set spam_separator=", " - - +Some of the modifiers are borrowed right out of C (though you might know +them from Perl, Python, shell, or another language). These are the +[-]m.n modifiers, as in +%-12.12s. As with such programming languages, these +modifiers allow you to specify the minimum and maximum size of the +resulting string, as well as its justification. If the - +sign follows the percent, the string will be left-justified instead of +right-justified. If there's a number immediately following that, it's +the minimum amount of space the formatted string will occupy — if +it's naturally smaller than that, it will be padded out with spaces. If +a decimal point and another number follow, that's the maximum space +allowable — the string will not be permitted to exceed that width, +no matter its natural size. Each of these three elements is optional, so +that all these are legal format strings: %-12s, +%4c, %.15F and +%-12.15L. -If I then received a message that DCC registered with ``many'' hits -under the ``Fuz2'' checksum, and that PureMessage registered with a -97% probability of being spam, that message's spam tag would read -90+/DCC-Fuz2, 97/PM. (The four characters before ``=many'' in a -DCC report indicate the checksum used -- in this case, ``Fuz2''.) +Mutt adds some other modifiers to format strings. If you use an equals +symbol (=) as a numeric prefix (like the minus +above), it will force the string to be centered within its minimum space +range. For example, %=14y will reserve 14 characters +for the %y expansion — that's the X-Label: header, in $index_format. If the expansion results in +a string less than 14 characters, it will be centered in a 14-character +space. If the X-Label for a message were test, that +expansion would look like +     test     . -If the $spam_separator variable is unset, then each -spam pattern match supersedes the previous one. Instead of getting -joined format strings, you'll get only the last one to match. +There are two very little-known modifiers that affect the way that an +expando is replaced. If there is an underline (_) +character between any format modifiers (as above) and the expando +letter, it will expands in all lower case. And if you use a colon +(:), it will replace all decimal points with underlines. + + + +Conditionals + -The spam tag is what will be displayed in the index when you use -%H in the $index_format variable. It's also the -string that the ˜H pattern-matching expression matches against for -search and limit functions. And it's what sorting by spam -attribute will use as a sort key. +Depending on the format string variable, some of its sequences can be +used to optionally print a string if their value is nonzero. For +example, you may only want to see the number of flagged messages if such +messages exist, since zero is not particularly meaningful. To optionally +print a string based upon one of the above sequences, the following +construct is used: + +%?<sequence_char>?<optional_string>? + -That's a pretty complicated example, and most people's actual -environments will have only one spam filter. The simpler your -configuration, the more effective mutt can be, especially when it comes -to sorting. +where sequence_char is an expando, and +optional_string is the string you would like +printed if sequence_char is nonzero. +optional_string may contain other sequences as well +as normal text, but you may not nest optional strings. -Generally, when you sort by spam tag, mutt will sort lexically -- -that is, by ordering strings alphanumerically. However, if a spam tag -begins with a number, mutt will sort numerically first, and lexically -only when two numbers are equal in value. (This is like UNIX's -sort -n.) A message with no spam attributes at all -- that is, one -that didn't match any of your spam patterns -- is sorted at -lowest priority. Numbers are sorted next, beginning with 0 and ranging -upward. Finally, non-numeric strings are sorted, with ``a'' taking lower -priority than ``z''. Clearly, in general, sorting by spam tags is most -effective when you can coerce your filter to give you a raw number. But -in case you can't, mutt can still do something useful. +Here is an example illustrating how to optionally print the number of +new messages in a mailbox in $status_format: + +%?n?%n new messages.? + -The nospam command can be used to write exceptions to spam -patterns. If a header pattern matches something in a spam command, -but you nonetheless do not want it to receive a spam tag, you can list a -more precise pattern under a nospam command. +You can also switch between two strings using the following construct: + +%?<sequence_char>?<if_string>&<else_string>? + -If the pattern given to nospam is exactly the same as the -pattern on an existing spam list entry, the effect will be to -remove the entry from the spam list, instead of adding an exception. -Likewise, if the pattern for a spam command matches an entry -on the nospam list, that nospam entry will be removed. If the -pattern for nospam is ``*'', all entries on both lists -will be removed. This might be the default action if you use spam -and nospam in conjunction with a folder-hook. +If the value of sequence_char is non-zero, +if_string will be expanded, otherwise +else_string will be expanded. + + + +Filters + -You can have as many spam or nospam commands as you like. -You can even do your own primitive spam detection within mutt -- for -example, if you consider all mail from MAILER-DAEMON to be spam, -you can use a spam command like this: +Any format string ending in a vertical bar (|) will be +expanded and piped through the first word in the string, using spaces as +separator. The string returned will be used for display. If the +returned string ends in %, it will be passed through the formatter a +second time. This allows the filter to generate a replacement format +string including % expandos. +All % expandos in a format string are expanded before the script is +called so that: + + +Using external filters in format strings -spam "^From: .*MAILER-DAEMON" "999" +set status_format="script.sh '%r %f (%L)'|" + + +will make Mutt expand %r, %f and +%L before calling the script. The example also shows +that arguments can be quoted: the script will receive the expanded +string between the single quotes as the only argument. - + +A practical example is the mutt_xtitle script +installed in the samples subdirectory of the Mutt +documentation: it can be used as filter for $status_format to set the current +terminal's title, if supported. + - -Setting and Querying Variables + - -Commands + +Padding -The following commands are available to manipulate and query variables: +In most format strings, Mutt supports different types of padding using +special %-expandos: + + +%|X + - -Usage: set [no|inv]variable[=value] [ variable ... ] -Usage: toggle variable [variable ... ] -Usage: unset variable [variable ... ] -Usage: reset variable [variable ... ] - +When this occurs, Mutt will fill the rest of the line with the character +X. For example, filling the rest of the line with +dashes is done by setting: - + +set status_format = "%v on %h: %B: %?n?%n&no? new messages %|-" + + + + +%>X + + + +Since the previous expando stops at the end of line, there must be a way +to fill the gap between two items via the %>X +expando: it puts as many characters X in between two +items so that the rest of the line will be right-justified. For example, +to not put the version string and hostname the above example on the left +but on the right and fill the gap with spaces, one might use (note the +space after %>): + + +set status_format = "%B: %?n?%n&no? new messages %> (%v on %h)" + + + +%*X + + -This command is used to set (and unset) configuration variables. There are four basic types of variables: -boolean, number, string and quadoption. boolean variables can be -set (true) or unset (false). number variables can be -assigned a positive integer value. +Normal right-justification will print everything to the left of the +%>, displaying padding and whatever lies to the +right only if there's room. By contrast, soft-fill gives +priority to the right-hand side, guaranteeing space to display it and +showing padding only if there's still room. If necessary, soft-fill will +eat text leftwards to make room for rightward text. For example, to +right-justify the subject making sure as much as possible of it fits on +screen, one might use (note two spaces after %* : the +second ensures there's a space between the truncated right-hand side and +the subject): + +set index_format="%4C %Z %{%b %d} %-15.15L (%?l?%4l&%4c?)%* %s" + + + + + + + + + + + +Advanced Usage + + +Character Set Handling -string variables consist of any number of printable characters. -strings must be enclosed in quotes if they contain spaces or tabs. You -may also use the ``C'' escape sequences \n and \t for -newline and tab, respectively. +A character set is basically a mapping between bytes and +glyphs and implies a certain character encoding scheme. For example, for +the ISO 8859 family of character sets, an encoding of 8bit per character +is used. For the Unicode character set, different character encodings +may be used, UTF-8 being the most popular. In UTF-8, a character is +represented using a variable number of bytes ranging from 1 to 4. -quadoption variables are used to control whether or not to be prompted -for certain actions, or to specify a default action. A value of yes -will cause the action to be carried out automatically as if you had answered -yes to the question. Similarly, a value of no will cause the -action to be carried out as if you had answered ``no.'' A value of -ask-yes will cause a prompt with a default answer of ``yes'' and -ask-no will provide a default answer of ``no.'' +Since Mutt is a command-line tool run from a shell, and delegates +certain tasks to external tools (such as an editor for composing/editing +messages), all of these tools need to agree on a character set and +encoding. There exists no way to reliably deduce the character set a +plain text file has. Interoperability is gained by the use of +well-defined environment variables. The full set can be printed by +issuing locale on the command line. -Prefixing a variable with ``no'' will unset it. Example: set noaskbcc. +Upon startup, Mutt determines the character set on its own using +routines that inspect locale-specific environment variables. Therefore, +it is generally not necessary to set the $charset +variable in Mutt. It may even be counter-productive as Mutt uses system +and library functions that derive the character set themselves and on +which Mutt has no influence. It's safest to let Mutt work out the locale +setup itself. -For boolean variables, you may optionally prefix the variable name with -inv to toggle the value (on or off). This is useful when writing -macros. Example: set invsmart_wrap. +If you happen to work with several character sets on a regular basis, +it's highly advisable to use Unicode and an UTF-8 locale. Unicode can +represent nearly all characters in a message at the same time. When not +using a Unicode locale, it may happen that you receive messages with +characters not representable in your locale. When displaying such a +message, or replying to or forwarding it, information may get lost +possibly rendering the message unusable (not only for you but also for +the recipient, this breakage is not reversible as lost information +cannot be guessed). -The toggle command automatically prepends the inv prefix to all -specified variables. +A Unicode locale makes all conversions superfluous which eliminates the +risk of conversion errors. It also eliminates potentially wrong +expectations about the character set between Mutt and external programs. -The unset command automatically prepends the no prefix to all -specified variables. +The terminal emulator used also must be properly configured for the +current locale. Terminal emulators usually do not +derive the locale from environment variables, they need to be configured +separately. If the terminal is incorrectly configured, Mutt may display +random and unexpected characters (question marks, octal codes, or just +random glyphs), format strings may not work as expected, you may not be +abled to enter non-ascii characters, and possible more. Data is always +represented using bytes and so a correct setup is very important as to +the machine, all character sets look the same. -Using the enter-command function in the index menu, you can query the -value of a variable by prefixing the name of the variable with a question -mark: +Warning: A mismatch between what system and library functions think the +locale is and what Mutt was told what the locale is may make it behave +badly with non-ascii input: it will fail at seemingly random places. +This warning is to be taken seriously since not only local mail handling +may suffer: sent messages may carry wrong character set information the +receiver has too deal with. The need to set +$charset directly in most cases points at terminal +and environment variable setup problems, not Mutt problems. +A list of officially assigned and known character sets can be found at +IANA, +a list of locally supported locales can be obtained by running +locale -a. + - -set ?allow_8bit - + - + +Regular Expressions -The question mark is actually only required for boolean and quadoption -variables. +All string patterns in Mutt including those in more complex patterns must be specified using regular +expressions (regexp) in the POSIX extended syntax (which +is more or less the syntax used by egrep and GNU awk). For your +convenience, we have included below a brief description of this syntax. -The reset command resets all given variables to the compile time -defaults (hopefully mentioned in this manual). If you use the command -set and prefix the variable with ``&'' this has the same -behavior as the reset command. +The search is case sensitive if the pattern contains at least one upper +case letter, and case insensitive otherwise. + -With the reset command there exists the special variable ``all'', -which allows you to reset all variables to their system defaults. - - - - - -User-defined variables - - -Introduction - - -Along with the variables listed in the -Configuration variables section, mutt -supports user-defined variables with names starting -with my_ as in, for -example, my_cfgdir. - - - -The set command creates a -custom $my_ variable and changes its -value. The unset and reset -commands remove the variable entirely. - - - -Since user-defined variables are expanded in the same way that -environment variables are (except for -the shell-escape command), this -feature can be used to make configuration files more readable. - - - - - -Examples - - -The following example defines and uses the variable my_cfgdir -to abbreviate the calls of the source command: - - - - -set my_cfgdir = $HOME/mutt/config - -source $my_cfgdir/hooks -source $my_cfgdir/macros -# more source commands... - - - - -A custom variable can also be used in macros to backup the current value -of another variable. In the following example, the value of the -$delete is changed temporarily -while its original value is saved as my_delete. -After the macro has executed all commands, the original value of $delete is restored. - - - - -macro pager ,x '\ -<enter-command>set my_delete=$delete<enter>\ -<enter-command>set delete=yes<enter>\ -...\ -<enter-command>set delete=$my_delete<enter>' - - - - -Since mutt expands such values already when parsing the configuration -file(s), the value of $my_delete in the -last example would be the value of $delete exactly -as it was at that point during parsing the configuration file. If -another statement would change the value for $delete -later in the same or another file, it would have no effect on -$my_delete. However, the expansion can -be deferred to runtime, as shown in the next example, when escaping the -dollar sign. - - - - -macro pager <PageDown> "\ -<enter-command> set my_old_pager_stop=\$pager_stop pager_stop<Enter>\ -<next-page>\ -<enter-command> set pager_stop=\$my_old_pager_stop<Enter>\ -<enter-command> unset my_old_pager_stop<Enter>" - - - - -Note that there is a space -between <enter-command> and -the set configuration command, preventing mutt from -recording the macro's commands into its history. - - - - - - - - - -Reading initialization commands from another file - - -Usage: source filename - - - -This command allows the inclusion of initialization commands -from other files. For example, I place all of my aliases in -˜/.mail_aliases so that I can make my -˜/.muttrc readable and keep my aliases private. - - - -If the filename begins with a tilde (``˜''), it will be expanded to the -path of your home directory. - - - -If the filename ends with a vertical bar (|), then filename is -considered to be an executable program from which to read input (eg. -source ˜/bin/myscript|). - - - - - -Removing hooks - - -Usage: unhook [ * | hook-type ] - - - -This command permits you to flush hooks you have previously defined. -You can either remove all hooks by giving the ``*'' character as an -argument, or you can remove all hooks of a specific type by saying -something like unhook send-hook. - - - - - -Format Strings - - -Basic usage - - -Format strings are a general concept you'll find in several locations -through the mutt configuration, especially in the -$index_format", -$pager_format", -$status_format", -and other ``*_format'' variables. These can be very straightforward, -and it's quite possible you already know how to use them. - - - -The most basic format string element is a percent symbol followed -by another character. For example, %s -represents a message's Subject: header in the $index_format" variable. The -``expandos'' available are documented with each format variable, but -there are general modifiers available with all formatting expandos, -too. Those are our concern here. - - - -Some of the modifers are borrowed right out of C (though you might -know them from Perl, Python, shell, or another langugage). These are -the [-]m.n modifiers, as in %-12.12s. As with -such programming languages, these modifiers allow you to specify the -minumum and maximum size of the resulting string, as well as its -justification. If the ``-'' sign follows the percent, the string will -be left-justified instead of right-justified. If there's a number -immediately following that, it's the minimum amount of space the -formatted string will occupy -- if it's naturally smaller than that, it -will be padded out with spaces. If a decimal point and another number -follow, that's the maximum space allowable -- the string will not be -permitted to exceed that width, no matter its natural size. Each of -these three elements is optional, so that all these are legal format -strings: -%-12s -%4c -%.15F -%-12.15L - - - -Mutt adds some other modifiers to format strings. If you use an equals -symbol (=) as a numeric prefix (like the minus -above), it will force the string to be centered within its minimum -space range. For example, %=14y will reserve 14 -characters for the %y expansion -- that's the X-Label: header, in -$index_format. If the expansion -results in a string less than 14 characters, it will be centered in a -14-character space. If the X-Label for a message were "test", that -expansion would look like `` test ''. - - - -There are two very little-known modifiers that affect the way that an -expando is replaced. If there is an underline (``_'') character -between any format modifiers (as above) and the expando letter, it will -expands in all lower case. And if you use a colon (``:''), it will -replace all decimal points with underlines. - - - - - -Filters - - -Any format string ending in a vertical bar (``|'') will be -expanded and piped through the first word in the string, using spaces -as separator. The string returned will be used for display. -If the returned string ends in %, it will be passed through -the formatter a second time. This allows the filter to generate a -replacement format string including % expandos. - - - -All % expandos in a format string are expanded before the script -is called so that: - - - -set status_format="script.sh '%r %f (%L)'|" - - - -will make mutt expand %r, -%f and %L -before calling the script. The example also shows that arguments can be -quoted: the script will receive the expanded string between the single quotes -as the only argument. - - - -A practical example is the mutt_xtitle -script installed in the samples -subdirectory of the mutt documentation: it can be used as filter for -$status_format to set the current -terminal's title, if supported. - - - - - - - - - -Advanced Usage - - -Regular Expressions - - -All string patterns in Mutt including those in more complex -patterns must be specified -using regular expressions (regexp) in the ``POSIX extended'' syntax (which -is more or less the syntax used by egrep and GNU awk). For your -convenience, we have included below a brief description of this syntax. - - - -The search is case sensitive if the pattern contains at least one upper -case letter, and case insensitive otherwise. Note that ``\'' -must be quoted if used for a regular expression in an initialization -command: ``\\''. +\ must be quoted if used for a regular expression in an +initialization command: \\. + A regular expression is a pattern that describes a set of strings. @@ -3470,158 +4736,88 @@ Regular expressions are constructed analogously to arithmetic expressions, by using various operators to combine smaller expressions. + -Note that the regular expression can be enclosed/delimited by either " -or ' which is useful if the regular expression includes a white-space -character. See -for more information on " and ' delimiter processing. To match a -literal " or ' you must preface it with \ (backslash). +The regular expression can be enclosed/delimited by either " or ' which +is useful if the regular expression includes a white-space character. +See for more information on " and ' +delimiter processing. To match a literal " or ' you must preface it +with \ (backslash). + -The fundamental building blocks are the regular expressions that match -a single character. Most characters, including all letters and digits, +The fundamental building blocks are the regular expressions that match a +single character. Most characters, including all letters and digits, are regular expressions that match themselves. Any metacharacter with special meaning may be quoted by preceding it with a backslash. -The period ``.'' matches any single character. The caret ``ˆ'' and -the dollar sign ``$'' are metacharacters that respectively match -the empty string at the beginning and end of a line. +The period . matches any single character. The caret +^ and the dollar sign $ are metacharacters +that respectively match the empty string at the beginning and end of a +line. -A list of characters enclosed by ``['' and ``]'' matches any -single character in that list; if the first character of the list -is a caret ``ˆ'' then it matches any character not in the -list. For example, the regular expression [0123456789] -matches any single digit. A range of ASCII characters may be specified -by giving the first and last characters, separated by a hyphen -``-''. Most metacharacters lose their special meaning inside -lists. To include a literal ``]'' place it first in the list. -Similarly, to include a literal ``ˆ'' place it anywhere but first. -Finally, to include a literal hyphen ``-'' place it last. +A list of characters enclosed by [ and ] +matches any single character in that list; if the first character of the +list is a caret ^ then it matches any character +not in the list. For example, the regular +expression [0123456789] matches any single digit. +A range of ASCII characters may be specified by giving the first and +last characters, separated by a hyphen -. Most +metacharacters lose their special meaning inside lists. To include a +literal ] place it first in the list. Similarly, to +include a literal ^ place it anywhere but first. +Finally, to include a literal hyphen - place it last. Certain named classes of characters are predefined. Character classes -consist of ``[:'', a keyword denoting the class, and ``:]''. -The following classes are defined by the POSIX standard: +consist of [:, a keyword denoting the class, and +:]. The following classes are defined by the POSIX +standard in + - - + +POSIX regular expression character classes + + +Character classDescription + + +[:alnum:]Alphanumeric characters +[:alpha:]Alphabetic characters +[:blank:]Space or tab characters +[:cntrl:]Control characters +[:digit:]Numeric characters +[:graph:]Characters that are both printable and visible. (A space is printable, but not visible, while an a is both) +[:lower:]Lower-case alphabetic characters +[:print:]Printable characters (characters that are not control characters) +[:punct:]Punctuation characters (characters that are not letter, digits, control characters, or space characters) +[:space:]Space characters (such as space, tab and formfeed, to name a few) +[:upper:]Upper-case alphabetic characters +[:xdigit:]Characters that are hexadecimal digits + + +
- -[:alnum:] - - -Alphanumeric characters. - - - - -[:alpha:] - - -Alphabetic characters. - - - - -[:blank:] - - -Space or tab characters. - - - - -[:cntrl:] - - -Control characters. - - - - -[:digit:] - - -Numeric characters. - - - - -[:graph:] - - -Characters that are both printable and visible. (A space is printable, -but not visible, while an ``a'' is both.) - - - - -[:lower:] - - -Lower-case alphabetic characters. - - - - -[:print:] - - -Printable characters (characters that are not control characters.) - - - - -[:punct:] - - -Punctuation characters (characters that are not letter, digits, control -characters, or space characters). - - - - -[:space:] - -Space characters (such as space, tab and formfeed, to name a few). - - - - -[:upper:] - - -Upper-case alphabetic characters. - - - - -[:xdigit:] - - -Characters that are hexadecimal digits. - - - - +A character class is only valid in a regular expression inside the +brackets of a character list. + -A character class is only valid in a regular expression inside the -brackets of a character list. Note that the brackets in these -class names are part of the symbolic names, and must be included -in addition to the brackets delimiting the bracket list. For -example, [[:digit:]] is equivalent to -[0-9]. +Note that the brackets in these class names are part of the symbolic +names, and must be included in addition to the brackets delimiting the +bracket list. For example, [[:digit:]] is +equivalent to [0-9]. + Two additional special sequences can appear in character lists. These @@ -3631,7 +4827,6 @@ as well as several characters that are equivalent for collating or sorting purposes: - @@ -3639,10 +4834,11 @@ sorting purposes: A collating symbol is a multi-character collating element enclosed in -``[.'' and ``.]''. For example, if ``ch'' is a collating -element, then [[.ch.]] is a regexp that matches -this collating element, while [ch] is a regexp that -matches either ``c'' or ``h''. +[. and .]. For example, if +ch is a collating element, then +[[.ch.]] is a regexp that matches this collating +element, while [ch] is a regexp that matches either +c or h. @@ -3650,85 +4846,43 @@ matches either ``c'' or ``h''. Equivalence Classes -An equivalence class is a locale-specific name for a list of -characters that are equivalent. The name is enclosed in ``[='' -and ``=]''. For example, the name ``e'' might be used to -represent all of ``è'' ``é'' and ``e''. In this case, -[[=e=]] is a regexp that matches any of -``è'', ``é'' and ``e''. +An equivalence class is a locale-specific name for a list of characters +that are equivalent. The name is enclosed in [= and +=]. For example, the name e might be used +to represent all of e with grave +(è), e with acute +(é) and e. In this case, +[[=e=]] is a regexp that matches any of: +e with grave (è), e +with acute (é) and e. - A regular expression matching a single character may be followed by one -of several repetition operators: +of several repetition operators described in . - - - - -? - - -The preceding item is optional and matched at most once. - - - - -* - - -The preceding item will be matched zero or more times. - - - - -+ - - -The preceding item will be matched one or more times. - - - - -{n} - - -The preceding item is matched exactly n times. - - - - -{n,} - - -The preceding item is matched n or more times. - - - - -{,m} - - -The preceding item is matched at most m times. - - - - -{n,m} - - -The preceding item is matched at least n times, but no more than -m times. - - - - - + +Regular expression repetition operators + + +OperatorDescription + + +?The preceding item is optional and matched at most once +*The preceding item will be matched zero or more times ++The preceding item will be matched one or more times +{n}The preceding item is matched exactly n times +{n,}The preceding item is matched n or more times +{,m}The preceding item is matched at most m times +{n,m}The preceding item is matched at least n times, but no more than m times + + +
Two regular expressions may be concatenated; the resulting regular @@ -3737,9 +4891,9 @@ that respectively match the concatenated subexpressions. -Two regular expressions may be joined by the infix operator ``|''; -the resulting regular expression matches any string matching either -subexpression. +Two regular expressions may be joined by the infix operator +|; the resulting regular expression matches any string +matching either subexpression. @@ -3748,80 +4902,32 @@ precedence over alternation. A whole subexpression may be enclosed in parentheses to override these precedence rules. + -Note: If you compile Mutt with the GNU rx package, the -following operators may also be used in regular expressions: +If you compile Mutt with the included regular expression engine, the +following operators may also be used in regular expressions as described +in . + - - - - -\\y - - -Matches the empty string at either the beginning or the end of a word. - - - - -\\B - - -Matches the empty string within a word. - - - - -\\< - - -Matches the empty string at the beginning of a word. - - - - -\\> - - -Matches the empty string at the end of a word. - - - - -\\w - - -Matches any word-constituent character (letter, digit, or underscore). - - - - -\\W - - -Matches any character that is not word-constituent. - - - - -\\` - - -Matches the empty string at the beginning of a buffer (string). - - - - -\\' - - -Matches the empty string at the end of a buffer. - - - - - + +GNU regular expression extensions + + +ExpressionDescription + + +\\yMatches the empty string at either the beginning or the end of a word +\\BMatches the empty string within a word +\\<Matches the empty string at the beginning of a word +\\>Matches the empty string at the end of a word +\\wMatches any word-constituent character (letter, digit, or underscore) +\\WMatches any character that is not word-constituent +\\`Matches the empty string at the beginning of a buffer (string) +\\'Matches the empty string at the end of a buffer + + +
Please note however that these operators are not defined by POSIX, so @@ -3833,14 +4939,16 @@ they may or may not be available in stock libraries on various systems. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging + +Pattern Modifier + Many of Mutt's commands allow you to specify a pattern to match -(limit, tag-pattern, delete-pattern, etc.). +(limit, tag-pattern, +delete-pattern, etc.). shows several ways to select messages. - - Pattern modifiers @@ -3849,119 +4957,125 @@ shows several ways to select messages. ~Aall messages -~b EXPRmessages which contain EXPR in the message body -=b STRINGmessages which contain STRING in the message body. If IMAP is enabled, searches for STRING on the server, rather than downloading each message and searching it locally. -~B EXPRmessages which contain EXPR in the whole message -~c EXPRmessages carbon-copied to EXPR -%c GROUPmessages carbon-copied to any member of GROUP -~C EXPRmessage is either to: or cc: EXPR -%C GROUPmessage is either to: or cc: to any member of GROUP -~d [MIN]-[MAX]messages with ``date-sent'' in a Date range +~b EXPRmessages which contain EXPR in the message body +=b STRINGmessages which contain STRING in the message body. If IMAP is enabled, searches for STRING on the server, rather than downloading each message and searching it locally. +~B EXPRmessages which contain EXPR in the whole message +~c EXPRmessages carbon-copied to EXPR +%c GROUPmessages carbon-copied to any member of GROUP +~C EXPRmessages either to: or cc: EXPR +%C GROUPmessages either to: or cc: to any member of GROUP +~d [MIN]-[MAX]messages with date-sent in a Date range~Ddeleted messages -~e EXPRmessage which contains EXPR in the ``Sender'' field -%e GROUPmessage which contain a member of GROUP in the ``Sender'' field +~e EXPRmessages which contains EXPR in the Sender field +%e GROUPmessages which contain a member of GROUP in the Sender field~Eexpired messages~Fflagged messages -~f EXPRmessages originating from EXPR -%f GROUPmessages originating from any member of GROUP +~f EXPRmessages originating from EXPR +%f GROUPmessages originating from any member of GROUP~gcryptographically signed messages~Gcryptographically encrypted messages -~h EXPRmessages which contain EXPR in the message header -~H EXPRmessages with a spam attribute matching EXPR -~i EXPRmessage which match EXPR in the ``Message-ID'' field -~kmessage contains PGP key material -~L EXPRmessage is either originated or received by EXPR -%L GROUPmessage is either originated or received by any member of GROUP -~lmessage is addressed to a known mailing list -~m [MIN]-[MAX]message in the range MIN to MAX *) -~n [MIN]-[MAX]messages with a score in the range MIN to MAX *) +~h EXPRmessages which contain EXPR in the message header +~H EXPRmessages with a spam attribute matching EXPR +~i EXPRmessages which match EXPR in the Message-ID field +~kmessages which contain PGP key material +~L EXPRmessages either originated or received by EXPR +%L GROUPmessage either originated or received by any member of GROUP +~lmessages addressed to a known mailing list +~m [MIN]-[MAX]messages in the range MIN to MAX *) +~n [MIN]-[MAX]messages with a score in the range MIN to MAX *)~Nnew messages~Oold messages -~pmessage is addressed to you (consults alternates) -~Pmessage is from you (consults alternates) +~pmessages addressed to you (consults alternates) +~Pmessages from you (consults alternates)~Qmessages which have been replied to -~r [MIN]-[MAX]messages with ``date-received'' in a Date range +~r [MIN]-[MAX]messages with date-received in a Date range~Rread messages -~s EXPRmessages having EXPR in the ``Subject'' field. +~s EXPRmessages having EXPR in the Subject field.~Ssuperseded messages -~t EXPRmessages addressed to EXPR +~t EXPRmessages addressed to EXPR~Ttagged messages -~umessage is addressed to a subscribed mailing list +~umessages addressed to a subscribed mailing list~Uunread messages -~vmessage is part of a collapsed thread. +~vmessages part of a collapsed thread.~Vcryptographically verified messages -~x EXPRmessages which contain EXPR in the `References' field -~X [MIN]-[MAX]messages with MIN to MAX attachments *) -~y EXPRmessages which contain EXPR in the `X-Label' field -~z [MIN]-[MAX]messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX *) -~=duplicated messages (see $duplicate_threads) +~x EXPRmessages which contain EXPR in the References or In-Reply-To field +~X [MIN]-[MAX]messages with MIN to MAX attachments *) +~y EXPRmessages which contain EXPR in the X-Label field +~z [MIN]-[MAX]messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX *) **) +~=duplicated messages (see $duplicate_threads)~$unreferenced messages (requires threaded view) -~(PATTERN)messages in threads -containing messages matching a certain pattern, e.g. all +~(PATTERN)messages in threads +containing messages matching PATTERN, e.g. all threads containing messages from you: ~(~P)
+ +Where EXPR is a regular expression, and GROUP is an +address group. -Where EXPR is a -regular expression. Special attention has to be -made when using regular expressions inside of patterns. Specifically, -Mutt's parser for these patterns will strip one level of backslash (\), -which is normally used for quoting. If it is your intention to use a -backslash in the regular expression, you will need to use two backslashes -instead (\\). You can force mutt to treat EXPR as a simple string -instead of a regular expression by using = instead of ˜ in the -pattern name. For example, =b *.* will find all messages that contain -the literal string '*.*'. Simple string matches are less powerful than -regular expressions but can be considerably faster. This is especially -true for IMAP folders, because string matches can be performed on the -server instead of by fetching every message. IMAP treats =h specially: -it must be of the form "header: substring" and will not partially -match header names. The substring part may be omitted if you simply -wish to find messages containing a particular header without regard to -its value. +*) The forms <[MAX], +>[MIN], +[MIN]- and +-[MAX] are allowed, too. -*) The forms <[MAX], >[MIN], -[MIN]- and -[MAX] -are allowed, too. +**) The suffixes K and M are allowed to +specify kilobyte and megabyte respectively. - -Pattern Modifier - -Note that patterns matching 'lists' of addresses (notably c,C,p,P and t) -match if there is at least one match in the whole list. If you want to -make sure that all elements of that list match, you need to prefix your -pattern with ˆ. -This example matches all mails which only has recipients from Germany. +Special attention has to be payed when using regular expressions inside +of patterns. Specifically, Mutt's parser for these patterns will strip +one level of backslash (\), which is normally used for +quoting. If it is your intention to use a backslash in the regular +expression, you will need to use two backslashes instead +(\\). You can force Mutt to treat +EXPR as a simple string instead of a regular +expression by using = instead of ~ in the pattern name. For example, +=b *.* will find all messages that contain the +literal string *.*. Simple string matches are less +powerful than regular expressions but can be considerably faster. This +is especially true for IMAP folders, because string matches can be +performed on the server instead of by fetching every message. IMAP +treats =h specially: it must be of the form +header: substring and will not partially match header +names. The substring part may be omitted if you simply wish to find +messages containing a particular header without regard to its value. +Patterns matching lists of addresses (notably c, C, p, P and t) match if +there is at least one match in the whole list. If you want to make sure +that all elements of that list match, you need to prefix your pattern +with ^. This example matches all mails which only has +recipients from Germany. + + +Matching all addresses in address lists ^~C \.de$ - - + - -Simple Patterns + +Simple Searches -Mutt supports two versions of so called ``simple searches'' which are -issued if the query entered for searching, limiting and similar -operations does not seem to be a valid pattern (i.e. it does not contain -one of these characters: ``~'', ``='' or ``%''). If the query is -supposed to contain one of these special characters, they must be escaped -by prepending a backslash (``\''). +Mutt supports two versions of so called simple +searches. These are issued if the query entered for searching, +limiting and similar operations does not seem to contain a valid pattern +modifier (i.e. it does not contain one of these characters: +~, = or %). If the query is +supposed to contain one of these special characters, they must be +escaped by prepending a backslash (\). @@ -3970,10 +5084,10 @@ a keyword case-insensitively from : If that is the case, Mutt will use the shown pattern modifier instead. If a keyword would conflict with your search keyword, you need to turn it into a regular expression to avoid matching the keyword table. For -example, if you want to find all messages matching ``flag'' -(using $simple_search, -see below but not meaning flagged messages) simply search for -``[f]lag''. +example, if you want to find all messages matching flag +(using $simple_search) +but don't want to match flagged messages, simply search for +[f]lag. @@ -3985,7 +5099,7 @@ see below but not meaning flagged messages) simply search for all~A.~A -ˆ~A +^~Adel~Dflag~Fnew~N @@ -3999,153 +5113,137 @@ see below but not meaning flagged messages) simply search for
-The second type of simple search is to build a complex search -pattern using $simple_search -as a template. Mutt will insert your query properly quoted and search -for the composed complex query. +The second type of simple search is to build a complex search pattern +using $simple_search as a +template. Mutt will insert your query properly quoted and search for the +composed complex query. - -Complex Patterns + +Nesting and Boolean Operators Logical AND is performed by specifying more than one criterion. For example: - - ~t mutt ~f elkins - - -would select messages which contain the word ``mutt'' in the list of -recipients and that have the word ``elkins'' in the ``From'' header -field. +would select messages which contain the word mutt in the +list of recipients and that have the word +elkins in the From header field. -Mutt also recognizes the following operators to create more complex search -patterns: +Mutt also recognizes the following operators to create more complex +search patterns: - - -! -- logical NOT operator +! — logical NOT operator -| -- logical OR operator +| — logical OR operator -() -- logical grouping operator +() — logical grouping operator - - -Here is an example illustrating a complex search pattern. This pattern will -select all messages which do not contain ``mutt'' in the ``To'' or ``Cc'' -field and which are from ``elkins''. +Here is an example illustrating a complex search pattern. This pattern +will select all messages which do not contain mutt in the +To or Cc field and which are from +elkins. - - + +Using boolean operators in patterns !(~t mutt|~c mutt) ~f elkins - - - - -Here is an example using white space in the regular expression (note -the ' and " delimiters). For this to match, the mail's subject must -match the ``ˆJunk +From +Me$'' and it must be from either ``Jim +Somebody'' -or ``Ed +SomeoneElse'': - - - - - - '~s "^Junk +From +Me$" ~f ("Jim +Somebody"|"Ed +SomeoneElse")' - - - + -Note that if a regular expression contains parenthesis, or a vertical bar -("|"), you must enclose the expression in double or single quotes since -those characters are also used to separate different parts of Mutt's -pattern language. For example, +Here is an example using white space in the regular expression (note the +' and " delimiters). For this to match, +the mail's subject must match the ^Junk +From +Me$ and it +must be from either Jim +Somebody or Ed ++SomeoneElse: - - -~f "me@(mutt\.org|cs\.hmc\.edu)" +'~s "^Junk +From +Me$" ~f ("Jim +Somebody"|"Ed +SomeoneElse")' - - + -Without the quotes, the parenthesis wouldn't end. -This would be seperated to two OR'd patterns: ˜f me@(mutt\.org -and cs\.hmc\.edu). They are never what you want. +If a regular expression contains parenthesis, or a vertical bar ("|"), +you must enclose the expression in double or single +quotes since those characters are also used to separate different parts +of Mutt's pattern language. For example: ~f +"me@(mutt\.org|cs\.hmc\.edu)" Without the quotes, the +parenthesis wouldn't end. This would be separated to two OR'd patterns: +~f me@(mutt\.org and +cs\.hmc\.edu). They are never what you want. + - + Searching by Date -Mutt supports two types of dates, absolute and relative. +Mutt supports two types of dates, absolute and +relative. - -Absolute. Dates must be in DD/MM/YY format (month and year are -optional, defaulting to the current month and year). An example of a valid -range of dates is: - + +Absolute Dates +Dates must be in DD/MM/YY format (month and year +are optional, defaulting to the current month and year). An example of +a valid range of dates is: + Limit to messages matching: ~d 20/1/95-31/10 - - -If you omit the minimum (first) date, and just specify ``-DD/MM/YY'', all -messages before the given date will be selected. If you omit the maximum -(second) date, and specify ``DD/MM/YY-'', all messages after the given -date will be selected. If you specify a single date with no dash (``-''), -only messages sent on the given date will be selected. +If you omit the minimum (first) date, and just specify +-DD/MM/YY, all messages before the +given date will be selected. If you omit the maximum (second) date, and +specify DD/MM/YY-, all messages +after the given date will be selected. If you +specify a single date with no dash (-), only messages +sent on the given date will be selected. -Error Margins. You can add error margins to absolute dates. -An error margin is a sign (+ or -), followed by a digit, followed by -one of the units in . As a special case, you can replace the -sign by a ``*'' character, which is equivalent to giving identical plus and minus error margins. +You can add error margins to absolute dates. An error margin is a sign +(+ or -), followed by a digit, followed by one of the units in . As a special case, you can replace the sign +by a * character, which is equivalent to giving identical +plus and minus error margins. @@ -4164,63 +5262,73 @@ sign by a ``*'' character, which is equivalent to giving identical plus and minu
-Example: To select any messages two weeks around January 15, 2001, -you'd use the following pattern: +Example: To select any messages two weeks around January 15, 2001, you'd +use the following pattern: + - Limit to messages matching: ~d 15/1/2001*2w - + + + +Relative Dates -Relative. This type of date is relative to the current date, and may -be specified as: +This type of date is relative to the current date, and may be specified +as: + ->offset (messages older than offset units) +>offset for messages older than +offset units -<offset (messages newer than offset units) +<offset for messages newer than +offset units -=offset (messages exactly offset units old) +=offset for messages exactly +offset units old - - -offset is specified as a positive number with one of the units from . +offset is specified as a positive number with one +of the units from . Example: to select messages less than 1 month old, you would use + Limit to messages matching: ~d <1m - - + -Note: all dates used when searching are relative to the -local time zone, so unless you change the setting of your $index_format to include a -%[...] format, these are not the dates shown -in the main index. +All dates used when searching are relative to the +local time zone, so unless you change the setting +of your $index_format to include a +%[...] format, these are not the +dates shown in the main index. + + + @@ -4230,34 +5338,36 @@ in the main index. Using Tags -Sometimes it is desirable to perform an operation on a group of -messages all at once rather than one at a time. An example might be -to save messages to a mailing list to a separate folder, or to -delete all messages with a given subject. To tag all messages -matching a pattern, use the tag-pattern function, which is bound to -``shift-T'' by default. Or you can select individual messages by -hand using the ``tag-message'' function, which is bound to ``t'' by -default. See patterns for Mutt's pattern -matching syntax. +Sometimes it is desirable to perform an operation on a group of messages +all at once rather than one at a time. An example might be to save +messages to a mailing list to a separate folder, or to delete all +messages with a given subject. To tag all messages matching a pattern, +use the <tag-pattern> function, which is bound +to shift-T by default. Or you can select individual +messages by hand using the <tag-message> +function, which is bound to t by default. See patterns for Mutt's pattern matching syntax. Once you have tagged the desired messages, you can use the -``tag-prefix'' operator, which is the ``;'' (semicolon) key by default. -When the ``tag-prefix'' operator is used, the next operation will -be applied to all tagged messages if that operation can be used in that -manner. If the $auto_tag -variable is set, the next operation applies to the tagged messages -automatically, without requiring the ``tag-prefix''. +tag-prefix operator, which is the ; +(semicolon) key by default. When the tag-prefix operator +is used, the next operation will be applied to all +tagged messages if that operation can be used in that manner. If the +$auto_tag variable is set, the next +operation applies to the tagged messages automatically, without +requiring the tag-prefix. -In macros or push commands, -you can use the ``tag-prefix-cond'' operator. If there are no tagged -messages, mutt will "eat" the rest of the macro to abort it's execution. -Mutt will stop "eating" the macro when it encounters the ``end-cond'' -operator; after this operator the rest of the macro will be executed as -normal. +In macros or push commands, you can use the +<tag-prefix-cond> operator. If there are no +tagged messages, Mutt will eat the rest of the macro to +abort it's execution. Mutt will stop eating the macro +when it encounters the <end-cond> operator; +after this operator the rest of the macro will be executed as normal. @@ -4266,55 +5376,92 @@ normal. Using Hooks -A hook is a concept borrowed from the EMACS editor which allows you to -execute arbitrary commands before performing some operation. For example, -you may wish to tailor your configuration based upon which mailbox you are -reading, or to whom you are sending mail. In the Mutt world, a hook -consists of a regular expression or -pattern along with a -configuration option/command. See +A hook is a concept found in many other programs +which allows you to execute arbitrary commands before performing some +operation. For example, you may wish to tailor your configuration based +upon which mailbox you are reading, or to whom you are sending mail. In +the Mutt world, a hook consists of a regular expression or pattern along with a configuration +option/command. See: + + + +account-hook + + + + +charset-hook + + + -folder-hook +crypt-hook + + +fcc-hook + + + -send-hook +fcc-save-hook + + +folder-hook + + + -message-hook +iconv-hook + + +mbox-hook + + + + + +message-hook + + + -save-hook +reply-hook - + -mbox-hook +save-hook - + -fcc-hook +send-hook - + -fcc-save-hook +send2-hook @@ -4323,66 +5470,79 @@ configuration option/command. See for specific details on each type of hook available. + -Note: if a hook changes configuration settings, these changes remain -effective until the end of the current mutt session. As this is generally -not desired, a default hook needs to be added before all other hooks to -restore configuration defaults. Here is an example with send-hook and the -my_hdr directive: +If a hook changes configuration settings, these changes remain effective +until the end of the current Mutt session. As this is generally not +desired, a default hook needs to be added before all +other hooks of that type to restore configuration defaults. + - - + +Specifying a <quote>default</quote> hook send-hook . 'unmy_hdr From:' send-hook ~C'^b@b\.b$' my_hdr from: c@c.c + + +In , by default the value of $from and $realname is not overridden. When sending +messages either To: or Cc: to <b@b.b>, the +From: header is changed to <c@c.c>. Message Matching in Hooks -Hooks that act upon messages (message-hook, reply-hook, -send-hook, send2-hook, save-hook, fcc-hook) are evaluated in a -slightly different manner. For the other -types of hooks, a regular expression is -sufficient. But in dealing with messages a finer grain of control is -needed for matching since for different purposes you want to match -different criteria. +Hooks that act upon messages (message-hook, +reply-hook, send-hook, +send2-hook, save-hook, +fcc-hook) are evaluated in a slightly different +manner. For the other types of hooks, a regular +expression is sufficient. But in dealing with messages a finer +grain of control is needed for matching since for different purposes you +want to match different criteria. -Mutt allows the use of the search pattern -language for matching messages in hook commands. This works in -exactly the same way as it would when limiting or -searching the mailbox, except that you are restricted to those -operators which match information mutt extracts from the header of -the message (i.e., from, to, cc, date, subject, etc.). +Mutt allows the use of the search +pattern language for matching messages in hook commands. This +works in exactly the same way as it would when +limiting or searching the +mailbox, except that you are restricted to those operators which match +information Mutt extracts from the header of the message (i.e., from, +to, cc, date, subject, etc.). For example, if you wanted to set your return address based upon sending mail to a specific address, you could do something like: + send-hook '~t ^me@cs\.hmc\.edu$' 'my_hdr From: Mutt User <user@host>' + which would execute the given command when sending mail to me@cs.hmc.edu. -However, it is not required that you write the pattern to match using the -full searching language. You can still specify a simple regular -expression like the other hooks, in which case Mutt will translate your -pattern into the full language, using the translation specified by the -$default_hook variable. The -pattern is translated at the time the hook is declared, so the value of -$default_hook that is in effect -at that time will be used. +However, it is not required that you write the pattern to match using +the full searching language. You can still specify a simple +regular expression like the other hooks, in which +case Mutt will translate your pattern into the full language, using the +translation specified by the $default_hook variable. The pattern is +translated at the time the hook is declared, so the value of $default_hook that is in effect at that +time will be used. @@ -4394,19 +5554,16 @@ at that time will be used. Mutt supports connecting to external directory databases such as LDAP, -ph/qi, bbdb, or NIS through a wrapper script which connects to mutt -using a simple interface. Using the $query_command variable, you specify the wrapper -command to use. For example: +ph/qi, bbdb, or NIS through a wrapper script which connects to Mutt +using a simple interface. Using the $query_command variable, you specify the +wrapper command to use. For example: - - -set query_command = "mutt_ldap_query.pl '%s'" +set query_command = "mutt_ldap_query.pl %s" - - The wrapper script should accept the query on the command-line. It should return a one line message, then each matching response on a @@ -4417,6 +5574,7 @@ addresses, return a non-zero exit code and a one line error message. An example multiple response output: + Searching database ... 20 entries ... 3 matching: @@ -4425,28 +5583,27 @@ blong@fiction.net Brandon Long mutt and more roessler@does-not-exist.org Thomas Roessler mutt pgp - - -There are two mechanisms for accessing the query function of mutt. One -is to do a query from the index menu using the query function (default: Q). -This will prompt for a query, then bring up the query menu which will -list the matching responses. From the query menu, you can select -addresses to create aliases, or to mail. You can tag multiple addresses -to mail, start a new query, or have a new query appended to the current +There are two mechanisms for accessing the query function of Mutt. One +is to do a query from the index menu using the +<query> function (default: Q). This will +prompt for a query, then bring up the query menu which will list the +matching responses. From the query menu, you can select addresses to +create aliases, or to mail. You can tag multiple addresses to mail, +start a new query, or have a new query appended to the current responses. The other mechanism for accessing the query function is for address completion, similar to the alias completion. In any prompt for address -entry, you can use the complete-query function (default: ˆT) to run a -query based on the current address you have typed. Like aliases, mutt -will look for what you have typed back to the last space or comma. If -there is a single response for that query, mutt will expand the address -in place. If there are multiple responses, mutt will activate the query -menu. At the query menu, you can select one or more addresses to be -added to the prompt. +entry, you can use the <complete-query> +function (default: ^T) to run a query based on the current address you +have typed. Like aliases, Mutt will look for what you have typed back +to the last space or comma. If there is a single response for that +query, Mutt will expand the address in place. If there are multiple +responses, Mutt will activate the query menu. At the query menu, you +can select one or more addresses to be added to the prompt. @@ -4455,53 +5612,72 @@ added to the prompt. Mailbox Formats -Mutt supports reading and writing of four different mailbox formats: -mbox, MMDF, MH and Maildir. The mailbox type is autodetected, so there -is no need to use a flag for different mailbox types. When creating new -mailboxes, Mutt uses the default specified with the $mbox_type variable. +Mutt supports reading and writing of four different local mailbox +formats: mbox, MMDF, MH and Maildir. The mailbox type is auto detected, +so there is no need to use a flag for different mailbox types. When +creating new mailboxes, Mutt uses the default specified with the $mbox_type variable. A short description of +the formats follows. -mbox. This is the most widely used mailbox format for UNIX. All -messages are stored in a single file. Each message has a line of the form: +mbox. This is a widely used mailbox format for +UNIX. All messages are stored in a single file. Each message has a +line of the form: - - From me@cs.hmc.edu Fri, 11 Apr 1997 11:44:56 PST - - to denote the start of a new message (this is often referred to as the -``From_'' line). +From_ line). The mbox format requires mailbox locking, is +prone to mailbox corruption with concurrently writing clients or +misinterpreted From_ lines. Depending on the environment, new mail +detection can be unreliable. Mbox folders are fast to open and easy to +archive. -MMDF. This is a variant of the mbox format. Each message is -surrounded by lines containing ``ˆAˆAˆAˆA'' (four control-A's). +MMDF. This is a variant of the +mbox format. Each message is surrounded by lines +containing ^A^A^A^A (four times control-A's). The same +problems as for mbox apply (also with finding the right message +separator as four control-A's may appear in message bodies). -MH. A radical departure from mbox and MMDF, a mailbox +MH. A radical departure from +mbox and MMDF, a mailbox consists of a directory and each message is stored in a separate file. The filename indicates the message number (however, this is may not correspond to the message number Mutt displays). Deleted messages are -renamed with a comma (,) prepended to the filename. Note: Mutt -detects this type of mailbox by looking for either .mh_sequences -or .xmhcache (needed to distinguish normal directories from MH -mailboxes). - - - -Maildir. The newest of the mailbox formats, used by the Qmail MTA (a -replacement for sendmail). Similar to MH, except that it adds three -subdirectories of the mailbox: tmp, new and cur. Filenames -for the messages are chosen in such a way they are unique, even when two -programs are writing the mailbox over NFS, which means that no file locking -is needed. +renamed with a comma (,) prepended to the filename. Mutt +detects this type of mailbox by looking for either +.mh_sequences or .xmhcache files +(needed to distinguish normal directories from MH mailboxes). MH is more +robust with concurrent clients writing the mailbox, but still may suffer +from lost flags; message corruption is less likely to occur than with +mbox/mmdf. It's usually slower to open compared to mbox/mmdf since many +small files have to be read (Mutt provides to greatly speed this process up). Depending +on the environment, MH is not very disk-space efficient. + + + +Maildir. The newest of the mailbox formats, used +by the Qmail MTA (a replacement for sendmail). Similar to +MH, except that it adds three subdirectories of the +mailbox: tmp, new and +cur. Filenames for the messages are chosen in such +a way they are unique, even when two programs are writing the mailbox +over NFS, which means that no file locking is needed and corruption is +very unlikely. Maildir maybe slower to open without caching in Mutt, it +too is not very disk-space efficient depending on the environment. Since +no additional files are used for metadata (which is embedded in the +message filenames) and Maildir is locking-free, it's easy to sync across +different machines using file-level synchronization tools. @@ -4510,207 +5686,305 @@ is needed. Mailbox Shortcuts -There are a number of built in shortcuts which refer to specific mailboxes. -These shortcuts can be used anywhere you are prompted for a file or mailbox -path. +There are a number of built in shortcuts which refer to specific +mailboxes. These shortcuts can be used anywhere you are prompted for a +file or mailbox path or in path-related configuration variables. Note +that these only work at the beginning of a string. - - - - + +Mailbox shortcuts + + +ShortcutRefers to... + + +!your $spoolfile (incoming) mailbox +>your $mbox file +<your $record file +^the current mailbox +- or !!the file you've last visited +~your home directory += or +your $folder directory +@aliasto the default save folder as determined by the address of the alias + + +
-! -- refers to your $spoolfile (incoming) mailbox +For example, to store a copy of outgoing messages in the folder they +were composed in, a folder-hook can be used +to set $record: - - + + +folder-hook . 'set record=^' + + + + +Handling Mailing Lists -> -- refers to your $mbox file +Mutt has a few configuration options that make dealing with large +amounts of mail easier. The first thing you must do is to let Mutt know +what addresses you consider to be mailing lists (technically this does +not have to be a mailing list, but that is what it is most often used +for), and what lists you are subscribed to. This is accomplished +through the use of the lists +and subscribe commands in your +.muttrc. - - -< -- refers to your $record file +Now that Mutt knows what your mailing lists are, it can do several +things, the first of which is the ability to show the name of a list +through which you received a message (i.e., of a subscribed list) in the +index menu display. This is useful to distinguish +between personal and list mail in the same mailbox. In the $index_format variable, the expando +%L will print the string To <list> +when list appears in the To field, and +Cc <list> when it appears in the Cc +field (otherwise it prints the name of the author). + + + +Often times the To and Cc fields in +mailing list messages tend to get quite large. Most people do not bother +to remove the author of the message they reply to from the list, +resulting in two or more copies being sent to that person. The +<list-reply> function, which by default is +bound to L in the index menu and +pager, helps reduce the clutter by only replying to +the known mailing list addresses instead of all recipients (except as +specified by Mail-Followup-To, see below). - - -ˆ -- refers to the current mailbox +Mutt also supports the Mail-Followup-To header. When +you send a message to a list of recipients which includes one or several +subscribed mailing lists, and if the $followup_to option is set, Mutt will +generate a Mail-Followup-To header which contains all the recipients to +whom you send this message, but not your address. This indicates that +group-replies or list-replies (also known as followups) +to this message should only be sent to the original recipients of the +message, and not separately to you - you'll receive your copy through +one of the mailing lists you are subscribed to. - - -- or !! -- refers to the file you've last visited +Conversely, when group-replying or list-replying to a message which has +a Mail-Followup-To header, Mutt will respect this +header if the $honor_followup_to configuration +variable is set. Using list-reply +will in this case also make sure that the reply goes to the mailing +list, even if it's not specified in the list of recipients in the +Mail-Followup-To. - - + -˜ -- refers to your home directory +When header editing is enabled, you can create a +Mail-Followup-To header manually. Mutt will only +auto-generate this header if it doesn't exist when you send the message. - - + -= or + -- refers to your $folder directory +The other method some mailing list admins use is to generate a +Reply-To field which points back to the mailing list +address rather than the author of the message. This can create problems +when trying to reply directly to the author in private, since most mail +clients will automatically reply to the address given in the +Reply-To field. Mutt uses the $reply_to variable to help decide which +address to use. If set to ask-yes or +ask-no, you will be prompted as to whether or not +you would like to use the address given in the Reply-To +field, or reply directly to the address given in the From +field. When set to yes, the +Reply-To field will be used when present. + + + +The X-Label: header field can be used to further identify +mailing lists or list subject matter (or just to annotate messages +individually). The $index_format +variable's %y and %Y expandos can be used +to expand X-Label: fields in the index, and Mutt's +pattern-matcher can match regular expressions to X-Label: +fields with the ~y selector. X-Label: is +not a standard message header field, but it can easily be inserted by +procmail and other mail filtering agents. + + + +Lastly, Mutt has the ability to sort the +mailbox into threads. A thread is a +group of messages which all relate to the same subject. This is usually +organized into a tree-like structure where a message and all of its +replies are represented graphically. If you've ever used a threaded +news client, this is the same concept. It makes dealing with large +volume mailing lists easier because you can easily delete uninteresting +threads and quickly find topics of value. - - + + + + +New Mail Detection -@alias -- refers to the default save folder as determined by the address of the alias +Mutt supports setups with multiple folders, allowing all of them to be +monitored for new mail (see for details). - - + +How New Mail Detection Works + +For Mbox and Mmdf folders, new mail is detected by comparing access +and/or modification times of files: Mutt assumes a folder has new mail +if it wasn't accessed after it was last modified. Utilities like +biff or frm or any other program +which accesses the mailbox might cause Mutt to never detect new mail for +that mailbox if they do not properly reset the access time. Other +possible causes of Mutt not detecting new mail in these folders are +backup tools (updating access times) or filesystems mounted without +access time update support (for Linux systems, see the +relatime option). - + + +Contrary to older Mutt releases, it now maintains the new mail status of +a folder by properly resetting the access time if the folder contains at +least one message which is neither read, nor deleted, nor marked as old. + + - -Handling Mailing Lists + +In cases where new mail detection for Mbox or Mmdf folders appears to be +unreliable, the $check_mbox_size +option can be used to make Mutt track and consult file sizes for new +mail detection instead which won't work for size-neutral changes. + -Mutt has a few configuration options that make dealing with large -amounts of mail easier. The first thing you must do is to let Mutt -know what addresses you consider to be mailing lists (technically -this does not have to be a mailing list, but that is what it is most -often used for), and what lists you are subscribed to. This is -accomplished through the use of the lists and subscribe commands in your muttrc. +New mail for Maildir is assumed if there is one message in the +new/ subdirectory which is not marked deleted (see +$maildir_trash). For MH folders, a +mailbox is considered having new mail if there's at least one message in +the unseen sequence as specified by $mh_seq_unseen. -Now that Mutt knows what your mailing lists are, it can do several -things, the first of which is the ability to show the name of a list -through which you received a message (i.e., of a subscribed list) in -the index menu display. This is useful to distinguish between -personal and list mail in the same mailbox. In the $index_format variable, the escape ``%L'' -will return the string ``To <list>'' when ``list'' appears in the -``To'' field, and ``Cc <list>'' when it appears in the ``Cc'' -field (otherwise it returns the name of the author). - - - -Often times the ``To'' and ``Cc'' fields in mailing list messages -tend to get quite large. Most people do not bother to remove the -author of the message they are reply to from the list, resulting in -two or more copies being sent to that person. The ``list-reply'' -function, which by default is bound to ``L'' in the index menu -and pager, helps reduce the clutter by only replying to the -known mailing list addresses instead of all recipients (except as -specified by Mail-Followup-To, see below). +Mutt does not poll POP3 folders for new mail, it only periodically +checks the currently opened folder (if it's a POP3 folder). -Mutt also supports the Mail-Followup-To header. When you send -a message to a list of recipients which includes one or several -subscribed mailing lists, and if the $followup_to option is set, mutt will generate -a Mail-Followup-To header which contains all the recipients to whom -you send this message, but not your address. This indicates that -group-replies or list-replies (also known as ``followups'') to this -message should only be sent to the original recipients of the -message, and not separately to you - you'll receive your copy through -one of the mailing lists you are subscribed to. +For IMAP, by default Mutt uses recent message counts provided by the +server to detect new mail. If the $imap_idle option is set, it'll use the IMAP +IDLE extension if advertised by the server. + + + +Polling For New Mail + -Conversely, when group-replying or list-replying to a message which -has a Mail-Followup-To header, mutt will respect this header if -the $honor_followup_to configuration -variable is set. Using list-reply will in this case also make sure -that the reply goes to the mailing list, even if it's not specified -in the list of recipients in the Mail-Followup-To. +When in the index menu and being idle (also see $timeout), Mutt periodically checks for new +mail in all folders which have been configured via the +mailboxes command. The interval depends on the folder +type: for local/IMAP folders it consults $mail_check and $pop_checkinterval for POP folders. -Note that, when header editing is enabled, you can create a -Mail-Followup-To header manually. Mutt will only auto-generate -this header if it doesn't exist when you send the message. +Outside the index menu the directory browser supports checking for new +mail using the <check-new> function which is +unbound by default. Pressing TAB will bring up a menu showing the files +specified by the mailboxes command, and indicate +which contain new messages. Mutt will automatically enter this mode when +invoked from the command line with the -y option. -The other method some mailing list admins use is to generate a -``Reply-To'' field which points back to the mailing list address rather -than the author of the message. This can create problems when trying -to reply directly to the author in private, since most mail clients -will automatically reply to the address given in the ``Reply-To'' -field. Mutt uses the $reply_to -variable to help decide which address to use. If set to ask-yes or -ask-no, you will be -prompted as to whether or not you would like to use the address given in -the ``Reply-To'' field, or reply directly to the address given in the -``From'' field. When set to yes, the ``Reply-To'' field will be used when -present. +For the pager, index and directory browser menus, Mutt contains the +<buffy-list> function (bound to +. by default) which will print a list of folders with new +mail in the command line at the bottom of the screen. -The ``X-Label:'' header field can be used to further identify mailing -lists or list subject matter (or just to annotate messages -individually). The $index_format variable's ``%y'' and -``%Y'' escapes can be used to expand ``X-Label:'' fields in the -index, and Mutt's pattern-matcher can match regular expressions to -``X-Label:'' fields with the ``˜y'' selector. ``X-Label:'' is not a -standard message header field, but it can easily be inserted by procmail -and other mail filtering agents. +For the index, by default Mutt displays the number of mailboxes with new +mail in the status bar, please refer to the $status_format variable for details. -Lastly, Mutt has the ability to sort the mailbox into -threads. A thread is a group of messages which all relate to the same -subject. This is usually organized into a tree-like structure where a -message and all of its replies are represented graphically. If you've ever -used a threaded news client, this is the same concept. It makes dealing -with large volume mailing lists easier because you can easily delete -uninteresting threads and quickly find topics of value. +When changing folders, Mutt fills the prompt with the first folder from +the mailboxes list containing new mail (if any), pressing +<Space> will cycle through folders with new +mail. The (by default unbound) function +<next-unread-mailbox> in the index can be used +to immediately open the next folder with unread mail (if any). + + -Editing threads +Editing Threads Mutt has the ability to dynamically restructure threads that are broken either by misconfigured software or bad behavior from some -correspondents. This allows to clean your mailboxes formats) from these +correspondents. This allows to clean your mailboxes from these annoyances which make it hard to follow a discussion. - -Linking threads + +Linking Threads -Some mailers tend to "forget" to correctly set the "In-Reply-To:" and -"References:" headers when replying to a message. This results in broken -discussions because Mutt has not enough information to guess the correct -threading. -You can fix this by tagging the reply, then moving to the parent message -and using the ``link-threads'' function (bound to & by default). The -reply will then be connected to this "parent" message. +Some mailers tend to forget to correctly set the +In-Reply-To: and References: headers when +replying to a message. This results in broken discussions because Mutt +has not enough information to guess the correct threading. You can fix +this by tagging the reply, then moving to the parent message and using +the <link-threads> function (bound to & by +default). The reply will then be connected to this parent message. -You can also connect multiple children at once, tagging them and using the -tag-prefix command (';') or the auto_tag option. +You can also connect multiple children at once, tagging them and using +the <tag-prefix> command (;) or +the $auto_tag option. - -Breaking threads + +Breaking Threads On mailing lists, some people are in the bad habit of starting a new -discussion by hitting "reply" to any message from the list and changing -the subject to a totally unrelated one. -You can fix such threads by using the ``break-thread'' function (bound -by default to #), which will turn the subthread starting from the +discussion by hitting reply to any message from the list +and changing the subject to a totally unrelated one. You can fix such +threads by using the <break-thread> function +(bound by default to #), which will turn the subthread starting from the current message into a whole different thread. @@ -4723,55 +5997,98 @@ current message into a whole different thread. RFC1894 defines a set of MIME content types for relaying information -about the status of electronic mail messages. These can be thought of as -``return receipts.'' +about the status of electronic mail messages. These can be thought of +as return receipts. -To support DSN, there are two variables. $dsn_notify is used to request receipts for +To support DSN, there are two variables. $dsn_notify is used to request receipts for different results (such as failed message, message delivered, etc.). -$dsn_return requests how much -of your message should be returned with the receipt (headers or full -message). +$dsn_return requests how much of your +message should be returned with the receipt (headers or full message). -When using $sendmail for mail -delivery, you need to use either Berkeley sendmail 8.8.x (or greater) a MTA -supporting DSN command line options compatible to Sendmail: The -N and -R -options can be used by the mail client to make requests as to what type of -status messages should be returned. Please consider your MTA documentation -whether DSN is supported. +When using $sendmail for mail delivery, +you need to use either Berkeley sendmail 8.8.x (or greater) a MTA +supporting DSN command line options compatible to Sendmail: The -N and +-R options can be used by the mail client to make requests as to what +type of status messages should be returned. Please consider your MTA +documentation whether DSN is supported. -For SMTP delivery using $smtp_url, it depends on the -capabilities announced by the server whether mutt will attempt to -request DSN or not. +For SMTP delivery using $smtp_url, it +depends on the capabilities announced by the server whether Mutt will +attempt to request DSN or not. -Start a WWW Browser on URLs (EXTERNAL) +Start a WWW Browser on URLs -If a message contains URLs (unified resource locator = address in the -WWW space like http://www.mutt.org/), it is efficient to get -a menu with all the URLs and start a WWW browser on one of them. This -functionality is provided by the external urlview program which can be -retrieved at ftp://ftp.mutt.org/mutt/contrib/ and the configuration commands: +If a message contains URLs, it is efficient to get a menu with all the +URLs and start a WWW browser on one of them. This functionality is +provided by the external urlview program which can be retrieved at +ftp://ftp.mutt.org/mutt/contrib/ +and the configuration commands: + macro index \cb |urlview\n macro pager \cb |urlview\n + + + +Miscellany + + +This section documents various features that fit nowhere else. + + + + + +Address normalization + + + +Mutt normalizes all e-mail addresses to the simplest form possible. If +an address contains a realname, the form Joe User +<joe@example.com> is used and the pure e-mail address +without angle brackets otherwise, i.e. just +joe@example.com. + + +This normalization affects all headers Mutt generates including aliases. + + + + +Initial folder selection + + + +The folder Mutt opens at startup is determined as follows: the folder +specified in the $MAIL environment variable if +present. Otherwise, the value of $MAILDIR is taken +into account. If that isn't present either, Mutt takes the user's +mailbox in the mailspool as determined at compile-time (which may also +reside in the home directory). The $spoolfile setting overrides this +selection. Highest priority has the mailbox given with the +-f command line option. + + + + @@ -4786,80 +6103,133 @@ MIME MUA. Every effort has been made to provide the functionality that the discerning MIME user requires, and the conformance to the standards wherever possible. When configuring Mutt for MIME, there are two extra types of configuration files which Mutt uses. One is the -mime.types file, which contains the mapping of file extensions to -IANA MIME types. The other is the mailcap file, which specifies -the external commands to use for handling specific MIME types. +mime.types file, which contains the mapping of file +extensions to IANA MIME types. The other is the +mailcap file, which specifies the external commands +to use for handling specific MIME types. Using MIME in Mutt + +MIME Overview + + +MIME is short for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension +and describes mechanisms to internationalize and structure mail +messages. Before the introduction of MIME, messages had a single text +part and were limited to us-ascii header and content. With MIME, +messages can have attachments (and even attachments which itself have +attachments and thus form a tree structure), nearly arbitrary characters +can be used for sender names, recipients and subjects. + + + +Besides the handling of non-ascii characters in message headers, to Mutt +the most important aspect of MIME are so-called MIME types. These are +constructed using a major and +minor type separated by a forward slash. These +specify details about the content that follows. Based upon these, Mutt +decides how to handle this part. The most popular major type is +text with minor types for plain text, +HTML and various other formats. Major types also exist for images, +audio, video and of course general application data (e.g. to separate +cryptographically signed data with a signature, send office documents, +and in general arbitrary binary data). There's also the +multipart major type which represents the root of a +subtree of MIME parts. A list of supported MIME types can be found in +. + + -There are three areas/menus in Mutt which deal with MIME, they are the -pager (while viewing a message), the attachment menu and the compose -menu. +MIME also defines a set of encoding schemes for transporting MIME +content over the network: 7bit, +8bit, quoted-printable, +base64 and binary. There're some +rules when to choose what for encoding headers and/or body (if needed), +and Mutt will in general make a good choice. - -Viewing MIME messages in the pager + +Mutt does most of MIME encoding/decoding behind the scenes to form +messages conforming to MIME on the sending side. On reception, it can be +flexibly configured as to how what MIME structure is displayed (and if +it's displayed): these decisions are based on the content's MIME type. +There are three areas/menus in dealing with MIME: the pager (while +viewing a message), the attachment menu and the compose menu. + + + + + +Viewing MIME Messages in the Pager When you select a message from the index and view it in the pager, Mutt -decodes the message to a text representation. Mutt internally supports -a number of MIME types, including text/plain, text/enriched, -message/rfc822, and message/news. In addition, the export -controlled version of Mutt recognizes a variety of PGP MIME types, -including PGP/MIME and application/pgp. +decodes as much of a message as possible to a text representation. Mutt +internally supports a number of MIME types, including the +text major type (with all minor types), the +message/rfc822 (mail messages) type and some +multipart types. In addition, it recognizes a variety +of PGP MIME types, including PGP/MIME and +application/pgp. Mutt will denote attachments with a couple lines describing them. These lines are of the form: + [-- Attachment #1: Description --] [-- Type: text/plain, Encoding: 7bit, Size: 10000 --] -Where the Description is the description or filename given for the -attachment, and the Encoding is one of -7bit/8bit/quoted-printable/base64/binary. + +Where the Description is the description or +filename given for the attachment, and the Encoding +is one of the already mentioned content encodings. If Mutt cannot deal with a MIME type, it will display a message like: + [-- image/gif is unsupported (use 'v' to view this part) --] - - The Attachment Menu -The default binding for view-attachments is `v', which displays the -attachment menu for a message. The attachment menu displays a list of -the attachments in a message. From the attachment menu, you can save, -print, pipe, delete, and view attachments. You can apply these -operations to a group of attachments at once, by tagging the attachments -and by using the ``tag-prefix'' operator. You can also reply to the -current message from this menu, and only the current attachment (or the -attachments tagged) will be quoted in your reply. You can view -attachments as text, or view them using the mailcap viewer definition. +The default binding for <view-attachments> is +v, which displays the attachment menu for a message. The +attachment menu displays a list of the attachments in a message. From +the attachment menu, you can save, print, pipe, delete, and view +attachments. You can apply these operations to a group of attachments +at once, by tagging the attachments and by using the +<tag-prefix> operator. You can also reply to +the current message from this menu, and only the current attachment (or +the attachments tagged) will be quoted in your reply. You can view +attachments as text, or view them using the mailcap viewer definition +(the mailcap mechanism is explained later in detail). -Finally, you can apply the usual message-related functions (like -resend-message, and the reply -and forward functions) to attachments of type message/rfc822. +Finally, you can apply the usual message-related functions (like <resend-message>, +and the <reply> and +<forward> functions) to attachments of type +message/rfc822. -See the help on the attachment menu for more information. +See table for all available +functions. @@ -4869,37 +6239,39 @@ See the help on the attachment menu for more information. The compose menu is the menu you see before you send a message. It -allows you to edit the recipient list, the subject, and other aspects -of your message. It also contains a list of the attachments of your +allows you to edit the recipient list, the subject, and other aspects of +your message. It also contains a list of the attachments of your message, including the main body. From this menu, you can print, copy, -filter, pipe, edit, compose, review, and rename an attachment or a -list of tagged attachments. You can also modifying the attachment +filter, pipe, edit, compose, review, and rename an attachment or a list +of tagged attachments. You can also modifying the attachment information, notably the type, encoding and description. -Attachments appear as follows: +Attachments appear as follows by default: + - 1 [text/plain, 7bit, 1K] /tmp/mutt-euler-8082-0 <no description> 2 [applica/x-gunzip, base64, 422K] ~/src/mutt-0.85.tar.gz <no description> - - -The '-' denotes that Mutt will delete the file after sending (or -postponing, or canceling) the message. It can be toggled with the -toggle-unlink command (default: u). The next field is the MIME -content-type, and can be changed with the edit-type command -(default: ˆT). The next field is the encoding for the attachment, -which allows a binary message to be encoded for transmission on 7bit -links. It can be changed with the edit-encoding command -(default: ˆE). The next field is the size of the attachment, -rounded to kilobytes or megabytes. The next field is the filename, -which can be changed with the rename-file command (default: R). -The final field is the description of the attachment, and can be -changed with the edit-description command (default: d). +The - denotes that Mutt will delete the file after +sending (or postponing, or canceling) the message. It can be toggled +with the <toggle-unlink> command (default: u). +The next field is the MIME content-type, and can be changed with the +<edit-type> command (default: ^T). The next +field is the encoding for the attachment, which allows a binary message +to be encoded for transmission on 7bit links. It can be changed with +the <edit-encoding> command (default: ^E). The +next field is the size of the attachment, rounded to kilobytes or +megabytes. The next field is the filename, which can be changed with +the <rename-file> command (default: R). The +final field is the description of the attachment, and can be changed +with the <edit-description> command (default: +d). See $attach_format for a full +list of available expandos to format this display to your needs. @@ -4907,81 +6279,123 @@ changed with the edit-description command (default: d). -MIME Type configuration with <literal>mime.types</literal> +MIME Type Configuration with <literal>mime.types</literal> + + +To get most out of MIME, it's important that a MIME part's content type +matches the content as closely as possible so that the recipient's +client can automatically select the right viewer for the +content. However, there's no reliable for Mutt to know how to detect +every possible file type. Instead, it uses a simple plain text mapping +file that specifies what file extension corresponds to what MIME +type. This file is called mime.types. + When you add an attachment to your mail message, Mutt searches your -personal mime.types file at ${HOME}/.mime.types, and then -the system mime.types file at /usr/local/share/mutt/mime.types or +personal mime.types file at +$HOME/.mime.types, and then the system +mime.types file at +/usr/local/share/mutt/mime.types or /etc/mime.types -The mime.types file consist of lines containing a MIME type and a space -separated list of extensions. For example: +Each line starts with the full MIME type, followed by a space and +space-separated list of file extensions. For example you could use: + + +<literal>mime.types</literal> application/postscript ps eps application/pgp pgp audio/x-aiff aif aifc aiff + -A sample mime.types file comes with the Mutt distribution, and -should contain most of the MIME types you are likely to use. + +A sample mime.types file comes with the Mutt +distribution, and should contain most of the MIME types you are likely +to use. -If Mutt can not determine the mime type by the extension of the file you +If Mutt can not determine the MIME type by the extension of the file you attach, it will look at the file. If the file is free of binary information, Mutt will assume that the file is plain text, and mark it -as text/plain. If the file contains binary information, then Mutt will -mark it as application/octet-stream. You can change the MIME -type that Mutt assigns to an attachment by using the edit-type -command from the compose menu (default: ˆT). The MIME type is actually a -major mime type followed by the sub-type, separated by a '/'. 6 major -types: application, text, image, video, audio, and model have been approved -after various internet discussions. Mutt recognizes all of these if the -appropriate entry is found in the mime.types file. It also recognizes other -major mime types, such as the chemical type that is widely used in the -molecular modeling community to pass molecular data in various forms to -various molecular viewers. Non-recognized mime types should only be used -if the recipient of the message is likely to be expecting such attachments. +as text/plain. If the file contains binary +information, then Mutt will mark it as +application/octet-stream. You can change the MIME +type that Mutt assigns to an attachment by using the +<edit-type> command from the compose menu +(default: ^T), see for supported +major types. Mutt recognizes all of these if the appropriate entry is +found in the mime.types file. Non-recognized mime +types should only be used if the recipient of the message is likely to +be expecting such attachments. + + + +Supported MIME types + + +MIME major typeStandardDescription + + +applicationyesGeneral application data +audioyesAudio data +imageyesImage data +messageyesMail messages, message status information +modelyesVRML and other modeling data +multipartyesContainer for other MIME parts +textyesText data +videoyesVideo data +chemicalnoMostly molecular data + + +
+ + +MIME types are not arbitrary, they need to be assigned by IANA. - -MIME Viewer configuration with <literal>mailcap</literal> + +MIME Viewer Configuration with Mailcap Mutt supports RFC 1524 MIME Configuration, in particular the Unix specific format specified in Appendix A of RFC 1524. This file format -is commonly referred to as the mailcap format. Many MIME compliant -programs utilize the mailcap format, allowing you to specify handling -for all MIME types in one place for all programs. Programs known to -use this format include Netscape, XMosaic, lynx and metamail. +is commonly referred to as the mailcap format. Many MIME +compliant programs utilize the mailcap format, allowing you to specify +handling for all MIME types in one place for all programs. Programs +known to use this format include Firefox, lynx and metamail. -In order to handle various MIME types that Mutt can not handle -internally, Mutt parses a series of external configuration files to -find an external handler. The default search string for these files -is a colon delimited list containing the following files: +In order to handle various MIME types that Mutt doesn't have built-in +support for, it parses a series of external configuration files to find +an external handler. The default search string for these files is a +colon delimited list containing the following files: + -$HOME/.mailcap -$PKGDATADIR/mailcap -$SYSCONFDIR/mailcap +$HOME/.mailcap +$PKGDATADIR/mailcap +$SYSCONFDIR/mailcap /etc/mailcap /usr/etc/mailcap /usr/local/etc/mailcap -where $HOME is your home directory. The -$PKGDATADIR and the -$SYSCONFDIR directories depend on where mutt -is installed: the former is the default for shared data, the -latter for system configuration files. + +where $HOME is your home directory. The +$PKGDATADIR and the $SYSCONFDIR +directories depend on where Mutt is installed: the former is the default +for shared data, the latter for system configuration files. @@ -4995,12 +6409,12 @@ mutt -nF /dev/null -Q mailcap_path In particular, the metamail distribution will install a mailcap file, -usually as /usr/local/etc/mailcap, which contains some baseline -entries. +usually as /usr/local/etc/mailcap, which contains +some baseline entries. - -The Basics of the mailcap file + +The Basics of the Mailcap File A mailcap file consists of a series of lines which are comments, blank, @@ -5008,7 +6422,7 @@ or definitions. -A comment line consists of a # character followed by anything you want. +A comment line consists of a # character followed by anything you want. @@ -5018,17 +6432,18 @@ A blank line is blank. A definition line consists of a content type, a view command, and any number of optional fields. Each field of a definition line is divided -by a semicolon ';' character. +by a semicolon ; character. -The content type is specified in the MIME standard type/subtype method. -For example, -text/plain, text/html, image/gif, -etc. In addition, the mailcap format includes two formats for -wildcards, one using the special '*' subtype, the other is the implicit -wild, where you only include the major type. For example, image/*, or -video, will match all image types and video types, +The content type is specified in the MIME standard +type/subtype notation. For example, +text/plain, text/html, +image/gif, etc. In addition, the mailcap format +includes two formats for wildcards, one using the special +* subtype, the other is the implicit wild, where you only +include the major type. For example, image/*, or +video will match all image types and video types, respectively. @@ -5036,123 +6451,135 @@ respectively. The view command is a Unix command for viewing the type specified. There are two different types of commands supported. The default is to send the body of the MIME message to the command on stdin. You can change -this behavior by using %s as a parameter to your view command. -This will cause Mutt to save the body of the MIME message to a temporary -file, and then call the view command with the %s replaced by -the name of the temporary file. In both cases, Mutt will turn over the -terminal to the view program until the program quits, at which time Mutt -will remove the temporary file if it exists. +this behavior by using %s as a parameter to your view +command. This will cause Mutt to save the body of the MIME message to a +temporary file, and then call the view command with the +%s replaced by the name of the temporary file. In +both cases, Mutt will turn over the terminal to the view program until +the program quits, at which time Mutt will remove the temporary file if +it exists. This means that mailcap does not work +out of the box with programs which detach themselves from the terminal +right after starting, like open on Mac OS X. In order +to nevertheless use these programs with mailcap, you probably need +custom shell scripts. -So, in the simplest form, you can send a text/plain message to the -external pager more on stdin: +So, in the simplest form, you can send a text/plain +message to the external pager more on standard input: + text/plain; more + Or, you could send the message as a file: + text/plain; more %s -Perhaps you would like to use lynx to interactively view a text/html -message: + +Perhaps you would like to use lynx to interactively view a +text/html message: + text/html; lynx %s -In this case, lynx does not support viewing a file from stdin, so you -must use the %s syntax. -Note: Some older versions of lynx contain a bug where they -will check the mailcap file for a viewer for text/html. They will find -the line which calls lynx, and run it. This causes lynx to continuously -spawn itself to view the object. + +In this case, lynx does not support viewing a file from standard input, +so you must use the %s syntax. + + + + +Some older versions of lynx contain a bug where they will +check the mailcap file for a viewer for text/html. +They will find the line which calls lynx, and run it. This causes lynx +to continuously spawn itself to view the object. + On the other hand, maybe you don't want to use lynx interactively, you -just want to have it convert the text/html to text/plain, then you can -use: +just want to have it convert the text/html to +text/plain, then you can use: + text/html; lynx -dump %s | more - - -Perhaps you wish to use lynx to view text/html files, and a pager on -all other text formats, then you would use the following: +Perhaps you wish to use lynx to view text/html files, +and a pager on all other text formats, then you would use the following: + text/html; lynx %s text/*; more -This is the simplest form of a mailcap file. - - - -Secure use of mailcap + +Secure Use of Mailcap The interpretation of shell meta-characters embedded in MIME parameters -can lead to security problems in general. Mutt tries to quote parameters -in expansion of %s syntaxes properly, and avoids risky characters by -substituting them, see the $mailcap_sanitize variable. +can lead to security problems in general. Mutt tries to quote +parameters in expansion of %s syntaxes properly, and +avoids risky characters by substituting them, see the $mailcap_sanitize variable. -Although mutt's procedures to invoke programs with mailcap seem to be -safe, there are other applications parsing mailcap, maybe taking less care -of it. Therefore you should pay attention to the following rules: +Although Mutt's procedures to invoke programs with mailcap seem to be +safe, there are other applications parsing mailcap, maybe taking less +care of it. Therefore you should pay attention to the following rules: -Keep the %-expandos away from shell quoting. -Don't quote them with single or double quotes. Mutt does this for -you, the right way, as should any other program which interprets -mailcap. Don't put them into backtick expansions. Be highly careful -with eval statements, and avoid them if possible at all. Trying to fix -broken behavior with quotes introduces new leaks - there is no +Keep the %-expandos away from shell quoting. Don't +quote them with single or double quotes. Mutt does this for you, the +right way, as should any other program which interprets mailcap. Don't +put them into backtick expansions. Be highly careful with evil +statements, and avoid them if possible at all. Trying to fix broken +behavior with quotes introduces new leaks — there is no alternative to correct quoting in the first place. -If you have to use the %-expandos' values in context where you need -quoting or backtick expansions, put that value into a shell variable -and reference the shell variable where necessary, as in the following -example (using $charset inside the backtick expansion is safe, -since it is not itself subject to any further expansion): +If you have to use the %-expandos' values in context where you need +quoting or backtick expansions, put that value into a shell variable and +reference the shell variable where necessary, as in the following +example (using $charset inside the backtick expansion +is safe, since it is not itself subject to any further expansion): - - -text/test-mailcap-bug; cat %s; copiousoutput; test=charset=%{charset} \ +text/test-mailcap-bug; cat %s; copiousoutput; test=charset=%{charset} \ && test "`echo $charset | tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]'`" != iso-8859-1 - - - -Advanced mailcap Usage + +Advanced Mailcap Usage - + Optional Fields In addition to the required content-type and view command fields, you -can add semi-colon ';' separated fields to set flags and other options. -Mutt recognizes the following optional fields: +can add semi-colon ; separated fields to set flags and +other options. Mutt recognizes the following optional fields: + + @@ -5160,18 +6587,28 @@ Mutt recognizes the following optional fields: This flag tells Mutt that the command passes possibly large amounts of -text on stdout. This causes Mutt to invoke a pager (either the internal -pager or the external pager defined by the pager variable) on the output -of the view command. Without this flag, Mutt assumes that the command -is interactive. One could use this to replace the pipe to more -in the lynx -dump example in the Basic section: +text on standard output. This causes Mutt to invoke a pager (either +the internal pager or the external pager defined by the pager variable) +on the output of the view command. Without this flag, Mutt assumes that +the command is interactive. One could use this to replace the pipe to +more in the lynx -dump example in +the Basic section: + text/html; lynx -dump %s ; copiousoutput -This will cause lynx to format the text/html output as text/plain -and Mutt will use your standard pager to display the results. + +This will cause lynx to format the text/html output +as text/plain and Mutt will use your standard pager +to display the results. + + + +Note that when using the built-in pager, only +entries with this flag will be considered a handler for a MIME type +— all other entries will be ignored. @@ -5179,14 +6616,15 @@ and Mutt will use your standard pager to display the results. needsterminal -Mutt uses this flag when viewing attachments with auto_view, in order to decide whether it should honor the setting -of the $wait_key variable or -not. When an attachment is viewed using an interactive program, and the -corresponding mailcap entry has a needsterminal flag, Mutt will use -$wait_key and the exit status -of the program to decide if it will ask you to press a key after the -external program has exited. In all other situations it will not prompt -you for a key. +Mutt uses this flag when viewing attachments with auto_view, in order to +decide whether it should honor the setting of the $wait_key variable or not. When an attachment +is viewed using an interactive program, and the corresponding mailcap +entry has a needsterminal flag, Mutt will use $wait_key and the exit status of the program +to decide if it will ask you to press a key after the external program +has exited. In all other situations it will not prompt you for a key. @@ -5205,9 +6643,9 @@ specific MIME type. Mutt supports this from the compose menu. This flag specifies the command to use to create a new attachment of a specific MIME type. This command differs from the compose command in -that mutt will expect standard MIME headers on the data. This can be +that Mutt will expect standard MIME headers on the data. This can be used to specify parameters, filename, description, etc. for a new -attachment. Mutt supports this from the compose menu. +attachment. Mutt supports this from the compose menu. @@ -5226,8 +6664,8 @@ Mutt supports this from the attachment and compose menus. This flag specifies the command to use to edit a specific MIME type. Mutt supports this from the compose menu, and also uses it to compose -new attachments. Mutt will default to the defined editor for text -attachments. +new attachments. Mutt will default to the defined $editor for text attachments. @@ -5235,225 +6673,254 @@ attachments. nametemplate=<template> -This field specifies the format for the file denoted by %s in the -command fields. Certain programs will require a certain file extension, -for instance, to correctly view a file. For instance, lynx will only -interpret a file as text/html if the file ends in .html. -So, you would specify lynx as a text/html viewer with a line in -the mailcap file like: +This field specifies the format for the file denoted by +%s in the command fields. Certain programs will +require a certain file extension, for instance, to correctly view a +file. For instance, lynx will only interpret a file as +text/html if the file ends in +.html. So, you would specify lynx as a +text/html viewer with a line in the mailcap file +like: + text/html; lynx %s; nametemplate=%s.html - test=<command> -This field specifies a command to run to test whether this mailcap -entry should be used. The command is defined with the command expansion -rules defined in the next section. If the command returns 0, then the -test passed, and Mutt uses this entry. If the command returns non-zero, -then the test failed, and Mutt continues searching for the right entry. -Note: the content-type must match before Mutt performs the test. -For example: +This field specifies a command to run to test whether this mailcap entry +should be used. The command is defined with the command expansion rules +defined in the next section. If the command returns 0, then the test +passed, and Mutt uses this entry. If the command returns non-zero, then +the test failed, and Mutt continues searching for the right entry. Note +that the content-type must match before Mutt performs the test. For +example: + -text/html; netscape -remote 'openURL(%s)' ; test=RunningX +text/html; firefox -remote 'openURL(%s)' ; test=RunningX text/html; lynx %s -In this example, Mutt will run the program RunningX which will return 0 -if the X Window manager is running, and non-zero if it isn't. If -RunningX returns 0, then Mutt will call netscape to display the -text/html object. If RunningX doesn't return 0, then Mutt will go on -to the next entry and use lynx to display the text/html object. + +In this example, Mutt will run the program RunningX +which will return 0 if the X Window manager is running, and non-zero if +it isn't. If RunningX returns 0, then Mutt will run +firefox to display the text/html object. If RunningX +doesn't return 0, then Mutt will go on to the next entry and use lynx to +display the text/html object. - - + Search Order When searching for an entry in the mailcap file, Mutt will search for the most useful entry for its purpose. For instance, if you are -attempting to print an image/gif, and you have the following -entries in your mailcap file, Mutt will search for an entry with the -print command: +attempting to print an image/gif, and you have the +following entries in your mailcap file, Mutt will search for an entry +with the print command: + image/*; xv %s -image/gif; ; print= anytopnm %s | pnmtops | lpr; \ +image/gif; ; print= anytopnm %s | pnmtops | lpr; \ nametemplate=%s.gif -Mutt will skip the image/* entry and use the image/gif -entry with the print command. + +Mutt will skip the image/* entry and use the +image/gif entry with the print command. -In addition, you can use this with auto_view -to denote two commands for viewing an attachment, one to be viewed -automatically, the other to be viewed interactively from the attachment -menu. In addition, you can then use the test feature to determine which -viewer to use interactively depending on your environment. +In addition, you can use this with auto_view to denote two +commands for viewing an attachment, one to be viewed automatically, the +other to be viewed interactively from the attachment menu using the +<view-mailcap> function (bound to +m by default). In addition, you can then use the test +feature to determine which viewer to use interactively depending on your +environment. + -text/html; netscape -remote 'openURL(%s)' ; test=RunningX +text/html; firefox -remote 'openURL(%s)' ; test=RunningX text/html; lynx %s; nametemplate=%s.html text/html; lynx -dump %s; nametemplate=%s.html; copiousoutput -For auto_view, Mutt will choose the third -entry because of the copiousoutput tag. For interactive viewing, Mutt -will run the program RunningX to determine if it should use the first -entry. If the program returns non-zero, Mutt will use the second entry -for interactive viewing. + +For auto_view, Mutt +will choose the third entry because of the +copiousoutput tag. For interactive viewing, Mutt +will run the program RunningX to determine if it +should use the first entry. If the program returns non-zero, Mutt will +use the second entry for interactive viewing. The last entry is for +inline display in the pager and the +<view-attach> function in the attachment menu. + + + +Entries with the copiousoutput tag should always be +specified as the last one per type. For non-interactive use, the last +entry will then actually be the first matching one with the tag set. +For non-interactive use, only copiousoutput-tagged +entries are considered. For interactive use, Mutt ignores this tag and +treats all entries equally. Therefore, if not specified last, all +following entries without this tag would never be considered for +<view-attach> because the +copiousoutput before them matched already. - + Command Expansion The various commands defined in the mailcap files are passed to the -/bin/sh shell using the system() function. Before the -command is passed to /bin/sh -c, it is parsed to expand -various special parameters with information from Mutt. The keywords -Mutt expands are: +/bin/sh shell using the system(3) +function. Before the command is passed to /bin/sh +-c, it is parsed to expand various special parameters with +information from Mutt. The keywords Mutt expands are: + + -%s +%s -As seen in the basic mailcap section, this variable is expanded -to a filename specified by the calling program. This file contains -the body of the message to view/print/edit or where the composing -program should place the results of composition. In addition, the -use of this keyword causes Mutt to not pass the body of the message -to the view/print/edit program on stdin. +As seen in the basic mailcap section, this variable is expanded to a +filename specified by the calling program. This file contains the body +of the message to view/print/edit or where the composing program should +place the results of composition. In addition, the use of this keyword +causes Mutt to not pass the body of the message to the view/print/edit +program on stdin. -%t +%t -Mutt will expand %t to the text representation of the content -type of the message in the same form as the first parameter of the -mailcap definition line, ie text/html or +Mutt will expand %t to the text representation of the +content type of the message in the same form as the first parameter of +the mailcap definition line, i.e. text/html or image/gif. -%{<parameter>} +%{<parameter>} -Mutt will expand this to the value of the specified parameter -from the Content-Type: line of the mail message. For instance, if -Your mail message contains: +Mutt will expand this to the value of the specified parameter from the +Content-Type: line of the mail message. For instance, if your mail +message contains: + Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 -then Mutt will expand %{charset} to iso-8859-1. The default metamail -mailcap file uses this feature to test the charset to spawn an xterm -using the right charset to view the message. + +then Mutt will expand %{charset} to +iso-8859-1. The default metamail mailcap file uses this +feature to test the charset to spawn an xterm using the right charset to +view the message. -\% +\% -This will be replaced by a % +This will be replaced by a literal %. -Mutt does not currently support the %F and %n keywords -specified in RFC 1524. The main purpose of these parameters is for -multipart messages, which is handled internally by Mutt. + + +Mutt does not currently support the %F and +%n keywords specified in RFC 1524. The main purpose +of these parameters is for multipart messages, which is handled +internally by Mutt. - -Example mailcap files + +Example Mailcap Files This mailcap file is fairly simple and standard: + - -# I'm always running X :) + +# I'm always running X :) video/*; xanim %s > /dev/null image/*; xv %s > /dev/null -# I'm always running netscape (if my computer had more memory, maybe) -text/html; netscape -remote 'openURL(%s)' - - - +# I'm always running firefox (if my computer had more memory, maybe) +text/html; firefox -remote 'openURL(%s)' + This mailcap file shows quite a number of examples: - - - -# Use xanim to view all videos Xanim produces a header on startup, -# send that to /dev/null so I don't see it + +# Use xanim to view all videos Xanim produces a header on startup, +# send that to /dev/null so I don't see it video/*; xanim %s > /dev/null -# Send html to a running netscape by remote -text/html; netscape -remote 'openURL(%s)'; test=RunningNetscape +# Send html to a running firefox by remote +text/html; firefox -remote 'openURL(%s)'; test=RunningFirefox -# If I'm not running netscape but I am running X, start netscape on the -# object -text/html; netscape %s; test=RunningX +# If I'm not running firefox but I am running X, start firefox on the +# object +text/html; firefox %s; test=RunningX -# Else use lynx to view it as text +# Else use lynx to view it as text text/html; lynx %s -# This version would convert the text/html to text/plain +# This version would convert the text/html to text/plain text/html; lynx -dump %s; copiousoutput -# I use enscript to print text in two columns to a page +# I use enscript to print text in two columns to a page text/*; more %s; print=enscript -2Gr %s -# Netscape adds a flag to tell itself to view jpegs internally +# Firefox adds a flag to tell itself to view jpegs internally image/jpeg;xv %s; x-mozilla-flags=internal -# Use xv to view images if I'm running X -# In addition, this uses the \ to extend the line and set my editor -# for images -image/*;xv %s; test=RunningX; \ +# Use xv to view images if I'm running X +# In addition, this uses the \ to extend the line and set my editor +# for images +image/*;xv %s; test=RunningX; \ edit=xpaint %s -# Convert images to text using the netpbm tools +# Convert images to text using the netpbm tools image/*; (anytopnm %s | pnmscale -xysize 80 46 | ppmtopgm | pgmtopbm | pbmtoascii -1x2 ) 2>&1 ; copiousoutput -# Send excel spreadsheets to my NT box +# Send excel spreadsheets to my NT box application/ms-excel; open.pl %s - - - + @@ -5463,52 +6930,76 @@ application/ms-excel; open.pl %s MIME Autoview -In addition to explicitly telling Mutt to view an attachment with the -MIME viewer defined in the mailcap file, Mutt has support for -automatically viewing MIME attachments while in the pager. +Usage: + +auto_view + +mimetype + + +mimetype + + +unauto_view + + +* + + +mimetype + + + + -To work, you must define a viewer in the mailcap file which uses the -copiousoutput option to denote that it is non-interactive. -Usually, you also use the entry to convert the attachment to a text -representation which you can view in the pager. +In addition to explicitly telling Mutt to view an attachment with the +MIME viewer defined in the mailcap file from the attachments menu, Mutt +has support for automatically viewing MIME attachments while in the +pager. -You then use the auto_view muttrc command to list the -content-types that you wish to view automatically. +For this to work, you must define a viewer in the mailcap file which +uses the copiousoutput option to denote that it is +non-interactive. Usually, you also use the entry to convert the +attachment to a text representation which you can view in the pager. -For instance, if you set auto_view to: +You then use the auto_view configuration command to +list the content-types that you wish to view automatically. For +instance, if you set it to: + -auto_view text/html application/x-gunzip \ +auto_view text/html application/x-gunzip \ application/postscript image/gif application/x-tar-gz - - -Mutt could use the following mailcap entries to automatically view -attachments of these types. +...Mutt would try to find corresponding entries for rendering +attachments of these types as text. A corresponding mailcap could look +like: + text/html; lynx -dump %s; copiousoutput; nametemplate=%s.html -image/*; anytopnm %s | pnmscale -xsize 80 -ysize 50 | ppmtopgm | \ +image/*; anytopnm %s | pnmscale -xsize 80 -ysize 50 | ppmtopgm | \ pgmtopbm | pbmtoascii ; copiousoutput application/x-gunzip; gzcat; copiousoutput application/x-tar-gz; gunzip -c %s | tar -tf - ; copiousoutput application/postscript; ps2ascii %s; copiousoutput - - -``unauto_view'' can be used to remove previous entries from the autoview list. -This can be used with message-hook to autoview messages based on size, etc. -``unauto_view *'' will remove all previous entries. +unauto_view can be used to remove previous entries +from the auto_view list. This can be used with message-hook to +autoview messages based on size, etc. +unauto_view * will remove all previous +entries. @@ -5516,30 +7007,53 @@ This can be used with message-hook to autoview messages based on size, etc. MIME Multipart/Alternative + +The multipart/alternative container type only has +child MIME parts which represent the same content in an alternative +way. This is often used to send HTML messages which contain an +alternative plain text representation. + + Mutt has some heuristics for determining which attachment of a -multipart/alternative type to display. First, mutt will check the -alternative_order list to determine if one of the available types -is preferred. The alternative_order list consists of a number of -mimetypes in order, including support for implicit and explicit -wildcards, for example: +multipart/alternative type to display: + + + + + +First, Mutt will check the alternative_order list to +determine if one of the available types is preferred. It consists of a +number of MIME types in order, including support for implicit and +explicit wildcards. For example: + -alternative_order text/enriched text/plain text application/postscript image/* +alternative_order text/enriched text/plain text \ + application/postscript image/* - + + + +Next, Mutt will check if any of the types have a defined auto_view, and use that. - + + + +Failing that, Mutt will look for any text type. + + + -Next, mutt will check if any of the types have a defined -auto_view, and use that. Failing -that, Mutt will look for any text type. As a last attempt, mutt will -look for any type it knows how to handle. +As a last attempt, Mutt will look for any type it knows how to handle. + + -To remove a MIME type from the alternative_order list, use the -unalternative_order command. +To remove a MIME type from the alternative_order +list, use the unalternative_order command. @@ -5553,56 +7067,82 @@ attachment-counting and -searching support might be for you. You can make your message index display the number of qualifying attachments in each message, or search for messages by attachment count. You also can configure what kinds of attachments qualify for this feature with the -attachments and unattachments commands. +attachments and unattachments +commands. -In order to provide this information, mutt needs to fully MIME-parse -all messages affected first. This can slow down operation especially for +In order to provide this information, Mutt needs to fully MIME-parse all +messages affected first. This can slow down operation especially for remote mail folders such as IMAP because all messages have to be downloaded first regardless whether the user really wants to view them -or not. +or not though using usually means to +download the message just once. The syntax is: - -attachments {+|-}disposition mime-type -unattachments {+|-}disposition mime-type -attachments ? - + + +attachments + +{ + | - }disposition + + +mime-type + + +unattachments + +{ + | - }disposition + + +mime-type + + +attachments + +? + + -Disposition is the attachment's Content-disposition type -- either -"inline" or "attachment". You can abbreviate this to I or A. +disposition is the attachment's Content-Disposition +type — either inline or +attachment. You can abbreviate this to +I or A. -Disposition is prefixed by either a + symbolor a - symbol. If it's -a +, you're saying that you want to allow this disposition and MIME -type to qualify. If it's a -, you're saying that this disposition -and MIME type is an exception to previous + rules. There are examples +Disposition is prefixed by either a + symbol or a +- symbol. If it's a +, you're saying that +you want to allow this disposition and MIME type to qualify. If it's a +-, you're saying that this disposition and MIME type is +an exception to previous + rules. There are examples below of how this is useful. -Mime-type is, unsurprisingly, the MIME type of the attachment you want -to affect. A MIME type is always of the format "major/minor", where -"major" describes the broad category of document you're looking at, and -"minor" describes the specific type within that category. The major -part of mim-type must be literal text (or the special token "*"), but -the minor part may be a regular expression. (Therefore, "*/.*" matches -any MIME type.) +mime-type is the MIME type of the attachment you +want the command to affect. A MIME type is always of the format +major/minor, where major describes +the broad category of document you're looking at, and +minor describes the specific type within that +category. The major part of mime-type must be literal text (or the +special token *), but the minor part +may be a regular expression. (Therefore, +*/.* matches any MIME type.) -The MIME types you give to the attachments directive are a kind of -pattern. When you use the attachments directive, the patterns you -specify are added to a list. When you use unattachments, the pattern -is removed from the list. The patterns are not expanded and matched -to specific MIME types at this time -- they're just text in a list. -They're only matched when actually evaluating a message. +The MIME types you give to the attachments directive +are a kind of pattern. When you use the attachments +directive, the patterns you specify are added to a list. When you use +unattachments, the pattern is removed from the list. +The patterns are not expanded and matched to specific MIME types at this +time — they're just text in a list. They're only matched when +actually evaluating a message. @@ -5610,58 +7150,66 @@ Some examples might help to illustrate. The examples that are not commented out define the default configuration of the lists. + +Attachment counting -## Removing a pattern from a list removes that pattern literally. It -## does not remove any type matching the pattern. -## -## attachments +A */.* -## attachments +A image/jpeg -## unattachments +A */.* -## -## This leaves "attached" image/jpeg files on the allowed attachments -## list. It does not remove all items, as you might expect, because the -## second */.* is not a matching expression at this time. -## -## Remember: "unattachments" only undoes what "attachments" has done! -## It does not trigger any matching on actual messages. - - -## Qualify any MIME part with an "attachment" disposition, EXCEPT for -## text/x-vcard and application/pgp parts. (PGP parts are already known -## to mutt, and can be searched for with ~g, ~G, and ~k.) -## -## I've added x-pkcs7 to this, since it functions (for S/MIME) -## analogously to PGP signature attachments. S/MIME isn't supported -## in a stock mutt build, but we can still treat it specially here. -## + +# Removing a pattern from a list removes that pattern literally. It +# does not remove any type matching the pattern. +# +# attachments +A */.* +# attachments +A image/jpeg +# unattachments +A */.* +# +# This leaves "attached" image/jpeg files on the allowed attachments +# list. It does not remove all items, as you might expect, because the +# second */.* is not a matching expression at this time. +# +# Remember: "unattachments" only undoes what "attachments" has done! +# It does not trigger any matching on actual messages. + +# Qualify any MIME part with an "attachment" disposition, EXCEPT for +# text/x-vcard and application/pgp parts. (PGP parts are already known +# to mutt, and can be searched for with ~g, ~G, and ~k.) +# +# I've added x-pkcs7 to this, since it functions (for S/MIME) +# analogously to PGP signature attachments. S/MIME isn't supported +# in a stock mutt build, but we can still treat it specially here. +# + attachments +A */.* attachments -A text/x-vcard application/pgp.* attachments -A application/x-pkcs7-.* -## Discount all MIME parts with an "inline" disposition, unless they're -## text/plain. (Why inline a text/plain part unless it's external to the -## message flow?) -## + +# Discount all MIME parts with an "inline" disposition, unless they're +# text/plain. (Why inline a text/plain part unless it's external to the +# message flow?) + attachments +I text/plain -## These two lines make Mutt qualify MIME containers. (So, for example, -## a message/rfc822 forward will count as an attachment.) The first -## line is unnecessary if you already have "attach-allow */.*", of -## course. These are off by default! The MIME elements contained -## within a message/* or multipart/* are still examined, even if the -## containers themseves don't qualify. -## + +# These two lines make Mutt qualify MIME containers. (So, for example, +# a message/rfc822 forward will count as an attachment.) The first +# line is unnecessary if you already have "attach-allow */.*", of +# course. These are off by default! The MIME elements contained +# within a message/* or multipart/* are still examined, even if the +# containers themselves don't qualify. + #attachments +A message/.* multipart/.* #attachments +I message/.* multipart/.* + -## You probably don't really care to know about deleted attachments. +## You probably don't really care to know about deleted attachments. attachments -A message/external-body attachments -I message/external-body + -"attachments ?" will list your current settings in Muttrc format, so -that it can be pasted elsewhere. +Entering the command attachments ? as +a command will list your current settings in Muttrc format, so that it +can be pasted elsewhere. @@ -5670,25 +7218,51 @@ that it can be pasted elsewhere. MIME Lookup -Mutt's mime_lookup list specifies a list of mime-types that should not -be treated according to their mailcap entry. This option is designed to -deal with binary types such as application/octet-stream. When an attachment's -mime-type is listed in mime_lookup, then the extension of the filename will -be compared to the list of extensions in the mime.types file. The mime-type -associated with this extension will then be used to process the attachment -according to the rules in the mailcap file and according to any other configuration -options (such as auto_view) specified. Common usage would be: +Usage: + + + +mime-lookup + +mimetype + + +mimetype + + +unmime-lookup + + +* + + +mimetype + + + + + +Mutt's mime_lookup list specifies a list of MIME +types that should not be treated according to their +mailcap entry. This option is designed to deal with binary types such +as application/octet-stream. When an attachment's +MIME type is listed in mime_lookup, then the +extension of the filename will be compared to the list of extensions in +the mime.types file. The MIME type associated with +this extension will then be used to process the attachment according to +the rules in the mailcap file and according to any other configuration +options (such as auto_view) specified. Common usage +would be: + mime_lookup application/octet-stream application/X-Lotus-Manuscript - - -In addition, the unmime_lookup command may be used to disable this feature -for any particular mime-type if it had been set, for example, in a global -muttrc. +In addition, the unmime_lookup command may be used to +disable this feature for any particular MIME type if it had been set, +for example, in a global .muttrc. @@ -5696,27 +7270,29 @@ muttrc. -Optional features +Optional Features - -General notes + +General Notes - -Enabling/disabling features + +Enabling/Disabling Features Mutt supports several of optional features which can be enabled or -disabled at compile-time by giving the configure script -certain arguments. These are listed in the ``Optional features'' section of -the configure --help output. +disabled at compile-time by giving the configure +script certain arguments. These are listed in the Optional +features section of the configure --help +output. Which features are enabled or disabled can later be determined from the output of mutt -v. If a compile option starts with -``+'' it is enabled and disabled if prefixed with ``-''. For example, if -mutt was compiled using GnuTLS for encrypted communication instead of -OpenSSL, mutt -v would contain: ++ it is enabled and disabled if prefixed with +-. For example, if Mutt was compiled using GnuTLS for +encrypted communication instead of OpenSSL, mutt -v +would contain: @@ -5725,50 +7301,63 @@ OpenSSL, mutt -v would contain: -URL syntax +URL Syntax Mutt optionally supports the IMAP, POP3 and SMTP protocols which require to access servers using URLs. The canonical syntax for specifying URLs -in mutt is (an item enclosed in [] means it is optional and -may be omitted): +in Mutt is (an item enclosed in [] means it is +optional and may be omitted): -proto[s]://[username[:password]@]server[:port]/[path] +proto[s]://[username[:password]@]server[:port][/path] -proto is the communication protocol: +proto is the communication protocol: imap for IMAP, pop for POP3 and -smtp for SMTP. If ``s'' for ``secure communication'' -is appended, mutt will attempt to establish an encrypted communication -using SSL or TLS. If no explicit port is given, mutt will use the -system's default for the given protocol. +smtp for SMTP. If s for secure +communication is appended, Mutt will attempt to establish an +encrypted communication using SSL or TLS. + + + +Since all protocols supported by Mutt support/require authentication, +login credentials may be specified in the URL. This has the advantage +that multiple IMAP, POP3 or SMTP servers may be specified (which isn't +possible using, for example, $imap_user). The username may contain the +@ symbol being used by many mail systems as part of the +login name. The special characters / +(%2F), : (%3A) and +% (%25) have to be URL-encoded in +usernames using the %-notation. -Since all protocols by mutt support authentication, the username may be -given directly in the URL instead of using the pop_user or -imap_user variables. A password can be given, too but -is not recommended if the URL is specified in a configuration file on -disk. +A password can be given, too but is not recommended if the URL is +specified in a configuration file on disk. -The optional path is only relevant for IMAP. +If no port number is given, Mutt will use the system's default for the +given protocol (usually consulting /etc/services). -For IMAP for example, you can select an alternative port by specifying it with the -server: imap://imapserver:port/INBOX. You can also specify different -username for each folder: imap://username@imapserver[:port]/INBOX -or imap://username2@imapserver[:port]/path/to/folder. -Replacing imap:// by imaps:// -would make mutt attempt to conect using SSL or TLS on a different port -to encrypt the communication. +The optional path is only relevant for IMAP and ignored elsewhere. + +URLs + +pops://host/ +imaps://user@host/INBOX/Sent +smtp://user@host:587/ + + + @@ -5777,13 +7366,14 @@ to encrypt the communication. SSL/TLS Support -If mutt is compiled with IMAP, POP3 and/or SMTP support, it can also be -compiled with support for SSL or TLS using either OpenSSL or GnuTLS ( -by running the configure script with the +If Mutt is compiled with IMAP, POP3 and/or SMTP support, it can also be +compiled with support for SSL or TLS using either OpenSSL or GnuTLS ( by +running the configure script with the --enable-ssl=... option for OpenSSL or --enable-gnutls=... for GnuTLS). Mutt can then attempt to encrypt communication with remote servers if these protocols -are suffixed with ``s'' for ``secure communication''. +are suffixed with s for secure +communication. @@ -5792,38 +7382,56 @@ are suffixed with ``s'' for ``secure communication''. POP3 Support -If Mutt was compiled with POP3 support (by running the configure -script with the --enable-pop flag), it has the ability to work -with mailboxes located on a remote POP3 server and fetch mail for local +If Mutt is compiled with POP3 support (by running the +configure script with the +--enable-pop flag), it has the ability to work with +mailboxes located on a remote POP3 server and fetch mail for local browsing. -Remote POP3 servers can be accessed using URLs with the pop protocol -for unencrypted and pops for encrypted -communication, see for details. +Remote POP3 servers can be accessed using URLs with the +pop protocol for unencrypted and +pops for encrypted communication, see for details. Polling for new mail is more expensive over POP3 than locally. For this reason the frequency at which Mutt will check for mail remotely can be -controlled by the -$pop_checkinterval -variable, which defaults to every 60 seconds. +controlled by the $pop_checkinterval variable, which +defaults to every 60 seconds. + + + +POP is read-only which doesn't allow for some features like editing +messages or changing flags. However, using and Mutt +simulates the new/old/read flags as well as flagged and replied. Mutt +applies some logic on top of remote messages but cannot change them so +that modifications of flags are lost when messages are downloaded from +the POP server (either by Mutt or other tools). + -Another way to access your POP3 mail is the fetch-mail function -(default: G). It allows to connect to $pop_host, fetch all your new mail and place it in the -local $spoolfile. After this -point, Mutt runs exactly as if the mail had always been local. +Another way to access your POP3 mail is the +<fetch-mail> function (default: G). It allows +to connect to $pop_host, fetch all your +new mail and place it in the local $spoolfile. After this point, Mutt runs +exactly as if the mail had always been local. + -Note: If you only need to fetch all messages to a -local mailbox you should consider using a specialized program, such as -fetchmail, getmail or similar. +If you only need to fetch all messages to a local mailbox you should +consider using a specialized program, such as +fetchmail(1), getmail(1) or +similar. + @@ -5831,165 +7439,169 @@ local mailbox you should consider using a specialized program, such as IMAP Support -If Mutt was compiled with IMAP support (by running the configure -script with the --enable-imap flag), it has the ability to work +If Mutt was compiled with IMAP support (by running the +configure script with the +--enable-imap flag), it has the ability to work with folders located on a remote IMAP server. -You can access the remote inbox by selecting the folder by its URL -(see for details) using the +You can access the remote inbox by selecting the folder by its URL (see + for details) using the imap or imaps protocol. -Alternatively, a pine-compatible notation is also supported, ie -{[username@]imapserver[:port][/ssl]}path/to/folder +Alternatively, a pine-compatible notation is also supported, i.e. +{[username@]imapserver[:port][/ssl]}path/to/folder -Note that not all servers use ``/'' as the hierarchy separator. Mutt should -correctly notice which separator is being used by the server and convert -paths accordingly. +Note that not all servers use / as the hierarchy +separator. Mutt should correctly notice which separator is being used +by the server and convert paths accordingly. When browsing folders on an IMAP server, you can toggle whether to look at only the folders you are subscribed to, or all folders with the -toggle-subscribed command. See also the -$imap_list_subscribed variable. +toggle-subscribed command. See also the $imap_list_subscribed variable. -Polling for new mail on an IMAP server can cause noticeable delays. So, you'll -want to carefully tune the -$mail_check -and -$timeout -variables. Personally I use +Polling for new mail on an IMAP server can cause noticeable delays. So, +you'll want to carefully tune the $mail_check and $timeout variables. Reasonable values are: + set mail_check=90 set timeout=15 -with relatively good results over my slow modem line. + +with relatively good results even over slow modem lines. + Note that if you are using mbox as the mail store on UW servers prior to -v12.250, the server has been reported to disconnect a client if another client -selects the same folder. +v12.250, the server has been reported to disconnect a client if another +client selects the same folder. + - -The Folder Browser + +The IMAP Folder Browser -As of version 1.2, mutt supports browsing mailboxes on an IMAP +As of version 1.2, Mutt supports browsing mailboxes on an IMAP server. This is mostly the same as the local file browser, with the following differences: + -In lieu of file permissions, mutt displays the string "IMAP", -possibly followed by the symbol "+", indicating -that the entry contains both messages and subfolders. On +In lieu of file permissions, Mutt displays the string +IMAP, possibly followed by the symbol +, +indicating that the entry contains both messages and subfolders. On Cyrus-like servers folders will often contain both messages and -subfolders. +subfolders. -For the case where an entry can contain both messages and -subfolders, the selection key (bound to enter by default) -will choose to descend into the subfolder view. If you wish to view -the messages in that folder, you must use view-file instead -(bound to space by default). +For the case where an entry can contain both messages and subfolders, +the selection key (bound to enter by default) will +choose to descend into the subfolder view. If you wish to view the +messages in that folder, you must use view-file +instead (bound to space by default). You can create, delete and rename mailboxes with the -create-mailbox, delete-mailbox, and -rename-mailbox commands (default bindings: C, -d and r, respectively). You may also -subscribe and unsubscribe to mailboxes (normally -these are bound to s and u, respectively). +<create-mailbox>, +<delete-mailbox>, and +<rename-mailbox> commands (default bindings: +C, d and r, +respectively). You may also <subscribe> and +<unsubscribe> to mailboxes (normally these are +bound to s and u, respectively). - - - + Authentication Mutt supports four authentication methods with IMAP servers: SASL, GSSAPI, CRAM-MD5, and LOGIN (there is a patch by Grant Edwards to add NTLM authentication for you poor exchange users out there, but it has -yet to be integrated into the main tree). There is also support for -the pseudo-protocol ANONYMOUS, which allows you to log in to a public -IMAP server without having an account. To use ANONYMOUS, simply make -your username blank or "anonymous". +yet to be integrated into the main tree). There is also support for the +pseudo-protocol ANONYMOUS, which allows you to log in to a public IMAP +server without having an account. To use ANONYMOUS, simply make your +username blank or anonymous. -SASL is a special super-authenticator, which selects among several protocols -(including GSSAPI, CRAM-MD5, ANONYMOUS, and DIGEST-MD5) the most secure -method available on your host and the server. Using some of these methods -(including DIGEST-MD5 and possibly GSSAPI), your entire session will be -encrypted and invisible to those teeming network snoops. It is the best -option if you have it. To use it, you must have the Cyrus SASL library -installed on your system and compile mutt with the --with-sasl flag. +SASL is a special super-authenticator, which selects among several +protocols (including GSSAPI, CRAM-MD5, ANONYMOUS, and DIGEST-MD5) the +most secure method available on your host and the server. Using some of +these methods (including DIGEST-MD5 and possibly GSSAPI), your entire +session will be encrypted and invisible to those teeming network +snoops. It is the best option if you have it. To use it, you must have +the Cyrus SASL library installed on your system and compile Mutt with +the --with-sasl flag. -Mutt will try whichever methods are compiled in and available on the server, -in the following order: SASL, ANONYMOUS, GSSAPI, CRAM-MD5, LOGIN. +Mutt will try whichever methods are compiled in and available on the +server, in the following order: SASL, ANONYMOUS, GSSAPI, CRAM-MD5, +LOGIN. -There are a few variables which control authentication: +There are a few variables which control authentication: + -$imap_user - controls -the username under which you request authentication on the IMAP server, -for all authenticators. This is overridden by an explicit username in -the mailbox path (ie by using a mailbox name of the form -{user@host}). +$imap_user - controls the username +under which you request authentication on the IMAP server, for all +authenticators. This is overridden by an explicit username in the +mailbox path (i.e. by using a mailbox name of the form +{user@host}). -$imap_pass - a -password which you may preset, used by all authentication methods where -a password is needed. +$imap_pass - a password which you may +preset, used by all authentication methods where a password is needed. -$imap_authenticators - a colon-delimited list of IMAP -authentication methods to try, in the order you wish to try them. If -specified, this overrides mutt's default (attempt everything, in the order -listed above). +$imap_authenticators - a +colon-delimited list of IMAP authentication methods to try, in the order +you wish to try them. If specified, this overrides Mutt's default +(attempt everything, in the order listed above). - - @@ -5999,15 +7611,15 @@ listed above). Besides supporting traditional mail delivery through a -sendmail-compatible program, mutt supports delivery through SMTP if it +sendmail-compatible program, Mutt supports delivery through SMTP if it was configured and built with --enable-smtp. -If the configuration variable -$smtp_url is set, mutt -will contact the given SMTP server to deliver messages; if it is unset, -mutt will use the program specified by $sendmail. +If the configuration variable $smtp_url +is set, Mutt will contact the given SMTP server to deliver messages; if +it is unset, Mutt will use the program specified by $sendmail. @@ -6015,32 +7627,56 @@ For details on the URL syntax, please see . -The built-in SMTP support supports encryption (the smtps protocol -using SSL or TLS) as well as SMTP authentication using SASL. The authentication mechanisms -for SASL are specified in $smtp_authenticators -defaulting to an empty list which makes mutt try all available methods -from most-secure to least-secure. +The built-in SMTP support supports encryption (the +smtps protocol using SSL or TLS) as well as SMTP +authentication using SASL. The authentication mechanisms for SASL are +specified in $smtp_authenticators defaulting to +an empty list which makes Mutt try all available methods from +most-secure to least-secure. -Managing multiple accounts +Managing Multiple Accounts -If you happen to have accounts on multiple IMAP, POP and/or SMTP servers, -you may find managing all the authentication settings inconvenient and -error-prone. The account-hook command may help. This hook works like -folder-hook but is invoked whenever you access a remote mailbox -(including inside the folder browser), not just when you open the -mailbox. +Usage: - -Some examples: + +account-hook + +pattern + + +command + + + + +If you happen to have accounts on multiple IMAP, POP and/or SMTP +servers, you may find managing all the authentication settings +inconvenient and error-prone. The account-hook command +may help. This hook works like folder-hook but is +invoked whenever Mutt needs to access a remote mailbox (including inside +the folder browser), not just when you open the mailbox. This includes +(for example) polling for new mail, storing Fcc messages and saving +messages to a folder. As a consequence, account-hook should +only be used to set connection-related settings such as passwords or +tunnel commands but not settings such as sender address or name (because +in general it should be considered unpredictable which account-hook was last +used). +Some examples: + account-hook . 'unset imap_user; unset imap_pass; unset tunnel' @@ -6049,681 +7685,1415 @@ account-hook imap://host2/ 'set tunnel="ssh host2 /usr/libexec/imapd"' account-hook smtp://user@host3/ 'set tunnel="ssh host3 /usr/libexec/smtpd"' - - - - - -Local caching - - -Mutt contains two types of local caching: (1) -the so-called ``header caching'' and (2) the -so-called ``body caching'' which are both described in this section. - - - -Header caching is optional as it depends on external libraries, body -caching is always enabled if mutt is compiled with POP and/or IMAP -support as these use it (body caching requires no external library). - - - -Header caching - - -Mutt provides optional support for caching message headers for the -following types of folders: IMAP, POP, Maildir and MH. Header caching -greatly improves speed because for remote folders, headers -usually only need to be downloaded once. For Maildir and MH, reading the -headers from a single file is much faster than looking at possibly -thousands of single files (since Maildir and MH use one file per message.) - - - -Header caching can be enabled via the configure script and the ---enable-hcache option. It's not turned on -by default because external database libraries are required: one -of qdbm, gdbm or bdb must be present. - - - -If enabled, $header_cache can be -used to either point to a file or a directory. If set to point to -a file, one database file for all folders will be used (which may -result in lower performance), but one file per folder if it points -to a directory. - - - -For the one-file-per-folder case, database files for remote folders -will be named according to their URL while database files for local -folders will be named by the MD5 checksums of their path. These database -files may be safely removed if a system is short on space. You -can compute the name of the header cache file for a particular local folder -through a command like the following: - - - - -$ printf '%s' '/path/to/folder' | md5sum - - - - -The md5sum command may also be -named md5, depending on your operating system. - - - - - -Body caching - - -Both cache methods can be combined using the same directory for storage -(and for IMAP/POP even provide meaningful file names) which simplifies -manual maintenance tasks. - - - - -In addition to caching message headers only, mutt can also cache -whole message bodies. This results in faster display of messages -for POP and IMAP folders because messages usually have to be -downloaded only once. - - - -For configuration, the variable $message_cachedir must point to a -directory. There, mutt will create a hierarchy of subdirectories -named like: proto:user@hostname where -proto is either ``pop'' or ``imap.'' Within -there for each folder, mutt stores messages in single files (just -like Maildir) so that with manual symlink creation these cache -directories can be examined with mutt as read-only Maildir folders. - - - -All files can be removed as needed if the consumed disk space -becomes an issue as mutt will silently fetch missing items again. - - - - - -Maintenance - - -Mutt does not (yet) support maintenance features for header cache -database files so that files have to be removed in case they grow too -big. It depends on the database library used for header caching whether -disk space freed by removing messages is re-used. - - - -For body caches, mutt can keep the local cache in sync with the -remote mailbox if the -$message_cache_clean -variable is set. Cleaning means to remove messages from the cache which -are no longer present in the mailbox which only happens when other mail -clients or instances of mutt using a different body cache location -delete messages (Mutt itself removes deleted messages from the cache -when syncing a mailbox). As cleaning can take a noticeable amount of time, -it should not be set in general but only occasionally. - - - - - - - -Exact address generation - - -Mutt supports the ``Name <user@host>'' address syntax for reading and -writing messages, the older ``user@host (Name)'' syntax is only supported when -reading messages. The --enable-exact-address -switch can be given to configure to build it with write-support -for the latter syntax. EXACT_ADDRESS in the output of -mutt -v indicates whether it's supported. - - - - - - - -Performance tuning - - -Reading and writing mailboxes - -Mutt's performance when reading mailboxes can be improved in two ways: +To manage multiple accounts with, for example, different values of $record or sender addresses, folder-hook has to be be +used together with the mailboxes command. - - - -For remote folders (IMAP and POP) as well as folders using -one-file-per message storage (Maildir and MH), mutt's -performance can be greatly improved using -header caching. -Using a single database per folder may further increase -performance. - - -Mutt provides the $read_inc -and $write_inc -variables to specify at which rate to update progress -counters. If these values are too low, mutt may spend more -time on updating the progress counter than it spends on -actually reading/writing folders. - - -For example, when opening a maildir folder with a few -thousand messages, the default value for -$read_inc -may be too low. It can be tuned on on a folder-basis using -folder-hooks: - + +Managing multiple accounts -# use very high $read_inc to speed up reading hcache'd maildirs -folder-hook . 'set read_inc=1000' -# use lower value for reading slower remote IMAP folders -folder-hook ^imap 'set read_inc=100' -# use even lower value for reading even slower remote POP folders -folder-hook ^pop 'set read_inc=1' - - - - - -These settings work on a per-message basis. However, as messages may -greatly differ in size and certain operations are much faster than others, -even per-folder settings of the increment variables may not be -desirable as they produce either too few or too much progress updates. -Thus, Mutt allows to limit the number of progress updates per second it'll -actually send to the terminal using the -$time_inc variable. - - - - -Reading messages from remote folders - - -Reading messages from remote folders such as IMAP an POP can be -slow especially for large mailboxes since mutt only caches a very -limited number of recently viewed messages (usually 10) per -session (so that it will be gone for the next session.) - - - -To improve performance and permanently cache whole messages, -please refer to mutt's so-called -body caching for details. - - - - - -Searching and limiting - - -When searching mailboxes either via a search or a limit action, for -some patterns mutt distinguishes between regular expression and string -searches. For regular expressions, patterns are prefixed with -``˜'' and with ``='' for string searches. - - - -Even though a regular expression search is fast, it's several times -slower than a pure string search which is noticable especially on large -folders. As a consequence, a string search should be used instead of a -regular expression search if the user already knows enough about the -search pattern. - - - -For example, when limiting a large folder to all messages sent to or by -an author, it's much faster to search for the initial part of an e-mail -address via =Luser@ instead of -˜Luser@. This is especially true for searching -message bodies since a larger amount of input has to be searched. - - - -Please note that string search is an exact case-sensitive search -while a regular expression search with only lower-case letters performs -a case-insensitive search. - - - - - - - -Reference - - -Command line options - - -Running mutt with no arguments will make Mutt attempt to read your spool -mailbox. However, it is possible to read other mailboxes and -to send messages from the command line as well. - - - - - -Command line options - - -OptionDescription - - --Aexpand an alias --aattach a file to a message --bspecify a blind carbon-copy (BCC) address --cspecify a carbon-copy (Cc) address --Dprint the value of all mutt variables to stdout --especify a config command to be run after initialization files are read --fspecify a mailbox to load --Fspecify an alternate file to read initialization commands --hprint help on command line options --Hspecify a draft file from which to read a header and body --ispecify a file to include in a message composition --mspecify a default mailbox type --ndo not read the system Muttrc --precall a postponed message --Qquery a configuration variable --Ropen mailbox in read-only mode --sspecify a subject (enclose in quotes if it contains spaces) --vshow version number and compile-time definitions --xsimulate the mailx(1) compose mode --yshow a menu containing the files specified by the mailboxes command --zexit immediately if there are no messages in the mailbox --Zopen the first folder with new message,exit immediately if none - - -
- - - - -To read messages in a mailbox - - - -mutt [ -nz ] [ -F muttrc ] [ -m type ] [ -f mailbox ] - - - -To compose a new message - - - -mutt [ -n ] [ -F muttrc ] [ -a file ] [ -c address ] [ -i filename ] [ -s subject ] -[ [ file ... ] -- ] address [ address ... ] - - - -Mutt also supports a ``batch'' mode to send prepared messages. Simply redirect -input from the file you wish to send. For example, - - - -mutt -s "data set for run #2" professor@bigschool.edu -< ˜/run2.dat - +mailboxes imap://user@host1/INBOX +folder-hook imap://user@host1/ 'set folder=imap://host1/ ; set record=+INBOX/Sent' - -This command will send a message to ``professor@bigschool.edu'' with a subject -of ``data set for run #2''. In the body of the message will be the contents -of the file ``˜/run2.dat''. - - - -All files passed with -a file will be attached as a MIME -part to the message. To attach several files, use ``--'' to separate files and -recipient addresses: mutt -a *.png -- some@one.org +mailboxes imap://user@host2/INBOX +folder-hook imap://user@host2/ 'set folder=imap://host2/ ; set record=+INBOX/Sent' + + + + +In example the folders are defined +using mailboxes so +Mutt polls them for new mail. Each folder-hook triggers +when one mailbox below each IMAP account is opened and sets $folder to the account's root folder. Next, it +sets $record to the +INBOX/Sent folder below the newly set $folder. Please notice that the value the ++ mailbox shortcut +refers to depends on the current value of $folder and therefore has to be set separately +per account. Setting other values like $from +or $signature is analogous to setting +$record. - -Configuration Commands - - -The following are the commands understood by mutt. - - - - - - - - -account-hook pattern command - - - - - -alias [ -group name [ ... ] ] key address [ , address, ... ] - - - + +Local Caching -unalias [ * | key ... ] +Mutt contains two types of local caching: (1) the +so-called header caching and (2) the +so-called body caching which are both described in this +section. - - -alternates [ -group name [ ... ] ] regexp [ regexp ... ] +Header caching is optional as it depends on external libraries, body +caching is always enabled if Mutt is compiled with POP and/or IMAP +support as these use it (body caching requires no external library). - - + + +Header Caching -unalternates [ * | regexp ... ] +Mutt provides optional support for caching message headers for the +following types of folders: IMAP, POP, Maildir and MH. Header caching +greatly speeds up opening large folders because for remote folders, +headers usually only need to be downloaded once. For Maildir and MH, +reading the headers from a single file is much faster than looking at +possibly thousands of single files (since Maildir and MH use one file +per message.) - - -alternative-order mimetype [ mimetype ... ] +Header caching can be enabled via the configure script and the +--enable-hcache option. It's not turned on by +default because external database libraries are required: one of +tokyocabinet, qdbm, gdbm or bdb must be present. - - -unalternative-order mimetype [ mimetype ... ] +If enabled, $header_cache can be +used to either point to a file or a directory. If set to point to a +file, one database file for all folders will be used (which may result +in lower performance), but one file per folder if it points to a +directory. - - + + + + +Body Caching -auto_view mimetype [ mimetype ... ] +Both cache methods can be combined using the same directory for storage +(and for IMAP/POP even provide meaningful file names) which simplifies +manual maintenance tasks. - - -unauto_view mimetype [ mimetype ... ] +In addition to caching message headers only, Mutt can also cache whole +message bodies. This results in faster display of messages for POP and +IMAP folders because messages usually have to be downloaded only once. - - -bind map key function +For configuration, the variable $message_cachedir must point to a directory. There, Mutt will +create a hierarchy of subdirectories named like the account and mailbox +path the cache is for. - - + + + + +Cache Directories -charset-hook alias charset +For using both, header and body caching, $header_cache and $message_cachedir can be safely set +to the same value. - - -iconv-hook charset local-charset +In a header or body cache directory, Mutt creates a directory hierarchy +named like: proto:user@hostname where +proto is either pop or +imap. Within there, for each folder, Mutt stores messages +in single files and header caches in files with the +.hcache extension. All files can be removed as needed if +the consumed disk space becomes an issue as Mutt will silently fetch +missing items again. Pathnames are always stored in UTF-8 encoding. - - -color object foreground background [ regexp ] +For Maildir and MH, the header cache files are named after the MD5 +checksum of the path. - - + + + + +Maintenance -uncolor index pattern [ pattern ... ] +Mutt does not (yet) support maintenance features for header cache +database files so that files have to be removed in case they grow too +big. It depends on the database library used for header caching whether +disk space freed by removing messages is re-used. - - -exec function [ function ... ] +For body caches, Mutt can keep the local cache in sync with the remote +mailbox if the $message_cache_clean variable is +set. Cleaning means to remove messages from the cache which are no +longer present in the mailbox which only happens when other mail clients +or instances of Mutt using a different body cache location delete +messages (Mutt itself removes deleted messages from the cache when +syncing a mailbox). As cleaning can take a noticeable amount of time, it +should not be set in general but only occasionally. - - + + + + + + +Exact Address Generation -fcc-hook pattern mailbox +Mutt supports the Name <user@host> address syntax +for reading and writing messages, the older user@host +(Name) syntax is only supported when reading messages. The +--enable-exact-address switch can be given to +configure to build it with write-support for the latter +syntax. EXACT_ADDRESS in the output of mutt +-v indicates whether it's supported. - - + + + + +Sending Anonymous Messages via Mixmaster -fcc-save-hook pattern mailbox +You may also have compiled Mutt to co-operate with Mixmaster, an +anonymous remailer. Mixmaster permits you to send your messages +anonymously using a chain of remailers. Mixmaster support in Mutt is for +mixmaster version 2.04 or later. - - -folder-hook pattern command +To use it, you'll have to obey certain restrictions. Most important, +you cannot use the Cc and Bcc +headers. To tell Mutt to use mixmaster, you have to select a remailer +chain, using the mix function on the compose menu. - - -hdr_order header [ header ... ] +The chain selection screen is divided into two parts. In the (larger) +upper part, you get a list of remailers you may use. In the lower part, +you see the currently selected chain of remailers. - - -unhdr_order header [ header ... ] +You can navigate in the chain using the +<chain-prev> and +<chain-next> functions, which are by default +bound to the left and right arrows and to the h and +l keys (think vi keyboard bindings). To insert a +remailer at the current chain position, use the +<insert> function. To append a remailer behind +the current chain position, use <select-entry> +or <append>. You can also delete entries from +the chain, using the corresponding function. Finally, to abandon your +changes, leave the menu, or <accept> them +pressing (by default) the Return key. - - -ignore pattern [ pattern ... ] +Note that different remailers do have different capabilities, indicated +in the %c entry of the remailer menu lines (see $mix_entry_format). Most important is +the middleman capability, indicated by a capital +M: This means that the remailer in question cannot be +used as the final element of a chain, but will only forward messages to +other mixmaster remailers. For details on the other capabilities, +please have a look at the mixmaster documentation. - - + + + + + + +Security Considerations -unignore pattern [ pattern ... ] +First of all, Mutt contains no security holes included by intention but +may contain unknown security holes. As a consequence, please run Mutt +only with as few permissions as possible. Especially, do not run Mutt as +the super user. - - -lists [ -group name [ ... ] ] regexp [ regexp ... ] +When configuring Mutt, there're some points to note about secure setups +so please read this chapter carefully. - - + + +Passwords -unlists regexp [ regexp ... ] +Although Mutt can be told the various passwords for accounts, please +never store passwords in configuration files. Besides the fact that the +system's operator can always read them, you could forget to mask it out +when reporting a bug or asking for help via a mailing list. Even worse, +your mail including your password could be archived by internet search +engines, mail-to-news gateways etc. It may already be too late before +you notice your mistake. - - + + + + +Temporary Files -macro menu key sequence [ description ] +Mutt uses many temporary files for viewing messages, verifying digital +signatures, etc. As long as being used, these files are visible by other +users and maybe even readable in case of misconfiguration. Also, a +different location for these files may be desired which can be changed +via the $tmpdir variable. - - + + + + +Information Leaks + + +Message-Id: headers -mailboxes filename [ filename ... ] +Message-Id: headers contain a local part that is to be created in a +unique fashion. In order to do so, Mutt will leak some +information to the outside world when sending messages: the generation +of this header includes a step counter which is increased (and rotated) +with every message sent. In a longer running mutt session, others can +make assumptions about your mailing habits depending on the number of +messages sent. If this is not desired, the header can be manually +provided using $edit_headers (though +not recommended). - - + + + + +<literal>mailto:</literal>-style Links -mbox-hook pattern mailbox +As Mutt be can be set up to be the mail client to handle +mailto: style links in websites, there're security +considerations, too. Arbitrary header fields can be embedded in these +links which could override existing header fields or attach arbitrary +files using the Attach: +pseudoheader. This may be problematic if the $edit-headers variable is +unset, i.e. the user doesn't want to see header +fields while editing the message and doesn't pay enough attention to the +compose menu's listing of attachments. - - -message-hook pattern command +For example, following a link like - - + + +mailto:joe@host?Attach=~/.gnupg/secring.gpg -mime_lookup mimetype [ mimetype ... ] +will send out the user's private gnupg keyring to +joe@host if the user doesn't follow the information +on screen carefully enough. - - + + + + + + +External Applications -unmime_lookup mimetype [ mimetype ... ] +Mutt in many places has to rely on external applications or for +convenience supports mechanisms involving external applications. - - -mono object attribute [ regexp ] +One of these is the mailcap mechanism as defined by +RfC1524. Details about a secure use of the mailcap mechanisms is given +in . - - -unmono index pattern [ pattern ... ] +Besides the mailcap mechanism, Mutt uses a number of other external +utilities for operation, for example to provide crypto support, in +backtick expansion in configuration files or format string filters. The +same security considerations apply for these as for tools involved via +mailcap. - - + + + + + + + +Performance Tuning + + +Reading and Writing Mailboxes -my_hdr string +Mutt's performance when reading mailboxes can be improved in two ways: - - + + + -unmy_hdr field [ field ... ] +For remote folders (IMAP and POP) as well as folders using one-file-per +message storage (Maildir and MH), Mutt's performance can be greatly +improved using header caching. +using a single database per folder. - + -crypt-hook pattern key-id +Mutt provides the $read_inc and $write_inc variables to specify at which rate +to update progress counters. If these values are too low, Mutt may spend +more time on updating the progress counter than it spends on actually +reading/writing folders. - - -push string +For example, when opening a maildir folder with a few thousand messages, +the default value for $read_inc may be +too low. It can be tuned on on a folder-basis using folder-hooks: + + +# use very high $read_inc to speed up reading hcache'd maildirs +folder-hook . 'set read_inc=1000' +# use lower value for reading slower remote IMAP folders +folder-hook ^imap 'set read_inc=100' +# use even lower value for reading even slower remote POP folders +folder-hook ^pop 'set read_inc=1' + - + -reset variable [variable ... ] +These settings work on a per-message basis. However, as messages may +greatly differ in size and certain operations are much faster than +others, even per-folder settings of the increment variables may not be +desirable as they produce either too few or too much progress updates. +Thus, Mutt allows to limit the number of progress updates per second +it'll actually send to the terminal using the $time_inc variable. - - + + + + +Reading Messages from Remote Folders -save-hook regexp filename +Reading messages from remote folders such as IMAP an POP can be slow +especially for large mailboxes since Mutt only caches a very limited +number of recently viewed messages (usually 10) per session (so that it +will be gone for the next session.) - - -score pattern value +To improve performance and permanently cache whole messages, please +refer to Mutt's so-called body +caching for details. - - + + + + +Searching and Limiting -unscore pattern [ pattern ... ] +When searching mailboxes either via a search or a limit action, for some +patterns Mutt distinguishes between regular expression and string +searches. For regular expressions, patterns are prefixed with +~ and with = for string searches. - - -reply-hook pattern command +Even though a regular expression search is fast, it's several times +slower than a pure string search which is noticeable especially on large +folders. As a consequence, a string search should be used instead of a +regular expression search if the user already knows enough about the +search pattern. - - -send-hook pattern command +For example, when limiting a large folder to all messages sent to or by +an author, it's much faster to search for the initial part of an e-mail +address via =Luser@ instead of +~Luser@. This is especially true for searching +message bodies since a larger amount of input has to be searched. - - -send2-hook pattern command +As for regular expressions, a lower case string search pattern makes +Mutt perform a case-insensitive search except for IMAP (because for IMAP +Mutt performs server-side searches which don't support +case-insensitivity). - - + + + + + + +Reference + + +Command-Line Options -set [no|inv]variable[=value] [ variable ... ] +Running mutt with no arguments will make Mutt attempt +to read your spool mailbox. However, it is possible to read other +mailboxes and to send messages from the command line as well. - - + + +Command line options + + +OptionDescription + + +-Aexpand an alias +-aattach a file to a message +-bspecify a blind carbon-copy (BCC) address +-cspecify a carbon-copy (Cc) address +-Dprint the value of all Mutt variables to stdout +-especify a config command to be run after initialization files are read +-fspecify a mailbox to load +-Fspecify an alternate file to read initialization commands +-hprint help on command line options +-Hspecify a draft file from which to read a header and body +-ispecify a file to include in a message composition +-mspecify a default mailbox type +-ndo not read the system Muttrc +-precall a postponed message +-Qquery a configuration variable +-Ropen mailbox in read-only mode +-sspecify a subject (enclose in quotes if it contains spaces) +-vshow version number and compile-time definitions +-xsimulate the mailx(1) compose mode +-yshow a menu containing the files specified by the mailboxes command +-zexit immediately if there are no messages in the mailbox +-Zopen the first folder with new message, exit immediately if none + + +
-unset variable [variable ... ] +To read messages in a mailbox - - + + +mutt + + +muttrc + + +type + + +mailbox + + -source filename +To compose a new message - - + + +mutt + + +muttrc + + +address + + +filename + + +subject + + + +file + +-- + + + +address + + +mailto_url + + + + + +Mutt also supports a batch mode to send prepared +messages. Simply redirect input from the file you wish to send. For +example, + + + +mutt -s "data set for run #2" professor@bigschool.edu < ~/run2.dat -spam pattern format +will send a message to +<professor@bigschool.edu> with a subject of +data set for run #2. In the body of the message will be +the contents of the file ~/run2.dat. - - -nospam pattern +All files passed with -a file +will be attached as a MIME part to the message. To attach a single or +several files, use -- to separate files and recipient +addresses: - - + + +mutt -a image.png -- some@one.org -subscribe [ -group name [ ... ] ] regexp [ regexp ... ] +or - - + +mutt -a *.png -- some@one.org + + -unsubscribe regexp [ regexp ... ] +The -a option must be last in the option list. - - + -toggle variable [variable ... ] +In addition to accepting a list of email addresses, Mutt also accepts a URL with +the mailto: schema as specified in RFC2368. This is useful +when configuring a web browser to launch Mutt when clicking on mailto links. - - + + +mutt mailto:some@one.org?subject=test&cc=other@one.org + + + + +Configuration Commands -unhook hook-type +The following are the commands understood by Mutt: + + + + + +account-hook + +pattern +command + + + + + + +alias + + +name + + +key + + +address + + +address + + +unalias + + +name + + + +* + + +key + + + + + + + +alternates + + +name + + +regexp + + +regexp + + +unalternates + + +name + + + +* + + +regexp + + + + + + + +alternative-order + +mimetype + + +mimetype + + +unalternative-order + + +* + + +mimetype + + + + + + + +attachments + +{ + | - }disposition + + +mime-type + + +unattachments + +{ + | - }disposition + + +mime-type + + + + + + +auto_view + +mimetype + + +mimetype + + +unauto_view + + +* + + +mimetype + + + + + + + +bind + +map + + +key + + +function + + + + + + +charset-hook + +alias + + +charset + + + + + + +iconv-hook + +charset + + +local-charset + + + + + + +color + +object + + +foreground + + +background + + +color + + + + + + + + + +foreground + + +background + + +regexp + + +color + + + + +foreground + + +background + + +pattern + + +uncolor + + + + + + + + + + + + + +* + + +pattern + + + + + + + +crypt-hook + +pattern + + +keyid + + + + + + +exec + +function + + +function + + + + + + +fcc-hook + +[!]pattern + + +mailbox + + + + + + +fcc-save-hook + +[!]pattern + + +mailbox + + + + + + +folder-hook + +[!]regexp + + +command + + + + + + +group + + +name + + + + +expr + + + +expr + + + +ungroup + + +name + + + +* + + + +expr + + + +expr + + + + + + + +hdr_order + +header + + +header + + +unhdr_order + + +* + + +header + + + + + + + +ignore + +pattern + + +pattern + + +unignore + + +* + + +pattern + + + + + + + +lists + + +name + + +regexp + + +regexp + + +unlists + + +name + + + +* + + +regexp + + + + + + + +macro + +menu + + +key + + +sequence + + +description + + + + + + +mailboxes + +mailbox + + +mailbox + + +unmailboxes + + +* + + +mailbox + + + + + + + +mbox-hook + +[!]pattern + + +mailbox + + + + + + +message-hook + +[!]pattern + + +command + + + + + + +mime-lookup + +mimetype + + +mimetype + + +unmime-lookup + + +* + + +mimetype + + + + + + + +mono + +object + + +attribute + + +mono + + + + + + + + + +attribute + + +regexp + + +mono + + + + +attribute + + +pattern + + +unmono + + + + + + + + + + + + + +* + + +pattern + + + + + + + +my_hdr + +string + + +unmy_hdr + + +* + + +field + + + + + + + +push + +string + + + + + + +save-hook + +[!]pattern + + +mailbox + + + + + + +score + +pattern + + +value + + +unscore + + +* + + +pattern + + + + + + + +reply-hook + +[!]pattern + + +command + + + + + + +send-hook + +[!]pattern + + +command + + + + + + +send2-hook + +[!]pattern + + +command + + + + + + +set + + + + + + +variable + + +variable=value + + + + +toggle + +variable + + +variable + + +unset + +variable + + +variable + + +reset + +variable + + +variable + + + + + + +source + +filename + + + + + + +spam + +pattern + + +format + + +nospam + + +* + + +pattern + + + + + + + +subscribe + + +name + + +regexp + + +regexp + + +unsubscribe + + +name + + + +* + + +regexp + + + + + + + +unhook + + +* + + +hook-type + + + - - -Configuration variables +Configuration Variables