8 **notmuch** **search** [*option* ...] <*search-term*> ...
13 Search for messages matching the given search terms, and display as
14 results the threads containing the matched messages.
16 The output consists of one line per thread, giving a thread ID, the date
17 of the newest (or oldest, depending on the sort option) matched message
18 in the thread, the number of matched messages and total messages in the
19 thread, the names of all participants in the thread, and the subject of
20 the newest (or oldest) message.
22 See **notmuch-search-terms(7)** for details of the supported syntax for
25 Supported options for **search** include
27 ``--format=``\ (**json**\ \|\ **sexp**\ \|\ **text**\ \|\ **text0**)
28 Presents the results in either JSON, S-Expressions, newline
29 character separated plain-text (default), or null character
30 separated plain-text (compatible with **xargs(1)** -0 option
33 ``--format-version=N``
34 Use the specified structured output format version. This is
35 intended for programs that invoke **notmuch(1)** internally. If
36 omitted, the latest supported version will be used.
38 ``--output=(summary|threads|messages|files|tags)``
41 Output a summary of each thread with any message matching
42 the search terms. The summary includes the thread ID, date,
43 the number of messages in the thread (both the number
44 matched and the total number), the authors of the thread and
48 Output the thread IDs of all threads with any message
49 matching the search terms, either one per line
50 (--format=text), separated by null characters
51 (--format=text0), as a JSON array (--format=json), or an
52 S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
55 Output the message IDs of all messages matching the search
56 terms, either one per line (--format=text), separated by
57 null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array
58 (--format=json), or as an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
61 Output the filenames of all messages matching the search
62 terms, either one per line (--format=text), separated by
63 null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array
64 (--format=json), or as an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
66 Note that each message may have multiple filenames
67 associated with it. All of them are included in the output
68 (unless limited with the --duplicate=N option). This may
69 be particularly confusing for **folder:** or **path:**
70 searches in a specified directory, as the messages may
71 have duplicates in other directories that are included in
72 the output, although these files alone would not match the
76 Output all tags that appear on any message matching the
77 search terms, either one per line (--format=text), separated
78 by null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array
79 (--format=json), or as an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
81 ``--sort=``\ (**newest-first**\ \|\ **oldest-first**)
82 This option can be used to present results in either
83 chronological order (**oldest-first**) or reverse chronological
84 order (**newest-first**).
86 Note: The thread order will be distinct between these two
87 options (beyond being simply reversed). When sorting by
88 **oldest-first** the threads will be sorted by the oldest
89 message in each thread, but when sorting by **newest-first** the
90 threads will be sorted by the newest message in each thread.
92 By default, results will be displayed in reverse chronological
93 order, (that is, the newest results will be displayed first).
96 Skip displaying the first N results. With the leading '-', start
97 at the Nth result from the end.
100 Limit the number of displayed results to N.
102 ``--exclude=(true|false|all|flag)``
103 A message is called "excluded" if it matches at least one tag in
104 search.tag\_exclude that does not appear explicitly in the
105 search terms. This option specifies whether to omit excluded
106 messages in the search process.
108 The default value, **true**, prevents excluded messages from
109 matching the search terms.
111 **all** additionally prevents excluded messages from appearing
112 in displayed results, in effect behaving as though the excluded
113 messages do not exist.
115 **false** allows excluded messages to match search terms and
116 appear in displayed results. Excluded messages are still marked
117 in the relevant outputs.
119 **flag** only has an effect when ``--output=summary``. The
120 output is almost identical to **false**, but the "match count"
121 is the number of matching non-excluded messages in the thread,
122 rather than the number of matching messages.
125 Effective with ``--output=files``, output the Nth filename
126 associated with each message matching the query (N is 1-based).
127 If N is greater than the number of files associated with the
128 message, don't print anything.
130 Note that this option is orthogonal with the **folder:** search
131 prefix. The prefix matches messages based on filenames. This
132 option filters filenames of the matching messages.
137 This command supports the following special exit status codes
140 The requested format version is too old.
143 The requested format version is too new.
148 **notmuch(1)**, **notmuch-config(1)**, **notmuch-count(1)**,
149 **notmuch-dump(1)**, **notmuch-hooks(5)**, **notmuch-insert(1)**,
150 **notmuch-new(1)**, **notmuch-reply(1)**, **notmuch-restore(1)**,
151 **notmuch-search-terms(7)**, **notmuch-show(1)**, **notmuch-tag(1)**