1 [[!img notmuch-logo.png alt="Notmuch logo" class="left"]]
2 # Tips and Tricks for using Notmuch with Emacs
4 Here are some tips and tricks for using Notmuch with Emacs. See the [[Notmuch
5 Emacs Interface|notmuch-emacs]] page for basics.
9 ## Controlling external handlers for attachments
11 You can choose e.g. which pdf viewer to invoke from notmuch-show mode by
12 adding a .mailcap file in your home directory. Here is an example:
14 application/pdf; /usr/bin/mupdf %s; test=test "$DISPLAY" != ""; description=Portable Document Format; nametemplate=%s.pdf
15 application/x-pdf; /usr/bin/mupdf %s; test=test "$DISPLAY" != ""; description=Portable Document Format; nametemplate=%s.pdf
17 ### Convert ".pdf" and ".docx" to text and pop to buffer
19 Add the following (hacky but effective!) code to `.emacs.d/notmuch-config.el`;
20 the overwritten `defcustom` will change action when pressing RET on top of an
21 attachment; ".pdf" and ".docx" attachments are converted to text (using
22 "pdf2text" and "docx2txt.pl" commands to do the conversion), saving to file
23 (the default action of `notmuch-show-part-button-default-action`) is offered
24 to attachments of other types.
26 (defun user/mm-pipe-- (handle cmd)
27 ;; conveniently, '-' '-' a args to pdftotext and docx2txt.pl work fine
28 ;; fixme: naming inconsistency (fn name and buffer name)
29 (let ((buffer (get-buffer-create "*attachment-to-text*")))
30 (with-current-buffer buffer
31 (setq buffer-read-only nil)
34 ;; "based on mm-pipe-part in mm-decode.el"
35 (mm-with-unibyte-buffer
36 (mm-insert-part handle)
37 (mm-add-meta-html-tag handle)
38 (let ((coding-system-for-write 'binary))
39 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
40 cmd nil buffer nil "-" "-"))))
41 (pop-to-buffer buffer)
42 (goto-char (point-min))
47 (defun user/notmuch-show-pop-attachment-to-buffer ()
48 ;; "based on notmuch-show-apply-to-current-part-handle"
50 (let ((handle (notmuch-show-current-part-handle)))
51 ;;(message "%s" handle)
53 (pcase (car (nth 1 handle))
55 (user/mm-pipe-- handle "pdftotext"))
56 ("application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document"
57 (user/mm-pipe-- handle "docx2txt.pl"))
58 (_ (notmuch-show-save-part)))
59 (kill-buffer (mm-handle-buffer handle)))))
61 (setq notmuch-show-part-button-default-action
62 #'user/notmuch-show-pop-attachment-to-buffer)
64 ## Overwriting the sender address
66 If you want to always use the same sender address, then the following
67 defadvice can help you.
69 (defadvice notmuch-mua-reply (around notmuch-fix-sender)
70 (let ((sender "Max Monster <max.monster@example.com>"))
72 (ad-activate 'notmuch-mua-reply)
74 ## Initial cursor position in notmuch 0.15 hello window
76 In notmuch version 0.15 emacs client the handling of cursor position in
77 notmuch hello window has been simplified to a version which suits best
80 Initially the cursor is positioned at the beginning of buffer.
82 Some users liked the "ancient" version where cursor was moved to the
83 first `Saved searches` button.
85 Add the following code to your notmuch emacs configuration file in
86 case you want this behaviour:
88 (add-hook 'notmuch-hello-refresh-hook
90 (if (and (eq (point) (point-min))
91 (search-forward "Saved searches:" nil t))
95 (if (eq (widget-type (widget-at)) 'editable-field)
96 (beginning-of-line)))))
98 ## Add a key binding to add/remove/toggle a tag
100 The `notmuch-{search,show,tree}-tag` functions are very useful for
101 making quick tag key bindings. The arguments to these functions have
102 changed as notmuch has evolved but the following should work on all
103 versions of notmuch from 0.13 on. These functions take a list of
104 tag changes as argument. For example, an argument of (list "+spam"
105 "-inbox") adds the tag spam and deletes the tag inbox. Note the
106 argument must be a list even if there is only a single tag change
107 e.g., use (list "+deleted") to add the deleted tag.
109 For instance, here's an example of how to make a key binding to add
110 the "spam" tag and remove the "inbox" tag in notmuch-show-mode:
112 (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "S"
114 "mark message as spam"
116 (notmuch-show-tag (list "+spam" "-inbox"))))
118 You can do the same for threads in `notmuch-search-mode` by just
119 replacing "show" with "search" in the keymap and called functions, or
120 for messages in `notmuch-tree-mode` by replacing "show" by "tree". If
121 you want to tag a whole thread in `notmuch-tree-mode` use
122 `notmuch-tree-tag-thread` instead of `notmuch-tree-tag`.
124 You may also want the function in search mode apply to the all threads
125 in the selected region (if there is one). For notmuch prior to 0.17
126 this behaviour will occur automatically with the functions given
127 above. To get this behaviour on 0.17+ do the following:
129 (define-key notmuch-search-mode-map "S"
130 (lambda (&optional beg end)
131 "mark thread as spam"
132 (interactive (notmuch-interactive-region))
133 (notmuch-search-tag (list "+spam" "-inbox") beg end)))
135 The analogous functionality in notmuch-tree is currently missing.
137 The definitions above make use of a lambda function, but you could
138 also define a separate function first:
140 (defun notmuch-show-tag-spam ()
141 "mark message as spam"
143 (notmuch-show-add-tag (list "+spam" "-inbox")))
145 (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "S" 'notmuch-show-tag-spam)
147 Here's a more complicated example of how to add a toggle "deleted"
150 (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "d"
152 "toggle deleted tag for message"
154 (if (member "deleted" (notmuch-show-get-tags))
155 (notmuch-show-tag (list "-deleted"))
156 (notmuch-show-tag (list "+deleted")))))
158 ## Adding many tagging keybindings
160 If you want to have have many tagging keybindings, you can save the typing
161 the few lines of boilerplate for every binding (for versions before 0.12,
162 you will need to change notmuch-show-apply-tag-macro).
164 (eval-after-load 'notmuch-show
165 '(define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "`" 'notmuch-show-apply-tag-macro))
167 (setq notmuch-show-tag-macro-alist
169 '("m" "+notmuch::patch" "+notmuch::moreinfo" "-notmuch::needs-review")
170 '("n" "+notmuch::patch" "+notmuch::needs-review" "-notmuch::pushed")
171 '("o" "+notmuch::patch" "+notmuch::obsolete"
172 "-notmuch::needs-review" "-notmuch::moreinfo")
173 '("p" "-notmuch::pushed" "-notmuch::needs-review"
174 "-notmuch::moreinfo" "+pending")
175 '("P" "-pending" "-notmuch::needs-review" "-notmuch::moreinfo" "+notmuch::pushed")
176 '("r" "-notmuch::patch" "+notmuch::review")
177 '("s" "+notmuch::patch" "-notmuch::obsolete" "-notmuch::needs-review" "-notmuch::moreinfo" "+notmuch::stale")
178 '("t" "+notmuch::patch" "-notmuch::needs-review" "+notmuch::trivial")
179 '("w" "+notmuch::patch" "+notmuch::wip" "-notmuch::needs-review")))
181 (defun notmuch-show-apply-tag-macro (key)
183 (let ((macro (assoc key notmuch-show-tag-macro-alist)))
184 (apply 'notmuch-show-tag-message (cdr macro))))
186 ## Restore reply-to-all key binding to 'r'
188 Starting from notmuch 0.12 the 'r' key is bound to reply-to-sender instead of
189 reply-to-all. Here's how to swap the reply to sender/all bindings in show mode:
191 (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "r" 'notmuch-show-reply)
192 (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "R" 'notmuch-show-reply-sender)
196 (define-key notmuch-search-mode-map "r" 'notmuch-search-reply-to-thread)
197 (define-key notmuch-search-mode-map "R" 'notmuch-search-reply-to-thread-sender)
201 (define-key notmuch-tree-mode-map "r" (notmuch-tree-close-message-pane-and #'notmuch-show-reply))
202 (define-key notmuch-tree-mode-map "R" (notmuch-tree-close-message-pane-and #'notmuch-show-reply-sender))
204 ## How to do FCC/BCC...
206 The Emacs interface to notmuch will automatically add an `Fcc`
207 header to your outgoing mail so that any messages you send will also
208 be saved in your mail store. You can control where this copy of the
209 message is saved by setting the variable `notmuch-fcc-dirs` which defines the
210 subdirectory relative to the `database.path` setting from your
211 notmuch configuration in which to save the mail. Enter a directory
212 (without the maildir `/cur` ending which will be appended
213 automatically). Additional information can be found as usual using:
215 M-x describe-variable notmuch-fcc-dirs
217 An additional variable that can affect FCC settings in some cases is
218 `message-directory`. Emacs message-mode uses this variable for
221 To customize both variables at the same time, use the fancy command:
223 M-x customize-apropos<RET>\(notmuch-fcc-dirs\)\|\(message-directory\)
225 This mechanism also allows you to select different folders to be
226 used for the outgoing mail depending on your selected `From`
227 address. Please see the documentation for the variable
228 `notmuch-fcc-dirs` in the customization window for how to arrange
231 The `notmuch-fcc-dirs` variable is only taken into account when mails
232 are composed using `notmuch-mua-mail`. If you want to use the notmuch
233 mail user agent by default, the `mail-user-agent` needs to be
234 customized to use the `notmuch-user-agent`.
236 ## How to customize `notmuch-saved-searches`
238 When starting notmuch, a list of saved searches and message counts is
239 displayed, replacing the older `notmuch-folders` command. The set of
240 saved searches displayed can be modified directly from the notmuch
241 interface (using the `[save]` button next to a previous search) or by
242 customising the variable `notmuch-saved-searches`.
244 An example setting for notmuch versions up to 0.17.x might be:
246 (setq notmuch-saved-searches '(("inbox" . "tag:inbox")
247 ("unread" . "tag:inbox AND tag:unread")
248 ("notmuch" . "tag:inbox AND to:notmuchmail.org")))
250 Starting from notmuch 0.18 the variable changed. It is backwards
251 compatible so the above will still work but the new style will be used
252 if you use customize and there are some new features available. The above would become
254 (setq notmuch-saved-searches '((:name "inbox" :query "tag:inbox")
255 (:name "unread" :query "tag:inbox AND tag:unread")
256 (:name "notmuch" :query "tag:inbox AND to:notmuchmail.org")))
258 The additional features are the possibility to set the search order
259 for the search, and the possibility to specify a different query for
260 displaying the count for the saved-search. For example
262 (setq notmuch-saved-searches '((:name "inbox"
264 :count-query "tag:inbox and tag:unread"
265 :sort-order oldest-first)))
267 specifies a single saved search for inbox, but the number displayed by
268 the search will be the number of unread messages in the inbox, and the
269 sort order for this search will be oldest-first.
271 Of course, you can have any number of saved searches, each configured
272 with any supported search terms (see "notmuch help search-terms"), and
273 in the new style variable they can each have different count-queries
276 Some users find it useful to add `and not tag:delete` to those
277 searches, as they use the `delete` tag to mark messages as
278 deleted. This causes messages that are marked as deleted to be removed
279 from the commonly used views of messages. Use whatever seems most
282 ## Viewing HTML messages with an external viewer
284 The Emacs client can generally display HTML messages inline using one of the
285 supported HTML renderers. This is controlled by the `mm-text-html-renderer`
288 Sometimes it may be necessary to display the message, or a single MIME part, in
289 an external browser. This can be done by `(notmuch-show-view-part)`, bound to
292 This command will try to view the message part the point is on with an
293 external viewer. The mime-type of the part will determine what viewer
294 will be used. Typically a 'text/html' part will be send to your
297 The configuration for this is kept in so called `mailcap`
298 files. (typically the file is `~/.mailcap` or `/etc/mailcap`) If the
299 wrong viewer is started or something else goes wrong, there's a good
300 chance something needs to be adapted in the mailcap configuration.
302 For Example: The `copiousoutput` setting in mailcap files needs to be
303 removed for some mime-types to prevent immediate removal of temporary
304 files so the configured viewer can access them.
307 ## msmtp, message mode and multiple accounts
309 As an alternative to running a mail server such as sendmail or postfix
310 just to send email, it is possible to use
311 [msmtp](http://msmtp.sourceforge.net/). This small application will
312 look like `/usr/bin/sendmail` to a MUA such as emacs message mode, but
313 will just forward the email to an external SMTP server. It's fairly
314 easy to set up and it supports several accounts for using different
315 SMTP servers. The msmtp pages have several examples.
317 A typical scenario is that you want to use the company SMTP server
318 for email coming from your company email address, and your personal
319 server for personal email. If msmtp is passed the envelope address
320 on the command line (the -f/--from option) it will automatically
321 pick the matching account. The only trick here seems to be getting
322 emacs to actually pass the envelope from. There are a number of
323 overlapping configuration variables that control this, and it's a
324 little confusion, but setting these three works for me:
326 - `mail-specify-envelope-from`: `t`
328 - `message-sendmail-envelope-from`: `header`
330 - `mail-envelope-from`: `header`
332 With that in place, you need a `.msmtprc` with the accounts configured
333 for the domains you want to send out using specific SMTP servers and
334 the rest will go to the default account.
336 ## sending mail using smtpmail
338 <!-- By default message mode will use the system `sendmail` command to send
339 mail. However, on a typical desktop machine there may not be local SMTP
340 daemon running (nor it is configured to send mail outside of the system). -->
342 If setting up local `sendmail` or `msmtp` is not feasible or desirable,
343 the Emacs `smtpmail` package can be used to send email by talking to remote
344 SMTP server via TCP connection. It is pretty easy to configure:
346 1. Emacs variable `message-send-mail-function` has not been set
348 Initially, Emacs variable `message-send-mail-function` has value of
349 `sendmail-query-once`. When (notmuch) message mode is about to send email,
350 `sendmail-query-once` will ask how emacs should send email. Typing `smtp`
351 will configure `smtpmail` and Emacs may prompt for SMTP settings.
353 1. `M-x customize-group RET smtpmail`
355 As a minimum, 'Smtpmail Smtp Server' needs to be set.
357 After doing that, continue with `M-x load-library RET message` and
358 `M-x customize-variable RET message-send-mail-function`.
359 In the customization buffer select `message-smtpmail-send-it`.
361 1. Set some variables in .emacs or in [notmuch init file](/notmuch-emacs#notmuch_init_file)
363 (setq smtpmail-smtp-server "smtp.server.tld" ;; <-- edit this !!!
364 ;; smtpmail-smtp-service 25 ;; 25 is default -- uncomment and edit if needed
365 ;; smtpmail-stream-type 'starttls
366 ;; smtpmail-debug-info t
367 ;; smtpmail-debug-verb t
368 message-send-mail-function 'message-smtpmail-send-it)
370 Note that emacs 24 or newer is required for `smtpmail-stream-type`
371 (and smtp authentication) to be effective.
373 More information for smtpmail is available:
375 * In Emacs: `M-x info-display-manual smtpmail`
376 * [EmacsWiki Page](http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/SendingMail)
379 ## <span id="address_completion">Address completion when composing</span>
381 There are currently three solutions to this:
385 Starting with Notmuch 0.21, there is a builtin command to perform
386 autocompletion directly within Notmuch. Starting with 0.22, it is
387 configured by default, so if you have previously configured another
388 completion mechanism, you may want to try out the new internal
389 method. Use `M-x customize-variable RET notmuch-address-command` and
390 reset the value to "internal address completion" (`'internal` in
393 If you are not yet running 0.22, you can still use it by adding a
394 wrapper around the command called, say, `notmuch-address`:
397 exec notmuch address from:"$*"
399 Then you can set the `notmuch-address-command` to `notmuch-address`
400 (if it is in your `$PATH` of course, otherwise use an absolute path).
404 [bbdb](http://bbdb.sourceforge.net) is a contact database for emacs
405 that works quite nicely together with message mode, including
406 address autocompletion.
408 ### notmuch database as an address book
410 You can also use the notmuch database as a mail address book itself.
411 To do this you need a command line tool that outputs likely address
412 candidates based on a search string. There are currently four
415 * The python tool `notmuch_address.py` (`git clone
416 http://commonmeasure.org/~jkr/git/notmuch_addresses.git`) (slower, but
417 no compilation required so good for testing the setup)
419 * The C-based [notmuch-addrlookup](https://github.com/aperezdc/notmuch-addrlookup-c) by [Adrian Perez](http://perezdecastro.org/), which is faster but needs to be compiled.
421 git clone https://github.com/aperezdc/notmuch-addrlookup-c
422 cd notmuch-addrlookup-c
426 [addrlookup](http://github.com/spaetz/vala-notmuch) The addrlookup binary needs to be compiled.
428 `http://github.com/spaetz/vala-notmuch/raw/static-sources/src/addrlookup.c`
431 cc -o addrlookup addrlookup.c `pkg-config --cflags --libs gobject-2.0` -lnotmuch
433 * Shell/fgrep/perl combination [nottoomuch-addresses.sh](https://github.com/domo141/nottoomuch/blob/master/nottoomuch-addresses.rst).
434 This tools maintains its own address "database" gathered from email
435 files notmuch knows and search from that "database" is done by `fgrep(1)`.
437 * python/sqlite combination [notmuch-abook](https://github.com/guyzmo/notmuch-abook/)
438 This tools also maintains an address database in sqlite after harvesting
439 from notmuch. It also includes a vim plugin.
441 You can perform tab-completion using any of these programs.
442 Just add the following to your [notmuch init file](/notmuch-emacs#notmuch_init_file):
444 (require 'notmuch-address)
445 (setq notmuch-address-command "/path/to/address_fetching_program")
446 (notmuch-address-message-insinuate)
450 [GooBook](http://code.google.com/p/goobook/) is a command-line tool for
451 accessing Google Contacts. Install and set it up according to its documentation.
453 To use GooBook with notmuch, use this wrapper script and set it up like the
457 goobook query "$*" | sed 's/\(.*\)\t\(.*\)\t.*/\2 \<\1\>/' | sed '/^$/d'
459 You can add the sender of a message to Google Contacts by piping the message
460 (`notmuch-show-pipe-message`) to `goobook add`.
464 git clone https://github.com/mmehnert/akonadimailsearch
466 Install the development packages for kdepim on your system.
467 Enter the cloned repository and create a build directory:
473 You will find the akonadimailsearch binary in the build/src directory. Copy it to ~/bin .
475 You can now add the following settings to your
476 [notmuch init file](/notmuch-emacs#notmuch_init_file):
478 (require 'notmuch-address)
479 (setq notmuch-address-command "~/bin/akonadimailsearch")
480 (notmuch-address-message-insinuate)
482 ### Completion selection with helm
484 An address query might return multiple possible matches from which you
485 will have to select one. To ease this task, several different
486 frameworks in emacs support completion selection. One of them is
487 [helm](https://github.com/emacs-helm/helm). The following snippet
488 improves the out-of-the-box support for helm in notmuch as it enables
489 the required-match option and also does not ignore the first returned
492 (setq notmuch-address-selection-function
493 (lambda (prompt collection initial-input)
494 (completing-read prompt (cons initial-input collection) nil t nil 'notmuch-address-history)))
497 ## How to sign/encrypt messages with gpg
499 Messages can be signed using gpg by invoking
500 `M-x mml-secure-sign-pgpmime` (or `M-x mml-secure-encrypt-pgpmime`).
501 These functions are available via the standard `message-mode` keybindings
502 `C-c C-m s p` and `C-c C-m c p`.
504 In Emacs 28 you will be asked whether to sign the message using the
505 sender and are offered to remember your choice. In Emacs 27 you will
506 get a slightly misleading error and have to manually add the following
507 line to you init file. Older Emacsen just do this unconditionally.
509 (setq mml-secure-openpgp-sign-with-sender t)
511 To sign outgoing mail by default, use the `message-setup-hook` in your
514 ;; Sign messages by default.
515 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'mml-secure-sign-pgpmime)
517 This inserts the required `<#part sign=pgpmime>` into the beginning
518 of the mail text body and will be converted into a pgp signature
519 when sending (so one can just manually delete that line if signing
522 Alternatively, you may prefer to use `mml-secure-message-sign-pgpmime` instead
523 of `mml-secure-sign-pgpmime` to sign the whole message instead of just one
526 If you want to automatically encrypt outgoing messages if the keyring
527 contains a public key for every recipient, you can add something like
528 that to your `.emacs` file:
530 (defun message-recipients ()
531 "Return a list of all recipients in the message, looking at TO, CC and BCC.
533 Each recipient is in the format of `mail-extract-address-components'."
534 (mapcan (lambda (header)
535 (let ((header-value (message-fetch-field header)))
538 (mail-extract-address-components header-value t))))
541 (defun message-all-epg-keys-available-p ()
542 "Return non-nil if the pgp keyring has a public key for each recipient."
544 (let ((context (epg-make-context epa-protocol)))
546 (dolist (recipient (message-recipients))
547 (let ((recipient-email (cadr recipient)))
548 (when (and recipient-email (not (epg-list-keys context recipient-email)))
549 (throw 'break nil))))
552 (defun message-sign-encrypt-if-all-keys-available ()
553 "Add MML tag to encrypt message when there is a key for each recipient.
555 Consider adding this function to `message-send-hook' to
556 systematically send encrypted emails when possible."
557 (when (message-all-epg-keys-available-p)
558 (mml-secure-message-sign-encrypt)))
560 (add-hook 'message-send-hook #'message-sign-encrypt-if-all-keys-available
562 ### Troubleshooting message-mode gpg support
564 - If you have trouble with expired subkeys, you may have encountered
565 emacs bug #7931. This is fixed in git commit 301ea744c on
566 2011-02-02. Note that if you have the Debian package easypg
567 installed, it will shadow the fixed version of easypg included with
570 - If you wish `mml-secure-encrypt` to encrypt also for the sender, then
571 `M-x customize-variable mml2015-encrypt-to-self` might suit your need.
573 ## Reading and verifying encrypted and signed messages
575 Encrypted and signed mime messages can be read and verified with:
577 (setq notmuch-crypto-process-mime t)
579 Decrypting inline pgp messages can be done by selecting an the inline pgp area
582 M-x epa-decrypt-region RET
584 Verifying of inline pgp messages is not supported directly ([reasons
585 here](https://dkg.fifthhorseman.net/notes/inline-pgp-harmful/)). You can still
588 M-x notmuch-show-pipe-part RET gpg --verify RET
590 ## Multiple identities using gnus-alias
592 [gnus-alias](http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/GnusAlias) allows you to
593 define multiple identities when using `message-mode`. You can specify
594 the from address, organization, extra headers (including *Bcc*), extra
595 body text, and signature for each identity. Identities are chosen
596 based on a set of rules. When you are in message mode, you can switch
597 identities using gnus-alias.
601 - put `gnus-alias.el` on your load Emacs-Lisp load path (add new directory
602 to load path by writing `(add-to-list 'load-path "/some/load/path")` into
605 - Add the following to your `.emacs`
607 (autoload 'gnus-alias-determine-identity "gnus-alias" "" t)
608 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'gnus-alias-determine-identity)
610 Looking into `gnus-alias.el` gives a bit more information...
612 ### Example Configuration
614 Here is an example configuration.
616 ;; Define two identities, "home" and "work"
617 (setq gnus-alias-identity-alist
619 nil ;; Does not refer to any other identity
620 "John Doe <jdoe@example.net>" ;; Sender address
621 nil ;; No organization header
622 nil ;; No extra headers
623 nil ;; No extra body text
627 "John Doe <john.doe@example.com>"
629 (("Bcc" . "john.doe@example.com"))
631 "~/.signature.work")))
632 ;; Use "home" identity by default
633 (setq gnus-alias-default-identity "home")
634 ;; Define rules to match work identity
635 (setq gnus-alias-identity-rules
636 '(("work" ("any" "john.doe@\\(example\\.com\\|help\\.example.com\\)" both) "work")))
637 ;; Determine identity when message-mode loads
638 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'gnus-alias-determine-identity)
640 When `gnus-alias` has been loaded (using autoload, require, *M-x load-library*
641 or *M-x load-file* (load-file takes file path -- therefore it can be used
642 without any `.emacs` changes)) the following commands can be used to get(/set)
643 more information (some of these have "extensive documentation"):
645 M-x describe-variable RET gnus-alias-identity-alist
646 M-x describe-variable RET gnus-alias-identity-rules
647 M-x describe-variable RET gnus-alias-default-identity
649 M-x customize-group RET gnus-alias RET
651 M-x gnus-alias-customize RET
653 The last two do the same thing.
655 See also the **Usage:** section in `gnus-alias.el`.
657 ## Multiple identities (and more) with message-templ
659 Another option for multiple identities is
660 [message-templ](http://git.tethera.net/message-templ.git)
661 (also a available in marmalade). This provides roughly the same
662 facilities as wanderlust's template facility.
665 [example.emacs.el](https://git.tethera.net/message-templ.git/tree/example.emacs.el)
666 for some simple examples of usage.
668 ## Resending (or bouncing) messages
670 Add the following to your [notmuch init file](/notmuch-emacs#notmuch_init_file) to be able
671 to resend the current message in show mode.
673 (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "b"
674 (lambda (&optional address)
675 "Bounce the current message."
676 (interactive "sBounce To: ")
677 (notmuch-show-view-raw-message)
678 (message-resend address)))
680 ## `notmuch-hello` refresh status message
682 Add the following to your [notmuch init file](/notmuch-emacs#notmuch_init_file) to get a
683 status message about the change in the number of messages in the mail store
684 when refreshing the `notmuch-hello` buffer.
686 (defvar notmuch-hello-refresh-count 0)
688 (defun notmuch-hello-refresh-status-message ()
692 (car (process-lines notmuch-command "count"))))
693 (diff-count (- new-count notmuch-hello-refresh-count)))
695 ((= notmuch-hello-refresh-count 0)
696 (message "You have %s messages."
697 (notmuch-hello-nice-number new-count)))
699 (message "You have %s more messages since last refresh."
700 (notmuch-hello-nice-number diff-count)))
702 (message "You have %s fewer messages since last refresh."
703 (notmuch-hello-nice-number (- diff-count)))))
704 (setq notmuch-hello-refresh-count new-count))))
706 (add-hook 'notmuch-hello-refresh-hook 'notmuch-hello-refresh-status-message)
708 ## Replacing tabs with spaces in subject and header
710 Mailman mailing list software rewrites and rewraps long message subjects in
711 a way that causes TABs to appear in the middle of the subject and header
712 lines. Add this to your [notmuch init file](/notmuch-emacs#notmuch_init_file) to replace
713 tabs with spaces in subject lines:
715 (defun notmuch-show-subject-tabs-to-spaces ()
716 "Replace tabs with spaces in subject line."
717 (goto-char (point-min))
718 (when (re-search-forward "^Subject:" nil t)
719 (while (re-search-forward "\t" (line-end-position) t)
720 (replace-match " " nil nil))))
722 (add-hook 'notmuch-show-markup-headers-hook 'notmuch-show-subject-tabs-to-spaces)
726 (defun notmuch-show-header-tabs-to-spaces ()
727 "Replace tabs with spaces in header line."
728 (setq header-line-format
729 (notmuch-show-strip-re
730 (replace-regexp-in-string "\t" " " (notmuch-show-get-subject)))))
732 (add-hook 'notmuch-show-hook 'notmuch-show-header-tabs-to-spaces)
734 ## Hiding unread messages in notmuch-show
736 I like to have an inbox saved search, but only show unread messages when they
737 view a thread. This takes two steps:
740 [this patch from Mark Walters](https://notmuchmail.org/pipermail/notmuch/2012/010817.html)
741 to add the `notmuch-show-filter-thread` function.
742 1. Add the following hook to your emacs configuration:
744 (defun expand-only-unread-hook () (interactive)
746 (open (notmuch-show-get-message-ids-for-open-messages)))
747 (notmuch-show-mapc (lambda ()
748 (when (member "unread" (notmuch-show-get-tags))
751 (let ((notmuch-show-hook (remove 'expand-only-unread-hook notmuch-show-hook)))
752 (notmuch-show-filter-thread "tag:unread")))))
754 (add-hook 'notmuch-show-hook 'expand-only-unread-hook)
756 ## Changing the color of a saved search based on some other search
758 I like to have a saved search for my inbox, but have it change color when there
759 are thread with unread messages in the inbox. I accomplish this with the
760 following code in my emacs config:
762 (defun color-inbox-if-unread () (interactive)
764 (goto-char (point-min))
765 (let ((cnt (car (process-lines "notmuch" "count" "tag:inbox and tag:unread"))))
766 (when (> (string-to-number cnt) 0)
768 (when (search-forward "inbox" (point-max) t)
769 (let* ((overlays (overlays-in (match-beginning 0) (match-end 0)))
770 (overlay (car overlays)))
772 (overlay-put overlay 'face '((:inherit bold) (:foreground "green")))))))))))
773 (add-hook 'notmuch-hello-refresh-hook 'color-inbox-if-unread)
775 ## Linking to notmuch messages and threads from the Circe IRC client
777 [Circe](https://github.com/jorgenschaefer/circe/wiki) is an IRC client for emacs.
778 To have clickable buttons for notmuch messages and threads, add the following to
779 `lui-buttons-list` (using, e.g. M-x customize-variable)
781 ("\\(?:id\\|mid\\|thread\\):[0-9A-Za-z][0-9A-Za-z.@-]*" 0 notmuch-show 0)
783 If you have notmuch-pick installed, it works fine for this as well.
785 ## Linking to notmuch messages from org-mode
787 Support for linking to notmuch messages is distributed with org-mode,
788 but as a contrib file, so you might have to work a bit to load it.
790 In Debian and derivatives,
792 (add-to-list 'load-path "/usr/share/org-mode/lisp")
794 In NixOS, using `emacsWithPackages (epkgs: [ epkgs.orgPackages.org-plus-contrib ])`,
796 (loop for p in load-path
797 do (if (file-accessible-directory-p p)
798 (let ((m (directory-files-recursively p "^ol-notmuch.el$")))
799 (if m (add-to-list 'load-path (file-name-directory (car m)))))))
803 (require 'ol-notmuch)
805 In general it is nice to have a key for org-links (not just for notmuch). For example
807 (define-key global-map "\C-c l" 'org-store-link)
809 If you're using `use-package` the package can be loaded using the following:
812 (use-package ol-notmuch
815 ("C-c l" . org-store-link))
818 Note the package was renamed from `org-notmuch` to `ol-notmuch` in recent
819 versions of org-mode. If you're using an old version of notmuch you might want
820 to `(require 'org-notmuch)` instead.
822 ## Viewing diffs in notmuch
824 The following code allows you to view an inline patch in diff-mode
825 directly from notmuch. This means that normal diff-mode commands like
826 refine, next hunk etc all work.
828 (defun my-notmuch-show-view-as-patch ()
829 "View the the current message as a patch."
831 (let* ((id (notmuch-show-get-message-id))
832 (msg (notmuch-show-get-message-properties))
833 (part (notmuch-show-get-part-properties))
834 (subject (concat "Subject: " (notmuch-show-get-subject) "\n"))
835 (diff-default-read-only t)
836 (buf (get-buffer-create (concat "*notmuch-patch-" id "*")))
837 (map (make-sparse-keymap)))
838 (define-key map "q" 'notmuch-bury-or-kill-this-buffer)
839 (switch-to-buffer buf)
840 (let ((inhibit-read-only t))
843 (insert (notmuch-get-bodypart-text msg part nil)))
844 (set-buffer-modified-p nil)
846 (lexical-let ((new-ro-bind (cons 'buffer-read-only map)))
847 (add-to-list 'minor-mode-overriding-map-alist new-ro-bind))
848 (goto-char (point-min))))
850 and then this function needs to bound to `. d` in the keymap
852 (define-key 'notmuch-show-part-map "d" 'my-notmuch-show-view-as-patch)
854 ## Interfacing with Patchwork
856 [Patchwork](http://jk.ozlabs.org/projects/patchwork/) is a web-based system for
857 tracking patches sent to a mailing list. While the Notmuch project doesn't use
858 it, many other open source projects do. Having an easy way to get from a patch
859 email in your favorite mail client to the web page of the patch in the Patchwork
860 instance is a cool thing to have. Here's how to abuse the notmuch stash feature
861 to achieve this. (Don't know stash? See `notmuch-show-stash-mlarchive-link`,
862 bound to `c l` in `notmuch-show`.)
864 The trick needed is turning the email Message-ID into a unique Patchwork ID
865 assigned by Patchwork. We'll use the `pwclient` command-line tool to achieve
866 this. You'll first need to get that working and configured for the Patchwork
867 instance you're using. That part is beyond this tip here; please refer to
868 Patchwork documentation.
870 Check your configuration on the command-line, for example:
872 /path/to/pwclient -p <the-project> -n 5 -f "%{id}"
874 Note that the -f format argument may require a reasonably new version of the
875 client. Once you have the above working, you can `M-x customize-variable RET
876 notmuch-show-stash-mlarchive-link-alist RET`.
878 Add a new entry with "Function returning the URL:" set to:
881 (concat "http://patchwork.example.com/patch/"
883 (process-lines "/path/to/pwclient" "search"
885 "-m" (concat "<" message-id ">")
889 Replacing `http://patchwork.example.com/patch/`, `/path/to/pwclient`, and
890 `the-project` appropriately. You should now be able to stash the Patchwork URL
893 Going further, if the patch has been committed, you can get the commit hash with
898 (process-lines "/path/to/pwclient" "search"
900 "-m" (concat "<" message-id ">")
902 "-f" "%{commit_ref}")))
904 And finally, if the project has a web interface to its source repository, you
905 can turn the commit hash into a URL pointing there, for example:
908 (concat "http://cgit.example.com/the-project/commit/?id="
910 (process-lines "/path/to/pwclient" "search"
912 "-m" (concat "<" message-id ">")
914 "-f" "%{commit_ref}"))))
916 ## Never forget attachments
918 Very often we forget to actually attach the file when we send an email
919 that's supposed to have an attachment. Did this never happen to you?
920 If not, then it will.
922 Since version 0.29 Notmuch includes the `notmuch-mua-attachment-check`
923 function. This function checks whether a message references an
924 attachment and if it finds none it asks for confirmation before
925 sending the message. The function is meant to be added to the
926 `message-send-hook`, like so:
928 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'notmuch-mua-attachment-check)
930 The "customize"able variable `notmuch-mua-attachment-regexp` controls
931 how reference to an attachment are identified. By default, it
932 identifies English and French terms. For example, the following makes
933 it recognise English and Portuguese terms:
935 (setq-default notmuch-mua-attachment-regexp
936 "\\b\\(attach\\|attachment\\|attached\\|anexo\\|anexado\\)\\b")
939 ## Avoid forgetting the subject
941 It happens that we forget to enter the Subject line, particularly when
942 we leave that to the end. It's easy to write a function that checks
943 whether the Subject is empty, and add it to `message-send-hook` to get
946 (defun my-notmuch-mua-empty-subject-check ()
947 "Request confirmation before sending a message with empty subject"
948 (when (and (null (message-field-value "Subject"))
949 (not (y-or-n-p "Subject is empty, send anyway? ")))
950 (error "Sending message cancelled: empty subject.")))
951 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'my-notmuch-mua-empty-subject-check)
954 ## Applying patches to git repositories
956 The `notmuch-extract-thread-patches` and
957 `notmuch-extract-message-patches` commands from the `elpa-mailscripts`
958 package in Debian (and its derivatives) can do this for you.
960 ## Allow content preference based on message context
962 The preference for which sub-part of a multipart/alternative part is shown is
963 globally set. For example, if you prefer showing the html version over the text
966 (setq notmuch-multipart/alternative-discouraged '("text/plain" "text/html"))
968 However, sometimes you might want to adapt your preference depending on the
969 context. You can override the default settings on a per-message basis by
970 providing a function that has access to the message and which returns the
971 discouraged type list. For example:
973 (defun my/determine-discouraged (msg)
974 (let* ((headers (plist-get msg :headers))
975 (from (or (plist-get headers :From) "")))
977 ((string-match "whatever@mail.address.com" from)
980 '("text/html" "multipart/related")))))
982 (setq notmuch-multipart/alternative-discouraged
983 'my/determine-discouraged)
985 This would discourage text/html and multipart/related generally, but discourage
986 text/plain should the message be sent from whatever@mail.address.com.
988 ## See the recipient address instead of your address when listing sent messages
990 If you like to see your sent messages in unthreaded view, by default you will
991 see your address in the authors column, which is maybe not what you want. The
992 following code allows for showing the recipients if your email address (an
993 arbitrary address, whatever@mail.address.com in the example) is included in the
996 (defun my/notmuch-unthreaded-show-recipient-if-sent (format-string result)
997 (let* ((headers (plist-get result :headers))
998 (to (plist-get headers :To))
999 (author (plist-get headers :From))
1000 (face (if (plist-get result :match)
1001 'notmuch-tree-match-author-face
1002 'notmuch-tree-no-match-author-face)))
1004 (format format-string
1005 (if (string-match "whatever@mail.address.com" author)
1006 (concat "↦ " (notmuch-tree-clean-address to))
1007 (notmuch-tree-clean-address to)
1011 (setq notmuch-unthreaded-result-format
1012 '(("date" . "%12s ")
1013 (my/notmuch-unthreaded-show-recipient-if-sent . "%-20.20s")
1014 ((("subject" . "%s"))
1018 ## Issues with Emacs 24 (unsupported since notmuch 0.31 (2020-09-05))
1020 If notmuch-show-mode behaves badly for you in emacs 24.x try adding one of
1022 (setq gnus-inhibit-images nil)
1028 to your .emacs file.