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 ## Issues with Emacs 24
11 If notmuch-show-mode behaves badly for you in emacs 24.x try adding one of
13 (setq gnus-inhibit-images nil)
21 ## Controlling external handlers for attachments
23 You can choose e.g. which pdf viewer to invoke from notmuch-show mode by
24 adding a .mailcap file in your home directory. Here is an example:
26 application/pdf; /usr/bin/mupdf %s; test=test "$DISPLAY" != ""; description=Portable Document Format; nametemplate=%s.pdf
27 application/x-pdf; /usr/bin/mupdf %s; test=test "$DISPLAY" != ""; description=Portable Document Format; nametemplate=%s.pdf
29 ## Overwriting the sender address
31 If you want to always use the same sender address, then the following
32 defadvice can help you.
34 (defadvice notmuch-mua-reply (around notmuch-fix-sender)
35 (let ((sender "Max Monster <max.monster@example.com>"))
37 (ad-activate 'notmuch-mua-reply)
39 ## Initial cursor position in notmuch 0.15 hello window
41 In notmuch version 0.15 emacs client the handling of cursor position in
42 notmuch hello window has been simplified to a version which suits best
45 Initially the cursor is positioned at the beginning of buffer.
47 Some users liked the "ancient" version where cursor was moved to the
48 first `Saved searches` button.
50 Add the following code to your notmuch emacs configuration file in
51 case you want this behaviour:
53 (add-hook 'notmuch-hello-refresh-hook
55 (if (and (eq (point) (point-min))
56 (search-forward "Saved searches:" nil t))
60 (if (eq (widget-type (widget-at)) 'editable-field)
61 (beginning-of-line)))))
63 ## Add a key binding to add/remove/toggle a tag
65 The `notmuch-{search,show,tree}-tag` functions are very useful for
66 making quick tag key bindings. The arguments to these functions have
67 changed as notmuch has evolved but the following should work on all
68 versions of notmuch from 0.13 on. These functions take a list of
69 tag changes as argument. For example, an argument of (list "+spam"
70 "-inbox") adds the tag spam and deletes the tag inbox. Note the
71 argument must be a list even if there is only a single tag change
72 e.g., use (list "+deleted") to add the deleted tag.
74 For instance, here's an example of how to make a key binding to add
75 the "spam" tag and remove the "inbox" tag in notmuch-show-mode:
77 (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "S"
79 "mark message as spam"
81 (notmuch-show-tag (list "+spam" "-inbox"))))
83 You can do the same for threads in `notmuch-search-mode` by just
84 replacing "show" with "search" in the keymap and called functions, or
85 for messages in `notmuch-tree-mode` by replacing "show" by "tree". If
86 you want to tag a whole thread in `notmuch-tree-mode` use
87 `notmuch-tree-tag-thread` instead of `notmuch-tree-tag`.
89 You may also want the function in search mode apply to the all threads
90 in the selected region (if there is one). For notmuch prior to 0.17
91 this behaviour will occur automatically with the functions given
92 above. To get this behaviour on 0.17+ do the following:
94 (define-key notmuch-search-mode-map "S"
95 (lambda (&optional beg end)
97 (interactive (notmuch-interactive-region))
98 (notmuch-search-tag (list "+spam" "-inbox") beg end)))
100 The analogous functionality in notmuch-tree is currently missing.
102 The definitions above make use of a lambda function, but you could
103 also define a separate function first:
105 (defun notmuch-show-tag-spam ()
106 "mark message as spam"
108 (notmuch-show-add-tag (list "+spam" "-inbox")))
110 (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "S" 'notmuch-show-tag-spam)
112 Here's a more complicated example of how to add a toggle "deleted"
115 (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "d"
117 "toggle deleted tag for message"
119 (if (member "deleted" (notmuch-show-get-tags))
120 (notmuch-show-tag (list "-deleted"))
121 (notmuch-show-tag (list "+deleted")))))
123 ## Adding many tagging keybindings
125 If you want to have have many tagging keybindings, you can save the typing
126 the few lines of boilerplate for every binding (for versions before 0.12,
127 you will need to change notmuch-show-apply-tag-macro).
129 (eval-after-load 'notmuch-show
130 '(define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "`" 'notmuch-show-apply-tag-macro))
132 (setq notmuch-show-tag-macro-alist
134 '("m" "+notmuch::patch" "+notmuch::moreinfo" "-notmuch::needs-review")
135 '("n" "+notmuch::patch" "+notmuch::needs-review" "-notmuch::pushed")
136 '("o" "+notmuch::patch" "+notmuch::obsolete"
137 "-notmuch::needs-review" "-notmuch::moreinfo")
138 '("p" "-notmuch::pushed" "-notmuch::needs-review"
139 "-notmuch::moreinfo" "+pending")
140 '("P" "-pending" "-notmuch::needs-review" "-notmuch::moreinfo" "+notmuch::pushed")
141 '("r" "-notmuch::patch" "+notmuch::review")
142 '("s" "+notmuch::patch" "-notmuch::obsolete" "-notmuch::needs-review" "-notmuch::moreinfo" "+notmuch::stale")
143 '("t" "+notmuch::patch" "-notmuch::needs-review" "+notmuch::trivial")
144 '("w" "+notmuch::patch" "+notmuch::wip" "-notmuch::needs-review")))
146 (defun notmuch-show-apply-tag-macro (key)
148 (let ((macro (assoc key notmuch-show-tag-macro-alist)))
149 (apply 'notmuch-show-tag-message (cdr macro))))
151 ## Restore reply-to-all key binding to 'r'
153 Starting from notmuch 0.12 the 'r' key is bound to reply-to-sender instead of
154 reply-to-all. Here's how to swap the reply to sender/all bindings in show mode:
156 (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "r" 'notmuch-show-reply)
157 (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "R" 'notmuch-show-reply-sender)
161 (define-key notmuch-search-mode-map "r" 'notmuch-search-reply-to-thread)
162 (define-key notmuch-search-mode-map "R" 'notmuch-search-reply-to-thread-sender)
166 (define-key notmuch-tree-mode-map "r" (notmuch-tree-close-message-pane-and #'notmuch-show-reply))
167 (define-key notmuch-tree-mode-map "R" (notmuch-tree-close-message-pane-and #'notmuch-show-reply-sender))
169 ## How to do FCC/BCC...
171 The Emacs interface to notmuch will automatically add an `Fcc`
172 header to your outgoing mail so that any messages you send will also
173 be saved in your mail store. You can control where this copy of the
174 message is saved by setting the variable `notmuch-fcc-dirs` which defines the
175 subdirectory relative to the `database.path` setting from your
176 notmuch configuration in which to save the mail. Enter a directory
177 (without the maildir `/cur` ending which will be appended
178 automatically). Additional information can be found as usual using:
180 M-x describe-variable notmuch-fcc-dirs
182 An additional variable that can affect FCC settings in some cases is
183 `message-directory`. Emacs message-mode uses this variable for
186 To customize both variables at the same time, use the fancy command:
188 M-x customize-apropos<RET>\(notmuch-fcc-dirs\)\|\(message-directory\)
190 This mechanism also allows you to select different folders to be
191 used for the outgoing mail depending on your selected `From`
192 address. Please see the documentation for the variable
193 `notmuch-fcc-dirs` in the customization window for how to arrange
196 ## How to customize `notmuch-saved-searches`
198 When starting notmuch, a list of saved searches and message counts is
199 displayed, replacing the older `notmuch-folders` command. The set of
200 saved searches displayed can be modified directly from the notmuch
201 interface (using the `[save]` button next to a previous search) or by
202 customising the variable `notmuch-saved-searches`.
204 An example setting for notmuch versions up to 0.17.x might be:
206 (setq notmuch-saved-searches '(("inbox" . "tag:inbox")
207 ("unread" . "tag:inbox AND tag:unread")
208 ("notmuch" . "tag:inbox AND to:notmuchmail.org")))
210 Starting from notmuch 0.18 the variable changed. It is backwards
211 compatible so the above will still work but the new style will be used
212 if you use customize and there are some new features available. The above would become
214 (setq notmuch-saved-searches '((:name "inbox" :query "tag:inbox")
215 (:name "unread" :query "tag:inbox AND tag:unread")
216 (:name "notmuch" :query "tag:inbox AND to:notmuchmail.org")))
218 The additional features are the possibility to set the search order
219 for the search, and the possibility to specify a different query for
220 displaying the count for the saved-search. For example
222 (setq notmuch-saved-searches '((:name "inbox"
224 :count-query "tag:inbox and tag:unread"
225 :sort-order oldest-first)))
227 specifies a single saved search for inbox, but the number displayed by
228 the search will be the number of unread messages in the inbox, and the
229 sort order for this search will be oldest-first.
231 Of course, you can have any number of saved searches, each configured
232 with any supported search terms (see "notmuch help search-terms"), and
233 in the new style variable they can each have different count-queries
236 Some users find it useful to add `and not tag:delete` to those
237 searches, as they use the `delete` tag to mark messages as
238 deleted. This causes messages that are marked as deleted to be removed
239 from the commonly used views of messages. Use whatever seems most
242 ## Viewing HTML messages with an external viewer
244 The Emacs client can generally display HTML messages inline using one of the
245 supported HTML renderers. This is controlled by the `mm-text-html-renderer`
248 Sometimes it may be necessary to display the message, or a single MIME part, in
249 an external browser. This can be done by `(notmuch-show-view-part)`, bound to
252 This command will try to view the message part the point is on with an
253 external viewer. The mime-type of the part will determine what viewer
254 will be used. Typically a 'text/html' part will be send to your
257 The configuration for this is kept in so called `mailcap`
258 files. (typically the file is `~/.mailcap` or `/etc/mailcap`) If the
259 wrong viewer is started or something else goes wrong, there's a good
260 chance something needs to be adapted in the mailcap configuration.
262 For Example: The `copiousoutput` setting in mailcap files needs to be
263 removed for some mime-types to prevent immediate removal of tempory
264 files so the configured viewer can access them.
267 ## msmtp, message mode and multiple accounts
269 As an alternative to running a mail server such as sendmail or postfix
270 just to send email, it is possible to use
271 [msmtp](http://msmtp.sourceforge.net/). This small application will
272 look like `/usr/bin/sendmail` to a MUA such as emacs message mode, but
273 will just forward the email to an external SMTP server. It's fairly
274 easy to set up and it supports several accounts for using different
275 SMTP servers. The msmtp pages have several examples.
277 A typical scenario is that you want to use the company SMTP server
278 for email coming from your company email address, and your personal
279 server for personal email. If msmtp is passed the envelope address
280 on the command line (the -f/--from option) it will automatically
281 pick the matching account. The only trick here seems to be getting
282 emacs to actually pass the envelope from. There are a number of
283 overlapping configuration variables that control this, and it's a
284 little confusion, but setting these three works for me:
286 - `mail-specify-envelope-from`: `t`
288 - `message-sendmail-envelope-from`: `header`
290 - `mail-envelope-from`: `header`
292 With that in place, you need a `.msmtprc` with the accounts configured
293 for the domains you want to send out using specific SMTP servers and
294 the rest will go to the default account.
296 ## sending mail using smtpmail
298 <!-- By default message mode will use the system `sendmail` command to send
299 mail. However, on a typical desktop machine there may not be local SMTP
300 daemon running (nor it is configured to send mail outside of the system). -->
302 If setting up local `sendmail` or `msmtp` is not feasible or desirable,
303 the Emacs `smtpmail` package can be used to send email by talking to remote
304 SMTP server via TCP connection. It is pretty easy to configure:
306 1. Emacs variable `message-send-mail-function` has not been set
308 Initially, Emacs variable `message-send-mail-function` has value of
309 `sendmail-query-once`. When (notmuch) message mode is about to send email,
310 `sendmail-query-once` will ask how emacs should send email. Typing `smtp`
311 will configure `smtpmail` and Emacs may prompt for SMTP settings.
313 1. `M-x customize-group RET smtpmail`
315 As a minimum, 'Smtpmail Smtp Server' needs to be set.
317 After doing that, continue with `M-x load-library RET message` and
318 `M-x customize-variable RET message-send-mail-function`.
319 In the customization buffer select `message-smtpmail-send-it`.
321 1. Set some variables in .emacs or in [notmuch init file](/notmuch-emacs#notmuch_init_file)
323 (setq smtpmail-smtp-server "smtp.server.tld" ;; <-- edit this !!!
324 ;; smtpmail-smtp-service 25 ;; 25 is default -- uncomment and edit if needed
325 ;; smtpmail-stream-type 'starttls
326 ;; smtpmail-debug-info t
327 ;; smtpmail-debug-verb t
328 message-send-mail-function 'message-smtpmail-send-it)
330 Note that emacs 24 or newer is required for `smtpmail-stream-type`
331 (and smtp authentication) to be effective.
333 More information for smtpmail is available:
335 * In Emacs: `M-x info-display-manual smtpmail`
336 * [EmacsWiki Page](http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/SendingMail)
339 ## <span id="address_completion">Address completion when composing</span>
341 There are currently three solutions to this:
345 Starting with Notmuch 0.21, there is a builtin command to perform
346 autocompletion directly within Notmuch. Starting with 0.22, it is
347 configured by default, so if you have previously configured another
348 completion mechanism, you may want to try out the new internal
349 method. Use `M-x customize-variable RET notmuch-address-command` and
350 reset the value to "internal address completion" (`'internal` in
353 If you are not yet running 0.22, you can still use it by adding a
354 wrapper around the command called, say, `notmuch-address`:
357 exec notmuch address from:"$*"
359 Then you can set the `notmuch-address-command` to `notmuch-address`
360 (if it is in your `$PATH` of course, otherwise use an absolute path).
364 [bbdb](http://bbdb.sourceforge.net) is a contact database for emacs
365 that works quite nicely together with message mode, including
366 address autocompletion.
368 ### notmuch database as an address book
370 You can also use the notmuch database as a mail address book itself.
371 To do this you need a command line tool that outputs likely address
372 candidates based on a search string. There are currently four
375 * The python tool `notmuch_address.py` (`git clone
376 http://commonmeasure.org/~jkr/git/notmuch_addresses.git`) (slower, but
377 no compilation required so good for testing the setup)
379 * 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.
381 git clone https://github.com/aperezdc/notmuch-addrlookup-c
382 cd notmuch-addrlookup-c
386 [addrlookup](http://github.com/spaetz/vala-notmuch) The addrlookup binary needs to be compiled.
388 `http://github.com/spaetz/vala-notmuch/raw/static-sources/src/addrlookup.c`
391 cc -o addrlookup addrlookup.c `pkg-config --cflags --libs gobject-2.0` -lnotmuch
393 * Shell/fgrep/perl combination [nottoomuch-addresses.sh](https://github.com/domo141/nottoomuch/blob/master/nottoomuch-addresses.rst).
394 This tools maintains its own address "database" gathered from email
395 files notmuch knows and search from that "database" is done by `fgrep(1)`.
397 * python/sqlite combination [notmuch-abook](https://github.com/guyzmo/notmuch-abook/)
398 This tools also maintains an address database in sqlite after harvesting
399 from notmuch. It also includes a vim plugin.
401 You can perform tab-completion using any of these programs.
402 Just add the following to your [notmuch init file](/notmuch-emacs#notmuch_init_file):
404 (require 'notmuch-address)
405 (setq notmuch-address-command "/path/to/address_fetching_program")
406 (notmuch-address-message-insinuate)
410 [GooBook](http://code.google.com/p/goobook/) is a command-line tool for
411 accessing Google Contacts. Install and set it up according to its documentation.
413 To use GooBook with notmuch, use this wrapper script and set it up like the
417 goobook query "$*" | sed 's/\(.*\)\t\(.*\)\t.*/\2 \<\1\>/' | sed '/^$/d'
419 You can add the sender of a message to Google Contacts by piping the message
420 (`notmuch-show-pipe-message`) to `goobook add`.
424 git clone https://github.com/mmehnert/akonadimailsearch
426 Install the development packages for kdepim on your system.
427 Enter the cloned repository and create a build directory:
433 You will find the akonadimailsearch binary in the build/src directory. Copy it to ~/bin .
435 You can now add the following settings to your
436 [notmuch init file](/notmuch-emacs#notmuch_init_file):
438 (require 'notmuch-address)
439 (setq notmuch-address-command "~/bin/akonadimailsearch")
440 (notmuch-address-message-insinuate)
442 ### Completion selection with helm
444 An address query might return multiple possible matches from which you
445 will have to select one. To ease this task, several different
446 frameworks in emacs support completion selection. One of them is
447 [helm](https://github.com/emacs-helm/helm). The following snippet
448 improves the out-of-the-box support for helm in notmuch as it enables
449 the required-match option and also does not ignore the first returned
452 (setq notmuch-address-selection-function
453 (lambda (prompt collection initial-input)
454 (completing-read prompt (cons initial-input collection) nil t nil 'notmuch-address-history)))
457 ## How to sign/encrypt messages with gpg
459 Messages can be signed using gpg by invoking
460 `M-x mml-secure-sign-pgpmime` (or `M-x mml-secure-encrypt-pgpmime`).
461 These functions are available via the standard `message-mode` keybindings
462 `C-c C-m s p` and `C-c C-m c p`. To sign outgoing mail by default, use the
463 `message-setup-hook` in your `.emacs` file:
465 ;; Sign messages by default.
466 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'mml-secure-sign-pgpmime)
468 This inserts the required `<#part sign=pgpmime>` into the beginning
469 of the mail text body and will be converted into a pgp signature
470 when sending (so one can just manually delete that line if signing
473 Alternatively, you may prefer to use `mml-secure-message-sign-pgpmime` instead
474 of `mml-secure-sign-pgpmime` to sign the whole message instead of just one
477 If you want to automatically encrypt outgoing messages if the keyring
478 contains a public key for every recipient, you can add something like
479 that to your `.emacs` file:
481 (defun message-recipients ()
482 "Return a list of all recipients in the message, looking at TO, CC and BCC.
484 Each recipient is in the format of `mail-extract-address-components'."
485 (mapcan (lambda (header)
486 (let ((header-value (message-fetch-field header)))
489 (mail-extract-address-components header-value t))))
492 (defun message-all-epg-keys-available-p ()
493 "Return non-nil if the pgp keyring has a public key for each recipient."
495 (let ((context (epg-make-context epa-protocol)))
497 (dolist (recipient (message-recipients))
498 (let ((recipient-email (cadr recipient)))
499 (when (and recipient-email (not (epg-list-keys context recipient-email)))
500 (throw 'break nil))))
503 (defun message-sign-encrypt-if-all-keys-available ()
504 "Add MML tag to encrypt message when there is a key for each recipient.
506 Consider adding this function to `message-send-hook' to
507 systematically send encrypted emails when possible."
508 (when (message-all-epg-keys-available-p)
509 (mml-secure-message-sign-encrypt)))
511 (add-hook 'message-send-hook #'message-sign-encrypt-if-all-keys-available
513 ### Troubleshooting message-mode gpg support
515 - If you have trouble with expired subkeys, you may have encountered
516 emacs bug #7931. This is fixed in git commit 301ea744c on
517 2011-02-02. Note that if you have the Debian package easypg
518 installed, it will shadow the fixed version of easypg included with
521 - If you wish `mml-secure-encrypt` to encrypt also for the sender, then
522 `M-x customize-variable mml2015-encrypt-to-self` might suit your need.
524 ## Reading and verifying encrypted and signed messages
526 Encrypted and signed mime messages can be read and verified with:
528 (setq notmuch-crypto-process-mime t)
530 Decrypting inline pgp messages can be done by selecting an the inline pgp area
533 M-x epa-decrypt-region RET
535 Verifying of inline pgp messages is not supported directly ([reasons
536 here](https://dkg.fifthhorseman.net/notes/inline-pgp-harmful/)). You can still
539 M-x notmuch-show-pipe-part RET gpg --verify RET
541 ## Multiple identities using gnus-alias
543 [gnus-alias](http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/GnusAlias) allows you to
544 define multiple identities when using `message-mode`. You can specify
545 the from address, organization, extra headers (including *Bcc*), extra
546 body text, and signature for each identity. Identities are chosen
547 based on a set of rules. When you are in message mode, you can switch
548 identities using gnus-alias.
552 - put `gnus-alias.el` on your load Emacs-Lisp load path (add new directory
553 to load path by writing `(add-to-list 'load-path "/some/load/path")` into
556 - Add the following to your `.emacs`
558 (autoload 'gnus-alias-determine-identity "gnus-alias" "" t)
559 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'gnus-alias-determine-identity)
561 Looking into `gnus-alias.el` gives a bit more information...
563 ### Example Configuration
565 Here is an example configuration.
567 ;; Define two identities, "home" and "work"
568 (setq gnus-alias-identity-alist
570 nil ;; Does not refer to any other identity
571 "John Doe <jdoe@example.net>" ;; Sender address
572 nil ;; No organization header
573 nil ;; No extra headers
574 nil ;; No extra body text
578 "John Doe <john.doe@example.com>"
580 (("Bcc" . "john.doe@example.com"))
582 "~/.signature.work")))
583 ;; Use "home" identity by default
584 (setq gnus-alias-default-identity "home")
585 ;; Define rules to match work identity
586 (setq gnus-alias-identity-rules
587 '(("work" ("any" "john.doe@\\(example\\.com\\|help\\.example.com\\)" both) "work")))
588 ;; Determine identity when message-mode loads
589 (add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'gnus-alias-determine-identity)
591 When `gnus-alias` has been loaded (using autoload, require, *M-x load-library*
592 or *M-x load-file* (load-file takes file path -- therefore it can be used
593 without any `.emacs` changes)) the following commands can be used to get(/set)
594 more information (some of these have "extensive documentation"):
596 M-x describe-variable RET gnus-alias-identity-alist
597 M-x describe-variable RET gnus-alias-identity-rules
598 M-x describe-variable RET gnus-alias-default-identity
600 M-x customize-group RET gnus-alias RET
602 M-x gnus-alias-customize RET
604 The last two do the same thing.
606 See also the **Usage:** section in `gnus-alias.el`.
608 ## Multiple identities (and more) with message-templ
610 Another option for multiple identities is
611 [message-templ](http://pivot.cs.unb.ca/git?p=message-templ.git;a=summary)
612 (also a available in marmalade). This provides roughly the same
613 facilities as wanderlust's template facility.
616 [example.emacs.el](http://pivot.cs.unb.ca/git?p=message-templ.git;a=blob;f=example.emacs.el;hb=HEAD)
617 for some simple examples of usage.
619 ## Resending (or bouncing) messages
621 Add the following to your [notmuch init file](/notmuch-emacs#notmuch_init_file) to be able
622 to resend the current message in show mode.
624 (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "b"
625 (lambda (&optional address)
626 "Bounce the current message."
627 (interactive "sBounce To: ")
628 (notmuch-show-view-raw-message)
629 (message-resend address)))
631 ## `notmuch-hello` refresh status message
633 Add the following to your [notmuch init file](/notmuch-emacs#notmuch_init_file) to get a
634 status message about the change in the number of messages in the mail store
635 when refreshing the `notmuch-hello` buffer.
637 (defvar notmuch-hello-refresh-count 0)
639 (defun notmuch-hello-refresh-status-message ()
643 (car (process-lines notmuch-command "count"))))
644 (diff-count (- new-count notmuch-hello-refresh-count)))
646 ((= notmuch-hello-refresh-count 0)
647 (message "You have %s messages."
648 (notmuch-hello-nice-number new-count)))
650 (message "You have %s more messages since last refresh."
651 (notmuch-hello-nice-number diff-count)))
653 (message "You have %s fewer messages since last refresh."
654 (notmuch-hello-nice-number (- diff-count)))))
655 (setq notmuch-hello-refresh-count new-count))))
657 (add-hook 'notmuch-hello-refresh-hook 'notmuch-hello-refresh-status-message)
659 ## Replacing tabs with spaces in subject and header
661 Mailman mailing list software rewrites and rewraps long message subjects in
662 a way that causes TABs to appear in the middle of the subject and header
663 lines. Add this to your [notmuch init file](/notmuch-emacs#notmuch_init_file) to replace
664 tabs with spaces in subject lines:
666 (defun notmuch-show-subject-tabs-to-spaces ()
667 "Replace tabs with spaces in subject line."
668 (goto-char (point-min))
669 (when (re-search-forward "^Subject:" nil t)
670 (while (re-search-forward "\t" (line-end-position) t)
671 (replace-match " " nil nil))))
673 (add-hook 'notmuch-show-markup-headers-hook 'notmuch-show-subject-tabs-to-spaces)
675 And in header lines (this will only work with the yet to be released
676 notmuch version 0.15):
678 (defun notmuch-show-header-tabs-to-spaces ()
679 "Replace tabs with spaces in header line."
680 (setq header-line-format
681 (notmuch-show-strip-re
682 (replace-regexp-in-string "\t" " " (notmuch-show-get-subject)))))
684 (add-hook 'notmuch-show-hook 'notmuch-show-header-tabs-to-spaces)
686 ## Hiding unread messages in notmuch-show
688 I like to have an inbox saved search, but only show unread messages when they
689 view a thread. This takes two steps:
692 [this patch from Mark Walters](https://notmuchmail.org/pipermail/notmuch/2012/010817.html)
693 to add the `notmuch-show-filter-thread` function.
694 1. Add the following hook to your emacs configuration:
696 (defun expand-only-unread-hook () (interactive)
698 (open (notmuch-show-get-message-ids-for-open-messages)))
699 (notmuch-show-mapc (lambda ()
700 (when (member "unread" (notmuch-show-get-tags))
703 (let ((notmuch-show-hook (remove 'expand-only-unread-hook notmuch-show-hook)))
704 (notmuch-show-filter-thread "tag:unread")))))
706 (add-hook 'notmuch-show-hook 'expand-only-unread-hook)
708 ## Changing the color of a saved search based on some other search
710 I like to have a saved search for my inbox, but have it change color when there
711 are thread with unread messages in the inbox. I accomplish this with the
712 following code in my emacs config:
714 (defun color-inbox-if-unread () (interactive)
716 (goto-char (point-min))
717 (let ((cnt (car (process-lines "notmuch" "count" "tag:inbox and tag:unread"))))
718 (when (> (string-to-number cnt) 0)
720 (when (search-forward "inbox" (point-max) t)
721 (let* ((overlays (overlays-in (match-beginning 0) (match-end 0)))
722 (overlay (car overlays)))
724 (overlay-put overlay 'face '((:inherit bold) (:foreground "green")))))))))))
725 (add-hook 'notmuch-hello-refresh-hook 'color-inbox-if-unread)
727 ## Linking to notmuch messages and threads from the Circe IRC client
729 [Circe](https://github.com/jorgenschaefer/circe/wiki) is an IRC client for emacs.
730 To have clickable buttons for notmuch messages and threads, add the following to
731 `lui-buttons-list` (using, e.g. M-x customize-variable)
733 ("\\(?:id\\|mid\\|thread\\):[0-9A-Za-z][0-9A-Za-z.@-]*" 0 notmuch-show 0)
735 If you have notmuch-pick installed, it works fine for this as well.
737 ## Linking to notmuch messages from org-mode
739 Support for linking to notmuch messages is distributed with org-mode,
740 but as a contrib file, so you might have to work a bit to load it.
742 In Debian and derivatives,
744 (add-to-list 'load-path "/usr/share/org-mode/lisp")
746 In NixOS, using `emacsWithPackages (epkgs: [ epkgs.orgPackages.org-plus-contrib ])`,
748 (loop for p in load-path
749 do (if (file-accessible-directory-p p)
750 (let ((m (directory-files-recursively p "^org-notmuch.el$")))
751 (if m (add-to-list 'load-path (file-name-directory (car m)))))))
755 (require 'org-notmuch)
757 In general it is nice to have a key for org-links (not just for notmuch). For example
759 (define-key global-map "\C-cl" 'org-store-link)
761 Note the package was renamed from `org-notmuch` to `ol-notmuch` in recent
762 versions of org-mode, and you might want to `(require 'ol-notmuch)` instead.
764 ## Viewing diffs in notmuch
766 The following code allows you to view an inline patch in diff-mode
767 directly from notmuch. This means that normal diff-mode commands like
768 refine, next hunk etc all work.
770 (defun my-notmuch-show-view-as-patch ()
771 "View the the current message as a patch."
773 (let* ((id (notmuch-show-get-message-id))
774 (msg (notmuch-show-get-message-properties))
775 (part (notmuch-show-get-part-properties))
776 (subject (concat "Subject: " (notmuch-show-get-subject) "\n"))
777 (diff-default-read-only t)
778 (buf (get-buffer-create (concat "*notmuch-patch-" id "*")))
779 (map (make-sparse-keymap)))
780 (define-key map "q" 'notmuch-bury-or-kill-this-buffer)
781 (switch-to-buffer buf)
782 (let ((inhibit-read-only t))
785 (insert (notmuch-get-bodypart-text msg part nil)))
786 (set-buffer-modified-p nil)
788 (lexical-let ((new-ro-bind (cons 'buffer-read-only map)))
789 (add-to-list 'minor-mode-overriding-map-alist new-ro-bind))
790 (goto-char (point-min))))
792 and then this function needs to bound to `. d` in the keymap
794 (define-key 'notmuch-show-part-map "d" 'my-notmuch-show-view-as-patch)
796 ## Interfacing with Patchwork
798 [Patchwork](http://jk.ozlabs.org/projects/patchwork/) is a web-based system for
799 tracking patches sent to a mailing list. While the Notmuch project doesn't use
800 it, many other open source projects do. Having an easy way to get from a patch
801 email in your favorite mail client to the web page of the patch in the Patchwork
802 instance is a cool thing to have. Here's how to abuse the notmuch stash feature
803 to achieve this. (Don't know stash? See `notmuch-show-stash-mlarchive-link`,
804 bound to `c l` in `notmuch-show`.)
806 The trick needed is turning the email Message-ID into a unique Patchwork ID
807 assigned by Patchwork. We'll use the `pwclient` command-line tool to achieve
808 this. You'll first need to get that working and configured for the Patchwork
809 instance you're using. That part is beyond this tip here; please refer to
810 Patchwork documentation.
812 Check your configuration on the command-line, for example:
814 /path/to/pwclient -p <the-project> -n 5 -f "%{id}"
816 Note that the -f format argument may require a reasonably new version of the
817 client. Once you have the above working, you can `M-x customize-variable RET
818 notmuch-show-stash-mlarchive-link-alist RET`.
820 Add a new entry with "Function returning the URL:" set to:
823 (concat "http://patchwork.example.com/patch/"
825 (process-lines "/path/to/pwclient" "search"
827 "-m" (concat "<" message-id ">")
831 Replacing `http://patchwork.example.com/patch/`, `/path/to/pwclient`, and
832 `the-project` appropriately. You should now be able to stash the Patchwork URL
835 Going further, if the patch has been committed, you can get the commit hash with
840 (process-lines "/path/to/pwclient" "search"
842 "-m" (concat "<" message-id ">")
844 "-f" "%{commit_ref}")))
846 And finally, if the project has a web interface to its source repository, you
847 can turn the commit hash into a URL pointing there, for example:
850 (concat "http://cgit.example.com/the-project/commit/?id="
852 (process-lines "/path/to/pwclient" "search"
854 "-m" (concat "<" message-id ">")
856 "-f" "%{commit_ref}"))))
858 ## Never forget attachments
860 Very often we forget to actually attach the file when we send an email
861 that's supposed to have an attachment. Did this never happen to you?
862 If not, then it will.
864 There is a hook out there that checks the content of the email for
865 keywords and warns you before the email is sent out if there's no
866 attachment. This is currently work in progress, but you can already
867 add the hook to your `~/.emacs.d/notmuch-config.el` file to test
868 it. Details available (and feedback welcome) in the [relevant
869 discussion](https://notmuchmail.org/pipermail/notmuch/2018/026414.html).
871 ## Applying patches to git repositories
873 The `notmuch-extract-thread-patches` and
874 `notmuch-extract-message-patches` commands from the `elpa-mailscripts`
875 package in Debian (and its derivatives) can do this for you.