1 <h1>NOTMUCH-SEARCH(1)</h1>
5 notmuch-search - search for messages matching the given search terms
10 <b>notmuch</b> <b>search</b> [<u>options</u>...] <<u>search-term</u>>...
15 Search for messages matching the given search terms, and display as
16 results the threads containing the matched messages.
18 The output consists of one line per thread, giving a thread ID, the
19 date of the newest (or oldest, depending on the sort option) matched
20 message in the thread, the number of matched messages and total mes-
21 sages in the thread, the names of all participants in the thread, and
22 the subject of the newest (or oldest) message.
24 See <a href='../notmuch-search-terms-7/'>notmuch-search-terms</a>(7) for details of the supported syntax for
27 Supported options for <b>search</b> include
29 <b>--format=</b>(<b>json</b>|<b>sexp</b>|<b>text</b>|<b>text0</b>)
31 Presents the results in either JSON, S-Expressions, newline
32 character separated plain-text (default), or null character
33 separated plain-text (compatible with <b>xargs</b>(1) -0 option where
36 <b>--format-version=N</b>
38 Use the specified structured output format version. This is
39 intended for programs that invoke <a href='../notmuch-1/'>notmuch</a>(1) internally. If
40 omitted, the latest supported version will be used.
42 <b>--output=(summary|threads|messages|files|tags)</b>
46 Output a summary of each thread with any message matching
47 the search terms. The summary includes the thread ID, date,
48 the number of messages in the thread (both the number
49 matched and the total number), the authors of the thread
54 Output the thread IDs of all threads with any message
55 matching the search terms, either one per line (--for-
56 mat=text), separated by null characters (--format=text0),
57 as a JSON array (--format=json), or an S-Expression list
62 Output the message IDs of all messages matching the search
63 terms, either one per line (--format=text), separated by
64 null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array (--for-
65 mat=json), or as an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
69 Output the filenames of all messages matching the search
70 terms, either one per line (--format=text), separated by
71 null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array (--for-
72 mat=json), or as an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
74 Note that each message may have multiple filenames associ-
75 ated with it. All of them are included in the output,
76 unless limited with the --duplicate=N option.
80 Output all tags that appear on any message matching the
81 search terms, either one per line (--format=text), sepa-
82 rated by null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array
83 (--format=json), or as an S-Expression list (--for-
86 <b>--sort=</b>(<b>newest-first</b>|<b>oldest-first</b>)
88 This option can be used to present results in either chronolog-
89 ical order (<b>oldest-first</b>) or reverse chronological order
90 (<b>newest-first</b>).
92 Note: The thread order will be distinct between these two
93 options (beyond being simply reversed). When sorting by <b>old-</b>
94 <b>est-first</b> the threads will be sorted by the oldest message in
95 each thread, but when sorting by <b>newest-first</b> the threads will
96 be sorted by the newest message in each thread.
98 By default, results will be displayed in reverse chronological
99 order, (that is, the newest results will be displayed first).
103 Skip displaying the first N results. With the leading '-',
104 start at the Nth result from the end.
108 Limit the number of displayed results to N.
110 <b>--exclude=(true|false|all|flag)</b>
112 A message is called "excluded" if it matches at least one tag
113 in search.tag_exclude that does not appear explicitly in the
114 search terms. This option specifies whether to omit excluded
115 messages in the search process.
117 The default value, <b>true</b>, prevents excluded messages from match-
118 ing the search terms.
120 <b>all</b> additionally prevents excluded messages from appearing in
121 displayed results, in effect behaving as though the excluded
122 messages do not exist.
124 <b>false</b> allows excluded messages to match search terms and appear
125 in displayed results. Excluded messages are still marked in the
128 <b>flag</b> only has an effect when <b>--output=summary</b>. The output is
129 almost identical to <b>false</b>, but the "match count" is the number
130 of matching non-excluded messages in the thread, rather than
131 the number of matching messages.
135 Effective with <b>--output=files</b>, output the Nth filename associ-
136 ated with each message matching the query (N is 1-based). If N
137 is greater than the number of files associated with the mes-
138 sage, don't print anything.
140 Note that this option is orthogonal with the <b>folder:</b> search
141 prefix. The prefix matches messages based on filenames. This
142 option filters filenames of the matching messages.
147 This command supports the following special exit status codes
149 <b>20</b> The requested format version is too old.
151 <b>21</b> The requested format version is too new.
156 <a href='../notmuch-1/'>notmuch</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-config-1/'>notmuch-config</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-count-1/'>notmuch-count</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-dump-1/'>notmuch-dump</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-hooks-5/'>not-</a>
157 <a href='../notmuch-hooks-5/'>much-hooks</a>(5), <a href='../notmuch-insert-1/'>notmuch-insert</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-new-1/'>notmuch-new</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-reply-1/'>notmuch-reply</a>(1),
158 <a href='../notmuch-restore-1/'>notmuch-restore</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-search-terms-7/'>notmuch-search-terms</a>(7), <a href='../notmuch-show-1/'>notmuch-show</a>(1), <a href='../notmuch-tag-1/'>notmuch-</a>
159 <a href='../notmuch-tag-1/'>tag</a>(1)
162 <h2>Notmuch 0.17</h2>