NOTMUCH-SEARCH(1)

NAME

       notmuch-search - search for messages matching the given search terms

SYNOPSIS

       notmuch search [options...] <search-term>...

DESCRIPTION

       Search  for  messages  matching  the given search terms, and display as
       results the threads containing the matched messages.

       The output consists of one line per thread, giving  a  thread  ID,  the
       date  of  the  newest (or oldest, depending on the sort option) matched
       message in the thread, the number of matched messages  and  total  mes-
       sages  in  the thread, the names of all participants in the thread, and
       the subject of the newest (or oldest) message.

       See notmuch-search-terms(7) for details of  the  supported  syntax  for
       <search-terms>.

       Supported options for search include

           --format=(json|sexp|text|text0)

               Presents  the  results  in  either JSON, S-Expressions, newline
               character separated plain-text  (default),  or  null  character
               separated  plain-text (compatible with xargs(1) -0 option where
               available).

           --format-version=N

               Use the specified structured output format  version.   This  is
               intended  for  programs  that invoke notmuch(1) internally.  If
               omitted, the latest supported version will be used.

           --output=(summary|threads|messages|files|tags)

               summary

                   Output a summary of each thread with any  message  matching
                   the search terms. The summary includes the thread ID, date,
                   the number of messages  in  the  thread  (both  the  number
                   matched  and  the  total number), the authors of the thread
                   and the subject.

               threads

                   Output the thread IDs  of  all  threads  with  any  message
                   matching  the  search  terms,  either  one per line (--for-
                   mat=text), separated by null  characters  (--format=text0),
                   as  a  JSON  array (--format=json), or an S-Expression list
                   (--format=sexp).

               messages

                   Output the message IDs of all messages matching the  search
                   terms,  either  one  per line (--format=text), separated by
                   null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON  array  (--for-
                   mat=json), or as an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).

               files

                   Output  the  filenames  of all messages matching the search
                   terms, either one per line  (--format=text),  separated  by
                   null  characters  (--format=text0), as a JSON array (--for-
                   mat=json), or as an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).

               tags

                   Output all tags that appear on  any  message  matching  the
                   search  terms,  either  one per line (--format=text), sepa-
                   rated by null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON  array
                   (--format=json),   or   as  an  S-Expression  list  (--for-
                   mat=sexp).

           --sort=(newest-first|oldest-first)

               This option can be used to present results in either chronolog-
               ical   order  (oldest-first)  or  reverse  chronological  order
               (newest-first).

               Note: The thread order  will  be  distinct  between  these  two
               options  (beyond  being  simply reversed). When sorting by old-
               est-first the threads will be sorted by the oldest  message  in
               each  thread, but when sorting by newest-first the threads will
               be sorted by the newest message in each thread.

               By default, results will be displayed in reverse  chronological
               order, (that is, the newest results will be displayed first).

           --offset=[-]N

               Skip  displaying  the  first  N  results. With the leading '-',
               start at the Nth result from the end.

           --limit=N

               Limit the number of displayed results to N.

           --exclude=(true|false|flag)

               Specify whether to omit  messages  matching  search.tag_exclude
               from  the search results (the default) or not. The extra option
               flag only has an effect when --output=summary In this case  all
               matching threads are returned but the "match count" is the num-
               ber of matching non-excluded messages in the thread.

EXIT STATUS

       This command supports the following special exit status codes

       20     The requested format version is too old.

       21     The requested format version is too new.

SEE ALSO

       notmuch(1), notmuch-config(1), notmuch-count(1), notmuch-dump(1),  not-
       much-hooks(5),  notmuch-new(1),  notmuch-reply(1),  notmuch-restore(1),
       notmuch-search-terms(7), notmuch-show(1), notmuch-tag(1)

Notmuch 0.15.2