+[[!img notmuch-logo.png alt="Notmuch logo" class="left"]]
# Tips and Tricks for using notmuch with Emacs
One of the more popular notmuch message reading clients is
## Add a key binding to add/remove/toggle a tag
-The `notmuch-{search,show}-{add,remove}-tag` functions are very useful
-for making quick tag key bindings. For instance, here's an example
-of how to make a key binding to add the "spam" tag and remove the
-"inbox" tag in notmuch-show-mode:
+The `notmuch-{search,show,tree}-tag` functions are very useful for
+making quick tag key bindings. The arguments to these functions have
+changed as notmuch has evolved but the following should work on all
+versions of notmuch from 0.13 on. These functions take a list of
+tag changes as argument. For example, an argument of (list "+spam"
+"-inbox) adds the tag spam and deletes the tag inbox. Note the
+argument must be a list even if there is only a single tag change
+e.g., use (list "+deleted") to add the deleted tag.
-In notmuch versions up to 0.11.x
+For instance, here's an example of how to make a key binding to add
+the "spam" tag and remove the "inbox" tag in notmuch-show-mode:
(define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "S"
(lambda ()
"mark message as spam"
(interactive)
- (notmuch-show-add-tag "spam")
- (notmuch-show-remove-tag "inbox")))
-
-Starting from notmuch 0.12 the functions `notmuch-show-add-tag` and
-`notmuch-show-remove-tag` have changed to be more versatile and lost
-noninteractive use. When upgrading to 0.12 the above needs to be
-changed to this:
-
- (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "S"
- (lambda ()
- "mark message as spam"
- (interactive)
- (notmuch-show-tag-message "+spam" "-inbox")))
+ (notmuch-show-tag (list "+spam" "-inbox"))))
You can do the same for threads in `notmuch-search-mode` by just
-replacing "show" with "search" in the called functions.
+replacing "show" with "search" in the keymap and called functions, or
+for messages in `notmuch-tree-mode` by replacing "show" by "tree". If
+you want to tag a whole thread in `notmuch-tree-mode` use
+`notmuch-tree-tag-thread` instead of `notmuch-tree-tag`.
-Starting from notmuch 0.12 use `notmuch-search-tag-thread` instead:
-
- (define-key notmuch-search-mode-map "S"
- (lambda ()
- "mark messages in thread as spam"
- (interactive)
- (notmuch-show-tag-thread "+spam" "-inbox")))
-
-Starting from notmuch 0.13 use `notmuch-search-tag` -- it has a little
-different usage syntax:
-
- (define-key notmuch-search-mode-map "S"
- (lambda ()
- "mark messages in thread as spam"
- (interactive)
- (notmuch-search-tag '("+spam" "-inbox"))))
-
-The definition above makes use of a lambda function, but you could
+The definitions above make use of a lambda function, but you could
also define a separate function first:
(defun notmuch-show-tag-spam ()
"mark message as spam"
(interactive)
- (notmuch-show-add-tag "spam")
- (notmuch-show-remove-tag "inbox")))
- (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "S" 'notmuch-show-tag-spam)
+ (notmuch-show-add-tag (list "+spam" "-inbox")))
-(See above for analogy how to apply this for notmuch 0.12 and later)
+ (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "S" 'notmuch-show-tag-spam)
Here's a more complicated example of how to add a toggle "deleted"
key:
"toggle deleted tag for message"
(interactive)
(if (member "deleted" (notmuch-show-get-tags))
- (notmuch-show-remove-tag "deleted")
- (notmuch-show-add-tag "deleted"))))
-
-And version for notmuch 0.12
-
- (define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "d"
- (lambda ()
- "toggle deleted tag for message"
- (interactive)
- (notmuch-show-tag-message
- (if (member "deleted" (notmuch-show-get-tags))
- "-deleted" "+deleted"))))
+ (notmuch-show-tag (list "-deleted"))
+ (notmuch-show-tag (list "+deleted")))))
## Adding many tagging keybindings
interface (using the `[save]` button next to a previous search) or by
customising the variable `notmuch-saved-searches`.
-An example setting might be:
+An example setting for notmuch versions up to 0.17.x might be:
(setq notmuch-saved-searches '(("inbox" . "tag:inbox")
("unread" . "tag:inbox AND tag:unread")
("notmuch" . "tag:inbox AND to:notmuchmail.org")))
+Starting from notmuch 0.18 the variable changed. It is backwards
+compatible so the above will still work but the new style will be used
+if you use customize and there are some new features available. The above would become
+
+ (setq notmuch-saved-searches '((:name "inbox" :query "tag:inbox")
+ (:name "unread" :query "tag:inbox AND tag:unread")
+ (:name "notmuch" :query "tag:inbox AND to:notmuchmail.org")))
+
+The additional features are the possibility to set the search order
+for the search, and the possibility to specify a different query for
+displaying the count for the saved-search. For example
+
+ (setq notmuch-saved-searches '((:name "inbox"
+ :query "tag:inbox"
+ :count-query "tag:inbox and tag:unread"
+ :sort-order 'oldest-first)))
+
+specifies a single saved search for inbox, but the number displayed by
+the search will be the number of unread messages in the inbox, and the
+sort order for this search will be oldest-first.
+
Of course, you can have any number of saved searches, each configured
-with any supported search terms (see "notmuch help search-terms").
+with any supported search terms (see "notmuch help search-terms"), and
+in the new style variable they can each have different count-queries
+and sort orders.
Some users find it useful to add `and not tag:delete` to those
searches, as they use the `delete` tag to mark messages as
You can also use the notmuch database as a mail address book itself.
To do this you need a command line tool that outputs likely address
-candidates based on a search string. There are currently three
+candidates based on a search string. There are currently four
available:
* The python tool `notmuch_address.py` (`git clone
This tools maintains it's own address "database" gathered from email
files notmuch knows and search from that "database" is done by `fgrep(1)`.
+ * python/sqlite combination [notmuch-abook](https://github.com/guyzmo/notmuch-abook/)
+ This tools also maintains an address database in sqlite after harvesting
+ from notmuch. It also includes a vim plugin.
+
You can perform tab-completion using any of these programs.
Just add the following to your .emacs:
;; Use "home" identity by default
(setq gnus-alias-default-identity "home")
;; Define rules to match work identity
- (setq gnus-alias-identity-rules
+ (setq gnus-alias-identity-rules)
'(("work" ("any" "john.doe@\\(example\\.com\\|help\\.example.com\\)" both) "work"))
;; Determine identity when message-mode loads
(add-hook 'message-setup-hook 'gnus-alias-determine-identity)
In general it is nice to have a key for org-links (not just for notmuch). For example
(define-key global-map "\C-cl" 'org-store-link)
+
+## Viewing diffs in notmuch
+
+The following code allows you to view an inline patch in diff-mode
+directly from notmuch. This means that normal diff-mode commands like
+refine, next hunk etc all work.
+
+ (defun my-notmuch-show-view-as-patch ()
+ "View the the current message as a patch."
+ (interactive)
+ (let* ((id (notmuch-show-get-message-id))
+ (subject (concat "Subject: " (notmuch-show-get-subject) "\n"))
+ (diff-default-read-only t)
+ (buf (get-buffer-create (concat "*notmuch-patch-" id "*")))
+ (map (make-sparse-keymap)))
+ (define-key map "q" 'notmuch-kill-this-buffer)
+ (switch-to-buffer buf)
+ (let ((inhibit-read-only t))
+ (erase-buffer)
+ (insert subject)
+ (insert (notmuch-get-bodypart-internal id 1 nil)))
+ (set-buffer-modified-p nil)
+ (diff-mode)
+ (lexical-let ((new-ro-bind (cons 'buffer-read-only map)))
+ (add-to-list 'minor-mode-overriding-map-alist new-ro-bind))
+ (goto-char (point-min))))
+
+and then this function needs to bound into the keymap with something like
+
+ (define-key 'notmuch-show-mode-map "D" 'my-notmuch-show-view-as-patch)
projects / notmuch-wiki / blobdiff