+[[!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
To use the Notmuch emacs mode, first add the following line to your
`.emacs` rc file:
- (require 'notmuch)
+ (autoload 'notmuch "notmuch" "notmuch mail" t)
-or you can load the package via autoload:
+or if you always want to load notmuch when you start emacs:
- (autoload 'notmuch "notmuch" "notmuch mail" t)
+ (require 'notmuch)
Then, either run "emacs -f notmuch", or execute the command `M-x
notmuch` from within a running emacs.
+### <span id="notmuch_init_file"> Notmuch Emacs configuration file: </span>
+
+(Since Notmuch 0.18)
+
+After notmuch is loaded `notmuch-init-file` (typically
+ `~/.emacs.d/notmuch-config.el`) is checked out. If such file exists
+it is loaded. Most emacs lisp based configuration not suitable via
+customization can be put there instead of `~/.emacs`.
+
## Navigating & reading mails
When first starting notmuch in emacs, you will be presented with the
not close it. If you type several mails in an emacs session they will
accumulate and make switching between buffers more annoying. You can
avoid that behavior by adding `(setq message-kill-buffer-on-exit t)`
-in your `.emacs` file (or doing `M-x
-customize-variable<RET>message-kill-buffer-on-exit<RET>`) which will
-really close the mail window after sending it.
+in your `.emacs` file
+(or doing `M-x customize-variable<RET>message-kill-buffer-on-exit<RET>`)
+which will really close the mail window after sending it.
## Attaching files
#!/bin/sh
attach_cmds=""
- while [ "$1" ]; do
+ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
fullpath=$(readlink --canonicalize "$1")
attach_cmds="$attach_cmds (mml-attach-file \"$fullpath\")"
shift
done
emacsclient -a '' -c -e "(progn (compose-mail) $attach_cmds)"
+## Controlling external handlers for attachements
+
+You can choose e.g. which pdf viewer to invoke from notmuch-show mode by
+adding a .mailcap file in your home directory. Here is an example:
+
+ application/pdf; /usr/bin/mupdf %s; test=test "$DISPLAY" != ""; description=Portable Document Format; nametemplate=%s.pdf
+ application/x-pdf; /usr/bin/mupdf %s; test=test "$DISPLAY" != ""; description=Portable Document Format; nametemplate=%s.pdf
+
## Issues with Emacs 24
If notmuch-show-mode behaves badly for you in emacs 24.x try adding one of
# Advanced tips and tweaks
-## Use separate emacs lisp file for notmuch configuration
-
-Instead of adding notmuch configuration code to `.emacs`, there
-is an option to collect those to a separate file (which is only
-loaded when `notmuch` is invoked). To do this, write, for example
-a file called `~/.emacs.d/my-notmuch.el`:
-
- ;;; my-notmuch.el -- my notmuch mail configuration
- ;;;
-
- ;;; add here stuff required to be configured *before*
- ;;; notmuch is loaded;
-
- ;; uncomment and modify in case some elisp files are not found in load-path
- ;; (add-to-list 'load-path "~/vc/ext/notmuch/emacs")
-
- ;;; load notmuch
- (require 'notmuch)
-
- ;;; add here stuff required to be configured *after*
- ;;; notmuch is loaded;
-
- ;; uncomment & modify if you want to use external smtp server to send mail
- ;; (setq smtpmail-smtp-server "smtp.server.tld"
- ;; message-send-mail-function 'message-smtpmail-send-it)
- ;; uncomment to debug smtp sending problems
- ;; (setq smtpmail-debug-info t)
-
-Then, add to `.emacs`:
-
- (autoload 'notmuch "~/.emacs.d/my-notmuch" "notmuch mail" t)
-
## Initial cursor position in notmuch 0.15 hello window
In notmuch version 0.15 emacs client the handling of cursor position in
## 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:
+You may also want the function in search mode apply to the all threads
+in the selected region (if there is one). For notmuch prior to 0.17
+this behaviour will occur automatically with the functions given
+above. To get this behaviour on 0.17+ do the following:
(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:
+ (lambda (&optional beg end)
+ "mark thread as spam"
+ (interactive (notmuch-search-interactive-region))
+ (notmuch-search-tag (list "+spam" "-inbox") beg end)))
- (define-key notmuch-search-mode-map "S"
- (lambda ()
- "mark messages in thread as spam"
- (interactive)
- (notmuch-search-tag '("+spam" "-inbox"))))
+The analogous functionality in notmuch-tree is currently missing.
-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
cc -o addrlookup addrlookup.c `pkg-config --cflags --libs gobject-2.0` -lnotmuch
- * Shell/fgrep/perl combination [nottoomuch-addresses.sh](http://www.iki.fi/too/nottoomuch/nottoomuch-addresses/).
+ * Shell/fgrep/perl combination [nottoomuch-addresses.sh](https://github.com/domo141/nottoomuch/blob/master/nottoomuch-addresses.rst).
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:
+Just add the following to your [notmuch init file](#notmuch_init_file):
(require 'notmuch-address)
(setq notmuch-address-command "/path/to/address_fetching_program")
You can add the sender of a message to Google Contacts by piping the message
(`notmuch-show-pipe-message`) to `goobook add`.
+### Akonadi
+
+ git clone https://github.com/mmehnert/akonadimailsearch
+
+Install the development packages for kdepim on your system.
+Enter the cloned repository and create a build directory:
+
+ mkdir build
+ cd build
+ cmake ..; make;
+
+You will find the akonadimailsearch binary in the build/src directory. Copy it to ~/bin .
+
+You can now add the following settings to your
+[notmuch init file](#notmuch_init_file):
+
+ (require 'notmuch-address)
+ (setq notmuch-address-command "~/bin/akonadimailsearch")
+ (notmuch-address-message-insinuate)
+
+### Completion selection with helm
+
+An address query might return multiple possible matches from which you
+will have to select one. To ease this task, several different
+frameworks in emacs support completion selection. One of them is
+[helm](https://github.com/emacs-helm/helm). The following snippet
+improves the out-of-the-box support for helm in notmuch as it enables
+the required-match option and also does not ignore the first returned
+address.
+
+ (setq notmuch-address-selection-function
+ (lambda (prompt collection initial-input)
+ (completing-read prompt (cons initial-input collection) nil t nil 'notmuch-address-history)))
+
+
## How to sign/encrypt messages with gpg
Messages can by signed using gpg by invoking
installed, it will shadow the fixed version of easypg included with
emacs.
+## Reading and verifying encrypted and signed messages
+
+Encrypted and signed mime messages can be read and verified with:
+
+ (notmuch-crypto-process-mime t)
+
+Decrypting or verifying inline pgp messages can be done by selecting
+an the inline pgp area and and using:
+
+ M-x epa-decrypt-region RET
+
## Multiple identities using gnus-alias
[gnus-alias](http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/GnusAlias) allows you to
;; 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)
## Resending (or bouncing) messages
-Add the following to your `.emacs` to be able to resend the current message in
-show mode.
+Add the following to your [notmuch init file](#notmuch_init_file) to be able
+to resend the current message in show mode.
(define-key notmuch-show-mode-map "b"
(lambda (&optional address)
## `notmuch-hello` refresh status message
-Add the following to your `.emacs` to get a status message about the change in
-the number of messages in the mail store when refreshing the `notmuch-hello`
-buffer.
+Add the following to your [notmuch init file](#notmuch_init_file) to get a
+status message about the change in the number of messages in the mail store
+when refreshing the `notmuch-hello` buffer.
(defvar notmuch-hello-refresh-count 0)
Mailman mailing list software rewrites and rewraps long message subjects in
a way that causes TABs to appear in the middle of the subject and header
-lines. Add this to your `.emacs` to replace tabs with spaces in subject
-lines:
+lines. Add this to your [notmuch init file](#notmuch_init_file) to replace
+tabs with spaces in subject lines:
(defun notmuch-show-subject-tabs-to-spaces ()
"Replace tabs with spaces in subject line."
If you have notmuch-pick installed, it works fine for this as well.
-## Linking to notmuch messages
+## Linking to notmuch messages from org-mode
Support for linking to notmuch messages is distributed with org-mode,
but as a contrib file, so you might have to work a bit to load it.
-In Debian and derivitives,
+In Debian and derivatives,
+
+ (add-to-list 'load-path "/usr/share/org-mode/lisp")
- (add-to-list 'load-path "/usr/share/org-mode/lisp")
-
Then
- (require 'org-notmuch)
-
+ (require 'org-notmuch)
+
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