The Mutt E-Mail Client Michael Elkins version 1.5.20 (2009-06-14) Abstract "All mail clients suck. This one just sucks less." -- me, circa 1995 _________________________________________________________________ Table_of_Contents 1. Introduction 1. Mutt Home Page 2. Mailing Lists 3. Getting Mutt 4. Mutt Online Resources 5. Contributing to Mutt 6. Typograhical Conventions 7. Copyright 2. Getting Started 1. Core Concepts 2. Screens and Menus 2.1. Index 2.2. Pager 2.3. File Browser 2.4. Help 2.5. Compose Menu 2.6. Alias Menu 2.7. Attachment Menu 3. Moving Around in Menus 4. Editing Input Fields 4.1. Introduction 4.2. History 5. Reading Mail 5.1. The Message Index 5.2. The Pager 5.3. Threaded Mode 5.4. Miscellaneous Functions 6. Sending Mail 6.1. Introduction 6.2. Editing the Message Header 6.3. Sending Cryptographically Signed/Encrypted Messages 6.4. Sending Format=Flowed Messages 7. Forwarding and Bouncing Mail 8. Postponing Mail 3. Configuration 1. Location of Initialization Files 2. Syntax of Initialization Files 3. Address Groups 4. Defining/Using Aliases 5. Changing the Default Key Bindings 6. Defining Aliases for Character Sets 7. Setting Variables Based Upon Mailbox 8. Keyboard Macros 9. Using Color and Mono Video Attributes 10. Message Header Display 10.1. Selecting Headers 10.2. Ordering Displayed Headers 11. Alternative Addresses 12. Mailing Lists 13. Using Multiple Spool Mailboxes 14. Monitoring Incoming Mail 15. User-Defined Headers 16. Specify Default Save Mailbox 17. Specify Default Fcc: Mailbox When Composing 18. Specify Default Save Filename and Default Fcc: Mailbox at Once 19. Change Settings Based Upon Message Recipients 20. Change Settings Before Formatting a Message 21. Choosing the Cryptographic Key of the Recipient 22. Adding Key Sequences to the Keyboard Buffer 23. Executing Functions 24. Message Scoring 25. Spam Detection 26. Setting and Querying Variables 26.1. Variable Types 26.2. Commands 26.3. User-Defined Variables 27. Reading Initialization Commands From Another File 28. Removing Hooks 29. Format Strings 29.1. Basic usage 29.2. Conditionals 29.3. Filters 29.4. Padding 4. Advanced Usage 1. Regular Expressions 2. Patterns: Searching, Limiting and Tagging 2.1. Pattern Modifier 2.2. Simple Searches 2.3. Nesting and Boolean Operators 2.4. Searching by Date 3. Using Tags 4. Using Hooks 4.1. Message Matching in Hooks 5. External Address Queries 6. Mailbox Formats 7. Mailbox Shortcuts 8. Handling Mailing Lists 9. Handling multiple folders 10. Editing Threads 10.1. Linking Threads 10.2. Breaking Threads 11. Delivery Status Notification (DSN) Support 12. Start a WWW Browser on URLs 13. Miscellany 5. Mutt's MIME Support 1. Using MIME in Mutt 1.1. Viewing MIME Messages in the Pager 1.2. The Attachment Menu 1.3. The Compose Menu 2. MIME Type Configuration with mime.types 3. MIME Viewer Configuration with Mailcap 3.1. The Basics of the Mailcap File 3.2. Secure Use of Mailcap 3.3. Advanced Mailcap Usage 3.4. Example Mailcap Files 4. MIME Autoview 5. MIME Multipart/Alternative 6. Attachment Searching and Counting 7. MIME Lookup 6. Optional Features 1. General Notes 1.1. Enabling/Disabling Features 1.2. URL Syntax 2. SSL/TLS Support 3. POP3 Support 4. IMAP Support 4.1. The IMAP Folder Browser 4.2. Authentication 5. SMTP Support 6. Managing Multiple Accounts 7. Local Caching 7.1. Header Caching 7.2. Body Caching 7.3. Maintenance 8. Exact Address Generation 9. Sending Anonymous Messages via Mixmaster 7. Security Considerations 1. Passwords 2. Temporary Files 3. Information Leaks 3.1. Message-Id: headers 3.2. mailto:-style Links 4. External Applications 8. Performance Tuning 1. Reading and Writing Mailboxes 2. Reading Messages from Remote Folders 3. Searching and Limiting 9. Reference 1. Command-Line Options 2. Configuration Commands 3. Configuration Variables 3.1. abort_nosubject 3.2. abort_unmodified 3.3. alias_file 3.4. alias_format 3.5. allow_8bit 3.6. allow_ansi 3.7. arrow_cursor 3.8. ascii_chars 3.9. askbcc 3.10. askcc 3.11. assumed_charset 3.12. attach_charset 3.13. attach_format 3.14. attach_sep 3.15. attach_split 3.16. attribution 3.17. auto_tag 3.18. autoedit 3.19. beep 3.20. beep_new 3.21. bounce 3.22. bounce_delivered 3.23. braille_friendly 3.24. certificate_file 3.25. charset 3.26. check_mbox_size 3.27. check_new 3.28. collapse_unread 3.29. compose_format 3.30. config_charset 3.31. confirmappend 3.32. confirmcreate 3.33. connect_timeout 3.34. content_type 3.35. copy 3.36. crypt_autoencrypt 3.37. crypt_autopgp 3.38. crypt_autosign 3.39. crypt_autosmime 3.40. crypt_replyencrypt 3.41. crypt_replysign 3.42. crypt_replysignencrypted 3.43. crypt_timestamp 3.44. crypt_use_gpgme 3.45. crypt_use_pka 3.46. crypt_verify_sig 3.47. date_format 3.48. default_hook 3.49. delete 3.50. delete_untag 3.51. digest_collapse 3.52. display_filter 3.53. dotlock_program 3.54. dsn_notify 3.55. dsn_return 3.56. duplicate_threads 3.57. edit_headers 3.58. editor 3.59. encode_from 3.60. entropy_file 3.61. envelope_from_address 3.62. escape 3.63. fast_reply 3.64. fcc_attach 3.65. fcc_clear 3.66. folder 3.67. folder_format 3.68. followup_to 3.69. force_name 3.70. forward_decode 3.71. forward_decrypt 3.72. forward_edit 3.73. forward_format 3.74. forward_quote 3.75. from 3.76. gecos_mask 3.77. hdrs 3.78. header 3.79. header_cache 3.80. header_cache_compress 3.81. header_cache_pagesize 3.82. help 3.83. hidden_host 3.84. hide_limited 3.85. hide_missing 3.86. hide_thread_subject 3.87. hide_top_limited 3.88. hide_top_missing 3.89. history 3.90. history_file 3.91. honor_disposition 3.92. honor_followup_to 3.93. hostname 3.94. ignore_linear_white_space 3.95. ignore_list_reply_to 3.96. imap_authenticators 3.97. imap_check_subscribed 3.98. imap_delim_chars 3.99. imap_headers 3.100. imap_idle 3.101. imap_keepalive 3.102. imap_list_subscribed 3.103. imap_login 3.104. imap_pass 3.105. imap_passive 3.106. imap_peek 3.107. imap_pipeline_depth 3.108. imap_servernoise 3.109. imap_user 3.110. implicit_autoview 3.111. include 3.112. include_onlyfirst 3.113. indent_string 3.114. index_format 3.115. ispell 3.116. keep_flagged 3.117. locale 3.118. mail_check 3.119. mailcap_path 3.120. mailcap_sanitize 3.121. maildir_header_cache_verify 3.122. maildir_trash 3.123. mark_old 3.124. markers 3.125. mask 3.126. mbox 3.127. mbox_type 3.128. menu_context 3.129. menu_move_off 3.130. menu_scroll 3.131. message_cache_clean 3.132. message_cachedir 3.133. message_format 3.134. meta_key 3.135. metoo 3.136. mh_purge 3.137. mh_seq_flagged 3.138. mh_seq_replied 3.139. mh_seq_unseen 3.140. mime_forward 3.141. mime_forward_decode 3.142. mime_forward_rest 3.143. mix_entry_format 3.144. mixmaster 3.145. move 3.146. narrow_tree 3.147. net_inc 3.148. pager 3.149. pager_context 3.150. pager_format 3.151. pager_index_lines 3.152. pager_stop 3.153. pgp_auto_decode 3.154. pgp_autoinline 3.155. pgp_check_exit 3.156. pgp_clearsign_command 3.157. pgp_decode_command 3.158. pgp_decrypt_command 3.159. pgp_encrypt_only_command 3.160. pgp_encrypt_sign_command 3.161. pgp_entry_format 3.162. pgp_export_command 3.163. pgp_getkeys_command 3.164. pgp_good_sign 3.165. pgp_ignore_subkeys 3.166. pgp_import_command 3.167. pgp_list_pubring_command 3.168. pgp_list_secring_command 3.169. pgp_long_ids 3.170. pgp_mime_auto 3.171. pgp_replyinline 3.172. pgp_retainable_sigs 3.173. pgp_show_unusable 3.174. pgp_sign_as 3.175. pgp_sign_command 3.176. pgp_sort_keys 3.177. pgp_strict_enc 3.178. pgp_timeout 3.179. pgp_use_gpg_agent 3.180. pgp_verify_command 3.181. pgp_verify_key_command 3.182. pipe_decode 3.183. pipe_sep 3.184. pipe_split 3.185. pop_auth_try_all 3.186. pop_authenticators 3.187. pop_checkinterval 3.188. pop_delete 3.189. pop_host 3.190. pop_last 3.191. pop_pass 3.192. pop_reconnect 3.193. pop_user 3.194. post_indent_string 3.195. postpone 3.196. postponed 3.197. preconnect 3.198. print 3.199. print_command 3.200. print_decode 3.201. print_split 3.202. prompt_after 3.203. query_command 3.204. query_format 3.205. quit 3.206. quote_regexp 3.207. read_inc 3.208. read_only 3.209. realname 3.210. recall 3.211. record 3.212. reply_regexp 3.213. reply_self 3.214. reply_to 3.215. resolve 3.216. reverse_alias 3.217. reverse_name 3.218. reverse_realname 3.219. rfc2047_parameters 3.220. save_address 3.221. save_empty 3.222. save_history 3.223. save_name 3.224. score 3.225. score_threshold_delete 3.226. score_threshold_flag 3.227. score_threshold_read 3.228. search_context 3.229. send_charset 3.230. sendmail 3.231. sendmail_wait 3.232. shell 3.233. sig_dashes 3.234. sig_on_top 3.235. signature 3.236. simple_search 3.237. sleep_time 3.238. smart_wrap 3.239. smileys 3.240. smime_ask_cert_label 3.241. smime_ca_location 3.242. smime_certificates 3.243. smime_decrypt_command 3.244. smime_decrypt_use_default_key 3.245. smime_default_key 3.246. smime_encrypt_command 3.247. smime_encrypt_with 3.248. smime_get_cert_command 3.249. smime_get_cert_email_command 3.250. smime_get_signer_cert_command 3.251. smime_import_cert_command 3.252. smime_is_default 3.253. smime_keys 3.254. smime_pk7out_command 3.255. smime_sign_command 3.256. smime_sign_opaque_command 3.257. smime_timeout 3.258. smime_verify_command 3.259. smime_verify_opaque_command 3.260. smtp_authenticators 3.261. smtp_pass 3.262. smtp_url 3.263. sort 3.264. sort_alias 3.265. sort_aux 3.266. sort_browser 3.267. sort_re 3.268. spam_separator 3.269. spoolfile 3.270. ssl_ca_certificates_file 3.271. ssl_client_cert 3.272. ssl_force_tls 3.273. ssl_min_dh_prime_bits 3.274. ssl_starttls 3.275. ssl_use_sslv2 3.276. ssl_use_sslv3 3.277. ssl_use_tlsv1 3.278. ssl_usesystemcerts 3.279. ssl_verify_dates 3.280. ssl_verify_host 3.281. status_chars 3.282. status_format 3.283. status_on_top 3.284. strict_threads 3.285. suspend 3.286. text_flowed 3.287. thorough_search 3.288. thread_received 3.289. tilde 3.290. time_inc 3.291. timeout 3.292. tmpdir 3.293. to_chars 3.294. tunnel 3.295. uncollapse_jump 3.296. use_8bitmime 3.297. use_domain 3.298. use_envelope_from 3.299. use_from 3.300. use_idn 3.301. use_ipv6 3.302. user_agent 3.303. visual 3.304. wait_key 3.305. weed 3.306. wrap 3.307. wrap_search 3.308. wrapmargin 3.309. write_bcc 3.310. write_inc 4. Functions 4.1. Generic Menu 4.2. Index Menu 4.3. Pager Menu 4.4. Alias Menu 4.5. Query Menu 4.6. Attach Menu 4.7. Compose Menu 4.8. Postpone Menu 4.9. Browser Menu 4.10. Pgp Menu 4.11. Smime Menu 4.12. Mix Menu 4.13. Editor Menu 10. Miscellany 1. Acknowledgements 2. About This Document List_of_Tables 1.1. Typographical conventions for special terms 2.1. Most common navigation keys in entry-based menus 2.2. Most common navigation keys in page-based menus 2.3. Most common line editor keys 2.4. Most common message index keys 2.5. Message status flags 2.6. Message recipient flags 2.7. Most common pager keys 2.8. ANSI escape sequences 2.9. Color sequences 2.10. Most common thread mode keys 2.11. Most common mail sending keys 2.12. Most common compose menu keys 2.13. PGP key menu flags 3.1. Symbolic key names 4.1. POSIX regular expression character classes 4.2. Regular expression repetition operators 4.3. GNU regular expression extensions 4.4. Pattern modifiers 4.5. Simple search keywords 4.6. Date units 9.1. Command line options 9.2. Default generic Function Bindings 9.3. Default index Function Bindings 9.4. Default pager Function Bindings 9.5. Default alias Function Bindings 9.6. Default query Function Bindings 9.7. Default attach Function Bindings 9.8. Default compose Function Bindings 9.9. Default postpone Function Bindings 9.10. Default browser Function Bindings 9.11. Default pgp Function Bindings 9.12. Default smime Function Bindings 9.13. Default mix Function Bindings 9.14. Default editor Function Bindings List_of_Examples 3.1. Multiple configuration commands per line 3.2. Commenting configuration files 3.3. Escaping quotes in congfiguration files 3.4. Splitting long configuration commands over several lines 3.5. Using external command's output in configuration files 3.6. Using environment variables in configuration files 3.7. Configuring external alias files 3.8. Setting sort method based on mailbox name 3.9. Header weeding 3.10. Configuring header display order 3.11. Defining custom headers 3.12. Using %-expandos in save-hook 3.13. Embedding push in folder-hook 3.14. Configuring spam detection 3.15. Using user-defined variables for config file readability 3.16. Using user-defined variables for backing up other config option values 3.17. Deferring user-defined variable expansion to runtime 3.18. Using external filters in format strings 4.1. Matching all addresses in address lists 4.2. Using boolean operators in patterns 4.3. Specifying a "default" hook 5.1. Attachment counting 6.1. URLs 6.2. Managing multiple accounts Chapter 1. Introduction Table_of_Contents 1. Mutt Home Page 2. Mailing Lists 3. Getting Mutt 4. Mutt Online Resources 5. Contributing to Mutt 6. Typograhical Conventions 7. Copyright Mutt is a small but very powerful text-based MIME mail client. Mutt is highly configurable, and is well suited to the mail power user with advanced features like key bindings, keyboard macros, mail threading, regular expression searches and a powerful pattern matching language for selecting groups of messages. 1. Mutt Home Page The official homepage can be found at http://www.mutt.org/. 2. Mailing Lists To subscribe to one of the following mailing lists, send a message with the word subscribe in the body to list-name-request@mutt.org. * -- low traffic list for announcements * -- help, bug reports and feature requests * -- development mailing list Note All messages posted to mutt-announce are automatically forwarded to mutt-users, so you do not need to be subscribed to both lists. 3. Getting Mutt Mutt releases can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.mutt.org/mutt/. For a list of mirror sites, please refer to http://www.mutt.org/download.html. For nightly tarballs and version control access, please refer to the Mutt development site. 4. Mutt Online Resources Bug Tracking System The official Mutt bug tracking system can be found at http://bugs.mutt.org/ Wiki An (unofficial) wiki can be found at http://wiki.mutt.org/. IRC For the IRC user community, visit channel #mutt on irc.freenode.net. USENET For USENET, see the newsgroup comp.mail.mutt. 5. Contributing to Mutt There are various ways to contribute to the Mutt project. Especially for new users it may be helpful to meet other new and experienced users to chat about Mutt, talk about problems and share tricks. Since translations of Mutt into other languages are highly appreciated, the Mutt developers always look for skilled translators that help improve and continue to maintain stale translations. For contributing code patches for new features and bug fixes, please refer to the developer pages at http://dev.mutt.org/ for more details. 6. Typograhical Conventions This section lists typographical conventions followed throughout this manual. See table Table 1.1, "Typographical conventions for special terms" for typographical conventions for special terms. Table_1.1._Typographical_conventions_for_special_terms Item Refers to... printf(3) UNIX manual pages, execute man 3 printf named keys named Mutt function ^G Control+G key combination $mail_check Mutt configuration option $HOME environment variable Examples are presented as: mutt -v Within command synopsis, curly brackets ("{}") denote a set of options of which one is mandatory, square brackets ("[]") denote optional arguments, three dots denote that the argument may be repeated arbitrary times. 7. Copyright Mutt is Copyright