Notmuch Emacs interface

EmacsEmail client

Emacs front end for notmuch that reads, searches, tags and composes mail from a local Maildir.

The Notmuch Emacs interface (notmuch.el) ships with notmuch and runs inside GNU Emacs. It replaces folders with saved searches and tags stored in the notmuch Xapian index, and shows whole threads in one buffer. Mail must be synced to a local Maildir by a tool such as mbsync, and outgoing mail goes through Emacs message mode with smtpmail or a sendmail-compatible program such as msmtp. It suits Emacs users who organize mail with tags and search instead of folders.

Type: Email client
Interface: Runs inside Emacs
Systems: Runs on Linux, macOS and BSD, on Windows through WSL, on Android through Termux.
Language: Emacs Lisp
License: GPL 3.0 or later
Latest version: 0.40
Background: Part of the notmuch project
Maintained: Yes
Website: notmuchmail.org
Source: git.notmuchmail.org/git/notmuch
Documentation: notmuchmail.org

Install

System	Support	Install
Linux	Native	apt`sudo apt install elpa-notmuch isync msmtp` dnf`sudo dnf install emacs-notmuch isync msmtp` pacman`sudo pacman -S notmuch emacs isync msmtp`
macOS	Native	Homebrew`brew install notmuch emacs isync msmtp`
Windows	Through WSL	WSL`sudo apt install elpa-notmuch isync msmtp` notmuch has no native Windows build or MSYS2 package; run Emacs and notmuch in WSL.
BSD	Native	FreeBSD pkg`pkg install notmuch-emacs isync msmtp` OpenBSD`pkg_add notmuch-emacs isync msmtp`
Android	Through Termux	Termux`pkg install notmuch emacs isync msmtp`

Protocols and features

Protocols
Protocol	Notmuch Emacs interface
IMAP	Through a separate tool
POP3	Through a separate tool
SMTP	Yes
JMAP	No
Maildir	Yes
mbox	No
notmuch	Yes

Features
Feature	Notmuch Emacs interface
OpenPGP	Yes
S/MIME	Yes
OAuth2 sign-in	via script
Threads	Yes
Search	notmuch Xapian full-text search with tags
HTML mail	built-in, rendered with the Emacs shr library
Mouse	Yes
Multiple accounts	Yes
Offline use	full; reads a local Maildir synced by mbsync or OfflineIMAP
Calendar	shows text/calendar parts; no invitation replies
Contacts	address completion from the notmuch index
Vim-style keys	No
Configuration	Emacs Lisp in init.el plus the notmuch config file

Pros and cons

Pros

Tag-based organization with fast full-text search over all local mail.
Shows a whole thread in a single buffer.
Handles PGP/MIME and S/MIME signatures and decryption through notmuch.

Cons

No built-in IMAP; needs mbsync or a similar sync tool.
Custom tags stay in the local index; only standard flags such as unread and replied reach the IMAP server.
Requires Emacs and some Emacs Lisp to configure.

Use Notmuch Emacs interface with Forward Email

A working setup for a Forward Email mailbox. Replace you@example.com with your alias and the password command with your own. The same settings work with any provider once the server names change.

~/.mbsyncrc, ~/.config/msmtp/config and ~/.emacs.d/init.el

# 1) ~/.mbsyncrc: sync the mailbox to ~/Mail/forwardemail (isync 1.5+ syntax)
IMAPAccount forwardemail
Host imap.forwardemail.net
Port 993
User you@example.com
PassCmd "pass show email/forwardemail"
TLSType IMAPS

IMAPStore forwardemail-remote
Account forwardemail

MaildirStore forwardemail-local
SubFolders Verbatim
Path ~/Mail/forwardemail/
Inbox ~/Mail/forwardemail/INBOX

Channel forwardemail
Far :forwardemail-remote:
Near :forwardemail-local:
Patterns *
Create Both
SyncState *

# 2) Index: run "notmuch setup" (database path ~/Mail, address you@example.com),
#    then: mbsync forwardemail && notmuch new

# 3) ~/.config/msmtp/config (chmod 600)
account forwardemail
host smtp.forwardemail.net
port 465
tls on
tls_starttls off
auth on
user you@example.com
passwordeval "pass show email/forwardemail"
from you@example.com
account default : forwardemail

# 4) ~/.emacs.d/init.el
(require 'notmuch)
(setq user-mail-address "you@example.com"
      user-full-name "Your Name"
      message-send-mail-function 'message-send-mail-with-sendmail
      sendmail-program "msmtp"
      message-sendmail-envelope-from 'header
      mail-specify-envelope-from t
      notmuch-fcc-dirs "\"forwardemail/Sent Mail\" +sent -inbox -unread")

Protocol	Server	Port	Security
IMAP	`imap.forwardemail.net`	993	SSL/TLS
POP3	`pop3.forwardemail.net`	995	SSL/TLS
SMTP	`smtp.forwardemail.net`	465	SSL/TLS
SMTP	`smtp.forwardemail.net`	587	STARTTLS

Username: your full alias address, such as you@example.com. Password: the one shown by Generate Password next to the alias in your Forward Email account. Folders: INBOX, Drafts, Sent Mail, Trash, Spam and Archive.

Prefer no config at all? Forward Email's terminal app signs in with your account and has mail, calendar and contacts in one program.

Compare Notmuch Emacs interface

All Notmuch Emacs interface alternatives

Questions

Does Notmuch Emacs interface work on Windows?

Not natively. It runs in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). notmuch has no native Windows build or MSYS2 package; run Emacs and notmuch in WSL.

Does Notmuch Emacs interface support IMAP?

Through a separate tool. Notmuch Emacs interface reads local mail, so a sync program such as isync copies it from the IMAP server.

Is Notmuch Emacs interface open source?

Yes, under the GPL 3.0 or later.

How do I use Notmuch Emacs interface with Forward Email?

Use the config in the Forward Email section on this page, saved as ~/.mbsyncrc, ~/.config/msmtp/config and ~/.emacs.d/init.el, and replace the address and password with your own.

Sources

Edit this page on GitHub Report a mistake