notmuch

CLIMail tool

Command-line mail indexer that adds fast full-text search, threading and tags to a local Maildir.

notmuch indexes messages in a local Maildir with Xapian and lets you search, thread and tag them from the command line. It does not fetch or send mail; a sync tool such as mbsync and an SMTP client such as msmtp handle that. Several mail clients use it as their back end, including its own Emacs interface, alot, aerc and NeoMutt. It suits users who want tags and search instead of folders.

Type: Mail tool
Interface: Command-line tools and prompts
Systems: Runs on Linux, macOS and BSD, on Windows through WSL, on Android through Termux.
Language: C, C++
License: GPL 3.0 or later
Latest version: 0.40
Maintained: Yes
Website: notmuchmail.org
Source: git.notmuchmail.org/git/notmuch
Documentation: notmuchmail.org

Install

System	Support	Install
Linux	Native	apt`sudo apt install notmuch` dnf`sudo dnf install notmuch` pacman`sudo pacman -S notmuch`
macOS	Native	Homebrew`brew install notmuch`
Windows	Through WSL	WSL`sudo apt install notmuch` No native Windows build or MSYS2 package; run it in WSL.
BSD	Native	FreeBSD pkg`pkg install notmuch` OpenBSD`pkg_add notmuch`
Android	Through Termux	Termux`pkg install notmuch`

Protocols and features

Protocols
Protocol	notmuch
IMAP	No
POP3	No
SMTP	No
JMAP	No
Maildir	Yes
mbox	No
notmuch	Yes

Features
Feature	notmuch
OpenPGP	Yes
S/MIME	Yes
OAuth2 sign-in	No
Threads	Yes
Search	Xapian full-text search with tags and date ranges
HTML mail	No
Mouse	No
Multiple accounts	indexes every Maildir under one database path
Offline use	full; works only on local mail
Calendar	No
Contacts	notmuch address lists addresses from indexed mail
Vim-style keys	No
Configuration	INI-style notmuch config file

Pros and cons

Pros

Fast full-text search and tagging over large local mail stores.
Used as a back end by several clients, so one index serves more than one front end.
Can index and search decrypted PGP/MIME and S/MIME messages.

Cons

Does not fetch or send mail; needs mbsync and msmtp or similar tools.
Custom tags stay in the local index; only standard flags such as unread and replied sync to Maildir, and from there to IMAP.
No native Windows build.

Use notmuch with Forward Email

How notmuch fits with 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 and ~/.notmuch-config

# notmuch only indexes local mail. Sync Forward Email to ~/Mail first with mbsync (~/.mbsyncrc):
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 *

# ~/.notmuch-config
[database]
path=/home/you/Mail
[user]
name=Your Name
primary_email=you@example.com
[new]
tags=unread;inbox;

# Then: mbsync forwardemail && notmuch new
# Search: notmuch search tag:unread from:someone@example.org

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.

Questions

Does notmuch work on Windows?

Not natively. It runs in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). No native Windows build or MSYS2 package; run it in WSL.

Does notmuch support IMAP?

No. notmuch does not use IMAP.

Is notmuch open source?

Yes, under the GPL 3.0 or later.

How do I use notmuch with Forward Email?

Use the config in the Forward Email section on this page, saved as ~/.mbsyncrc and ~/.notmuch-config, and replace the address and password with your own.

Sources

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