notmuch2maildir

A simple CLI tool written in Go for searching your mails in a MUA like neomutt or mutt using the notmuch mail indexer.

The idea is based on the original version of the mutt-notmuch script and mutt-notmuch-py. The implementation in Go is - for large search results - significantly faster.

Installation

Go install

go install github.com/timorunge/notmuch2maildir/cmd/notmuch2maildir@latest

Binary download

Download pre-built binaries for your platform from the releases page.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/timorunge/notmuch2maildir.git
cd notmuch2maildir
make build

Quick Start

For the usage it's required that notmuch itself is in your $PATH (or use --notmuch-executable to specify the path).

Search your mail:

notmuch2maildir "from:alice subject:meeting"

Reconstruct a full thread from a message:

notmuch2maildir -t -m "<message-id>"

Usage

notmuch2maildir - Search mail and reconstruct threads using notmuch

Usage:
  notmuch2maildir [OPTIONS] QUERY
  notmuch2maildir -p
  notmuch2maildir -t -m <message-id>
  notmuch2maildir -t < email.eml

Options:
  -t, --thread                      Thread mode: reconstruct a full mail thread
  -p, --prompt                      Open a prompt to enter the search query
  -m, --message-id string           Message-ID for thread reconstruction
      --notmuch-config string       notmuch configuration file (default: notmuch's own resolution)
      --output-dir string           Output directory for search results (default "$XDG_CACHE_HOME/notmuch/search_results")
      --notmuch-executable string   Path to notmuch binary (default "notmuch")
  -h, --help                        Show this help message
      --version                     Show the version of notmuch2maildir

Configuration

By default, notmuch2maildir lets notmuch resolve its own configuration using its built-in search order:

1. --notmuch-config flag (passed through as notmuch --config)
2. NOTMUCH_CONFIG environment variable
3. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/notmuch/<profile>/config (or default if no profile)
4. $HOME/.notmuch-config

Most users don't need --notmuch-config at all.

Search

Search mode is the default. Pass your query as positional arguments:

notmuch2maildir "from:alice subject:meeting"
notmuch2maildir from:bob date:2024..

Use -- to separate queries that start with a dash:

notmuch2maildir -- -tag:spam from:alice

Use -p / --prompt for interactive input:

notmuch2maildir -p

Thread

Thread mode (-t / --thread) reconstructs a full mail thread. Provide the message-id via -m or pipe a mail to stdin:

notmuch2maildir -t -m "<message-id>"
notmuch2maildir -t < email.eml

(neo)mutt configuration

Choose the interactive or the query mode and add the following snippets to your muttrc.

Search

Prompt mode

macro index / "<enter-command>unset wait_key<enter><shell-escape>notmuch2maildir -p<enter><change-folder-readonly>~/.cache/notmuch/search_results<enter>" \
            "Search mail (using notmuch)"

Query mode

macro index / "<enter-command>unset wait_key<enter><shell-escape>read -p 'Search query: ' query; notmuch2maildir \$query<enter><change-folder-readonly>~/.cache/notmuch/search_results<enter>" \
            "Search mail (using notmuch)"

Reconstruct thread

macro index T "<enter-command>unset wait_key<enter><pipe-message>notmuch2maildir -t<enter><change-folder-readonly>~/.cache/notmuch/search_results<enter>" \
            "Search and reconstruct thread (Using notmuch)"

Development

make help     # Show all available targets
make check    # Run all quality gates (fmt, tidy, vet, lint, test)
make lint     # Run golangci-lint
make test     # Run tests with race detector
make build    # Build static binary

License

BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" License