CLAWSKER(1)

📦
version 1.4.1 · 6 versions
, in debian trixie, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ NAME ✨

Clawsker — A Claws Mail Tweaker 💅

so yeah, that's clawsker, manual section 1 (user commands, the good section 🫶).

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

clawsker [-a|--alternate-config-dir dirname] [-b|--verbose]
[-c|--clawsrc filename] [-i|--ignore-versions] [-k|--hide-disabled-keys]
[-r|--read-only] [-s|--small-screen] [-u|--use-claws-version version]
clawsker [-v|--version]
clawsker [-h|--help]

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so bestie, listen. Clawsker is an applet that edits the so-called Claws Mail hidden preferences. 👑

Claws Mail is a fast, lightweight, feature-rich MUA (that's a mail user agent, a mail app, we love her) with a high number of configurable options. But to keep the binary small and speedy, some of these preferences — the ones that aren't widely used — just don't get a graphical interface for inspection and/or modification. no GUI for them. tragic. 😭

so back in the day, if you wanted to edit those preferences you had to raw-dog your config files by hand. now you can do it with a convenient GTK interface using Clawsker. ate. 💅

and it's not only hidden features either — Clawsker can also edit some other settings that usually you can only set indirectly. right now that means:

  • the saved positions (and sizes, when they're available) of Claws Mail windows,
  • all the hot key mappings from application menus,
  • and history files for editable autosaving drop-down lists.

periodt. 🦋

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -a | --alternate-config-dir dirname — uses dirname as the Claws Mail configuration directory. 📁
  • -b | --verbose — tells you more on the standard output. chatty queen.
  • -c | --clawsrc filename — uses filename as the Claws Mail resource configuration file. this sets the full file name, overriding any previous setting. full override, no half measures. 👑
  • -h | --help — shows a brief help screen. when in doubt, ask for help bestie. 🫶
  • -i | --ignore-versions — ignores any version detected, or any version set by the -u option. almost all options will be available. (almost. not all. don't come for me. 🙈)
  • -k | --hide-disabled-keys — on hotkeys columns, this sets the foreground colour of unassigned keys to the same colour as the background, which makes them invisible until they're selected. sounds unhinged but it genuinely helps you locate assigned keys in very long lists. ✨
  • -r | --read-only — edits hidden preferences without saving the changes. also works while Claws Mail is running. 🔒
  • -s | --small-screen — the display resolution is autodetected to adjust the UI for screens where the default rendering would exceed the available space; this option forces those small-screen adjustments. useful when the UI technically fits your resolution, but your screen state is already taken up by other programs. crowded desktop energy. 🖥️
  • -u | --use-claws-version version — uses version as the Claws Mail version instead of the real one. the version argument is a list of integers, separated by dots if needed. 🔢
  • -v | --version — shows version information for the program, for Perl-GTK and for Claws Mail. three for the price of one. 🎀
weird option specifications may produce weird results (but otherwise correct). 💀

🌸 LIMITATIONS 🌸

ngl there are a couple of things you should know before you come for me.

A running Claws Mail cannot be detected when using the --clawsrc option, because the directory containing the given file isn't expected to be a full Claws Mail configuration folder. if that is actually your situation, use the --alternate-config-dir option instead. 🙏

detection will also fail if the temporary directory resolution differs. this can happen, for example, when the value of the environment variable TMPDIR under Clawsker isn't the same as it was when Claws Mail was launched. and for Claws Mail versions greater than 3.17.8, different values for XDG_RUNTIME_DIR or XDG_CACHE_HOME may cause this too. 😭

🐛 BUGS 🐛

you can send bug reports using the Claws Mail bugzilla instance, which lives at <http://www.thewildbeast.co.uk/claws-mail/bugzilla/>. when you create the bug, please select the "clawsker" product — that's the one, don't make the maintainers guess. 🙈

Security bugs can be reported in bugzilla too, or to the main author directly if a coordinated disclosure is preferable. 🔐

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

👑 AUTHOR 👑

main author is Ricardo Mones <ricardo@mones.org>, with the help of others. see the AUTHORS file on the source tarball or git for a detailed list of contributors. 🫶

Clawsker is Copyright 2007-2025 by Ricardo Mones.

⚖️ LICENSE ⚖️

this program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. 🎀

this program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. see the GNU General Public License for more details. read it, it's giving legal realness. 💀

you should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. 🌈

and that's the whole page bestie, Clawsker 1.4.1, dated 2025-04-13 💖 go forth and tweak your hidden prefs, no cap. 🦋✨
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