MAILDIRKW(1)

🌸 MAILDIRKW(1) 🌸

okay so bestie, welcome to maildirkw from the S. Varshavchik collection — it's the little utility that sets maildir message keywords. yes, the IMAP keyword kind. we're doing this. 💅

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✨ NAME ✨

maildirkw — set maildir message keywords 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

maildirkw [-l] [-a] [-r] {maildir} {message} [keyword...]

maildirkw {-L} {maildir}

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so basically maildirkw modifies the keywords on a maildir message, and it plays nice with the Courier IMAP server compatible keywords. it's the easy lil way to set or clear those custom IMAP keywords you've got attached to one specific message. iconic behavior honestly 🦋

quick vocab check before we go any further:

• maildir is the pathname to a maildir, or to a maildir folder.
• message tells you which message's keywords should be set.
• keyword... — one or more keywords — is the list of keywords to set on that message. and here's the tea: that list replaces whatever keywords are currently set on the message, unless you pass the -a option or the -r option. no merging, no mercy. 💀

and now the options, one by one, because we do not skip:

• -L — lists all the messages in the maildir, together with their associated keywords. it's giving "let me see what we're working with" energy. 👑
• -a — adds the keyword(s) to the existing keywords already set on message. stacking, not swapping. ✨
• -r — removes keywords from message, and leaves any remaining keywords set in place. bye bestie to just those ones. 🫶
• -l — use this one if your Courier IMAP server's configuration file has the IMAP_USELOCKS option set. -l enables a compatible locking mechanism so updating the message's keywords doesn't get messy. lowkey important, don't sleep on it. 🔥

fr fr: unless -a or -r is in the mix, your keyword list is a full replacement. past keywords? gone. periodt. 💖

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✨ SEE ALSO ✨

maildiracl(1)[1], maildirmake(1)[2]. go read the friends. 🌸

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✨ AUTHOR ✨

Sam Varshavchik Author 👑

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✨ NOTES ✨

1. maildiracl(1) http://www.courier-mta.org/maildiracl.html
2. maildirmake(1) http://www.courier-mta.org/maildirmake.html

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and that's the whole vibe check, bestie 🎀 this came to you from the Courier Mail Server, version dated 04/11/2026, and it is literally, canonically MAILDIRKW(1). slay, stay locked, and go set some keywords. 💜🌈✨