NMZMAIL(1)

📦 version 1.1, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💌 NMZMAIL — the namazu2 bestie for your mutt era 💌

okay so bestie, gather round, because nmzmail is about to change your whole inbox situation. it lives in section 1 of the general commands manual, it's giving ✨command line icon✨, and it's here to make your mail searchable. no cap. 💅

🦋 NAME 🦋

nmzmail — a tool to use the namazu2 search engine from within mutt

like. that's it. that's the whole job. it's a little bridge between your mail client and a search engine and it ate. 🔥

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

nmzmail [ -b <base> ] [ -r <result> ] -i <maildir1> <maildir2> ...

-or- (yes, there are two whole moods here, pick your fighter)

nmzmail [ -b <base> ] [ -r <result> ] [ -n <limit> ]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so nmzmail is a program that uses the namazu2 search engine (http://www.namazu.org) from within the mail client mutt to search and index mail stored in maildir folders. that's the whole vibe: mutt girlies get a search engine, periodt. 👑

here's the magic trick: based on the result of the namazu query, nmzmail generates a maildir folder containing symbolic links to the mail matching the query. not copies. links. it's efficient, it's clean, it's giving main character energy. 🧚

and the way that a simple mutt macro makes it very easy to use nmzmail from within mutt?? obsessed. plus a simple crontab entry always keeps your mail indexed by namazu, so future-you never has to panic-search again. 🙈

step one, add the following macro to your muttrc file:

macro generic S "<shell-escape>nmzmail<return><esc>c~/.nmzmail/result<return>" "Search via nmzmail"

step two, run mutt and hit "S" and enter your query when prompted. that's it. that's the whole workflow. slay. 💖

step three (optional but iconic), you can manually update your index periodically or via a cronjob with:

nmzmail -i <maildir1> <maildir2>  ...

lowkey the cronjob is the move, ngl. let the robot do your indexing while you live your life. 🦋

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • -i — this tells nmzmail to index your email. it's the "please go read all my mail and remember it forever" flag. it's a lot of trust but it's worth it fr fr. 📚
  • -b FILE — Base. where nmzmail builds its index. by default it is in $HOME/.nmzmail. so if you don't say anything, that's where the index is living. cozy. 🏠
  • -r FILE — Result. similar to -b, this lets you specify where the results are to be built. by default it is within $HOME/.nmzmail. basically: where do you want the symlink folder to show up? your call bestie. ✨
  • -n NUM — Limit. when making a query, nmzmail can be used directly from the command line instead of from within mutt. when the -n option is invoked, the number of results returned from your query will be limited to whatever integer you specify for NUM. so -n 10 = ten results, no more, no less, a lil curated moment. 🎀

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

namazu(1), mutt(1)

(the whole friend group. go say hi. 🫶)

🎀 AUTHOR 🎀

nmzmail was written by Johannes Hofmann <johannes.hofmann@gmx.de>. absolute legend behavior. 👑

This manual page was written by Kevin Coyner <kcoyner@debian.org>, for the Debian project (but may be used by others). generous king. 💜

ok bestie real talk: -i indexes, -b and -r decide where things live (default $HOME/.nmzmail for both, iykyk), and -n caps your results. that's the whole map. go search something. 🌈

and that's the tea 💖 this page is from March 2006, part of the general commands manual — so like, yes, it's been serving this whole time and it's still iconic. 🦋💅✨

📦 where this page comes from