meli — terminal e-mail client μέλι is the Greek word for honey

Authors

       Copyright 2017–2024 Manos Pitsidianakis <manos@pitsidianak.is>

       Released  under  the  GPL,  version  3  or greater.  This software carries no warranty of any kind.  (See
       COPYING for full copyright and warranty notices.)

   LinksWebsite: https://meli-email.org
       Maingitrepositoryandissuetracker: https://git.meli-email.org/meli/meli
       Officialread-onlygitmirroroncodeberg.org: https://codeberg.org/meli/meli
       Officialread-onlygitmirrorongithub.com: https://github.com/meli/meli
       melicrateoncrates.io: https://crates.io/crates/meli

Debian                                           March 10, 2024                                          MELI(1)

Command

Maillistingcommandssetplain | threaded | compact | conversations
                                             set the way mailboxes are displayed
       ┌───────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
       │ conversations │ shows one entry per thread                      │
       ├───────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │ compact       │ shows one row per thread                        │
       ├───────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │ threaded      │ shows threads as a tree structure               │
       ├───────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
       │ plain         │ shows one row per mail, regardless of threading │
       └───────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

       sort [subject | date] asc | desc      sort mail listing

       subsort [subject | date] asc | desc   sorts only the first level of replies.

       gon                                  where n is a mailbox prefixed with the n number in  the  side  menu
                                             for the current account

       togglethread_snooze                  don't issue notifications for thread under cursor in thread listing

       searchSTRING                         search mailbox with STRING query.  Escape exits search results.

       selectSTRING                         select threads matching STRING query.

       clear-selection                       Clear current selection.

       setseen | unseen                     Set seen status of message.

       importFILEPATHMAILBOX_PATH          Import mail from file into given mailbox.

       copyto,movetoMAILBOX_PATH           Copy or move to other mailbox.

       copyto,movetoACCOUNTMAILBOX_PATH   Copy or move to another account's mailbox.

       delete                                Delete selected entries.

       export-mboxFILEPATH                  Export selected threads to mboxcl2 file.

       create-mailboxACCOUNTMAILBOX_PATH   create  mailbox  with  given  path.   Be  careful with backends and
                                             separator sensitivity (eg IMAP)

       subscribe-mailboxACCOUNTMAILBOX_PATH
                                             subscribe to mailbox with given path

       unsubscribe-mailboxACCOUNTMAILBOX_PATH
                                             unsubscribe to mailbox with given path

       rename-mailboxACCOUNTMAILBOX_PATH_SRCMAILBOX_PATH_DEST
                                             rename mailbox

       delete-mailboxACCOUNTMAILBOX_PATH   deletes mailbox in the mail backend.  This action is irreversible.

   MailviewcommandspipeEXECUTABLE [ARGS]                pipe pager contents to binary

       filterEXECUTABLE [ARGS]              filter and display pager contents through command

       filter                                select a filter from pager.named_filters configuration  value  (See
                                             meli.conf(5) PAGER for its syntax)

       list-post                             post in list of viewed envelope

       list-unsubscribe                      unsubscribe automatically from list of viewed envelope

       list-archive                          open list archive with xdg-openComposingmailcommandsmailtoMAILTO_ADDRESS                 Opens  a  composer  tab with initial values parsed from the mailto:
                                             address.

       add-attachmentPATH                   in composer, add PATH as an attachment

       add-attachment<CMDARGS             in composer, pipe CMDARGS output into an attachment

       add-attachment-file-picker            Launch    command    defined    in    the    configuration    value
                                             file_picker_command in meli.conf(5) TERMINAL

       add-attachment-file-picker<CMDARGS
                                             Launch  command  CMDARGS.  The command should print file paths in
                                             stdout, separated by NUL bytes.  Example usage with fzf(1):
                                                   add-attachment-file-picker < fzf --print0

       remove-attachmentINDEX               remove attachment with given index

       togglesign                           toggle between signing and not signing this message.   If  the  gpg
                                             invocation fails then the mail won't be sent.  See meli.conf(5) PGP
                                             for PGP configuration.

       save-draft                            saves a copy of the draft in the Draft folder

   Genericcommandsopen-in-tab                           opens envelope view in new tab

       close                                 closes closeable tabs

       setenvKEY=VALUE                      set environment variable KEY to VALUEprintenvKEY                          print environment variable KEYquit                                  Quits meli.

       reload-config                         Reloads   configuration   but  only  if  account  configuration  is
                                             unchanged.  Useful if you want  to  reload  some  settings  without
                                             restarting meli.

Composing

OpeningthemessageComposertab
       To  create a new mail message, press ⟨m⟩  (shortcuts.listing.new_mail) while viewing a mailbox.  To reply
       to a mail, press ⟨R⟩ (shortcuts.envelope_view.reply).  Both these actions open the mail composer view  in
       a new tab.

   Editingtext-   Edit   the   header   fields   by   selecting   with   the   arrow   keys   and   pressing   ⟨Enter⟩
           (shortcuts.general.focus_in_text_field) to enter INSERT mode and Esc key to exit.
       -   At any time you may press ⟨e⟩  (shortcuts.composing.edit) to launch  your  editor  (see  meli.conf(5)
           COMPOSING, setting editor_command for how to select which editor to launch).
       -   Your  editor can be used in meli's embed terminal emulator by setting embed to true in your composing
           settings (You can return to meli at any time by pressing ⟨Ctrl-Z⟩)
       -   When launched, your editor captures all input until it exits or stops.
       -   To stop your editor and return to meli press ⟨Ctrl-z⟩ and to resume editing press  the  edit  command
           again.

   Attachments
       Attachments may be handled with the add-attachment, remove-attachment commands (see below).

   Sending
       Finally,  pressing ⟨s⟩  (shortcuts.composing.send_mail) will send your message according to your settings
       (see meli.conf(5) COMPOSING, setting name send_mail).  With no Draft or Sent mailbox,  meli  tries  first
       saving  mail in your INBOX and then at any other mailbox.  On complete failure to save your draft or sent
       message it will be saved in your tmp directory instead and you will be notified of its location.

   Drafts
       To save your draft without sending it, issue COMMANDclose and select 'save as draft'.

       To open a draft for further editing, select your draft in the mail listing and press edit.

Contacts

meli supports three kinds of contact backends:
       1.   an internal format that gets saved under $XDG_DATA_HOME/meli/account_name/contacts.
       2.   vCard files (v3, v4) through the vcard_folder option in the account section.  The  path  defined  as
            vcard_folder can hold multiple vCards per file.  They are loaded read only.
       3.   a mutt(1) compatible alias file in the option mutt_alias_file

       See meli.conf(5) ACCOUNTS for the complete account contact configuration values.

Description

meli is a terminal mail client aiming for extensive and user-friendly configurability.

            ^^      .-=-=-=-.  ^^
        ^^        (`-=-=-=-=-`)         ^^
                (`-=-=-=-=-=-=-`)  ^^         ^^
          ^^   (`-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-`)   ^^
              ( `-=-=-=-(@)-=-=-` )      ^^
              (`-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-`)  ^^
              (`-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-`)          ^^
              (`-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-`)
       ^^     (`-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-`)  ^^
          ^^   (`-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-`)          ^^
                (`-=-=-=-=-=-=-`)  ^^
         ^^       (`-=-=-=-=-`)
                   `-=-=-=-=-`          ^^

Environment

             EDITOR                           Specifies the editor to use

             MELI_CONFIG                      Override the configuration file

             NO_COLOR                         When  defined  (regardless of its value), prevents the addition of
                                              ANSI color.  The configuration value use_color overrides this.

Exit Status

meli exits with 0 on a successful run.  Other exit statuses are:

       1      catchall for general errors

       101    process panic

Files

meli uses the following parts of the XDG standard:

             XDG_CONFIG_HOME                  defaults to ~/.config/

             XDG_CACHE_HOME                   defaults to ~/.cache/

       and appropriates the following locations:

             $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/meli/           User configuration directory

             $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/meli/config.toml
                                              User configuration file,  see  meli.conf(5)  for  its  syntax  and
                                              values.

             $XDG_CACHE_HOME/meli/*           Internal cached data used by meli.

             $XDG_DATA_HOME/meli/*            Internal data used by meli.

             $XDG_DATA_HOME/meli/meli.log     Operation log.

             /tmp/meli/*                      Temporary files generated by meli.

       Mailcap entries are searched for in the following files, in this order:

             1.   $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/meli/mailcap
             2.   $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/.mailcap
             3.   $HOME/.mailcap
             4.   /etc/mailcap
             5.   /usr/etc/mailcap
             6.   /usr/local/etc/mailcap

Flags

meli  supports  the basic maildir flags: passed, replied, seen, trashed, draft and flagged.  Flags can be
       searched with the ‘flags:’ prefix in a search query, and can be modified by

       flagsetFLAG

       and

       flagunsetFLAG

Modes

       NORMAL    is the default mode
       COMMAND   commands    are    issued    in    COMMAND    mode,    by    default    started    with    ⟨:⟩
                 (shortcuts.general.enter_command_mode) and exited with ⟨Esc⟩ key.
       EMBED     is the mode of the embed terminal emulator
       INSERT    captures all input as text input, and is exited with Esc key.

Name

       meli — terminal e-mail client μέλι is the Greek word for honey

Search

       Each  e-mail storage backend has a default search method assigned.  IMAP uses the SEARCH command, notmuch
       uses libnotmuch and Maildir/mbox performs a slow linear search.  It is advised to use a search backend on
       Maildir/mbox accounts.  meli, if built with sqlite3, includes the ability to perform full text search  on
       the following fields: From, To, Cc, Bcc, In-Reply-To, References, Subject and Date.  The message body (in
       plain  text  human  readable  form) and the flags can also be queried.  To enable sqlite3 indexing for an
       account set search_backend to sqlite3 in the configuration file and to create  the  sqlite3  index  issue
       command:

       reindexACCOUNT_NAME

       To  search  in the message body type your keywords without any special formatting.  To search in specific
       fields, prepend your search keyword with "field:" like so:

             subject:helloooo or subject:"call for help" or "You remind me today of a small, Mexican chihuahua."

             not ((from:unrealistic and (to:complex or not query )) or flags:seen,draft)

             alladdresses:mailing@example.com and cc:me@example.com

       Boolean operators are or, and and not (alias: !) String keywords with  spaces  must  be  quoted.   Quotes
       should always be escaped.

   ImportantNoticeaboutIMAP/JMAP
       To prevent downloading all your messages from your IMAP/JMAP server, don't set search_backend to sqlite3.
       meli  will relay your queries to the IMAP server.  Expect a delay between query and response.  Sqlite3 on
       the contrary at reasonable mailbox sizes should have a non noticeable delay.

   QUERYABNFSYNTAX-query="("query")" | from | to | cc | bcc | message_id |  in_reply_to  |  references  |  header  |
           all_addresses | subject | flags | has_attachment | query"or"query | query"and"query | notquery-not="not" | "!"-has_attachment="has:attachment" | "has:attachments"-quoted=ALPHA/SP*(ALPHA/DIGIT/SP)-term=ALPHA*(ALPHA/DIGIT) | DQUOTEquotedDQUOTE-tagname=term-flagval="passed" | "replied" | "seen" | "read" | "junk" | "trash" | "trashed" | "draft" | "flagged"
           | tagname-flagterm=flagval | flagval","flagterm-flags="flag:"flag | "flags:"flag | "tag:"flag | "tags:"flag | "is:"flag-from="from:"term-to="to:"term-cc="cc:"term-bcc="bcc:"term-message_id="message-id:"term | "msg-id:"term-in_reply_to="in-reply-to:"term-references="references:"term-header="header:"field_name","field_value-field_name=term-field_value=term-all_addresses="all-addresses:"term-subject="subject:"term

Shortcuts

       See meli.conf(5) SHORTCUTS for shortcuts and their default values.

Standards

-   Waldo  Bastian,  Allison  Karlitskaya,  Lennart Poettering, and Johannes Löthberg, XDGBaseDirectorySpecification, https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html, May  08,
           2021, Version 0.8.
       -   Daniel J. Bernstein, maildir, https://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html, 1995.
       -   Dr.  Nathaniel S. Borenstein, RFC1524AUserAgentConfigurationMechanismForMultimediaMailFormatInformation, Legacy, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc1524/, September 01, 1993, mailcap file.
       -   Keith Moore, RFC2047MIME(MultipurposeInternetMailExtensions)PartThree:MessageHeaderExtensionsforNon-ASCIIText, IETF, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2047/, November 01, 1996.
       -   Rens  Troost,  Steve  Dorner,  and  Keith  Moore,  RFC2183CommunicatingPresentationInformationinInternetMessages:TheContent-DispositionHeaderField,        Legacy,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2183/, August 01, 1997.
       -   Joshua  D. Baer and Grant Neufeld, RFC2369TheUseofURLsasMeta-SyntaxforCoreMailListCommandsandtheirTransportthroughMessageHeaderFields, Legacy, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2369/,
           July 01, 1998.
       -   Frank    Dawson    and    Tim    Howes,    RFC2426vCardMIMEDirectoryProfile,    IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2426/, September 01, 1998, vCard Version 3.
       -   Tim  Showalter,  RFC2971IMAP4IDextension, IETF, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2971/, October
           01, 2000.
       -   Thomas Roessler, Michael Elkins, Raph Levien, and Dave Del Torto, RFC3156MIMESecuritywithOpenPGP,
           IETF, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3156/, August 01, 2001.
       -   Keith Moore, RFC3461SimpleMailTransferProtocol(SMTP)ServiceExtensionforDeliveryStatusNotifications(DSNs), IETF, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3461/, January 23, 2003.
       -   Mark    Crispin,    RFC3501INTERNETMESSAGEACCESSPROTOCOL-VERSION4rev1,   IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3501/, March 18, 2003.
       -   Randall    Gellens,    RFC3676TheText/PlainFormatandDelSpParameters,    IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3676/, February 19, 2004.
       -   Alexey   Melnikov,   RFC3691InternetMessageAccessProtocol(IMAP)UNSELECTcommand,  IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3691/, February 20, 2004.
       -   Clive     Feather,     RFC3977NetworkNewsTransferProtocol(NNTP),      IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3977/, October 26, 2006.
       -   Kurt  Zeilenga,  RFC4505AnonymousSimpleAuthenticationandSecurityLayer(SASL)Mechanism, IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc4505/, June 12, 2006.
       -   Alexey  Melnikov,  RFC4549SynchronizationOperationsforDisconnectedIMAP4Clients,   IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc4549/, June 16, 2006.
       -   Kurt  Zeilenga,  RFC4616ThePLAINSimpleAuthenticationandSecurityLayer(SASL)Mechanism, IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc4616/, August 31, 2006.
       -   Rob Siemborski and  Alexey  Melnikov,  RFC4954SMTPServiceExtensionforAuthentication,  IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc4954/, July 23, 2007.
       -   Dr.     John     C.     Klensin,     RFC5321SimpleMailTransferProtocol,     IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc5321/, October 01, 2008.
       -   Pete Resnick,  RFC5322InternetMessageFormat,  IETF,  https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc5322/,
           October 01, 2008.
       -   Julien  ÉLIE,  RFC6048NetworkNewsTransferProtocol(NNTP)AdditionstoLISTCommand, IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6048/, November 22, 2010.
       -   Dave Crocker, Dr. John C. Klensin, Dr.  Marshall  T.  Rose,  and  Ned  Freed,  RFC6152SMTPServiceExtensionfor8-bitMIMETransport, IETF, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6152/, March 07, 2011.
       -   Simon Perreault, RFC6350vCardFormatSpecification, IETF, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6350/,
           August 31, 2011, vCard Version 4.
       -   Abel   Yang,   Shawn   Steele,   and  Ned  Freed,  RFC6532InternationalizedEmailHeaders,  IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6532/, February 17, 2012.
       -   Cyrus   Daboo,   RFC6868ParameterValueEncodinginiCalendarandvCard,    IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6868/, February 14, 2013.
       -   Alexey  Melnikov  and  Dave  Cridland,  RFC7162IMAPExtensions:QuickFlagChangesResynchronization(CONDSTORE)andQuickMailboxResynchronization(QRESYNC),        IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc7162/, May 23, 2014.
       -   Neil   Jenkins   and  Chris  Newman,  RFC8620TheJSONMetaApplicationProtocol(JMAP),  IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc8620/, July 18, 2019.
       -   Neil Jenkins and Chris Newman, RFC8621TheJSONMetaApplicationProtocol(JMAP)forMail,  IETF,
           https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc8621/, August 08, 2019.

Starting With Meli

       When   launched   for   the   first   time,   meli   will   search   for   its  configuration  directory,
       $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/meli/.  If it doesn't exist, you will be asked if you want to create one  and  presented
       with  a  sample  configuration  file ($XDG_CONFIG_HOME/meli/config.toml) that includes the basic settings
       required for setting up accounts allowing you to copy and edit right  away.   See  meli.conf(5)  for  the
       available configuration options.

       At  any  time,  you may press ⟨?⟩  (shortcuts.general.toggle_help) for a searchable list of all available
       actions and shortcuts, along with every possible setting and command that your version supports.

       The   main   visual   navigation   tool,   the   left-side   sidebar   may   be    toggled    with    ⟨`⟩
       (shortcuts.listing.toggle_menu_visibility).

       Each mailbox may be viewed in 4 modes:
       -Plain views each mail individually,
       -Threaded shows their thread relationship visually,
       -Conversations collapses each thread of e-mails into a single entry,
       -Compact shows one row per thread.

       If  you're  using  a  light  color palette in your terminal, you should set theme=light in the terminal
       section of your configuration.  See meli-themes(5) for complete documentation on user themes.

       See meli(7) for a more detailed tutorial on using meli.

Synopsis

meli [--help | -h] [--version | -v] [--configpath]

--help | -h
Show help message and exit.

--version | -v
Show version and exit.

--configpath
Start meli with given configuration file.

create-config [path]
Create configuration file in path if given, or at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/meli/config.toml. If
path is - the result is printed to the standard output stream.

test-config [path]
Test a configuration for syntax issues or missing options. The configuration is read
from path if given, or from $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/meli/config.toml. If path is - the
configuration is read from the standard input stream.

man [page]
Print documentation page and exit (Piping to a pager is recommended).

install-man [path]
Install manual pages to the first location provided by MANPATH or manpath(1), unless you
specify the directory as an argument.

compiled-with
Print compile time feature flags of this binary.

edit-config
Edit configuration files with EDITOR or VISUAL.

help Prints help information or the help of the given subcommand(s).

print-app-directories
Print all directories that meli creates and uses.

print-config-path
Print location of configuration file that will be loaded on normal app startup.

print-default-theme
Print default theme keys and values in TOML syntax, to be used as a blueprint.

print-loaded-themes
Print all loaded themes in TOML syntax.

print-log-path
Print log file location.

view View mail from input file.

Viewing Mail

Open attachments by typing their index in the attachments list and then ⟨a⟩
(shortcuts.envelope_view.open_attachment). meli will attempt to open text inside its pager, and other
content via xdg-open. Press ⟨m⟩ (shortcuts.envelope_view.open_mailcap) instead to use the mailcap entry
for the MIME type of the attachment, if any. See “FILES” for the location of the mailcap files and
mailcap(5) for their syntax. You can save individual attachments with the following command:

save-attachmentINDEXpath-to-fileINDEX is the attachment's index in the listing.
If the path provided is a directory, the attachment is saved with its filename set to the filename in the
attachment, if any.
If the 0th index is provided, the entire message is saved.
If the path provided is a directory, the message is saved as an eml file with its filename set to the
messages message-id.

You can pipe individual attachments to binaries with the following command:

pipe-attachmentINDEXbinaryARGS

Example usage with the less(1) pager:
pipe-attachment 0 less
If the binary does not wait for your input before exiting, you will probably not see its output since you
will return back to the user interface immediately. You can write a wrapper script that pipes your
binary's output to
less
or
less-r
if you want to preserve the ANSI escape codes in the pager's output.