1 .\"@ nail.1 - S-nail(1) reference manual.
3 .\" Copyright (c) 2000-2008 Gunnar Ritter, Freiburg i. Br., Germany.
4 .\" Copyright (c) 2012 - 2016 Steffen (Daode) Nurpmeso <steffen@sdaoden.eu>.
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34 .\" S-nail(1): v14.9.0-pre1 / 2016-09-15
36 .ds VV \\%v14.9.0-pre1
46 .\" If not ~/.mailrc, it breaks POSIX compatibility. And adjust main.c.
51 .ds OU [no v15-compat]
52 .ds ID [v15 behaviour may differ]
53 .ds NQ [Only new quoting rules]
64 .Nd send and receive Internet mail
70 .\" Keep in SYNC: ./nail.1:"SYNOPSIS, main()
78 .Op Fl a Ar attachment
81 .Op Fl M Ar type | Fl m Ar file | Fl q Ar file | Fl t
83 .Op Fl S Ar var Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value
88 .Op Fl Fl \~ Ns Ar mta-option ...
97 .Op Fl S Ar var Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value
100 .Op Fl Fl \~ Ns Ar mta-option ...
108 .Op Fl L Ar spec-list
109 .Op Fl r Ar from-addr
110 .Op Fl S Ar var Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value
113 .Op Fl Fl \~ Ns Ar mta-option ...
118 .Mx -toc -tree html pdf ps xhtml
121 .\" .Sh DESCRIPTION {{{
124 .Bd -filled -compact -offset indent
125 .Sy Compatibility note:
126 S-nail (\*(UA) will wrap up into \%S-mailx in v15.0 (circa 2018).
127 Backward incompatibility has to be expected \(en
131 -style argument quoting rules, for example.
132 New and old behaviour is flagged \*(IN and \*(OU, and setting
135 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ,
136 will choose new behaviour when applicable.
137 \*(OB flags what will vanish, and enabling
141 enables obsoletion warnings.
145 \*(UA is a mail processing system with a command syntax reminiscent of
147 with lines replaced by messages.
148 It is intended to provide the functionality of the POSIX
150 command, but is MIME capable and optionally offers extensions for
151 line editing, S/MIME, SMTP and POP3 among others.
152 It is usable as a mail batch language.
154 .\" .Ss "Options" {{{
157 .Bl -tag -width ".Fl _ Ar _ddr"
160 Explicitly control which of the
162 shall be loaded: if the letter
164 is (case-insensitively) part of the
168 is loaded, likewise the letter
170 controls loading of the user's personal
172 file, whereas the letters
176 explicitly forbid loading of any resource files.
177 This option should be used by scripts: to avoid environmental noise they
180 from any configuration files and create a script-local environment,
181 explicitly setting any of the desired
182 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
185 This option overrides
192 command for the given user email
194 after program startup is complete.
195 Being a special incarnation of
197 macros for the purpose of bundling longer-lived settings, activating
198 such an email account also switches to the accounts
204 Attach the given file to the message.
205 The same filename conventions as described in the section
207 apply: shell word expansion is restricted to the tilde
211 not be accessible but contain a
213 character, then anything after the
215 is assumed to specify the input character set and anything before
217 the filename: this is the only option to specify the input character set
218 (and don't perform any character set conversion) for text attachments
219 from the command line, not using the
221 tilde escape command.
225 Make standard input and standard output line-buffered.
229 Send a blind carbon copy to
232 May be used multiple times.
234 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" .
238 Send carbon copies to the given receiver.
239 May be used multiple times.
244 the internal variable
246 which enables debug messages and disables message delivery,
247 among others; effectively turns almost any operation into a dry-run.
253 and thus discard messages with an empty message part body.
254 This is useful for sending messages from scripts.
258 Just check if mail is present (in the specified or system
260 box): if yes, return an exit status of zero, a non-zero value otherwise.
261 To restrict the set of mails to consider in this evaluation a message
262 specification can be added with the option
267 Save the message to send in a file named after the local part of the
268 first recipient's address (instead of in
273 Read in the contents of the user's
275 (or the specified file) for processing;
276 when \*(UA is quit, it writes undeleted messages back to this file
280 Some special conventions are recognized for the optional
282 argument which are documented for the
287 is not a argument to the flag
289 but is instead taken from the command line after option processing has
293 that starts with a hyphen, prefix it with a (relative) path, as in
294 .Ql ./-hyphenbox.mbox .
298 Display a summary of the
300 of all messages in the specified or system
303 A configurable summary view is available via the
309 Show a short usage summary.
310 Because of widespread use a
312 argument will have the same effect.
318 to ignore tty interrupt signals.
321 .It Fl L Ar spec-list
322 Display a summary of all
324 of only those messages in the specified or system
326 box that match the given
330 .Sx "Specifying messages"
337 option has been given in addition no header summary is produced,
338 but \*(UA will instead indicate via its exit status whether
344 note that any verbose output is suppressed in this mode and must instead
345 be enabled explicitly (e.g., by using the option
350 Special send mode that will flag standard input with the MIME
354 and use it as the main message body.
355 \*(ID Using this option will bypass processing of
356 .Va message-inject-head ,
359 .Va message-inject-tail .
365 Special send mode that will MIME classify the specified
367 and use it as the main message body.
368 \*(ID Using this option will bypass processing of
369 .Va message-inject-head ,
372 .Va message-inject-tail .
380 and thus inhibit initial display of message headers when reading mail or
381 editing a mail folder.
385 Standard flag that inhibits reading the system wide
390 allows more control over the startup sequence; also see
391 .Sx "Resource files" .
395 Special send mode that will initialize the message body with the
396 contents of the specified
398 which may be standard input
400 only in non-interactive context.
406 Any folder opened will be in read-only mode.
409 .It Fl r Ar from-addr
412 is a valid address then it specifies the envelope sender address to be
413 passed to a file-based
415 (Mail-Transfer-Agent) as
417 when a message is send.
420 include a user name, then the address components will be separated and
421 the name part will be passed to file-based
427 will also be assigned to the
430 .Ql -Sfrom=from-addr ) ,
431 therefore affecting possible SMTP
433 data transfer; note this assignment does not cause value fixation.
435 If instead an empty string is passed as
437 then the content of the variable
439 will be evaluated and used for this purpose whenever the
442 Note that \*(UA by default, without
444 that is, neither passes
448 flags to a file-based MTA by itself.
451 .It Fl S Ar var Ns Op = Ns value
455 iable and, in case of a non-boolean variable which has a value, assign
459 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
463 may be overwritten from within resource files,
464 the command line setting will be reestablished after all resource files
469 Specify the subject of the to-be-sent message.
473 The message given (on standard input) is expected to contain, separated
474 from the message body by an empty line, a message header with
479 fields giving its recipients, which will be added to any recipients
480 specified on the command line.
481 If a message subject is specified via
483 then it'll be used in favour of one given on the command line.
499 .Ql Mail-Followup-To: ,
500 by default created automatically dependent on message context, will
501 be used if specified (a special address massage will however still occur
503 Any other (even custom) header field is passed through entirely
504 unchanged, and in conjunction with the option
506 it is even possible to embed
513 Initially read the primary system mailbox of
515 appropriate privileges presumed; effectively identical to
525 will also show the list of
527 .Ql $ \*(uA -Xversion -Xx .
532 ting the internal variable
534 enables display of some informational context messages.
535 Using it twice increases the level of verbosity.
539 Add the given (or multiple for a multiline argument)
541 to the list of commands to be executed (as a unit, just as via
543 before normal operation starts.
547 .Va batch-exit-on-error ;
548 the only possibility to execute commands in non-interactive mode when
549 reading startup files is actively prohibited.
555 even if not in interactive mode.
556 This can be used to, e.g., automatically format the composed message
557 text before sending the message:
558 .Bd -literal -offset indent
559 $ ( echo 'line one. Word. Word2.'; \e
560 echo '~| /usr/bin/fmt -tuw66' ) |\e
561 LC_ALL=C \*(uA -:/ -Sttycharset=UTF-8 -d~ bob@exam.ple
567 In batch mode the full set of commands is available, just like in
568 interactive mode, and diverse variable settings and internal states are
569 adjusted for batch necessities, e.g., it
585 is enabled in compose mode.
586 The following prepares an email message in a batched dry run:
587 .Bd -literal -offset indent
588 $ LC_ALL=C printf 'm bob\en~s ubject\enText\en~.\enx\en' | \e
589 LC_ALL=C \*(uA -:/ -d# -X'alias bob bob@exam.ple'
594 This flag forces termination of option processing in order to prevent
597 It also forcefully puts \*(UA into send mode, see
598 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" .
602 In the above list of supported command line options,
606 are implemented by means of
608 ting the respective option, as via
611 .Op Ar mta-option ...
613 arguments that are given at the end of the command line after a
615 separator will be passed through to a file-based
617 (Mail-Transfer-Agent) and persist for an entire (interactive) session
618 \(en if the setting of
620 allows their recognition; no such constraints apply to the variable
624 .\" .Ss "A starter" {{{
627 \*(UA is a direct descendant of
629 Mail, a successor of the Research
632 .Dq was there from the start
637 Mail reference manual begins with the following words:
639 .Bd -ragged -offset indent
640 Mail provides a simple and friendly environment for sending and
642 It divides incoming mail into its constituent messages and allows the
643 user to deal with them in any order.
644 In addition, it provides a set of
646 -like commands for manipulating messages and sending mail.
647 Mail offers the user simple editing capabilities to ease the composition
648 of outgoing messages, as well as providing the ability to define and
649 send to names which address groups of users.
653 \*(UA is thus the user side of the
655 mail system, whereas the system side (Mail-Transfer-Agent, MTA) was
656 traditionally taken by
658 and most MTAs provide a binary of this name for compatibility purposes.
663 of \*(UA then the system side is not a mandatory precondition for mail
667 Because \*(UA strives for compliance with POSIX
669 it is likely that some configuration settings have to be adjusted before
670 using it is a smooth experience.
673 resource file bends those standard imposed settings of the
674 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
675 a bit towards more user friendliness and safety, however, e.g., it
680 in order to suppress the automatic moving of messages to
682 that would otherwise occur (see
683 .Sx "Message states" )
686 to not remove empty files in order not to mangle file permissions when
687 files eventually get recreated (\*(UA actively manages the file mode
690 upon program startup).
693 in order to synchronize \*(UA with the exit status report of the used
698 contains some more complete configuration examples.
701 .\" .Ss "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" {{{
702 .Ss "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode"
704 To send a message to one or more people, using a local or a builtin
706 (Mail-Transfer-Agent) transport to actually deliver the generated mail
707 message, \*(UA can be invoked with arguments which are the names of
708 people to whom the mail will be sent, and the command line options
712 can be used to add (blind) carbon copy receivers:
714 .Bd -literal -offset indent
715 $ \*(uA -s ubject -a ttach.txt bill@exam.ple
716 # But... try it in an isolated dry-run mode first
717 $ LC_ALL=C \*(uA -:/ -d -vv -Ssendwait \e
718 -b bcc@exam.ple -c cc@exam.ple -. \e
719 '(Lovely) Bob <bob@exam.ple>' eric@exam.ple
721 $ LC_ALL=C \*(uA -:/ -d -vv -Sv15-compat -Ssendwait \e
722 -S 'mta=smtps://mylogin@exam.ple:465' -Ssmtp-auth=login \e
723 -S 'from=scriptreply@exam.ple' \e
729 If standard input is a terminal rather than the message to be sent,
730 the user is expected to type in the message contents.
731 In this compose mode \*(UA treats lines beginning with the character
733 special \(en these are so-called
735 which can be used to read in files, process shell commands, add and edit
736 attachments and more; e.g., the tilde escape
738 will start the text editor to revise the message in it's current state,
740 allows editing of the most important message headers and
742 gives an overview of available tilde escapes.
746 at the beginning of an empty line leaves compose mode and causes the
747 message to be sent, whereas typing
750 twice will abort the current letter (saving its contents in the file
756 Messages are sent asynchronously, without supervision, unless the variable
758 is set, therefore send errors are not recognizable until then.
764 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
765 can be used to alter default behavior; e.g.,
770 will automatically startup a text editor when compose mode is entered,
772 will cause the user to be prompted actively for carbon-copy recipients
775 option will allow leaving compose mode by writing a line consisting
781 hook macros may be set to automatically adjust some settings dependent
782 on receiver, sender or subject contexts.
785 Especially for using public mail provider accounts with the SMTP
787 it is often necessary to set
789 and saving a copy of sent messages in a
791 may be desirable \(en as for most mailbox file targets some special
792 syntax conventions are recognized (see the
794 command for more on that).
797 for the purpose of arranging a complete environment of settings that can
798 be switched to with a single command or command line option may be
801 contains example configurations for sending messages via some of the
802 well-known public mail providers and also gives a compact overview on
803 how to setup a secure SSL/TLS environment).
808 sandbox dry-run tests first will prove correctness.
812 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup"
813 will spread light on the different ways of how to specify user email
814 account credentials, the
816 variable chains, and accessing protocol-specific resources,
819 goes into the details of character encoding and how to use them for
820 representing messages and MIME part contents by specifying them in
822 and reading the section
823 .Sx "The mime.types files"
824 should help to understand how the MIME-type of outgoing attachments are
825 classified, and what can be done for fine-tuning.
828 Message recipients (as specified on the command line or defined in
833 may not only be email addressees but can also be names of mailboxes and
834 even complete shell command pipe specifications.
837 is not set then only network addresses (see
839 for a description of mail addresses) and plain user names (including MTA
840 aliases) may be used, other types will be filtered out, giving a warning
843 .\" When changing any of the following adjust any RECIPIENTADDRSPEC;
844 .\" grep the latter for the complete picture
848 is set then extended recipient addresses will optionally be accepted:
849 Any name which starts with a vertical bar
851 character specifies a command pipe \(en the command string following the
853 is executed and the message is sent to its standard input;
854 Likewise, any name that starts with the character solidus
856 or the character sequence dot solidus
858 is treated as a file, regardless of the remaining content.
859 Any other name which contains an at sign
861 character is treated as a network address;
862 Any other name which starts with a plus sign
864 character specifies a mailbox name;
865 Any other name which contains a solidus
867 character but no exclamation mark
871 character before also specifies a mailbox name;
872 What remains is treated as a network address.
874 .Bd -literal -offset indent
875 $ echo bla | \*(uA -Sexpandaddr -s test ./mbox.mbox
876 $ echo bla | \*(uA -Sexpandaddr -s test '|cat >> ./mbox.mbox'
877 $ echo safe | LC_ALL=C \e
878 \*(uA -:/ -Sv15-compat -Ssendwait -Snosave \e
879 -Sexpandaddr=fail,-all,+addr -s test \e
884 It is possible to create personal distribution lists via the
886 command, so that, for instance, the user can send mail to
888 and have it go to a group of people.
889 These aliases have nothing in common with the system wide aliases that
890 may be used by the MTA, which are subject to the
894 and are often tracked in a file
900 Personal aliases will be expanded by \*(UA before the message is sent,
901 and are thus a convenient alternative to specifying each addressee by
905 .Dl alias cohorts bill jkf mark kridle@ucbcory ~/mail/cohorts.mbox
908 To avoid environmental noise scripts should
910 \*(UA from any configuration files and create a script-local
911 environment, ideally with the command line options
913 to disable any configuration file in conjunction with repetitions of
915 to specify variables:
917 .Bd -literal -offset indent
918 $ env LC_ALL=C \*(uA -:/ \e
919 -Sv15-compat -Ssendwait -Snosave -Sttycharset=utf-8 \e
920 -Sexpandaddr=fail,-all,+addr \e
921 -S 'mta=smtps://mylogin@exam.ple:465' -Ssmtp-auth=login \e
922 -S 'from=scriptreply@exam.ple' \e
923 -s 'subject' -a attachment_file \e
924 -. "Recipient 1 <rec1@exam.ple>" rec2@exam.ple \e
929 As shown, scripts can
931 a locale environment, the above specifies the all-compatible 7-bit clean
934 but will nonetheless take and send UTF-8 in the message text by using
936 In interactive mode, which is introduced in the next section, messages
937 can be sent by calling the
939 command with a list of recipient addresses \(em the semantics are
940 completely identical to non-interactive message sending:
942 .Bd -literal -offset indent
943 $ \*(uA -d -Squiet -Semptystart
944 "/var/spool/mail/user": 0 messages
945 ? mail "Recipient 1 <rec1@exam.ple>", rec2@exam.ple
946 ? # Will do the right thing (tm)
947 ? m rec1@exam.ple rec2@exam.ple
951 .\" .Ss "On reading mail, and interactive mode" {{{
952 .Ss "On reading mail, and interactive mode"
954 When invoked without addressees \*(UA enters interactive mode in which
956 When used like that the user's system
960 for an in-depth description of the different mailbox types that exist)
961 is read in and a one line header of each message therein is displayed.
962 The visual style of this summary of
964 can be adjusted through the variable
966 and the possible sorting criterion via
968 If the initially opened mailbox is empty \*(UA will instead exit
969 immediately (after displaying a message) unless the variable
978 will give a listing of all available commands and
980 will give a summary of some common ones.
981 If the \*(OPal documentation strings are available one can type
983 and see the actual expansion of
985 and what it's purpose is, i.e., commands can be abbreviated
986 (note that POSIX defines some abbreviations, so that the alphabetical
987 order of commands doesn't necessarily relate to the abbreviations; it is
988 possible to define overwrites with the
993 Messages are given numbers (starting at 1) which uniquely identify
994 messages; the current message \(en the
996 \(en will either be the first new message, or the first unread message,
997 or the first message of the mailbox; the option
999 will instead cause usage of the last message for this purpose.
1004 ful of header summaries containing the
1008 will display only the summaries of the given messages, defaulting to the
1012 Message content can be displayed on the users' terminal with the
1016 If instead the command
1018 is used, only the first
1020 of a message will be shown.
1021 By default the current message
1023 is displayed, but like with many other commands it is possible to give
1024 a fancy message specification (see
1025 .Sx "Specifying messages" ) ,
1028 will display all unread messages,
1033 will type the messages 1 and 5,
1035 will type the messages 1 through 5, and
1039 will display the last and the next message, respectively.
1042 (a more substantial alias of the standard command
1044 will display a header summary of the given message specification list
1045 instead of their content, e.g., the following will search for subjects:
1048 .Dl from "'@Some subject to search for'"
1051 In the default setup all header fields of a message will be
1053 d, but this can be changed: either by blacklisting a list of fields via
1055 or by whitelisting only a given list with the
1058 .Ql Ic \:retain Ns \0from_ date from to cc subject .
1059 In order to display all header fields of a message regardless of
1060 currently active ignore or retain lists, use the commands
1066 controls whether and when \*(UA will use the configured
1068 for display instead of directly writing to the user terminal
1070 (generally speaking).
1071 Note that historically the global
1073 not only adjusts the list of displayed headers, but also sets
1077 Dependent upon the configuration a line editor (see the section
1078 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
1079 aims at making user experience with the many
1082 When reading the system
1088 specified a mailbox explicitly prefixed with the special
1090 modifier (propagating the mailbox to a primary one) then messages which
1091 have been read will be moved to a secondary mailbox, the user's
1093 file, automatically when the mailbox is left, either by changing the
1094 active mailbox or by quitting \*(UA (also see
1095 .Sx "Message states" )
1096 \(en this automatic moving from a system or primary to the secondary
1097 mailbox is not performed when the variable
1102 After examining a message the user can also
1106 to the sender and all recipients or
1108 exclusively to the sender(s).
1109 Messages can also be
1111 ed (shorter alias is
1113 Note that when replying to or forwarding a message recipient addresses
1114 will be stripped from comments and names unless the option
1117 Deletion causes \*(UA to forget about the message;
1118 This is not irreversible, though, one can
1120 the message by giving its number,
1121 or the \*(UA session can be ended by giving the
1126 To end a mail processing session one may either issue
1128 to cause a full program exit, which possibly includes
1129 automatic moving of read messages to
1131 as well as updating the \*(OPal line editor
1135 instead in order to prevent any of these actions.
1138 .\" .Ss "HTML mail and MIME attachments" {{{
1139 .Ss "HTML mail and MIME attachments"
1141 Messages which are HTML-only get more and more common and of course many
1142 messages come bundled with a bouquet of MIME attachments.
1143 Whereas \*(UA \*(OPally supports a simple HTML-to-text converter to deal
1144 with HTML messages (see
1145 .Sx "The mime.types files" ) ,
1146 it normally can't deal with any of these itself, but instead programs
1147 need to become registered to deal with specific MIME types or file
1149 These programs may either prepare plain text versions of their input
1150 in order to enable \*(UA to display the content on the terminal,
1151 or display the content themselves, for example in a graphical window.
1154 To install an external handler program for a specific MIME type set an
1156 .Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE
1157 variable; to instead define a handler for a specific file extension set
1160 variable \(en these handlers take precedence.
1161 \*(OPally \*(UA supports mail user agent configuration as defined in
1162 RFC 1524; this mechanism, documented in the section
1163 .Sx "The Mailcap files" ,
1164 will be queried for display or quote handlers if none of the former two
1165 .\" TODO v15-compat "will be" -> "is"
1166 did; it will be the sole source for handlers of other purpose.
1167 A last source for handlers may be the MIME type definition itself, if
1168 the \*(UA specific type-marker extension was used when defining the type
1171 (Many of the builtin MIME types do so by default.)
1175 .Va mime-counter-evidence
1176 can be set to improve dealing with faulty MIME part declarations as are
1177 often seen in real-life messages.
1178 E.g., to display a HTML message inline (that is, converted to a more
1179 fancy plain text representation than the builtin converter is capable to
1180 produce) with either of the text-mode browsers
1184 teach \*(UA about MathML documents and make it display them as plain
1185 text, and to open PDF attachments in an external PDF viewer,
1186 asynchronously and with some other magic attached:
1188 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1189 if $features !@ +filter-html-tagsoup
1190 #set pipe-text/html='elinks -force-html -dump 1'
1191 set pipe-text/html='lynx -stdin -dump -force_html'
1192 # Display HTML as plain text instead
1193 #set pipe-text/html=@
1195 mimetype '@ application/mathml+xml mathml'
1196 wysh set pipe-application/pdf='@&=@ \e
1197 trap "rm -f \e"${NAIL_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}\e"" EXIT;\e
1198 trap "trap \e"\e" INT QUIT TERM; exit 1" INT QUIT TERM;\e
1199 mupdf "${NAIL_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}"'
1203 Note: special care must be taken when using such commands as mail
1204 viruses may be distributed by this method: if messages of type
1205 .Ql application/x-sh
1206 or files with the extension
1208 were blindly filtered through the shell, for example, a message sender
1209 could easily execute arbitrary code on the system \*(UA is running on.
1210 For more on MIME, also in respect to sending of messages, see the
1212 .Sx "The mime.types files" ,
1213 .Sx "The Mailcap files"
1218 .\" .Ss "Mailing lists" {{{
1221 \*(UA offers some support to ease handling of mailing lists.
1224 promotes all given arguments to known mailing lists, and
1226 sets their subscription attribute, creating them first as necessary.
1231 automatically, but only resets the subscription attribute.)
1232 Using the commands without arguments will show (a subset of) all
1233 currently defined mailing lists.
1238 can be used to mark out messages with configured list addresses
1239 in the header display.
1242 \*(OPally mailing lists may also be specified as (extended) regular
1243 expressions, which allows matching of many addresses with a single
1245 However, all fully qualified list addresses are matched via a fast
1246 dictionary, whereas expressions are placed in (a) list(s) which is
1247 (are) matched sequentially.
1249 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1250 set followup-to followup-to-honour=ask-yes reply-to-honour=ask-yes
1251 wysh mlist a1@b1.c1 a2@b2.c2 '.*@lists\e.c3$'
1252 mlsubscribe a4@b4.c4 exact@lists.c3
1257 .Va followup-to-honour
1259 .Ql Mail-\:Followup-\:To:
1260 header is honoured when the message is being replied to (via
1266 controls whether this header is created when sending mails; it will be
1267 created automatically for a couple of reasons, too, like when the
1269 .Dq mailing list specific
1274 is used to respond to a message with its
1275 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
1279 A difference in between the handling of known and subscribed lists is
1280 that the address of the sender is usually not part of a generated
1281 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
1282 when addressing the latter, whereas it is for the former kind of lists.
1283 Usually because there are exceptions: say, if multiple lists are
1284 addressed and not all of them are subscribed lists.
1286 For convenience \*(UA will, temporarily, automatically add a list
1287 address that is presented in the
1289 header of a message that is being responded to to the list of known
1291 Shall that header have existed \*(UA will instead, dependent on the
1293 .Va reply-to-honour ,
1296 for this purpose in order to accept a list administrators' wish that
1297 is supposed to have been manifested like that (but only if it provides
1298 a single address which resides on the same domain as what is stated in
1302 .\" .Ss "Resource files" {{{
1303 .Ss "Resource files"
1305 Upon startup \*(UA reads in several resource files:
1307 .Bl -tag -width ".It Pa _AIL_EXTRA_R_"
1310 System wide initialization file.
1311 Reading of this file can be suppressed, either by using the
1315 command line options, or by setting the
1318 .Ev NAIL_NO_SYSTEM_RC .
1322 File giving initial commands.
1323 A different file can be chosen by setting the
1327 Reading of this file can be suppressed with the
1329 command line option.
1331 .It Va NAIL_EXTRA_RC
1332 Can be used to define an optional startup file to be read after all
1333 other resource files.
1334 It can be used to specify settings that are not understood by other
1336 implementations, for example.
1337 This variable is only honoured when defined in a resource file, e.g.,
1339 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" .
1343 The content of these files is interpreted as follows:
1346 .Bl -bullet -compact
1348 A lines' leading whitespace is removed.
1350 Empty lines are ignored.
1352 Any other line is interpreted as a command.
1353 It may be spread over multiple input lines if the newline character is
1355 by placing a reverse solidus character
1357 as the last character of the line; whereas any leading whitespace of
1358 follow lines is ignored, trailing whitespace before a escaped newline
1359 remains in the input.
1361 If the line (content) starts with the number sign
1363 then it is a comment-command \(en a real command! \(en and also ignored.
1364 This command is the only form of comment that is understood.
1368 Unless \*(UA is about to enter interactive mode syntax errors that occur
1369 while loading these files are treated as errors and cause program exit.
1370 More files with syntactically equal content can be
1372 The following, saved in a file, would be an examplary content:
1374 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1375 # This line is a comment command. And y\e
1376 es, it is really continued here.
1383 .\" .Ss "Character sets" {{{
1384 .Ss "Character sets"
1386 \*(OP \*(UA detects the character set of the terminal by using
1387 mechanisms that are controlled by the
1392 should give an overview); the \*(UA internal variable
1394 will be set to the detected terminal character set accordingly
1395 and will thus show up in the output of the commands
1401 However, a user supplied
1403 value is not overwritten by this detection mechanism: this
1405 must be used if the detection doesn't work properly,
1406 and it may be used to adjust the name of the locale character set.
1407 E.g., on BSD systems one may use a locale with the character set
1408 ISO8859-1, which is not a valid name for this character set; to be on
1409 the safe side, one may set
1411 to the correct name, which is ISO-8859-1.
1414 Note that changing the value doesn't mean much beside that,
1415 since several aspects of the real character set are implied by the
1416 locale environment of the system,
1417 and that stays unaffected by the content of an overwritten
1420 (This is mostly an issue when interactively using \*(UA, though.
1421 It is actually possible to send mail in a completely
1423 locale environment, an option that \*(UA's test-suite uses excessively.)
1426 If no character set conversion capabilities have been compiled into
1429 doesn't include the term
1433 will be the only supported character set,
1434 it is simply assumed that it can be used to exchange 8-bit messages,
1435 and the rest of this section does not apply;
1436 it may however still be necessary to explicitly set it if automatic
1437 detection fails, since in that case it defaults to the mentioned
1438 .\" (Keep in SYNC: ./nail.1:"Character sets", ./nail.h:CHARSET_*!)
1442 When reading messages, their text is converted into
1444 as necessary in order to display them on the users terminal.
1445 Unprintable characters and invalid byte sequences are detected
1446 and replaced by proper substitution characters (unless the variable
1448 was set once \*(UA was started).
1450 .Va charset-unknown-8bit
1451 to deal with another hairy aspect of message interpretation.
1454 When sending messages all their parts and attachments are classified.
1455 Whereas no character set conversion is performed on those parts which
1456 appear to be binary data,
1457 the character set being used must be declared within the MIME header of
1458 an outgoing text part if it contains characters that do not conform to
1459 the set of characters that are allowed by the email standards.
1460 Permissible values for character sets can be declared using the
1464 which defines a catch-all last-resort fallback character set that is
1465 implicitly appended to the list of character-sets in
1469 When replying to a message and the variable
1470 .Va reply-in-same-charset
1471 is set then the character set of the message being replied to is tried
1473 And it is also possible to make \*(UA work even more closely related to
1474 the current locale setting automatically by using the variable
1475 .Va sendcharsets-else-ttycharset ,
1476 please see there for more information.
1479 All the specified character sets are tried in order unless the
1480 conversion of the part or attachment succeeds.
1481 If none of the tried (8-bit) character sets is capable to represent the
1482 content of the part or attachment,
1483 then the message will not be sent and its text will optionally be
1487 In general, if the message
1488 .Dq Cannot convert from a to b
1489 appears, either some characters are not appropriate for the currently
1490 selected (terminal) character set,
1491 or the needed conversion is not supported by the system.
1492 In the first case, it is necessary to set an appropriate
1494 locale and/or the variable
1498 The best results are usually achieved when \*(UA is run in a UTF-8
1499 locale on a UTF-8 capable terminal, in which case the full Unicode
1500 spectrum of characters is available.
1501 In this setup characters from various countries can be displayed,
1502 while it is still possible to use more simple character sets for sending
1503 to retain maximum compatibility with older mail clients.
1506 On the other hand the POSIX standard defines a locale-independent 7-bit
1507 .Dq portable character set
1508 that should be used when overall portability is an issue, the even more
1509 restricted subset named
1510 .Dq portable filename character set
1511 consisting of A-Z, a-z, 0-9, period
1520 .\" .Ss "Message states" {{{
1521 .Ss "Message states"
1523 \*(UA differentiates in between several different message states;
1524 the current state will be reflected in header summary displays if
1526 is configured to do so (via the internal variable
1528 and messages can also be selected and be acted upon depending on their
1530 .Sx "Specifying messages" ) .
1531 When operating on the system
1533 box or in primary mailboxes opened with the special prefix
1537 special actions, like the automatic moving of messages to the secondary
1539 mailbox may be applied when the mailbox is left (also implicitly via
1540 a successful exit of \*(UA, but not if the special command
1542 is used) \(en however, because this may be irritating to users which
1545 mail-user-agents, the default global
1551 variables in order to suppress this behaviour.
1553 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ql _reserved"
1555 Message has neither been viewed nor moved to any other state.
1556 Such messages are retained even in the primary system mailbox.
1559 Message has neither been viewed nor moved to any other state, but the
1560 message was present already when the mailbox has been opened last:
1561 Such messages are retained even in the primary system mailbox.
1564 The message has been processed by one of the following commands:
1584 commands may also cause the next message to be marked as read, depending
1590 command is used, messages that are in the primary system mailbox or in
1591 mailboxes which were opened with the special
1595 state when the mailbox is left will be saved in
1602 The message has been processed by one of the following commands:
1608 can be used to access such messages.
1611 The message has been processed by a
1613 command and it will be retained in its current location.
1616 The message has been processed by one of the following commands:
1622 command is used, messages that are in the primary system mailbox or in
1623 mailboxes which were opened with the special
1627 state when the mailbox is left will be deleted; they will be saved in
1635 .\" .Ss "Specifying messages" {{{
1636 .Ss "Specifying messages"
1643 can be given a list of message numbers as arguments to apply to a number
1644 of messages at once.
1647 deletes messages 1 and 2,
1650 will delete the messages 1 through 5.
1651 In sorted or threaded mode (see the
1655 will delete the messages that are located between (and including)
1656 messages 1 through 5 in the sorted/threaded order, as shown in the
1659 The following special message names exist:
1662 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ar _n_u"
1664 The current message, the so-called
1668 The message that was previously the current message.
1671 The parent message of the current message,
1672 that is the message with the Message-ID given in the
1674 field or the last entry of the
1676 field of the current message.
1679 The next previous undeleted message,
1680 or the next previous deleted message for the
1683 In sorted/threaded mode,
1684 the next previous such message in the sorted/threaded order.
1687 The next undeleted message,
1688 or the next deleted message for the
1691 In sorted/threaded mode,
1692 the next such message in the sorted/threaded order.
1695 The first undeleted message,
1696 or the first deleted message for the
1699 In sorted/threaded mode,
1700 the first such message in the sorted/threaded order.
1704 In sorted/threaded mode,
1705 the last message in the sorted/threaded order.
1709 selects the message addressed with
1713 is any other message specification,
1714 and all messages from the thread that begins at it.
1715 Otherwise it is identical to
1720 the thread beginning with the current message is selected.
1725 All messages that were included in the message list for the previous
1729 An inclusive range of message numbers.
1730 Selectors that may also be used as endpoints include any of
1735 .Dq any substring matches
1738 header, which will match addresses (too) even if
1740 is set (and POSIX says
1741 .Dq any address as shown in a header summary shall be matchable in this form ) ;
1744 variable is set, only the local part of the address is evaluated
1745 for the comparison, not ignoring case, and the setting of
1747 is completely ignored.
1748 For finer control and match boundaries use the
1752 .It Ar / Ns Ar string
1753 All messages that contain
1755 in the subject field (case ignored).
1762 the string from the previous specification of that type is used again.
1764 .It Xo Op Ar @ Ns Ar name-list Ns
1767 All messages that contain the given case-insensitive search
1769 ession; if the \*(OPal regular expression (see
1771 support is available
1773 will be interpreted as (an extended) one if any of the
1775 (extended) regular expression characters is seen.
1777 .Ar @ Ns Ar name-list
1778 part is missing, the search is restricted to the subject field body,
1781 specifies a comma-separated list of header fields to search, as in
1783 .Dl '@to,from,cc@Someone i ought to know'
1785 In order to search for a string that includes a
1787 (commercial at) character the
1789 is effectively non-optional, but may be given as the empty string.
1790 Some special header fields may be abbreviated:
1804 respectively and case-insensitively.
1809 can be used to search in (all of) the header(s) of the message, and the
1818 can be used to perform full text searches \(en whereas the former
1819 searches only the body, the latter also searches the message header.
1821 This message specification performs full text comparison, but even with
1822 regular expression support it is almost impossible to write a search
1823 expression that savely matches only a specific address domain.
1824 To request that the content of the header is treated as a list of
1825 addresses, and to strip those down to the plain email address which the
1826 search expression is to be matched against, prefix the header name
1827 (abbreviation) with a tilde
1830 .Dl @~f@@a\e.safe\e.domain\e.match$
1833 All messages of state
1837 is one or multiple of the following colon modifiers:
1839 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ar :M"
1844 Old messages (any not in state
1870 Messages marked as draft.
1872 \*(OP Messages classified as spam.
1874 \*(OP Messages with unsure spam classification.
1880 \*(OP IMAP-style SEARCH expressions may also be used.
1881 This addressing mode is available with all types of folders;
1882 \*(UA will perform the search locally as necessary.
1883 Strings must be enclosed by double quotes
1885 in their entirety if they contain white space or parentheses;
1886 within the quotes, only reverse solidus
1888 is recognized as an escape character.
1889 All string searches are case-insensitive.
1890 When the description indicates that the
1892 representation of an address field is used,
1893 this means that the search string is checked against both a list
1896 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1897 (\*qname\*q \*qsource\*q \*qlocal-part\*q \*qdomain-part\*q)
1902 and the addresses without real names from the respective header field.
1903 These search expressions can be nested using parentheses, see below for
1907 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ar _n_u"
1908 .It Ar ( criterion )
1909 All messages that satisfy the given
1911 .It Ar ( criterion1 criterion2 ... criterionN )
1912 All messages that satisfy all of the given criteria.
1914 .It Ar ( or criterion1 criterion2 )
1915 All messages that satisfy either
1920 To connect more than two criteria using
1922 specifications have to be nested using additional parentheses,
1924 .Ql (or a (or b c)) ,
1928 .Ql ((a or b) and c) .
1931 operation of independent criteria on the lowest nesting level,
1932 it is possible to achieve similar effects by using three separate
1936 .It Ar ( not criterion )
1937 All messages that do not satisfy
1939 .It Ar ( bcc \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
1940 All messages that contain
1942 in the envelope representation of the
1945 .It Ar ( cc \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
1946 All messages that contain
1948 in the envelope representation of the
1951 .It Ar ( from \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
1952 All messages that contain
1954 in the envelope representation of the
1957 .It Ar ( subject \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
1958 All messages that contain
1963 .It Ar ( to \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
1964 All messages that contain
1966 in the envelope representation of the
1969 .It Ar ( header name \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
1970 All messages that contain
1975 .It Ar ( body \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
1976 All messages that contain
1979 .It Ar ( text \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
1980 All messages that contain
1982 in their header or body.
1983 .It Ar ( larger size )
1984 All messages that are larger than
1987 .It Ar ( smaller size )
1988 All messages that are smaller than
1992 .It Ar ( before date )
1993 All messages that were received before
1995 which must be in the form
1999 denotes the day of the month as one or two digits,
2001 is the name of the month \(en one of
2002 .Ql Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec ,
2005 is the year as four digits, e.g.,
2009 All messages that were received on the specified date.
2010 .It Ar ( since date )
2011 All messages that were received since the specified date.
2012 .It Ar ( sentbefore date )
2013 All messages that were sent on the specified date.
2014 .It Ar ( senton date )
2015 All messages that were sent on the specified date.
2016 .It Ar ( sentsince date )
2017 All messages that were sent since the specified date.
2019 The same criterion as for the previous search.
2020 This specification cannot be used as part of another criterion.
2021 If the previous command line contained more than one independent
2022 criterion then the last of those criteria is used.
2026 .\" .Ss "On URL syntax and credential lookup" {{{
2027 .Ss "On URL syntax and credential lookup"
2029 \*(IN For accessing protocol-specific resources usage of Uniform
2030 Resource Locators (URL, RFC 1738) has become omnipresent.
2031 \*(UA expects and understands URLs in the following form;
2034 denote optional parts, optional either because there also exist other
2035 ways to define the information in question or because support of the
2036 part is protocol-specific (e.g.,
2038 is used by the IMAP protocol but not by POP3);
2043 are specified they must be given in URL percent encoded form (RFC 3986;
2051 .Dl PROTOCOL://[USER[:PASSWORD]@]server[:port][/path]
2054 Note that these \*(UA URLs most often don't conform to any real
2055 standard, but instead represent a normalized variant of RFC 1738 \(en
2056 they are not used in data exchange but only meant as a compact,
2057 easy-to-use way of defining and representing information in
2058 a well-known notation.
2061 Many internal variables of \*(UA exist in multiple versions, called
2062 variable chains for the rest of this document: the plain
2067 .Ql variable-USER@HOST .
2074 had been specified in the respective URL, otherwise it refers to the plain
2080 that had been found when doing the user chain lookup as is described
2083 will never be in URL percent encoded form, whether it came from an URL
2084 or not; i.e., values of
2085 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
2086 must not be URL percent encoded.
2089 For example, whether an hypothetical URL
2090 .Ql smtp://hey%3Ayou@our.house
2091 had been given that includes a user, or whether the URL was
2092 .Ql smtp://our.house
2093 and the user had been found differently, to lookup the variable chain
2094 .Va smtp-use-starttls
2095 \*(UA first looks for whether
2096 .Ql smtp-\:use-\:starttls-\:hey:you@our.house
2097 is defined, then whether
2098 .Ql smtp-\:use-\:starttls-\:our.house
2099 exists before finally ending up looking at the plain variable itself.
2102 \*(UA obeys the following logic scheme when dealing with the
2103 necessary credential information of an account:
2109 has been given in the URL the variables
2113 are looked up; if no such variable(s) can be found then \*(UA will,
2114 when enforced by the \*(OPal variables
2115 .Va netrc-lookup-HOST
2122 specific entry which provides a
2124 name: this lookup will only succeed if unambiguous (one possible matching
2127 It is possible to load encrypted
2132 If there is still no
2134 then \*(UA will fall back to the user who is supposed to run \*(UA,
2135 the identity of which has been fixated during \*(UA startup and is
2136 known to be a valid user on the current host.
2139 Authentication: unless otherwise noted this will lookup the
2140 .Va PROTOCOL-auth-USER@HOST , PROTOCOL-auth-HOST , PROTOCOL-auth
2141 variable chain, falling back to a protocol-specific default should this
2147 has been given in the URL, then if the
2149 has been found through the \*(OPal
2151 that may have already provided the password, too.
2152 Otherwise the variable chain
2153 .Va password-USER@HOST , password-HOST , password
2154 is looked up and used if existent.
2156 Afterwards the complete \*(OPal variable chain
2157 .Va netrc-lookup-USER@HOST , netrc-lookup-HOST , netrc-lookup
2161 cache is searched for a password only (multiple user accounts for
2162 a single machine may exist as well as a fallback entry without user
2163 but with a password).
2165 If at that point there is still no password available, but the
2166 (protocols') chosen authentication type requires a password, then in
2167 interactive mode the user will be prompted on the terminal.
2172 S/MIME verification works relative to the values found in the
2176 header field(s), which means that the values of
2177 .Va smime-sign , smime-sign-cert , smime-sign-include-certs
2179 .Va smime-sign-message-digest
2180 will not be looked up using the
2184 chains from above but instead use the corresponding values from the
2185 message that is being worked on.
2186 In unusual cases multiple and different
2190 combinations may therefore be involved \(en on the other hand those
2191 unusual cases become possible.
2192 The usual case is as short as:
2195 .Dl set mta=smtp://USER:PASS@HOST smtp-use-starttls \e
2196 .Dl \ \ \ \ smime-sign smime-sign-cert=+smime.pair
2201 contains complete example configurations.
2204 .\" .Ss "On terminal control and line editor" {{{
2205 .Ss "On terminal control and line editor"
2207 \*(OP Terminal control will be realized through one of the standard
2209 libraries, either the
2211 or, alternatively, the
2213 both of which will be initialized to work with the environment variable
2215 Terminal control will enhance or enable interactive usage aspects, e.g.,
2216 .Sx "Coloured display" ,
2217 and extend behaviour of the Mailx-Line-Editor (MLE), which may learn the
2218 byte-sequences of keys like the cursor and function keys, and which will
2219 automatically enter the so-called
2221 alternative screen shall the terminal support it.
2222 The internal variable
2224 can be used to overwrite settings or to learn (correct(ed)) keycodes.
2225 Actual interaction with the chosen library can be disabled completely by
2226 setting the internal variable
2227 .Va termcap-disable ;
2229 will be queried regardless, even if the \*(OPal support for the
2230 libraries has not been enabled at configuration time.
2233 \*(OP The builtin \*(UA Mailx-Line-Editor (MLE) should work in all
2234 environments which comply to the ISO C standard
2236 and will support wide glyphs if possible (the necessary functionality
2237 had been removed from ISO C, but was included in
2239 Prevent usage of a line editor in interactive mode by setting the
2241 .Va line-editor-disable .
2242 Especially if the \*(OPal terminal control support is missing setting
2243 entries in the internal variable
2245 will help shall the MLE misbehave, see there for more.
2246 The MLE can support a little bit of
2252 feature is available then input from line editor prompts will be saved
2253 in a history list that can be searched in and be expanded from.
2254 Such saving can be prevented by prefixing input with any amount of
2256 Aspects of history, like allowed content and maximum size, as well as
2257 whether history shall be saved persistently, can be configured with the
2261 .Va history-gabby-persist
2266 The MLE supports a set of editing and control commands.
2267 By default (as) many (as possible) of these will be assigned to a set of
2268 single-letter control codes, which should work on any terminal.
2271 command is available then the MLE commands can also be accessed freely
2272 by assigning the command name, which is shown in parenthesis in the list
2273 below, to any desired key-sequence, and the MLE will instead and also use
2275 to establish its builtin key bindings
2276 (more of them if the \*(OPal terminal control is available),
2277 an action which can then be suppressed completely by setting
2278 .Va line-editor-no-defaults .
2279 The following uses the
2281 ell-style quote notation that is documented in the introductional
2284 combinations not mentioned either cause job control signals or don't
2285 generate a (unique) keycode:
2289 .Bl -tag -compact -width "Ql _M"
2291 Go to the start of the line
2292 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-home ) .
2295 Move the cursor backward one character
2296 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-bwd ) .
2299 Forward delete the character under the cursor;
2300 quits \*(UA if used on the empty line unless the
2303 .Pf ( Cd mle-del-fwd ) .
2306 Go to the end of the line
2307 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-end ) .
2310 Move the cursor forward one character
2311 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-fwd ) .
2314 Cancel current operation, full reset.
2315 If there is an active history search or tabulator expansion then this
2316 command will first reset that, reverting to the former line content;
2317 thus a second reset is needed for a full reset in this case
2318 .Pf ( Cd mle-reset ) .
2321 Backspace: backward delete one character
2322 .Pf ( Cd mle-del-bwd ) .
2326 Horizontal tabulator:
2327 try to expand the word before the cursor, also supporting \*(UA
2330 .Pf ( Cd mle-complete ) .
2332 .Cd mle-quote-rndtrip .
2336 commit the current line
2337 .Pf ( Cd mle-commit ) .
2340 Cut all characters from the cursor to the end of the line
2341 .Pf ( Cd mle-snarf-end ) .
2345 .Pf ( Cd mle-repaint ) .
2348 \*(OP Go to the next history entry
2349 .Pf ( Cd mle-hist-fwd ) .
2356 \*(OP Go to the previous history entry
2357 .Pf ( Cd mle-hist-bwd ) .
2360 Toggle roundtrip mode shell quotes, where produced,
2362 .Pf ( Cd mle-quote-rndtrip ) .
2363 This setting is temporary, and will be forgotten once the command line
2367 \*(OP Complete the current line from (the remaining) older history entries
2368 .Pf ( Cd mle-hist-srch-bwd ) .
2371 \*(OP Complete the current line from (the remaining) newer history entries
2372 .Pf ( Cd mle-hist-srch-fwd ) .
2375 Paste the snarf buffer
2376 .Pf ( Cd mle-paste ) .
2383 .Pf ( Cd mle-snarf-line ) .
2386 Prompts for a Unicode character (its hexadecimal number) to be inserted
2387 .Pf ( Cd mle-prompt-char ) .
2388 Note this command needs to be assigned to a single-letter control code
2389 in order to become recognized and executed during input of
2390 a key-sequence (only four single-letter control codes can be used for
2391 that shortcut purpose); this control code is special-treated and can't
2392 be part of any other sequence, because any occurrence will perform the
2394 function immediately.
2397 Cut the characters from the one preceding the cursor to the preceding
2399 .Pf ( Cd mle-snarf-word-bwd ) .
2402 Move the cursor forward one word boundary
2403 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-word-fwd ) .
2406 Move the cursor backward one word boundary
2407 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-word-bwd ) .
2410 Escape: reset a possibly used multibyte character input state machine
2411 and \*(OPally a lingering, incomplete key binding
2412 .Pf ( Cd mle-cancel ) .
2413 This command needs to be assigned to a single-letter control code in
2414 order to become recognized and executed during input of a key-sequence
2415 (only four single-letter control codes can be used for that shortcut
2417 This control code may also be part of a multi-byte sequence, but if
2418 a sequence is active and the very control code is currently also an
2419 expected input, then it will first be consumed by the active sequence.
2434 Cut the characters from the one after the cursor to the succeeding word
2436 .Pf ( Cd mle-snarf-word-fwd ) .
2446 this will immediately reset a possibly active search etc.
2450 ring the audible bell.
2454 .\" .Ss "Coloured display" {{{
2455 .Ss "Coloured display"
2457 \*(OP \*(UA can be configured to support a coloured display and font
2458 attributes by emitting ANSI / ISO 6429 SGR (select graphic rendition)
2460 Usage of colours and font attributes solely depends upon the
2461 capability of the detected terminal type that is defined by the
2462 environment variable
2464 and which can be fine-tuned by the user via the internal variable
2468 On top of what \*(UA knows about the terminal the boolean variable
2470 defines whether the actually applicable colour and font attribute
2471 sequences should also be generated when output is going to be paged
2472 through the external program defined by the environment variable
2477 This is not enabled by default because different pager programs need
2478 different command line switches or other configuration in order to
2479 support those sequences.
2480 \*(UA however knows about some widely used pagers and in a clean
2481 environment it is often enough to simply set
2483 please refer to that variable for more on this topic.
2488 is set then any active usage of colour and font attribute sequences
2489 is suppressed, but without affecting possibly established
2494 To define and control colours and font attributes a single multiplexer
2495 command family exists:
2497 shows or defines colour mappings for the given colour type (e.g.,
2500 can be used to remove mappings of a given colour type.
2501 Since colours are only available in interactive mode, it may make
2502 sense to conditionalize the colour setup by encapsulating it with
2505 .Bd -literal -offset indent
2506 if terminal && $features =@ +colour
2507 colour iso view-msginfo ft=bold,fg=green
2508 colour iso view-header ft=bold,fg=red "from,subject"
2509 colour iso view-header fg=red
2511 uncolour iso view-header from,subject
2512 colour iso view-header ft=bold,fg=magenta,bg=cyan
2513 colour 256 view-header ft=bold,fg=208,bg=230 subject,from
2514 colour mono view-header ft=bold
2515 colour mono view-header ft=bold,ft=reverse subject,from
2519 .\" }}} (DESCRIPTION)
2522 .\" .Sh COMMANDS {{{
2525 Each command is typed on a line by itself,
2526 and may take arguments following the command word.
2527 Command names may be abbreviated, in which case the first command that
2528 matches the given prefix will be used.
2531 can be used to show the list of all commands, either alphabetically
2532 sorted or in prefix search order (these don't match, also because the
2533 POSIX standard prescribes a set of abbreviations).
2534 \*(OPally the command
2538 when given an argument, will show a documentation string for the
2539 command matching the expanded argument, as in
2541 which should be a shorthand of
2543 Both commands support a more
2545 listing mode which includes the argument type of the command.
2548 For commands which take message lists as arguments, the next message
2549 forward that satisfies the command's requirements will be used shall no
2550 explicit message list have been specified.
2551 If there are no messages forward of the current message,
2552 the search proceeds backwards,
2553 and if there are no good messages at all,
2554 \*(UA shows an error message and aborts the command.
2555 \*(ID Non-message-list arguments can be quoted using the following methods:
2558 .Bl -bullet -compact -offset indent
2560 An argument can be enclosed between paired double-quotes
2565 any white space, shell word expansion, or reverse solidus characters
2566 (except as described next) within the quotes are treated literally as
2567 part of the argument.
2568 A double-quote will be treated literally within single-quotes and vice
2570 Inside such a quoted string the actually used quote character can be
2571 used nonetheless by escaping it with a reverse solidus
2577 An argument that is not enclosed in quotes, as above, can usually still
2578 contain space characters if those spaces are reverse solidus escaped, as in
2582 A reverse solidus outside of the enclosing quotes is discarded
2583 and the following character is treated literally as part of the argument.
2588 Some commands which don't take message-list arguments can also be
2589 prefixed with the special keyword
2591 to choose \*(INible behaviour, and some new commands support only the
2592 new quoting style (without that keyword) and are flagged \*(NQ.
2593 In the future \*(UA will (mostly) use
2595 compatible argument parsing:
2596 Non-message-list arguments can be quoted using the following shell-style
2597 mechanisms: the escape character, single-quotes, double-quotes and
2598 dollar-single-quotes; any unquoted number sign
2600 starts a comment that ends argument processing.
2601 The overall granularity of error reporting and diagnostics, also
2602 regarding function arguments and their content, will improve.
2606 .Bl -bullet -compact -offset indent
2608 The literal value of any character can be preserved by preceding it
2609 with the escape character reverse solidus
2613 will cause variable expansion of the given name: \*(UA
2614 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
2617 (shell) variables can be accessed through this mechanism, brace
2618 enclosing the name is supported.
2621 Arguments which are enclosed in
2622 .Ql 'single-\:quotes'
2623 retain their literal value.
2624 A single-quote cannot occur within single-quotes.
2627 The literal value of all characters enclosed in
2628 .Ql \(dqdouble-\:quotes\(dq
2629 is retained, with the exception of dollar
2631 which will cause variable expansion, as above, backquote (grave accent)
2633 (which not yet means anything special), reverse solidus
2635 which will escape any of the characters dollar
2637 (to prevent variable expansion), backquote (grave accent)
2641 (to prevent ending the quote) and reverse solidus
2643 (to prevent escaping, i.e., to embed a reverse solidus character as-is),
2644 but has no special meaning otherwise.
2647 Arguments enclosed in
2648 .Ql $'dollar-\:single-\:quotes'
2649 extend normal single quotes in that reverse solidus escape sequences are
2650 expanded as follows:
2652 .Bl -tag -compact -width "Ql \eNNN"
2658 an escape character.
2660 an escape character.
2672 emits a reverse solidus character.
2676 double quote (escaping is optional).
2678 eight-bit byte with the octal value
2680 (one to three octal digits), optionally with an additional
2683 A 0 byte will suppress further output for the quoted argument.
2685 eight-bit byte with the hexadecimal value
2687 (one or two hexadecimal characters).
2688 A 0 byte will suppress further output for the quoted argument.
2690 the Unicode / ISO-10646 character with the hexadecimal codepoint value
2692 (one to eight hexadecimal digits) \(em note that Unicode defines the
2693 maximum codepoint to be ever supported as
2698 This escape is only supported in locales which support Unicode (see
2699 .Sx "Character sets" ) ,
2700 in other cases the sequence will remain unexpanded unless the given code
2701 point is ASCII compatible or can be represented in the current locale.
2702 The character NUL will suppress further output for the quoted argument.
2706 except it takes only one to four hexadecimal digits.
2711 This is a mechanism that allows usage of the non-printable (ASCII and
2712 compatible) control codes 0 to 31: to be able to create a printable
2713 representation the numeric value 64 is added to the control code of
2714 desire, and the resulting ASCII character set code point is then
2715 printed, e.g., BEL is
2716 .Ql 7 + 64 = 71 = G .
2717 Often circumflex notation is used for the visualization purpose, e.g,
2719 but the reverse solid notation has been standardized:
2721 The control code NUL
2723 ends argument processing without producing further output.
2725 Non-standard extension: expand the given variable name, as above.
2726 Brace enclosing the name is supported.
2728 Not yet supported, just to raise awareness: Non-standard extension.
2734 .Sy Compatibility notes:
2735 \*(ID Note these are new mechanisms which are not supported by all
2737 Round-tripping (feeding in things shown in list modes again) are not yet
2738 stable or possible at all.
2739 On new-style command lines it is wise to quote semicolon
2743 characters in order to ensure upward compatibility: the author would
2744 like to see things like
2745 .Ql ? echo $'trouble\etahead' | cat >> in_the_shell.txt
2747 .Ql ? top 2 5 10; type 3 22
2749 Before \*(UA will switch entirely to shell-style argument parsing there
2750 will be a transition phase where using
2752 will emit obsoletion warnings.
2753 E.g., the following are equivalent:
2755 .Bd -literal -offset indent
2756 mlist @any\e\e.where\e\e.example\e\e.com
2757 wysh mlist '@any\e.where\e.example\e.com' # This is a comment
2758 wysh mlist $'@any\e\e\ex2Ewhere\e\e.example\e\e\e56com' # A comment
2759 wysh mlist "@any\e.where\e.example\e.com"
2763 In any event an unquoted reverse solidus at the end of a command line is
2764 discarded and the next line continues the command.
2765 \*(ID Note that line continuation is handled before the above parsing is
2766 applied, i.e., the parsers documented above will see merged lines.
2767 Filenames, where expected, are subsequently subjected to the following
2768 transformations, in sequence:
2771 .Bl -bullet -compact -offset indent
2773 If the filename begins with an unquoted plus sign, and the
2775 variable is defined,
2776 the plus sign will be replaced by the value of the
2778 variable followed by a solidus.
2781 variable is unset or is set to null, the filename will be unchanged.
2784 Meta expansions are applied to the filename: a leading tilde
2786 character will be replaced by the expansion of
2788 except when followed by a valid user name, in which case the home
2789 directory of the given user is used instead.
2794 will be replaced by the expansion of the variable, if possible; \*(UA
2795 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
2798 (shell) variables can be accessed through this mechanism, and the usual
2799 escape mechanism has to be applied to prevent interpretation.
2800 If the fully expanded filename results in multiple pathnames and the
2801 command is expecting only one file, an error results.
2803 In interactive context, in order to allow simple value acceptance (via
2805 arguments will usually be displayed in a properly quoted form, e.g., a file
2806 .Ql diet\e is \ecurd.txt
2808 .Ql 'diet\e is \ecurd.txt' .
2812 The following commands are available:
2814 .Bl -tag -width ".Ic _ccount"
2821 ) command which follows.
2825 The comment-command causes the entire line to be ignored.
2827 this really is a normal command which' purpose is to discard its
2830 indicating special character, which means that, e.g., trailing comments
2831 on a line are not possible.
2835 Goes to the next message in sequence and types it
2841 Display the preceding message, or the n'th previous message if given
2842 a numeric argument n.
2846 Show the current message number (the
2851 Show a brief summary of commands.
2854 output is available.
2855 \*(OP Given an argument a synopsis for the command in question is
2856 shown instead; commands can be abbreviated in general and this command
2857 can be used to see the full expansion of an abbreviation including the
2858 synopsis, try, e.g.,
2863 and see how the output changes.
2873 Interprets the remainder of the word as a macro name and passes it
2878 is a shorter synonym for
2879 .Ql call Ar mymacro .
2883 (ac) Creates, selects or lists (an) account(s).
2884 Accounts are special incarnations of
2886 macros and group commands and variable settings which together usually
2887 arrange the environment for the purpose of creating an email account.
2888 Different to normal macros settings which are covered by
2890 \(en here by default enabled! \(en will not be reverted before the
2895 (case-insensitive) always exists, and all but it can be deleted via
2898 Without arguments a listing of all defined accounts is shown.
2899 With one argument the given account is activated: the system
2901 box of that account will be activated (as via
2903 and a possibly installed
2906 The two argument form is identical to defining a macro as via
2908 .Bd -literal -offset indent
2910 set folder=~/mail MAIL=+syste.mbox record=+sent.mbox
2911 set from='myname@myisp.example (My Name)'
2912 set mta=smtp://mylogin@smtp.myisp.example
2918 (a) With no arguments, shows all currently-defined aliases.
2919 With one argument, shows that alias.
2920 With more than one argument,
2921 creates a new alias or appends to an existing one.
2923 can be used to delete aliases.
2927 (alt) Manage a list of alternate addresses / names of the active user,
2928 members of which will be removed from recipient lists when replying to
2931 variable is not set).
2932 If arguments are given the set of alternate names is replaced by them,
2933 without arguments the current set is displayed.
2937 Takes a message list and marks each message as having been answered.
2938 This mark has no technical meaning in the mail system;
2939 it just causes messages to be marked in the header summary,
2940 and makes them specially addressable.
2945 \*(OP\*(NQ The bind command extends the MLE (see
2946 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
2947 with freely configurable key bindings.
2948 With one argument all bindings for the given context are shown,
2949 specifying an asterisk
2951 will show the bindings of all contexts; a more verbose listing will be
2952 produced if either of
2957 With two or more arguments a binding is (re)established:
2958 the first argument is the context to which the binding shall apply,
2959 the second argument is a comma-separated list of the
2961 which form the binding, and any remaining arguments form the expansion.
2962 To indicate that a binding shall not be auto-committed, but that the
2963 expansion shall instead be furtherly editable by the user, an at-sign
2965 (that will be removed) can be placed last in the expansion, from which
2966 leading and trailing whitespace will finally be removed.
2969 Contexts define when a binding applies, i.e., a binding won't be seen
2970 unless the context for which it is defined for is currently active.
2971 This is not true for the binding
2973 which always applies, but which will be searched secondarily to a more
2974 specialized context and may thus have some or all of its key bindings
2975 transparently replaced by equal bindings of more specialized contexts.
2976 The available contexts are
2978 which always applies, and
2980 which applies to compose-mode.
2984 which form the binding are specified as a comma-separated list of
2985 byte-sequences, where each list entry corresponds to one key(press).
2986 \*(OPally a list entry may, indicated by a leading colon character
2988 also refer to the name of a terminal capability;
2989 several dozen names will be compiled into \*(UA and may be specified
2992 or, if existing, by their
2994 name, regardless of the actually used terminal control library.
2995 It is however possible to use any capability, as long as the name is
2996 resolvable by the control library or defined in the internal variable
2998 Input sequences are not case-normalized, so that an exact match is
2999 required to update or remove a binding.
3002 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3003 bind base $'\eE',d mle-snarf-word-fwd # Esc(ape)
3004 bind base $'\eE',$'\ec?' mle-snarf-word-bwd # Esc, Delete
3005 bind compose :kf1 ~e
3006 bind base $'\ecA',:khome,w 'echo An editable binding@'
3007 bind base a,b,c rm -rf / @ # Another editable binding
3011 Note that the entire comma-separated list is first parsed (over) as a
3012 shell-token with whitespace as the field separator, before being parsed
3013 and expanded for real with comma as the field separator, therefore
3014 whitespace needs to be properly quoted:
3015 shell-style quoting is documented in the introductional section of
3017 Using Unicode reverse solidus escape sequences renders a binding
3018 defunctional if the locale doesn't support Unicode (see
3019 .Sx "Character sets" ) ,
3020 and using terminal capabilities does so if no terminal control support
3021 is (currently) available.
3024 The following terminal capability names are builtin and can be used in
3026 or (if available) the two-letter
3028 notation regardless of the actually used library.
3029 See the respective manual for a list of capabilities.
3032 can be used to show all the capabilities of
3034 or the given terminal type;
3037 flag will also show supported (non-standard) extensions.
3040 .Bl -tag -compact -width kcuuf_or_kcuuf
3041 .It Cd kbs Ns \0or Cd kb
3043 .It Cd kdch1 Ns \0or Cd kD
3045 .It Cd kDC Ns \0or Cd *4
3046 \(em shifted variant.
3047 .It Cd kel Ns \0or Cd kE
3048 Clear to end of line.
3049 .It Cd kext Ns \0or Cd @9
3051 .It Cd kich1 Ns \0or Cd kI
3053 .It Cd kIC Ns \0or Cd #3
3054 \(em shifted variant.
3055 .It Cd khome Ns \0or Cd kh
3057 .It Cd kHOM Ns \0or Cd #2
3058 \(em shifted variant.
3059 .It Cd kend Ns \0or Cd @7
3061 .It Cd knp Ns \0or Cd kN
3063 .It Cd kpp Ns \0or Cd kP
3065 .It Cd kcub1 Ns \0or Cd kl
3066 Left cursor (with more modifiers: see below).
3067 .It Cd kLFT Ns \0or Cd #4
3068 \(em shifted variant.
3069 .It Cd kcuf1 Ns \0or Cd kr
3070 Right cursor (ditto).
3071 .It Cd kRIT Ns \0or Cd %i
3072 \(em shifted variant.
3073 .It Cd kcud1 Ns \0or Cd kd
3074 Down cursor (ditto).
3076 \(em shifted variant (only terminfo).
3077 .It Cd kcuu1 Ns \0or Cd ku
3080 \(em shifted variant (only terminfo).
3081 .It Cd kf0 Ns \0or Cd k0
3083 Add one for each function key up to
3088 .It Cd kf10 Ns \0or Cd k;
3090 .It Cd kf11 Ns \0or Cd F1
3092 Add one for each function key up to
3100 Some terminals support key-modifier combination extensions, e.g.,
3102 For example, the delete key,
3104 in its shifted variant, the name is mutated to
3106 then a number is appended for the states
3118 .Ql Shift+Alt+Control
3120 The same for the left cursor key,
3122 .Cd KLFT , KLFT3 , KLFT4 , KLFT5 , KLFT6 , KLFT7 , KLFT8 .
3125 Key bindings can be removed with the command
3127 It is advisable to use an initial escape or other control character (e.g.,
3129 for bindings which describe user key combinations (as opposed to purely
3130 terminal capability based ones), in order to avoid ambiguities whether
3131 input belongs to key sequences or not; it also reduces search time.
3134 may help shall keys and sequences be falsely recognized.
3139 Calls a macro that has been created via
3144 (ch) Change the working directory to
3146 or the given argument.
3152 \*(OP Only applicable to S/MIME signed messages.
3153 Takes a message list and a file name and saves the certificates
3154 contained within the message signatures to the named file in both
3155 human-readable and PEM format.
3156 The certificates can later be used to send encrypted messages to the
3157 respective message senders by setting
3158 .Va smime-encrypt-USER@HOST
3163 (ch) Change the working directory to
3165 or the given argument.
3171 Only applicable to threaded mode.
3172 Takes a message list and makes all replies to these messages invisible
3173 in header summaries, unless they are in state
3179 \*(OP\*(NQ Manage colour mappings for the type of colour given as the
3180 (case-insensitive) first argument, which must be one of
3182 for 256-colour terminals,
3187 for the standard 8-colour ANSI / ISO 6429 color palette and
3191 for monochrome terminals.
3192 Monochrome terminals cannot deal with colours, but only (some) font
3196 Without further arguments the list of all currently defined mappings
3197 for the given colour type is shown (as a special case giving
3201 will iterate over all types in order).
3202 Otherwise the second argument defines the mappable slot, the third
3203 argument a (comma-separated list of) colour and font attribute
3204 specification(s), and the optional fourth argument can be used to
3205 specify a precondition: if conditioned mappings exist they are tested in
3206 (creation) order unless a (case-insensitive) match has been found, and
3207 the default mapping (if any has been established) will only be chosen as
3209 The types of precondition available depend on the mappable slot, the
3210 following of which exist:
3213 Mappings prefixed with
3215 are used for the \*(OPal builtin Mailx-Line-Editor (MLE, see
3216 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
3217 and don't support preconditions.
3219 .Bl -tag -compact -width view-partinfo
3221 This mapping is used for the position indicator that is visible when
3222 a line cannot be fully displayed on the screen.
3229 Mappings prefixed with
3231 are used in header summaries, and they all understand the preconditions
3233 (the current message) and
3235 for elder messages (only honoured in conjunction with
3236 .Va datefield-markout-older ) .
3238 .Bl -tag -compact -width view-partinfo
3240 This mapping is used for the
3242 that can be created with the
3246 formats of the variable
3249 For the complete header summary line except the
3251 and the thread structure.
3253 For the thread structure which can be created with the
3255 format of the variable
3260 Mappings prefixed with
3262 are used when displaying messages.
3264 .Bl -tag -compact -width view-partinfo
3266 This mapping is used for so-called
3268 lines, which are MBOX file format specific header lines.
3271 A comma-separated list of headers to which the mapping applies may be
3272 given as a precondition; if the \*(OPal regular expression support is
3273 available then if any of the
3275 (extended) regular expression characters is seen the precondition will
3276 be evaluated as (an extended) one.
3278 For the introductional message info line.
3279 .It Cd view-partinfo
3280 For MIME part info lines.
3284 The following (case-insensitive) colour definitions and font attributes
3285 are understood, multiple of which can be specified in a comma-separated
3295 It is possible (and often applicable) to specify multiple font
3296 attributes for a single mapping.
3299 foreground colour attribute:
3309 To specify a 256-color mode a decimal number colour specification in
3310 the range 0 to 255, inclusive, is supported, and interpreted as follows:
3312 .Bl -tag -compact -width "999 - 999"
3314 the standard ISO 6429 colors, as above.
3316 high intensity variants of the standard colors.
3318 216 colors in tuples of 6.
3320 grayscale from black to white in 24 steps.
3322 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3324 fg() { printf "\e033[38;5;${1}m($1)"; }
3325 bg() { printf "\e033[48;5;${1}m($1)"; }
3327 while [ $i -lt 256 ]; do fg $i; i=$(($i + 1)); done
3328 printf "\e033[0m\en"
3330 while [ $i -lt 256 ]; do bg $i; i=$(($i + 1)); done
3331 printf "\e033[0m\en"
3335 background colour attribute (see
3337 for possible values).
3341 Mappings may be removed with the command
3343 For a generic overview see the section
3344 .Sx "Coloured display" .
3349 (C) Copy messages to files whose names are derived from the author of
3350 the respective message and don't mark them as being saved;
3351 otherwise identical to
3356 (c) Copy messages to the named file and don't mark them as being saved;
3357 otherwise identical to
3362 \*(NQ With no arguments, shows all currently-defined custom headers.
3363 With one argument, shows that custom header.
3364 With more than one argument, creates a new or replaces an existing
3365 custom header with the name given as the first argument, the content of
3366 which being defined by the concatenated remaining arguments.
3368 can be used to delete custom headers.
3369 \*(ID Overwriting of automatically managed headers is neither supported
3371 Defined custom headers will be injected into newly composed or forwarded
3374 .Dl customhdr OpenPGP id=12345678; url=http://www.YYY.ZZ
3378 may also be used to inject custom headers; it is covered by
3383 Show the name of the current working directory.
3387 \*(OP For unencrypted messages this command is identical to
3389 Encrypted messages are first decrypted, if possible, and then copied.
3393 \*(OP For unencrypted messages this command is identical to
3395 Encrypted messages are first decrypted, if possible, and then copied.
3399 Without arguments the current list of macros, including their content,
3400 is shown, otherwise a macro is defined.
3401 A macro definition is a sequence of commands in the following form:
3402 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3411 A defined macro can be invoked explicitly by using the
3415 commands, or implicitly if a macro hook is triggered, e.g., a
3417 Note that interpretation of
3419 depends on how (i.e.,
3421 normal macro, folder hook, hook, account switch) the macro is invoked.
3422 Macros can be deleted via
3426 Macro behaviour, including option localization, will change in v15.
3427 Please be aware of that and possibly embed a version check in a resource
3432 (d) Marks the given message list as
3434 Deleted messages will neither be saved in
3436 nor will they be available for most other commands.
3448 Deletes the current message and displays the next message.
3449 If there is no next message, \*(UA says
3456 up or down by one message when given
3460 argument, respectively.
3464 Takes a message list and marks each given message as a draft.
3465 This mark has no technical meaning in the mail system;
3466 it just causes messages to be marked in the header summary,
3467 and makes them specially addressable.
3471 (ec) Echoes its arguments after applying
3473 expansions and filename transformations, as documented for
3478 (e) Point the text editor (as defined in
3480 at each message from the given list in turn.
3481 Modified contents are discarded unless the
3488 .Ic if Ns / Ns Ic elif Ns / Ns Ic else Ns / Ns Ic endif
3489 conditional \(em if the condition of a preceding
3491 was false, check the following condition and execute the following block
3492 if it evaluates true.
3497 .Ic if Ns / Ns Ic elif Ns / Ns Ic else Ns / Ns Ic endif
3498 conditional \(em if none of the conditions of the preceding
3502 commands was true, the
3508 (en) Marks the end of an
3509 .Ic if Ns / Ns Ic elif Ns / Ns Ic else Ns / Ns Ic endif
3510 conditional execution block.
3515 \*(NQ \*(UA has a strict notion about which variables are
3516 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
3517 and which are managed in the program
3519 Since some of the latter are a vivid part of \*(UAs functioning,
3520 however, they are transparently integrated into the normal handling of
3521 internal variables via
3525 To integrate other environment variables of choice into this
3526 transparent handling, and also to export internal variables into the
3527 process environment where they normally are not, a
3529 needs to become established with this command, as in, e.g.,
3532 .Dl environ link PERL5LIB from TZ
3535 Afterwards changing such variables with
3537 will cause automatic updates of the program environment, and therefore
3538 be inherited by newly created child processes.
3539 Sufficient system support provided (it was in BSD as early as 1987, and
3540 is standardized since Y2K) removing such variables with
3542 will remove them also from the program environment, but in any way
3543 the knowledge they ever have been
3546 Note this implies that
3548 may cause loss of links.
3553 will remove an existing link, but leaves the variables as such intact.
3554 Additionally the subcommands
3558 are provided, which work exactly the same as the documented commands
3562 but (additionally) link the variable(s) with the program environment and
3563 thus immediately export them to, or remove them from (if possible),
3564 respectively, the program environment.
3569 \*(OP Since \*(UA uses the console as a user interface it can happen
3570 that messages scroll by too fast to become recognized.
3571 Optionally an error message ring queue is available which stores
3572 duplicates of any error message and notifies the user in interactive
3573 sessions whenever a new error has occurred.
3574 The queue is finite: if its maximum size is reached any new message
3575 replaces the eldest.
3578 can be used to manage this message queue: if given
3580 or no argument the queue will be displayed and cleared,
3582 will only clear all messages from the queue.
3586 (ex or x) Exit from \*(UA without changing the active mailbox and skip
3587 any saving of messages in
3589 as well as a possibly tracked line editor history file.
3595 but open the mailbox readonly.
3599 (fi) The file command switches to a new mailbox.
3600 Without arguments it shows status information of the current mailbox.
3601 If an argument is given, it will write out changes (such as deletions)
3602 the user has made and open a new mailbox.
3603 Some special conventions are recognized for the
3607 .Bl -tag -compact -offset indent -width ".Ar %:__lespec"
3609 (number sign) means the previous file,
3611 (percent sign) means the invoking user's system
3615 means the primary system mailbox of
3617 (and never the value of
3619 regardless of its actual setting),
3621 (ampersand) means the invoking user's
3631 expands to the same value as
3633 but the file is handled as a primary system mailbox by, e.g., the
3637 commands, meaning that messages that have been read in the current
3638 session will be moved to the
3640 mailbox instead of simply being flagged as read.
3643 If the name matches one of the strings defined with the command
3645 it is replaced by its long form and expanded.
3646 If the name ends with
3651 it is treated as being compressed with
3656 respectively, and transparently handled through an intermediate
3657 (un)compression step (using a temporary file) with the according
3658 facility, sufficient support provided.
3659 Likewise, if the named file doesn't exist, but a file with one of the
3660 mentioned compression extensions does, then the name is automatically
3661 expanded and the compressed file is used.
3663 Otherwise, if the name ends with an extension for which
3664 .Va file-hook-load-EXTENSION
3666 .Va file-hook-save-EXTENSION
3667 variables are set, then the given hooks will be used to load and save
3669 and \*(UA will work with an intermediate temporary file.
3671 MBOX files (flat file-based mailboxes) are generally locked during file
3672 operations in order to avoid inconsistencies due to concurrent
3674 \*(OPal Mailbox files which \*(UA treats as system
3676 boxes or primary mailboxes will also be protected by so-called dotlock
3677 files, the traditional way of mail spool file locking: for any file
3681 will be created for the duration of the synchronization \(em
3682 as necessary a privilege-separated dotlock child process will be used
3683 to accommodate for necessary privilege adjustments in order to create
3684 the dotlock file in the same directory
3685 and with the same user and group identities as the file of interest.
3689 refers to a directory with the subdirectories
3694 then it is treated as a folder in
3696 format; \*(ID the variable
3698 can be used to control the format of yet non-existent folders.
3701 .Dl \*(IN protocol://[user[:password]@]host[:port][/path]
3702 .Dl \*(OU protocol://[user@]host[:port][/path]
3704 is taken as an Internet mailbox specification.
3705 The \*(OPally supported protocols are
3709 (POP3 with SSL/TLS encrypted transport).
3712 part is valid only for IMAP; there it defaults to
3714 Also see the section
3715 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" .
3719 contains special characters, in particular
3723 they must be escaped in URL notation \(en the command
3725 can be used to show the necessary conversion.
3729 Takes a message list and marks the messages as
3731 ged for urgent/special attention.
3732 This mark has no technical meaning in the mail system;
3733 it just causes messages to be highlighted in the header summary,
3734 and makes them specially addressable.
3743 With no arguments, list the names of the folders in the folder directory.
3744 With an existing folder as an argument,
3745 lists the names of folders below the named folder.
3751 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
3752 recipient's address (instead of in
3759 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
3760 recipient's address (instead of in
3767 but responds to all recipients regardless of the
3772 .It Ic followupsender
3775 but responds to the sender only regardless of the
3791 (f) Takes a list of message specifications and displays a summary of
3792 their message headers, exactly as via
3794 An alias of this command is
3797 .Sx "Specifying messages" .
3803 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the
3804 recipient's address (instead of in
3809 Takes a message and the address of a recipient
3810 and forwards the message to him.
3811 The text of the original message is included in the new one,
3812 with the value of the
3814 variable preceding it.
3819 commands specify which header fields are included in the new message.
3820 Only the first part of a multipart message is included unless the
3821 .Va forward-as-attachment
3825 is set recipient addresses will be stripped from comments, names etc.
3829 Specifies which header fields are to be ignored with the command
3831 This command has no effect when the
3832 .Va forward-as-attachment
3837 Specifies which header fields are to be retained with the command
3842 This command has no effect when the
3843 .Va forward-as-attachment
3848 Define or list command aliases, so-called ghosts.
3849 Without arguments a list of all currently known aliases is shown.
3850 With one argument the expansion of the given alias is shown.
3851 With two or more arguments a command alias is defined or updated: the
3852 first argument is the name under which the remaining command line should
3853 be accessible, the content of which can be just about anything.
3854 A ghost can be used everywhere a normal command can be used, but always
3855 takes precedence; any arguments that are given to the command alias are
3856 joined onto the alias content, and the resulting string forms the
3857 command line that is, in effect, executed.
3860 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3862 `ghost': no such alias: "xx"
3865 ghost xx "echo hello,"
3874 (h) Show the current group of headers, the size of which depends on
3877 and the style of which can be adjusted with the variable
3879 If a message-specification is given the group of headers containing the
3880 first message therein is shown and the message at the top of the screen
3895 the list of history entries;
3898 argument selects and shows the respective history entry \(en
3901 to accept it, and the history entry will become the new history top.
3902 The default mode if no arguments are given is
3909 Takes a message list and marks each message therein to be saved in the
3914 Does not override the
3917 \*(UA deviates from the POSIX standard with this command, because a
3919 command issued after
3921 will display the following message, not the current one.
3926 (i) Part of the nestable
3927 .Ic if Ns / Ns Ic elif Ns / Ns Ic else Ns / Ns Ic endif
3928 conditional execution construct \(em if the given condition is true then
3929 the encapsulated block is executed.
3930 POSIX only supports the (case-insensitive) conditions
3935 end, all remaining conditions are non-portable extensions; note that
3936 falsely specified conditions cause the execution of the entire
3937 conditional construct until the (matching) closing
3939 command to be suppressed.
3940 The syntax of the nestable
3942 conditional execution construct requires that each condition and syntax
3943 element is surrounded by whitespace.
3945 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3954 The (case-insensitive) condition
3956 erminal will evaluate to true if the standard input is a terminal, i.e.,
3957 in interactive sessions.
3958 Another condition can be any boolean value (see the section
3959 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
3960 for textual boolean representations) to mark an enwrapped block as
3963 .Dq always execute .
3964 It is possible to check
3965 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
3968 variables for existence or compare their expansion against a user given
3969 value or another variable by using the
3971 .Pf ( Dq variable next )
3972 conditional trigger character;
3973 a variable on the right hand side may be signalled using the same
3975 The variable names may be enclosed in a pair of matching braces.
3978 The available comparison operators are
3982 (less than or equal to),
3988 (greater than or equal to),
3992 (is substring of) and
3994 (is not substring of).
3995 The values of the left and right hand side are treated as strings and
3996 are compared 8-bit byte-wise, ignoring case according to the rules of
3997 the US-ASCII encoding (therefore, dependent on the active locale,
3998 possibly producing false results for strings in the locale encoding).
3999 Except for the substring checks the comparison will instead be performed
4000 arithmetically if both, the user given value as well as the variable
4001 content, can be parsed as numbers (integers).
4002 An unset variable is treated as the empty string.
4005 When the \*(OPal regular expression support is available, the additional
4011 They treat the right hand side as an extended regular expression that is
4012 matched case-insensitively and according to the active
4014 locale, meaning that strings in the locale encoding should be matched
4018 Conditions can be joined via AND-OR lists (where the AND operator is
4020 and the OR operator is
4022 which have equal precedence and will be evaluated with left
4023 associativity, thus using the same syntax that is known for the
4025 It is also possible to form groups of conditions and lists by enclosing
4026 them in pairs of brackets
4027 .Ql [\ \&.\&.\&.\ ] ,
4028 which may be interlocked within each other, and also be joined via
4032 The results of individual conditions and entire groups may be modified
4033 via unary operators: the unary operator
4035 will reverse the result.
4037 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4041 if $ttycharset == "UTF-8"
4042 echo *ttycharset* is set to UTF-8, case-insensitively
4046 echo These two variables are equal
4048 if $version-major >= 15
4049 echo Running a new version..
4050 if $features =@ +regex
4051 if $TERM =~ "^xterm\&.*"
4052 echo ..in an X terminal
4055 if [ [ true ] && [ [ ${debug} ] || [ $verbose ] ] ]
4058 if true && $debug || ${verbose}
4059 echo Left associativity, as is known from the shell
4061 if ! ! true && ! [ ! $debug && ! $verbose ]
4062 echo Unary operator support
4070 Without arguments the list of ignored header fields is shown,
4071 otherwise the given list of header fields is added to the ignore list:
4072 Header fields in the ignore list are not shown on the terminal when
4073 a message is displayed.
4074 To display a message in its entirety, use the commands
4085 Shows the names of all available commands, alphabetically sorted.
4086 If given any non-whitespace argument the list will be shown in the order
4087 in which command prefixes are searched.
4090 output is available.
4094 This command can be used to localize changes to variables, meaning that
4095 their state will be reverted to the former one once the covered scope
4097 It can only be used inside of macro definition blocks introduced by
4101 and is interpreted as a boolean (string, see
4102 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ) ;
4105 of an account is left once it is switched off again.
4106 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4107 define temporary_settings {
4122 enables change localization and calls
4124 which explicitly resets localization, then any value changes within
4126 will still be reverted by
4128 \*(ID Once the outermost level, the one which enabled localization
4129 first, is left, but no earlier, all adjustments will be unrolled.
4130 \*(ID Likewise worth knowing, if in this example
4132 changes to a different
4134 which sets some variables that are yet covered by localizations, their
4135 scope will be extended, and in fact leaving the
4137 will (thus) restore settings in (likely) global scope which actually
4138 were defined in a local, private context.
4142 Reply to messages that come in via known
4145 .Pf ( Ic mlsubscribe )
4146 mailing lists, or pretend to do so (see
4147 .Sx "Mailing lists" ) :
4150 functionality this will actively resort and even remove message
4151 recipients in order to generate a message that is supposed to be sent to
4153 For example it will also implicitly generate a
4154 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
4155 header if that seems useful, regardless of the setting of the variable
4162 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
4163 recipient's address (instead of in
4168 (m) Takes a (list of) recipient address(es) as (an) argument(s),
4169 or asks on standard input if none were given;
4170 then collects the remaining mail content and sends it out.
4174 (mb) The given message list is to be sent to
4176 when \*(UA is quit; this is the default action unless the
4179 \*(ID This command can only be used in a primary system mailbox (see
4184 Without any arguments the content of the MIME type cache will displayed.
4185 Otherwise each argument defines a complete MIME type specification of
4186 a type that shall be added (prepended) to the cache.
4187 In any event MIME type sources are loaded first as necessary \(en
4188 .Va mimetypes-load-control
4189 can be used to fine-tune which sources are actually loaded.
4190 Refer to the section on
4191 .Sx "The mime.types files"
4192 for more on MIME type specifications and this topic in general.
4193 MIME type unregistration and cache resets can be triggered with
4198 Without arguments the list of all currently defined mailing lists
4199 (and their attributes, if any) is shown; a more verbose listing will be
4200 produced if either of
4205 Otherwise all given arguments (which need not be quoted except for
4206 whitespace) will be added and henceforth be recognized as mailing lists.
4207 Mailing lists may be removed via the command
4210 If the \*(OPal regular expression support is available then mailing
4211 lists may also be specified as (extended) regular expressions (see
4217 Without arguments the list of all currently defined mailing lists which
4218 have a subscription attribute is shown; a more verbose listing will be
4219 produced if either of
4224 Otherwise this attribute will be set for all given mailing lists,
4225 newly creating them as necessary (as via
4227 Subscription attributes may be removed via the command
4236 but moves the messages to a file named after the local part of the
4237 sender address of the first message (instead of in
4244 but marks the messages for deletion if they were transferred
4251 but also displays ignored header fields and all MIME parts.
4259 on the given messages, even in non-interactive mode and as long as the
4260 standard output is a terminal.
4266 \*(OP When used without arguments or if
4268 has been given the content of the
4270 cache is shown, loading it first as necessary.
4273 then the cache will only be initialized and
4275 will remove its contents.
4276 Note that \*(UA will try to load the file only once, use
4277 .Ql Ic \&\&netrc Ns \:\0\:clear
4278 to unlock further attempts.
4283 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" ;
4285 .Sx "The .netrc file"
4286 documents the file format in detail.
4290 Checks for new mail in the current folder without committing any changes
4292 If new mail is present, a message is shown.
4296 the headers of each new message are also shown.
4297 This command is not available for all mailbox types.
4305 Goes to the next message in sequence and types it.
4306 With an argument list, types the next matching message.
4320 If the current folder is accessed via a network connection, a
4322 command is sent, otherwise no operation is performed.
4328 but also displays ignored header fields and all MIME parts.
4336 on the given messages, even in non-interactive mode and as long as the
4337 standard output is a terminal.
4345 but also pipes ignored header fields and all parts of MIME
4346 .Ql multipart/alternative
4351 (pi) Takes a message list and a shell command
4352 and pipes the messages through the command.
4353 Without an argument the current message is piped through the command
4360 every message is followed by a formfeed character.
4381 (q) Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in
4384 preserving all messages marked with
4388 or never referenced in the system
4390 box, and removing all other messages from the primary system mailbox.
4391 If new mail has arrived during the session,
4393 .Dq You have new mail
4395 If given while editing a mailbox file with the command line flag
4397 then the edit file is rewritten.
4398 A return to the shell is effected,
4399 unless the rewrite of edit file fails,
4400 in which case the user can escape with the exit command.
4414 Removes the named files or directories.
4415 If a name refer to a mailbox, e.g., a Maildir mailbox, then a mailbox
4416 type specific removal will be performed, deleting the complete mailbox.
4417 The user is asked for confirmation in interactive mode.
4421 Takes the name of an existing folder
4422 and the name for the new folder
4423 and renames the first to the second one.
4424 Both folders must be of the same type.
4428 (R) Reply to originator.
4429 Does not reply to other recipients of the original message.
4431 will exchange this command with
4435 is set the recipient address will be stripped from comments, names etc.
4439 (r) Take a message and group-responds to it by addressing the sender
4442 .Va followup-to-honour ,
4445 .Va recipients-in-cc
4446 influence response behaviour.
4449 offers special support for replying to mailing lists.
4452 is set recipient addresses will be stripped from comments, names etc.
4465 but initiates a group-reply regardless of the value of
4472 but responds to the sender only regardless of the value of
4479 but does not add any header lines.
4480 This is not a way to hide the sender's identity,
4481 but useful for sending a message again to the same recipients.
4485 Takes a list of messages and a user name
4486 and sends each message to the named user.
4488 and related header fields are prepended to the new copy of the message.
4506 .It Ic respondsender
4512 (ret) Without arguments the list of retained header fields is shown,
4513 otherwise the given list of header fields is added to the retain list:
4514 Header fields in the retain list are shown on the terminal when
4515 a message is displayed, all other header fields are suppressed.
4516 To display a message in its entirety, use the commands
4525 takes precedence over the mentioned.
4531 but saves the messages in a file named after the local part of the
4532 sender of the first message instead of (in
4534 and) taking a filename argument.
4538 (s) Takes a message list and a filename and appends each message in turn
4539 to the end of the file.
4540 If no filename is given, the
4543 The filename in quotes, followed by the generated character count
4544 is echoed on the user's terminal.
4545 If editing a primary system mailbox the messages are marked for deletion.
4546 Filename interpretation as described for the
4548 command is performed.
4565 Header fields thus marked are filtered out when saving a message by
4567 or when automatically saving to
4569 This command should only be applied to header fields that do not contain
4570 information needed to decode the message,
4571 as MIME content fields do.
4583 Header fields thus marked are the only ones saved with a message when
4586 or when automatically saving to
4591 The use of this command is strongly discouraged since it may strip
4592 header fields that are needed to decode the message correctly.
4596 Takes a message specification (list) and displays a header summary of
4597 all matching messages, as via
4599 This command is an alias of
4602 .Sx "Specifying messages" .
4606 Takes a message list and marks all messages as having been read.
4610 (se) Without arguments this command shows all internal variables which
4611 are currently known to \*(UA (they have been set).
4612 A more verbose listing will be produced if either of
4616 are set, in which case variables may be preceded with a comment line
4617 that gives some context of what \*(UA knows about the given variable.
4619 Otherwise the given variables (and arguments) are set or adjusted.
4620 Arguments are of the form
4622 (no space before or after
4626 if there is no value, i.e., a boolean variable.
4627 Quotation marks may be placed around any part of the assignment
4628 statement to quote blanks or tabs, e.g.,
4630 .Dl set indentprefix='->'
4632 If an argument begins with
4636 the effect is the same as invoking the
4638 command with the remaining part of the variable
4639 .Pf ( Ql unset save ) .
4643 that is known to map to an environment variable will automatically cause
4644 updates in the program environment (unsetting a variable in the
4645 environment requires corresponding system support).
4646 Please use the command
4648 for further environmental control.
4653 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
4659 (sh) Invokes an interactive version of the shell.
4663 Without arguments the list of all currently defined shortcuts is
4665 Otherwise all given arguments (which need not be quoted except for
4666 whitespace) are treated as pairs of shortcuts and their expansions,
4667 creating new or changing already existing shortcuts, as necessary.
4668 Shortcuts may be removed via the command
4670 The expansion strings should be in the syntax that has been described
4679 but performs neither MIME decoding nor decryption, so that the raw
4680 message text is shown.
4684 (si) Shows the size in characters of each message of the given
4689 Shows the current sorting criterion when used without an argument.
4690 Otherwise creates a sorted representation of the current folder,
4693 command and the addressing modes such that they refer to messages in
4695 Message numbers are the same as in regular mode.
4699 a header summary in the new order is also displayed.
4700 Automatic folder sorting can be enabled by setting the
4702 variable, as in, e.g.,
4703 .Ql set autosort=thread .
4704 Possible sorting criterions are:
4706 .Bl -tag -compact -offset indent -width "subject"
4708 Sort the messages by their
4710 field, that is by the time they were sent.
4712 Sort messages by the value of their
4714 field, that is by the address of the sender.
4717 variable is set, the sender's real name (if any) is used.
4719 Sort the messages by their size.
4721 \*(OP Sort the message by their spam score, as has been classified by
4724 Sort the messages by their message status.
4726 Sort the messages by their subject.
4728 Create a threaded display.
4730 Sort messages by the value of their
4732 field, that is by the address of the recipient.
4735 variable is set, the recipient's real name (if any) is used.
4740 (so) The source command reads commands from the given file, which is
4741 subject to the usual filename expansions (see introductional words of
4743 If the given argument ends with a vertical bar
4745 then the argument will instead be interpreted as a shell command and
4746 \*(UA will read the output generated by it.
4747 Interpretation of commands read is stopped when an error is encountered.
4750 cannot be used from within macros that execute as
4751 .Va folder-hook Ns s
4754 i.e., it can only be called from macros that were
4761 (beside not supporting pipe syntax aka shell command input) is that
4762 this command will not generate an error if the given file argument
4763 cannot be opened successfully.
4767 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and clears their
4773 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and causes the
4775 to forget it has ever used them to train its Bayesian filter.
4776 Unless otherwise noted the
4778 flag of the message is inspected to chose whether a message shall be
4786 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and informs the Bayesian filter of the
4790 This also clears the
4792 flag of the messages in question.
4796 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and rates them using the configured
4797 .Va spam-interface ,
4798 without modifying the messages, but setting their
4800 flag as appropriate; because the spam rating headers are lost the rate
4801 will be forgotten once the mailbox is left.
4802 Refer to the manual section
4804 for the complete picture of spam handling in \*(UA.
4808 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and sets their
4814 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and informs the Bayesian filter of the
4820 flag of the messages in question.
4829 Create a threaded representation of the current folder,
4830 i.\|e. indent messages that are replies to other messages in the header
4831 display and change the
4833 command and the addressing modes such that they refer to messages in the
4835 Message numbers are the same as in unthreaded mode.
4839 a header summary in threaded order is also displayed.
4853 (to) Takes a message list and types out the first
4855 lines of each message on the users' terminal.
4856 The only header fields that are displayed are
4863 will instead honour configured lists).
4864 It is possible to apply compression to what is displayed by setting
4866 Messages are decrypted and converted to the terminal character set
4871 (tou) Takes a message list and marks the messages for saving in
4873 \*(UA deviates from the POSIX standard with this command,
4876 command will display the following message instead of the current one.
4882 but also displays out ignored header fields and all parts of MIME
4883 .Ql multipart/alternative
4888 (t) Takes a message list and types out each message on the users'
4894 For MIME multipart messages, all parts with a content type of
4898 are shown, the other are hidden except for their headers.
4899 Messages are decrypted and converted to the terminal character set
4904 Delete all given accounts.
4905 An error message is shown if a given account is not defined.
4908 will discard all existing accounts.
4912 (una) Takes a list of names defined by alias commands
4913 and discards the remembered groups of users.
4916 will discard all existing aliases.
4920 Takes a message list and marks each message as not having been answered.
4926 ing, specified by its context and input sequence, both of which may be
4927 specified as a wildcard (asterisk,
4931 will remove all bindings of all contexts.
4935 Only applicable to threaded mode.
4936 Takes a message list and makes the message and all replies to it visible
4937 in header summaries again.
4938 When a message becomes the current message,
4939 it is automatically made visible.
4940 Also when a message with collapsed replies is displayed,
4941 all of these are automatically uncollapsed.
4947 mapping for the given colour type (see
4949 for a list of types) and mapping; if the optional precondition argument
4950 is used then only the exact tuple of mapping and precondition is removed.
4953 will remove all mappings (no precondition allowed).
4955 .Sx "Coloured display"
4956 for the general picture.
4960 Deletes the custom headers given as arguments.
4963 will remove all custom headers.
4967 Undefine all given macros.
4968 An error message is shown if a given macro is not defined.
4971 will discard all existing macros.
4975 (u) Takes a message list and marks each message as not being deleted.
4979 Takes a message list and
4985 Takes a message list and marks each message as not being
4990 Removes the header field names from the list of ignored fields for the
4995 will remove all fields.
4999 Removes the header field names from the list of retained fields for the
5004 will remove all fields.
5008 Remove all the given command
5012 will remove all ghosts.
5016 Removes the header field names from the list of ignored fields.
5019 will remove all fields.
5023 Delete all given MIME types, e.g.,
5024 .Ql unmimetype text/plain
5025 will remove all registered specifications for the MIME type
5029 will discard all existing MIME types, just as will
5031 but which also reenables cache initialization via
5032 .Va mimetypes-load-control .
5036 Forget about all the given mailing lists.
5039 will remove all lists.
5044 .It Ic unmlsubscribe
5045 Remove the subscription attribute from all given mailing lists.
5048 will clear the attribute from all lists which have it set.
5059 Takes a message list and marks each message as not having been read.
5063 Removes the header field names from the list of retained fields.
5066 will remove all fields.
5070 Removes the header field names from the list of ignored fields for
5074 will remove all fields.
5078 Removes the header field names from the list of retained fields for
5082 will remove all fields.
5086 (uns) Takes a list of internal variable names and discards their
5087 remembered values; the reverse of
5094 Deletes the shortcut names given as arguments.
5097 will remove all shortcuts.
5101 Disable sorted or threaded mode
5107 return to normal message order and,
5111 displays a header summary.
5121 Decode the given URL-encoded string arguments and show the results.
5122 Note the resulting strings may not be valid in the current locale, see
5127 URL-encode the given arguments and show the results.
5128 Because the arguments effectively are in the character set of the
5129 current locale the results will vary accordingly unless the input solely
5130 consists of characters in the portable character set, see
5131 .Sx "Character sets" .
5135 Edit the values of or create the given variable(s) in the
5137 Boolean variables cannot be edited.
5141 This command produces the same output as the listing mode of
5145 ity adjustments, but only for the given variables.
5149 \*(OP Takes a message list and verifies each message.
5150 If a message is not a S/MIME signed message,
5151 verification will fail for it.
5152 The verification process checks if the message was signed using a valid
5154 if the message sender's email address matches one of those contained
5155 within the certificate,
5156 and if the message content has been altered.
5168 (v) Takes a message list and invokes the display editor on each message.
5169 Modified contents are discarded unless the
5175 (w) For conventional messages the body without all headers is written.
5176 The output is decrypted and converted to its native format as necessary.
5177 If the output file exists, the text is appended.
5178 If a message is in MIME multipart format its first part is written to
5179 the specified file as for conventional messages,
5180 and the user is asked for a filename to save each other part.
5181 For convience saving of each part may be skipped by giving an empty value;
5182 the same result can also be achieved by writing it to
5184 For the second and subsequent parts a leading
5186 character causes the part to be piped to the remainder of the user input
5187 interpreted as a shell command;
5188 otherwise the user input is expanded as usually for folders,
5189 e.g., tilde expansion is performed.
5190 In non-interactive mode, only the parts of the multipart message
5191 that have a filename given in the part header are written,
5192 the others are discarded.
5193 The original message is never marked for deletion in the originating
5196 the contents of the destination file are overwritten if the file
5198 No special handling of compressed files is performed.
5207 \*(UA presents message headers in windowfuls as described under the
5210 This command scrolls to the next window of messages.
5211 If an argument is given, it specifies the window to use.
5212 A number prefixed by
5216 indicates that the window is calculated in relation to the current position.
5217 A number without a prefix specifies an absolute window number,
5220 lets \*(UA scroll to the last window of messages.
5226 but scrolls to the next or previous window that contains at least one
5235 .\" .Sh TILDE ESCAPES {{{
5238 Here is a summary of the tilde escapes,
5239 which are used to perform special functions when composing messages.
5240 Tilde escapes are only recognized at the beginning of lines.
5243 is somewhat of a misnomer since the actual escape character can be
5244 changed by adjusting the option
5247 .Bl -tag -width ".Ic __ filename"
5250 Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single
5252 (If the escape character has been changed,
5253 that character must be doubled
5254 in order to send it at the beginning of a line.)
5257 .It Ic ~! Ar command
5258 Execute the indicated shell
5260 then return to the message.
5264 Same effect as typing the end-of-file character.
5267 .It Ic ~: Ar \*(UA-command Ns \0or Ic ~_ Ar \*(UA-command
5268 Execute the given \*(UA command.
5269 Not all commands, however, are allowed.
5273 Write a summary of command escapes.
5276 .It Ic ~< Ar filename
5281 .It Ic ~<! Ar command
5283 is executed using the shell.
5284 Its standard output is inserted into the message.
5287 .It Ic ~@ Op Ar filename...
5288 With no arguments, edit the attachment list interactively.
5289 If an attachment's file name is left empty,
5290 that attachment is deleted from the list.
5291 When the end of the attachment list is reached,
5292 \*(UA will ask for further attachments until an empty name is given.
5293 If a given file name solely consists of the number sign
5295 followed by a valid message number of the currently active mailbox, then
5296 the given message is attached as a MIME
5298 and the rest of this section does not apply.
5300 If character set conversion has been compiled into \*(UA, then this mode
5301 gives the user the option to specify input and output character sets,
5302 unless the file extension indicates binary content, in which case \*(UA
5303 asks whether this step shall be skipped for the attachment in question.
5304 If not skipped, then the charset that succeeds to represent the
5305 attachment data will be used in the
5307 MIME parameter of the mail message:
5309 .Bl -bullet -compact
5311 If input and output character sets are specified, then the conversion is
5312 performed on the fly.
5313 The user will be asked repeatedly until the desired conversion succeeds.
5315 If only an output character set is specified, then the input is assumed
5318 charset and will be converted to the given output charset on the fly.
5319 The user will be asked repeatedly until the desired conversion succeeds.
5321 If no character sets are specified at all then the algorithm that is
5322 documented in the section
5323 .Sx "Character sets"
5324 is applied, but directly and on the fly.
5325 The user will be asked repeatedly until the desired conversion succeeds.
5327 Finally, if an input-, but no output character set is specified, then no
5328 conversion is ever performed, but the
5330 MIME parameter value will still be set to the user input.
5332 The character set selection loop can be left by typing
5334 i.e., causing an interrupt.
5335 .\" \*(OU next sentence
5336 Note that before \*(UA version 15.0 this terminates the entire
5337 current attachment selection, not only the character set selection.
5340 Without character set conversion support, \*(UA will ask for the input
5341 character set only, and it'll set the
5343 MIME parameter value to the given input, if any;
5344 if no user input is seen then the
5346 character set will be used for the parameter value instead.
5347 Note that the file extension check isn't performed in this mode, since
5348 no conversion will take place anyway.
5350 Note that in non-interactive mode, for reproduceabilities sake, there
5351 will always be two questions for each attachment, regardless of whether
5352 character set conversion is available and what the file extension is.
5353 The first asks for the filename, and the second asks for the input
5354 character set to be passed through to the corresponding MIME parameter;
5355 no conversion will be tried if there is input to the latter question,
5356 otherwise the usual conversion algorithm, as above, is applied.
5357 For message attachments, the answer to the second question is completely
5362 arguments are specified for the
5364 command they are treated as a file list of
5366 -style quoted arguments, optionally also separated by commas, which are
5367 expanded and then appended to the existing list of message attachments.
5368 Message attachments can only be added via the first method.
5369 In this mode the (text) attachments are assumed to be in
5371 encoding, and will be evaluated as documented in the section
5372 .Sx "Character sets" .
5376 Inserts the string contained in the
5379 .Ql Ic ~i Ns \0Sign ) .
5380 The escape sequences tabulator
5388 Inserts the string contained in the
5391 .Ql Ic ~i Ns \0sign ) .
5392 The escape sequences tabulator
5399 .It Ic ~b Ar name ...
5400 Add the given names to the list of blind carbon copy recipients.
5403 .It Ic ~c Ar name ...
5404 Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients.
5408 Read the file specified by the
5410 variable into the message.
5414 Invoke the text editor on the message collected so far.
5415 After the editing session is finished,
5416 the user may continue appending text to the message.
5419 .It Ic ~F Ar messages
5420 Read the named messages into the message being sent, including all
5421 message headers and MIME parts.
5422 If no messages are specified, read in the current message.
5425 .It Ic ~f Ar messages
5426 Read the named messages into the message being sent.
5427 If no messages are specified, read in the current message.
5431 lists are used to modify the message headers.
5432 For MIME multipart messages,
5433 only the first displayable part is included.
5437 Edit the message header fields
5442 by typing each one in turn and allowing the user to edit the field.
5443 The default values for these fields originate from the
5451 Edit the message header fields
5457 by typing each one in turn and allowing the user to edit the field.
5460 .It Ic ~i Ar variable
5461 Insert the value of the specified variable into the message,
5462 adding a newline character at the end.
5463 The message remains unaltered if the variable is unset or empty.
5464 The escape sequences tabulator
5471 .It Ic ~M Ar messages
5472 Read the named messages into the message being sent,
5475 If no messages are specified, read the current message.
5478 .It Ic ~m Ar messages
5479 Read the named messages into the message being sent,
5482 If no messages are specified, read the current message.
5486 lists are used to modify the message headers.
5487 For MIME multipart messages,
5488 only the first displayable part is included.
5492 Display the message collected so far,
5493 prefaced by the message header fields
5494 and followed by the attachment list, if any.
5498 Abort the message being sent,
5499 copying it to the file specified by the
5506 .It Ic ~R Ar filename
5507 Read the named file into the message, indented by
5511 .It Ic ~r Ar filename
5512 Read the named file into the message.
5516 Cause the named string to become the current subject field.
5519 .It Ic ~t Ar name ...
5520 Add the given name(s) to the direct recipient list.
5523 .It Ic ~U Ar messages
5524 Read in the given / current message(s) excluding all headers, indented by
5528 .It Ic ~u Ar messages
5529 Read in the given / current message(s), excluding all headers.
5533 Invoke an alternate editor (defined by the
5535 option) on the message collected so far.
5536 Usually, the alternate editor will be a screen editor.
5537 After the editor is quit,
5538 the user may resume appending text to the end of the message.
5541 .It Ic ~w Ar filename
5542 Write the message onto the named file.
5544 the message is appended to it.
5550 except that the message is not saved at all.
5553 .It Ic ~| Ar command
5554 Pipe the message through the specified filter command.
5555 If the command gives no output or terminates abnormally,
5556 retain the original text of the message.
5559 is often used as a rejustifying filter.
5564 .\" .Sh INTERNAL VARIABLES {{{
5565 .Sh "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
5567 Internal \*(UA variables are controlled via the
5571 commands; prefixing a variable name with the string
5575 has the same effect as using
5581 Creation or editing of variables can be performed in the
5586 will give more insight on the given variable(s), and
5588 when called without arguments, will show a listing of all variables.
5589 Some well-known variables will also become inherited from the
5592 implicitly, others can be explicitly imported with the command
5594 and henceforth share the said properties.
5597 Two different kind of internal variables exist.
5598 There are boolean variables, which can only be in one of the two states
5602 and value variables with a(n optional) string value.
5603 For the latter proper quoting is necessary upon assignment time, the
5604 introduction of the section
5606 documents the supported quoting rules.
5608 .Bd -literal -offset indent
5609 wysh set one=val\e 1 two="val 2" \e
5610 three='val "3"' four=$'val \e'4\e''
5611 varshow one two three four
5612 unset one two three four
5616 Dependent upon the actual option the string values will be interpreted
5617 as numbers, colour names, normal text etc., but there also exists
5618 a special kind of string value, the
5619 .Dq boolean string ,
5620 which must either be a decimal integer (in which case
5624 and any other value is true) or any of the (case-insensitive) strings
5630 for a false boolean and
5636 for a true boolean; a special kind of boolean string is the
5638 which is a boolean string that can optionally be prefixed with the
5639 (case-insensitive) term
5643 which causes prompting of the user in interactive mode, with the given
5644 boolean as the default value.
5646 .\" .Ss "Initial settings" {{{
5647 .\" (Keep in SYNC: ./nail.h:okeys, ./nail.rc, ./nail.1:"Initial settings")
5648 .Ss "Initial Settings"
5650 The standard POSIX 2008/Cor 2-2016 mandates the following initial
5656 .Pf no Va autoprint ,
5670 .Pf no Va ignoreeof ,
5672 .Pf no Va keepsave ,
5674 .Pf no Va outfolder ,
5679 (note that \*(UA deviates from the standard by using
5683 special prompt escape results in
5691 .Pf no Va sendwait ,
5700 Notes: \*(UA doesn't support the
5702 variable \(en use command line options or
5704 to pass options through to a
5706 And the default global
5708 file (which is loaded unless the
5710 command line flag has been used or the
5711 .Ev NAIL_NO_SYSTEM_RC
5712 environment variable is set) bends those initial settings a bit, e.g.,
5713 it sets the variables
5718 to name a few, calls
5720 etc., and should thus be taken into account.
5723 .\" .Ss "Variables" {{{
5726 .Bl -tag -width ".It Va _utoprin_"
5728 .It Va add-file-recipients
5729 \*(BO When file or pipe recipients have been specified,
5730 mention them in the corresponding address fields of the message instead
5731 of silently stripping them from their recipient list.
5732 By default such addressees are not mentioned.
5736 \*(BO Causes only the local part to be evaluated
5737 when comparing addresses.
5741 \*(BO Causes messages saved in
5743 to be appended to the end rather than prepended.
5744 This should always be set.
5748 \*(BO Causes \*(UA to prompt for the subject of each message sent.
5749 If the user responds with simply a newline,
5750 no subject field will be sent.
5754 \*(BO Causes the prompts for
5758 lists to appear after the message has been edited.
5762 \*(BO If set, \*(UA asks for files to attach at the end of each message,
5763 shall the list be found empty at that time.
5764 An empty line finalizes the list.
5768 \*(BO Causes the user to be prompted for carbon copy recipients
5769 (at the end of each message if
5773 are set) shall the list be found empty (at that time).
5774 An empty line finalizes the list.
5778 \*(BO Causes the user to be prompted for blind carbon copy
5779 recipients (at the end of each message if
5783 are set) shall the list be found empty (at that time).
5784 An empty line finalizes the list.
5788 \*(BO\*(OP Causes the user to be prompted if the message is to be
5789 signed at the end of each message.
5792 variable is ignored when this variable is set.
5796 \*(BO Alternative name for
5803 .It Va attachment-ask-content-description , \
5804 attachment-ask-content-disposition , \
5805 attachment-ask-content-id , \
5806 attachment-ask-content-type
5807 \*(BO If set then the user will be prompted for some attachment
5808 information when editing the attachment list.
5809 It is advisable to not use these but for the first of the variables;
5810 even for that it has to be noted that the data is used
5816 A sequence of characters to display in the
5820 as shown in the display of
5822 each for one type of messages (see
5823 .Sx "Message states" ) ,
5824 with the default being
5827 .Ql NU\ \ *HMFAT+\-$~
5830 variable is set, in the following order:
5832 .Bl -tag -compact -offset indent -width ".It Ql _"
5854 start of a collapsed thread.
5856 an uncollapsed thread (TODO ignored for now).
5860 classified as possible spam.
5866 Specifies a list of recipients to which a blind carbon copy of each
5867 outgoing message will be sent automatically.
5871 Specifies a list of recipients to which a carbon copy of each outgoing
5872 message will be sent automatically.
5876 \*(BO Causes threads to be collapsed automatically when threaded mode
5883 \*(BO Causes the delete command to behave like
5885 thus, after deleting a message the next one will be typed automatically.
5889 \*(BO\*(OB Causes threaded mode (see the
5891 command) to be entered automatically when a folder is opened.
5893 .Ql autosort=thread .
5897 Causes sorted mode (see the
5899 command) to be entered automatically with the value of this option as
5900 sorting method when a folder is opened, e.g.,
5901 .Ql set autosort=thread .
5905 \*(BO Enables the substitution of
5907 by the contents of the last command line in shell escapes.
5910 .It Va batch-exit-on-error
5911 \*(BO If the batch mode has been enabled via the
5913 command line option, then this variable will be consulted whenever \*(UA
5914 completes one operation (returns to the command prompt); if it is set
5915 then \*(UA will terminate if the last operation generated an error.
5919 \*(OP Terminals generate multi-byte sequences for certain forms of
5920 input, for example for function and other special keys.
5921 Some terminals however do not write these multi-byte sequences as
5922 a whole, but byte-by-byte, and the latter is what \*(UA actually reads.
5923 This variable specifies the timeout in milliseconds that the MLE (see
5924 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
5925 waits for more bytes to arrive unless it considers a sequence
5931 \*(BO Causes automatic display of a header summary after executing a
5933 command, and thus complements the standard variable
5935 which controls header summary display on program startup.
5936 It is only meaningful if
5942 \*(BO Sets some cosmetical features to traditional BSD style;
5943 has the same affect as setting
5945 and all other variables prefixed with
5947 it also changes the meaning of the \*(UA specific
5950 escape sequence and changes behaviour of
5952 (which doesn't exist in BSD).
5956 \*(BO Changes the letters shown in the first column of a header
5957 summary to traditional BSD style.
5961 \*(BO Changes the display of columns in a header summary to traditional
5966 \*(BO Changes some informational messages to traditional BSD style.
5972 field to appear immediately after the
5974 field in message headers and with the
5976 .Sx "TILDE ESCAPES" .
5980 The value that should appear in the
5984 MIME header fields when no character set conversion of the message data
5986 This defaults to US-ASCII, and the chosen character set should be
5987 US-ASCII compatible.
5991 \*(OP The default 8-bit character set that is used as an implicit last
5992 member of the variable
5994 This defaults to UTF-8.
5995 If no character set conversion capabilities are available in \*(UA then
5996 the only supported character set is
5998 Refer to the section
5999 .Sx "Character sets"
6000 for the complete picture of character set conversion in \*(UA.
6003 .It Va charset-unknown-8bit
6004 \*(OP RFC 1428 specifies conditions when internet mail gateways shall
6006 the content of a mail message by using a character set with the name
6008 Because of the unclassified nature of this character set \*(UA will not
6009 be capable to convert this character set to any other character set.
6010 If this variable is set any message part which uses the character set
6012 is assumed to really be in the character set given in the value,
6013 otherwise the (final) value of
6015 is used for this purpose.
6017 This variable will also be taken into account if a MIME type (see
6018 .Sx "The mime.types files" )
6019 of a MIME message part that uses the
6021 character set is forcefully treated as text.
6025 The default value for the
6030 .It Va colour-disable
6031 \*(BO\*(OP Forcefully disable usage of colours.
6032 Also see the section
6033 .Sx "Coloured display" .
6037 \*(BO\*(OP Whether colour shall be used for output that is paged through
6039 Note that pagers may need special flags, e.g.,
6047 in order to support colours.
6048 Often doing manual adjustments is unnecessary since \*(UA may perform
6049 adjustments dependend on the value of the environment variable
6051 (see there for more).
6055 In a(n interactive) terminal session, then if this valued option is set
6056 it'll be used as a threshold to determine how many lines the given
6057 output has to span before it will be displayed via the configured
6061 can be forced by setting this to the value
6063 setting it without a value will deduce the current height of the
6064 terminal screen to compute the treshold (see
6072 \*(OB A variable counterpart of the
6074 command (see there for documentation), interpreted as a comma-separated
6075 list of custom headers to be injected, to include commas in the header
6076 bodies escape them with reverse solidus, e.g.:
6078 .Dl set customhdr='Hdr1: Body1-1\e, Body1-2, Hdr2: Body2'
6084 the message date, if any is to be displayed according to the format of
6086 is by default taken from the
6088 line of the message.
6089 If this variable is set the date as given in the
6091 header field is used instead, converted to local time.
6092 To control the display format of the date assign a valid
6097 format should not be used, because \*(UA doesn't take embedded newlines
6098 into account when calculating how many lines fit onto the screen.)
6100 .Va datefield-markout-older .
6103 .It Va datefield-markout-older
6104 This option, when set in addition to
6108 messages (concept is rather comparable to the
6110 option of the POSIX utility
6112 The content interpretation is identical to
6117 \*(BO Enables debug messages and obsoletion warnings, disables the
6118 actual delivery of messages and also implies
6124 .It Va disposition-notification-send
6126 .Ql Disposition-Notification-To:
6127 header (RFC 3798) with the message.
6131 .\" TODO .It Va disposition-notification-send-HOST
6133 .\".Va disposition-notification-send
6134 .\" for SMTP accounts on a specific host.
6135 .\" TODO .It Va disposition-notification-send-USER@HOST
6137 .\".Va disposition-notification-send
6138 .\"for a specific account.
6142 \*(BO When dot is set, a period
6144 on a line by itself during message input in (interactive) compose mode
6145 will be treated as end-of-message (in addition to the normal end-of-file
6154 .It Va dotlock-ignore-error
6155 \*(BO\*(OP Synchronization of mailboxes which \*(UA treats as system
6156 mailboxes (see the command
6158 will be protected with so-called dotlock files\(emthe traditional mail
6159 spool file locking method\(emin addition to system file locking.
6160 Because \*(UA ships with a privilege-separated dotlock creation program
6161 that should always be able to create such a dotlock file there is no
6162 good reason to ignore dotlock file creation errors, and thus these are
6163 fatal unless this variable is set.
6167 \*(BO If this variable is set then the editor is started automatically
6168 when a message is composed in interactive mode, as if the
6174 variable is implied for this automatically spawned editor session.
6178 \*(BO When a message is edited while being composed,
6179 its header is included in the editable text.
6189 fields are accepted within the header, other fields are ignored.
6193 \*(BO When entering interactive mode \*(UA normally writes
6194 .Dq \&No mail for user
6195 and exits immediately if a mailbox is empty or doesn't exist.
6196 If this option is set \*(UA starts even with an empty or nonexistent
6197 mailbox (the latter behaviour furtherly depends upon
6203 Suggestion for the MIME encoding to use in outgoing text messages
6205 Valid values are the default
6206 .Ql quoted-printable ,
6211 may cause problems when transferring mail messages over channels that
6212 are not ESMTP (RFC 1869) compliant.
6213 If there is no need to encode a message,
6215 transfer mode is always used regardless of this variable.
6216 Binary data is always encoded as
6221 If defined, the first character of this option
6222 gives the character to use in place of
6225 .Sx "TILDE ESCAPES" .
6229 If not set then file and command pipeline targets are not allowed,
6230 and any such address will be filtered out, giving a warning message.
6231 If set without a value then all possible recipient address
6232 specifications will be accepted \(en see the section
6233 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode"
6235 To accept them, but only in interactive mode, or when tilde commands
6236 were enabled explicitly by using one of the command line options
6240 set this to the (case-insensitive) value
6242 (note right now this is actually like setting
6243 .Ql restrict,-all,+name,+addr ) .
6245 In fact the value is interpreted as a comma-separated list of values.
6248 then the existence of disallowed specifications is treated as a hard
6249 send error instead of only filtering them out.
6250 The remaining values specify whether a specific type of recipient
6251 address specification is allowed (optionally indicated by a plus sign
6253 prefix) or disallowed (prefixed with a hyphen
6257 addresses all possible address specifications,
6261 command pipeline targets,
6263 plain user names and (MTA) aliases (\*(OB
6265 may be used as an alternative syntax to
6270 These kind of values are interpreted in the given order, so that
6271 .Ql restrict,\:fail,\:+file,\:-all,\:+addr
6272 will cause hard errors for any non-network address recipient address
6273 unless \*(UA is in interactive mode or has been started with the
6277 command line option; in the latter case(s) any address may be used, then.
6281 Unless this variable is set additional
6283 (Mail-Transfer-Agent)
6284 arguments from the command line, as can be given after a
6286 separator, are ignored due to safety reasons.
6287 However, if set to the special (case-insensitive) value
6289 then the presence of additional MTA arguments is treated as a hard
6290 error that causes \*(UA to exit with failure status.
6291 A lesser strict variant is the otherwise identical
6293 which does accept such arguments in interactive mode, or if tilde
6294 commands were enabled explicitly by using one of the command line options
6301 \*(RO String giving a list of features \*(UA, preceded with a plus-sign
6303 if the feature is available, and a minus-sign
6306 The output of the command
6308 will include this information.
6312 \*(BO This option reverses the meanings of a set of reply commands,
6313 turning the lowercase variants, which by default address all recipients
6314 included in the header of a message
6315 .Pf ( Ic reply , respond , followup )
6316 into the uppercase variants, which by default address the sender only
6317 .Pf ( Ic Reply , Respond , Followup )
6320 .Ic replysender , respondsender , followupsender
6322 .Ic replyall , respondall , followupall
6323 are not affected by the current setting of
6328 .It Va file-hook-load-EXTENSION , file-hook-save-EXTENSION
6329 It is possible to install file hooks which will be used by the
6331 command in order to be able to transparently handle (through an
6332 intermediate temporary file) files with specific
6334 s: the variable values can include shell snippets and are expected to
6335 write data to standard output / read data from standard input,
6337 \*(ID The variables may not be changed while there is a mailbox
6339 .Bd -literal -offset indent
6340 set file-hook-load-xy='echo >&2 XY-LOAD; gzip -cd' \e
6341 file-hook-save-xy='echo >&2 XY-SAVE; gzip -c' \e
6342 record=+null-sent.xy
6347 The default path under which mailboxes are to be saved:
6348 file names that begin with the plus-sign
6350 will be expanded by prefixing them with the value of this variable.
6351 The same special syntax conventions as documented for the
6353 command may be used; if the non-empty value doesn't start with a solidus
6357 will be prefixed automatically.
6358 If unset or the empty string any
6360 prefixing file names will remain unexpanded.
6364 This variable can be set to the name of a
6366 macro which will be called whenever a
6369 The macro will also be invoked when new mail arrives,
6370 but message lists for commands executed from the macro
6371 only include newly arrived messages then.
6373 are activated by default in a folder hook, causing the covered settings
6374 to be reverted once the folder is left again.
6377 Macro behaviour, including option localization, will change in v15.
6378 Please be aware of that and possibly embed a version check in a resource
6382 .It Va folder-hook-FOLDER
6387 Unlike other folder specifications, the fully expanded name of a folder,
6388 without metacharacters, is used to avoid ambiguities.
6389 However, if the mailbox resides under
6393 specification is tried in addition, e.g., if
6397 (and thus relative to the user's home directory) then
6398 .Pa /home/usr1/mail/sent
6400 .Ql folder-hook-/home/usr1/mail/sent
6401 first, but then followed by
6402 .Ql folder-hook-+sent .
6406 \*(BO Controls whether a
6407 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
6408 header is generated when sending messages to known mailing lists.
6410 .Va followup-to-honour
6412 .Ic mlist , mlsubscribe , reply
6417 .It Va followup-to-honour
6419 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
6420 header is honoured when group-replying to a message via
6424 This is a quadoption; if set without a value it defaults to
6434 .It Va forward-as-attachment
6435 \*(BO Original messages are normally sent as inline text with the
6438 and only the first part of a multipart message is included.
6439 With this option messages are sent as unmodified MIME
6441 attachments with all of their parts included.
6445 The address (or a list of addresses) to put into the
6447 field of the message header, quoting RFC 5322:
6448 the author(s) of the message, that is, the mailbox(es) of the person(s)
6449 or system(s) responsible for the writing of the message.
6452 ing to messages these addresses are handled as if they were in the
6456 If the machine's hostname is not valid at the Internet (for example at
6457 a dialup machine) then either this variable or
6459 (\*(IN and with a defined SMTP protocol in
6462 adds even more fine-tuning capabilities),
6466 contains more than one address,
6469 variable is required (according to the standard RFC 5322).
6473 \*(BO When replying to or forwarding a message \*(UA normally removes
6474 the comment and name parts of email addresses.
6475 If this variable is set such stripping is not performed,
6476 and comments, names etc. are retained.
6480 The string to put before the text of a message with the
6484 .Va forward-as-attachment
6487 .Dq -------- Original Message --------
6488 if unset; No heading is put if it is set to the empty string.
6492 \*(BO Causes the header summary to be written at startup and after
6493 commands that affect the number of messages or the order of messages in
6494 the current folder; enabled by default.
6495 The command line option
6501 complements this and controls header summary display on folder changes.
6506 A format string to use for the summary of
6508 similar to the ones used for
6511 Format specifiers in the given string start with a percent character
6513 and may be followed by an optional decimal number indicating the field
6514 width \(em if that is negative, the field is to be left-aligned.
6515 Valid format specifiers are:
6518 .Bl -tag -compact -offset indent -width "_%%_"
6520 A plain percent character.
6523 a space character but for the current message
6525 for which it expands to
6529 a space character but for the current message
6531 for which it expands to
6534 \*(OP The spam score of the message, as has been classified via the
6537 Shows only a replacement character if there is no spam support.
6539 Message attribute character (status flag); the actual content can be
6543 The date when the message was received, or the date found in the
6547 variable is set (optionally to a date display format string).
6549 The indenting level in threaded mode.
6551 The address of the message sender.
6553 The message thread tree structure.
6554 (Note that this format doesn't support a field width.)
6556 The number of lines of the message, if available.
6560 The number of octets (bytes) in the message, if available.
6562 Message subject (if any).
6564 Message subject (if any) in double quotes.
6566 Message recipient flags: is the addressee of the message a known or
6567 subscribed mailing list \(en see
6572 The position in threaded/sorted order.
6576 .Ql %>\&%a\&%m\ %-18f\ %16d\ %4l/%\-5o\ %i%-s ,
6578 .Ql %>\&%a\&%m\ %20-f\ \ %16d\ %3l/%\-5o\ %i%-S
6589 .It Va headline-bidi
6590 Bidirectional text requires special treatment when displaying headers,
6591 because numbers (in dates or for file sizes etc.) will not affect the
6592 current text direction, in effect resulting in ugly line layouts when
6593 arabic or other right-to-left text is to be displayed.
6594 On the other hand only a minority of terminals is capable to correctly
6595 handle direction changes, so that user interaction is necessary for
6597 Note that extended host system support is required nonetheless, e.g.,
6598 detection of the terminal character set is one precondition;
6599 and this feature only works in an Unicode (i.e., UTF-8) locale.
6601 In general setting this variable will cause \*(UA to encapsulate text
6602 fields that may occur when displaying
6604 (and some other fields, like dynamic expansions in
6606 with special Unicode control sequences;
6607 it is possible to fine-tune the terminal support level by assigning
6609 no value (or any value other than
6614 will make \*(UA assume that the terminal is capable to properly deal
6615 with Unicode version 6.3, in which case text is embedded in a pair of
6616 U+2068 (FIRST STRONG ISOLATE) and U+2069 (POP DIRECTIONAL ISOLATE)
6618 In addition no space on the line is reserved for these characters.
6620 Weaker support is chosen by using the value
6622 (Unicode 6.3, but reserve the room of two spaces for writing the control
6623 sequences onto the line).
6628 select Unicode 1.1 support (U+200E, LEFT-TO-RIGHT MARK); the latter
6629 again reserves room for two spaces in addition.
6633 \*(OP If a line editor is available then this can be set to
6634 name the (expandable) path of the location of a permanent history file.
6637 .It Va history-gabby
6638 \*(BO\*(OP Add more entries to the history as is normally done.
6641 .It Va history-gabby-persist
6642 \*(BO\*(OP \*(UA's own MLE will not save the additional
6644 entries in persistent storage unless this variable is set.
6645 On the other hand it will not loose the knowledge of whether
6646 a persistent entry was gabby or not.
6652 \*(OP If a line editor is available this value restricts the
6653 amount of history entries that are saved into a set and valid
6655 A value of less than 0 disables this feature;
6656 note that loading and incorporation of
6658 upon program startup can also be suppressed by doing this.
6659 If unset or 0, a default value will be used.
6660 Dependent on the available line editor this will also define the
6661 number of history entries in memory;
6662 it is also editor-specific whether runtime updates of this value will
6667 \*(BO This option is used to hold messages in the system
6669 box, and it is set by default.
6673 Use this string as hostname when expanding local addresses instead of
6674 the value obtained from
6683 Note that when SMTP transport is not used (via
6685 then it is normally the responsibility of the MTA to create these
6686 fields, \*(IN in conjunction with SMTP however
6688 also influences the results:
6689 you should produce some test messages with the desired combination of
6698 \*(BO\*(OP Can be used to turn off the automatic conversion of domain
6699 names according to the rules of IDNA (internationalized domain names
6701 Since the IDNA code assumes that domain names are specified with the
6703 character set, an UTF-8 locale charset is required to represent all
6704 possible international domain names (before conversion, that is).
6708 \*(BO Ignore interrupt signals from the terminal while entering
6709 messages; instead echo them as
6711 characters and discard the current line.
6715 \*(BO Ignore end-of-file conditions
6716 .Pf ( Ql control-D )
6717 in compose mode on message input and in interactive command input.
6718 If set an interactive command input session can only be left by
6719 explicitly using one of the commands
6723 and message input in compose mode can only be terminated by entering
6726 on a line by itself or by using the
6728 .Sx "TILDE ESCAPES" ;
6730 overrides a setting of
6742 option for indenting messages,
6743 in place of the normal tabulator character
6745 which is the default.
6746 Be sure to quote the value if it contains spaces or tabs.
6750 \*(BO If set, an empty mailbox file is not removed.
6751 This may improve the interoperability with other mail user agents
6752 when using a common folder directory, and prevents malicious users
6753 from creating fake mailboxes in a world-writable spool directory.
6754 Note this only applies to local regular (MBOX) files, other mailbox
6755 types will never be removed.
6758 .It Va keep-content-length
6759 \*(BO When (editing messages and) writing
6761 mailbox files \*(UA can be told to keep the
6765 header fields that some MUAs generate by setting this variable.
6766 Since \*(UA does neither use nor update these non-standardized header
6767 fields (which in itself shows one of their conceptual problems),
6768 stripping them should increase interoperability in between MUAs that
6769 work with with same mailbox files.
6770 Note that, if this is not set but
6771 .Va writebackedited ,
6772 as below, is, a possibly performed automatic stripping of these header
6773 fields already marks the message as being modified.
6777 \*(BO When a message is saved it is usually discarded from the
6778 originating folder when \*(UA is quit.
6779 Setting this option causes all saved message to be retained.
6782 .It Va line-editor-disable
6783 \*(BO Turn off any enhanced line editing capabilities (see
6784 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor"
6788 .It Va line-editor-no-defaults
6789 \*(BO\*(OP Do not establish any default key binding.
6793 \*(BO When a message is replied to and this variable is set,
6794 it is marked as having been answered.
6795 This mark has no technical meaning in the mail system;
6796 it just causes messages to be marked in the header summary,
6797 and makes them specially addressable.
6801 \*(BO Internal development variable.
6804 .It Va message-id-disable
6805 \*(BO By setting this option the generation of
6807 can be completely suppressed, effectively leaving this task up to the
6809 (Mail-Transfer-Agent) or the SMTP server.
6810 (According to RFC 5321 your SMTP server is not required to add this
6811 field by itself, so you should ensure that it accepts messages without a
6815 .It Va message-inject-head
6816 A string to put at the beginning of each new message.
6817 The escape sequences tabulator
6824 .It Va message-inject-tail
6825 A string to put at the end of each new message.
6826 The escape sequences tabulator
6834 \*(BO Usually, when an
6836 expansion contains the sender, the sender is removed from the expansion.
6837 Setting this option suppresses these removals.
6842 option to be passed through to the
6844 (Mail-Transfer-Agent); though most of the modern MTAs no longer document
6845 this flag, no MTA is known which doesn't support it (for historical
6849 .It Va mime-allow-text-controls
6850 \*(BO When sending messages, each part of the message is MIME-inspected
6851 in order to classify the
6854 .Ql Content-Transfer-Encoding:
6857 that is required to send this part over mail transport, i.e.,
6858 a computation rather similar to what the
6860 command produces when used with the
6864 This classification however treats text files which are encoded in
6865 UTF-16 (seen for HTML files) and similar character sets as binary
6866 octet-streams, forcefully changing any
6871 .Ql application/octet-stream :
6872 If that actually happens a yet unset charset MIME parameter is set to
6874 effectively making it impossible for the receiving MUA to automatically
6875 interpret the contents of the part.
6877 If this option is set, and the data was unambiguously identified as text
6878 data at first glance (by a
6882 file extension), then the original
6884 will not be overwritten.
6887 .It Va mime-alternative-favour-rich
6888 \*(BO If this variable is set then rich MIME alternative parts (e.g.,
6889 HTML) will be preferred in favour of included plain text versions when
6890 displaying messages, provided that a handler exists which produces
6891 output that can be (re)integrated into \*(UA's normal visual display.
6892 (E.g., at the time of this writing some newsletters ship their full
6893 content only in the rich HTML part, whereas the plain text part only
6894 contains topic subjects.)
6897 .It Va mime-counter-evidence
6900 field is used to decide how to handle MIME parts.
6901 Some MUAs however don't use
6903 or a similar mechanism to correctly classify content, but simply specify
6904 .Ql application/octet-stream ,
6905 even for plain text attachments like
6907 If this variable is set then \*(UA will try to classify such MIME
6908 message parts on its own, if possible, for example via a possibly
6909 existent attachment filename.
6910 A non-empty value may also be given, in which case a number is expected,
6911 actually a carrier of bits.
6912 Creating the bit-carrying number is a simple addition:
6913 .Bd -literal -offset indent
6914 ? !echo Value should be set to $((2 + 4 + 8))
6915 Value should be set to 14
6918 .Bl -bullet -compact
6920 If bit two is set (2) then the detected
6922 content-type will be carried along with the message and be used for
6924 .Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE
6925 is responsible for the MIME part, shall that question arise;
6926 when displaying such a MIME part the part-info will indicate the
6927 overridden content-type by showing a plus-sign
6930 If bit three is set (4) then the counter-evidence is always produced
6931 and a positive result will be used as the MIME type, even forcefully
6932 overriding the parts given MIME type.
6934 If bit four is set (8) then as a last resort the actual content of
6935 .Ql application/octet-stream
6936 parts will be inspected, so that data which looks like plain text can be
6941 .It Va mimetypes-load-control
6942 This option can be used to control which of the
6944 databases are loaded by \*(UA, as furtherly described in the section
6945 .Sx "The mime.types files" .
6948 is part of the option value, then the user's personal
6950 file will be loaded (if it exists); likewise the letter
6952 controls loading of the system wide
6953 .Pa /etc/mime.types ;
6954 directives found in the user file take precedence, letter matching is
6956 If this option is not set \*(UA will try to load both files.
6957 Incorporation of the \*(UA-builtin MIME types cannot be suppressed,
6958 but they will be matched last.
6960 More sources can be specified by using a different syntax: if the
6961 value string contains an equals sign
6963 then it is instead parsed as a comma-separated list of the described
6966 pairs; the given filenames will be expanded and loaded, and their
6967 content may use the extended syntax that is described in the section
6968 .Sx "The mime.types files" .
6969 Directives found in such files always take precedence (are prepended to
6970 the MIME type cache).
6975 To choose an alternate Mail-Transfer-Agent, set this option to either
6976 the full pathname of an executable (optionally prefixed with a
6978 protocol indicator), or \*(OPally a SMTP protocol URL, e.g., \*(IN
6980 .Dl smtps?://[user[:password]@]server[:port]
6983 .Ql [smtp://]server[:port] . )
6984 The default has been chosen at compie time.
6985 All supported data transfers are executed in child processes, which
6986 run asynchronously, and without supervision, unless either the
6991 If such a child receives a TERM signal, it will abort and
6998 For a file-based MTA it may be necessary to set
7000 in in order to choose the right target of a modern
7003 It will be passed command line arguments from several possible sources:
7006 if set, from the command line if given and the variable
7009 Argument processing of the MTA will be terminated with a
7014 The otherwise occurring implicit usage of the following MTA command
7015 line arguments can be disabled by setting the boolean option
7016 .Va mta-no-default-arguments
7017 (which will also disable passing
7021 (for not treating a line with only a dot
7023 character as the end of input),
7031 option is set); in conjunction with the
7033 command line option \*(UA will also pass
7039 \*(OP \*(UA can send mail over SMTP network connections to a single
7040 defined SMTP smarthost, the access URL of which has to be assigned to
7042 To use this mode it is helpful to read
7043 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" .
7044 It may be necessary to set the
7046 variable in order to use a specific combination of
7051 with some mail providers.
7054 .Bl -bullet -compact
7056 The plain SMTP protocol (RFC 5321) that normally lives on the
7057 server port 25 and requires setting the
7058 .Va smtp-use-starttls
7059 variable to enter a SSL/TLS encrypted session state.
7060 Assign a value like \*(IN
7061 .Ql smtp://[user[:password]@]server[:port]
7063 .Ql smtp://server[:port] )
7064 to choose this protocol.
7066 The so-called SMTPS which is supposed to live on server port 465
7067 and is automatically SSL/TLS secured.
7068 Unfortunately it never became a standardized protocol and may thus not
7069 be supported by your hosts network service database
7070 \(en in fact the port number has already been reassigned to other
7073 SMTPS is nonetheless a commonly offered protocol and thus can be
7074 chosen by assigning a value like \*(IN
7075 .Ql smtps://[user[:password]@]server[:port]
7077 .Ql smtps://server[:port] ) ;
7078 due to the mentioned problems it is usually necessary to explicitly
7083 Finally there is the SUBMISSION protocol (RFC 6409), which usually
7084 lives on server port 587 and is practically identically to the SMTP
7085 protocol from \*(UA's point of view beside that; it requires setting the
7086 .Va smtp-use-starttls
7087 variable to enter a SSL/TLS secured session state.
7088 Assign a value like \*(IN
7089 .Ql submission://[user[:password]@]server[:port]
7091 .Ql submission://server[:port] ) .
7096 .It Va mta-arguments
7097 Arguments to pass through to a file-based
7099 can be given via this variable, the content of which will be split up in
7100 a vector of arguments, to be joined onto other possible MTA options:
7102 .Dl set mta-arguments='-t -X \&"/tmp/my log\&"'
7105 .It Va mta-no-default-arguments
7106 \*(BO Unless this option is set \*(UA will pass some well known
7107 standard command line options to a file-based
7109 (Mail-Transfer-Agent), see there for more.
7113 Many systems use a so-called
7115 environment to ensure compatibility with
7117 This works by inspecting the name that was used to invoke the mail
7119 If this variable is set then the mailwrapper (the program that is
7120 actually executed when calling the file-based
7122 will treat its contents as that name.
7127 .It Va NAIL_EXTRA_RC
7128 The name of an optional startup file to be read last.
7129 This variable has an effect only if it is set in any of the
7130 .Sx "Resource files" ,
7131 it is not imported from the environment.
7132 Use this file for commands that are not understood by other POSIX
7137 .It Va netrc-lookup-USER@HOST , netrc-lookup-HOST , netrc-lookup
7138 \*(BO\*(IN\*(OP Used to control usage of the users
7140 file for lookup of account credentials, as documented in the section
7141 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup"
7145 .Sx "The .netrc file"
7146 documents the file format.
7158 then \*(UA will read the output of a shell pipe instead of the users
7160 file if this variable is set (to the desired shell command).
7161 This can be used to, e.g., store
7165 .Dl set netrc-pipe='gpg -qd ~/.netrc.pgp'
7169 If this variable has the value
7171 newly created local folders will be in Maildir format.
7175 Checks for new mail in the current folder each time the prompt is shown.
7176 A Maildir folder must be re-scanned to determine if new mail has arrived.
7177 If this variable is set to the special value
7179 then a Maildir folder will not be rescanned completely, but only
7180 timestamp changes are detected.
7184 .It Va on-compose-enter , on-compose-leave
7185 \*(ID Macro hooks which will be executed before compose mode is
7186 entered, and after composing has been finished, respectively.
7187 Please note that this interface is very likely to change in v15, and
7188 should therefore possibly even be seen as experimental.
7190 are by default enabled for these hooks, causing any setting to be
7191 forgotten after the message has been sent.
7192 The following variables will be set temporarily during execution of the
7195 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Va compose_subject"
7198 .It Va compose-sender
7200 .It Va compose-to , compose-cc , compose-bcc
7201 The list of receiver addresses as a space-separated list.
7202 .It Va compose-subject
7208 \*(BO Causes the filename given in the
7211 and the sender-based filenames for the
7215 commands to be interpreted relative to the directory given in the
7217 variable rather than to the current directory,
7218 unless it is set to an absolute pathname.
7222 \*(BO If set, each message feed through the command given for
7224 is followed by a formfeed character
7228 .It Va password-USER@HOST , password-HOST , password
7229 \*(IN Variable chain that sets a password, which is used in case none has
7230 been given in the protocol and account-specific URL;
7231 as a last resort \*(UA will ask for a password on the user's terminal if
7232 the authentication method requires a password.
7233 Specifying passwords in a startup file is generally a security risk;
7234 the file should be readable by the invoking user only.
7236 .It Va password-USER@HOST
7237 \*(OU (see the chain above for \*(IN)
7238 Set the password for
7242 If no such variable is defined for a host,
7243 the user will be asked for a password on standard input.
7244 Specifying passwords in a startup file is generally a security risk;
7245 the file should be readable by the invoking user only.
7249 \*(BO Send messages to the
7251 command without performing MIME and character set conversions.
7255 .It Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE
7256 When a MIME message part of type
7258 (case-insensitive) is displayed or quoted,
7259 its text is filtered through the value of this variable interpreted as
7263 forces interpretation of the message part as plain text, e.g.,
7264 .Ql set pipe-application/xml=@
7265 will henceforth display XML
7267 (The same could also be achieved by adding a MIME type marker with the
7270 And \*(OPally MIME type handlers may be defined via
7271 .Sx "The Mailcap files"
7272 \(em corresponding flag strings are shown in parenthesis below.)
7277 can in fact be used to adjust usage and behaviour of a following shell
7278 command specification by appending trigger characters to it, e.g., the
7279 following hypothetical command specification could be used:
7280 .Bd -literal -offset indent
7281 set pipe-X/Y='@*!++=@vim ${NAIL_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}'
7285 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql __"
7287 Simply by using the special
7289 prefix the MIME type (shell command) handler will only be invoked to
7290 display or convert the MIME part if the message is addressed directly
7291 and alone by itself.
7292 Use this trigger to disable this and always invoke the handler
7293 .Pf ( Cd x-mailx-always ) .
7296 If set the handler will not be invoked when a message is to be quoted,
7297 but only when it will be displayed
7298 .Pf ( Cd x-mailx-noquote ) .
7301 The command will be run asynchronously, i.e., without blocking \*(UA,
7302 which may be a handy way to display a, e.g., PDF file while also
7303 continuing to read the mail message
7304 .Pf ( Cd x-mailx-async ) .
7305 Asynchronous execution implies
7309 The command must be run on an interactive terminal, \*(UA will
7310 temporarily release the terminal to it
7311 .Pf ( Cd needsterminal ) .
7312 This flag is mutual exclusive with
7314 will only be used in interactive mode and implies
7318 Request creation of a zero-sized temporary file, the absolute pathname
7319 of which will be made accessible via the environment variable
7320 .Ev NAIL_FILENAME_TEMPORARY
7321 .Pf ( Cd x-mailx-tmpfile ) .
7322 If this trigger is given twice then the file will be unlinked
7323 automatically by \*(UA when the command loop is entered again at latest
7324 .Pf ( Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink ) .
7325 (Don't use this for asynchronous handlers.)
7328 Normally the MIME part content is passed to the handler via standard
7329 input; if this flag is set then the data will instead be written into
7330 .Ev NAIL_FILENAME_TEMPORARY
7331 .Pf ( Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-fill ) ,
7332 the creation of which is implied; note however that in order to cause
7333 deletion of the temporary file you still have to use two plus signs
7338 To avoid ambiguities with normal shell command content you can use
7339 another at-sign to forcefully terminate interpretation of remaining
7341 (Any character not in this list will have the same effect.)
7345 Some information about the MIME part to be displayed is embedded into
7346 the environment of the shell command:
7349 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ev _AIL__ILENAME__ENERATED"
7352 The MIME content-type of the part, if known, the empty string otherwise.
7355 .It Ev NAIL_CONTENT_EVIDENCE
7357 .Va mime-counter-evidence
7358 includes the carry-around-bit (2), then this will be set to the detected
7359 MIME content-type; not only then identical to
7360 .Ev \&\&NAIL_CONTENT
7364 .It Ev NAIL_FILENAME
7365 The filename, if any is set, the empty string otherwise.
7368 .It Ev NAIL_FILENAME_GENERATED
7372 .It Ev NAIL_FILENAME_TEMPORARY
7373 If temporary file creation has been requested through the command prefix
7374 this variable will be set and contain the absolute pathname of the
7379 The temporary directory that \*(UA uses.
7380 Usually identical to
7382 but guaranteed to be set and usable by child processes;
7383 to ensure the latter condition for
7390 .It Va pipe-EXTENSION
7391 This is identical to
7392 .Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE
7395 (normalized to lowercase using character mappings of the ASCII charset)
7396 names a file extension, e.g.,
7398 Handlers registered using this method take precedence.
7401 .It Va pop3-auth-USER@HOST , pop3-auth-HOST , pop3-auth
7402 \*(OP\*(IN Variable chain that sets the POP3 authentication method.
7403 The only possible value as of now is
7405 which is thus the default.
7408 .Mx Va pop3-bulk-load
7409 .It Va pop3-bulk-load-USER@HOST , pop3-bulk-load-HOST , pop3-bulk-load
7410 \*(BO\*(OP When accessing a POP3 server \*(UA loads the headers of
7411 the messages, and only requests the message bodies on user request.
7412 For the POP3 protocol this means that the message headers will be
7414 If this option is set then \*(UA will download only complete messages
7415 from the given POP3 server(s) instead.
7417 .Mx Va pop3-keepalive
7418 .It Va pop3-keepalive-USER@HOST , pop3-keepalive-HOST , pop3-keepalive
7419 \*(OP POP3 servers close the connection after a period of inactivity;
7420 the standard requires this to be at least 10 minutes,
7421 but practical experience may vary.
7422 Setting this variable to a numeric value greater than
7426 command to be sent each value seconds if no other operation is performed.
7429 .It Va pop3-no-apop-USER@HOST , pop3-no-apop-HOST , pop3-no-apop
7430 \*(BO\*(OP Unless this variable is set the
7432 authentication method will be used when connecting to a POP3 server that
7436 is that the password is not sent in clear text over the wire and that
7437 only a single packet is sent for the user/password tuple.
7439 .Va pop3-no-apop-HOST
7442 .Mx Va pop3-use-starttls
7443 .It Va pop3-use-starttls-USER@HOST , pop3-use-starttls-HOST , pop3-use-starttls
7444 \*(BO\*(OP Causes \*(UA to issue a
7446 command to make an unencrypted POP3 session SSL/TLS encrypted.
7447 This functionality is not supported by all servers,
7448 and is not used if the session is already encrypted by the POP3S method.
7450 .Va pop3-use-starttls-HOST
7454 .It Va print-alternatives
7455 \*(BO When a MIME message part of type
7456 .Ql multipart/alternative
7457 is displayed and it contains a subpart of type
7459 other parts are normally discarded.
7460 Setting this variable causes all subparts to be displayed,
7461 just as if the surrounding part was of type
7462 .Ql multipart/mixed .
7466 The string shown when a command is accepted.
7467 Prompting may be prevented by setting this to the null string
7469 .Pf no Va prompt ) .
7470 If a value is assigned the following \*(UA specific additional sequences
7477 is set, in which case it expands to
7481 is the default value of
7484 which will expand to
7486 if the last command failed and to
7490 which will expand to the name of the currently active
7492 if any, and to the empty string otherwise, and
7494 which will expand to the name of the currently active mailbox.
7495 (Note that the prompt buffer is size-limited, excess is cut off.)
7501 to encapsulate the expansions of the
7505 escape sequences as necessary to correctly display bidirectional text,
7506 this is not true for the final string that makes up
7508 as such, i.e., real BIDI handling is not supported.
7512 \*(BO Suppresses the printing of the version when first invoked.
7516 If set, \*(UA starts a replying message with the original message
7517 prefixed by the value of the variable
7519 Normally, a heading consisting of
7520 .Dq Fromheaderfield wrote:
7521 is put before the quotation.
7526 variable, this heading is omitted.
7529 is assigned, the headers selected by the
7530 .Ic ignore Ns / Ns Ic retain
7531 commands are put above the message body,
7534 acts like an automatic
7540 is assigned, all headers are put above the message body and all MIME
7541 parts are included, making
7543 act like an automatic
7546 .Va quote-as-attachment .
7549 .It Va quote-as-attachment
7550 \*(BO Add the original message in its entirety as a
7552 MIME attachment when replying to a message.
7553 Note this works regardless of the setting of
7558 \*(OP Can be set in addition to
7560 Setting this turns on a more fancy quotation algorithm in that leading
7561 quotation characters are compressed and overlong lines are folded.
7563 can be set to either one or two (space separated) numeric values,
7564 which are interpreted as the maximum (goal) and the minimum line length,
7565 respectively, in a spirit rather equal to the
7567 program, but line-, not paragraph-based.
7568 If not set explicitly the minimum will reflect the goal algorithmically.
7569 The goal can't be smaller than the length of
7571 plus some additional pad.
7572 Necessary adjustments take place silently.
7575 .It Va recipients-in-cc
7576 \*(BO On group replies, specify only the sender of the original mail in
7578 and mention the other recipients in the secondary
7580 By default all recipients of the original mail will be addressed via
7585 If defined, gives the pathname of the folder used to record all outgoing
7587 If not defined, then outgoing mail is not saved.
7588 When saving to this folder fails the message is not sent,
7589 but instead saved to
7593 .It Va record-resent
7594 \*(BO If both this variable and the
7601 commands save messages to the
7603 folder as it is normally only done for newly composed messages.
7606 .It Va reply-in-same-charset
7607 \*(BO If this variable is set \*(UA first tries to use the same
7608 character set of the original message for replies.
7609 If this fails, the mechanism described in
7610 .Sx "Character sets"
7611 is evaluated as usual.
7614 .It Va reply_strings
7615 Can be set to a comma-separated list of (case-insensitive according to
7616 ASCII rules) strings which shall be recognized in addition to the
7619 reply message indicators \(en builtin are
7621 which is mandated by RFC 5322, as well as the german
7626 A list of addresses to put into the
7628 field of the message header.
7629 Members of this list are handled as if they were in the
7634 .It Va reply-to-honour
7637 header is honoured when replying to a message via
7641 This is a quadoption; if set without a value it defaults to
7645 .It Va rfc822-body-from_
7646 \*(BO This variable can be used to force displaying a so-called
7648 line for messages that are embedded into an envelope mail via the
7650 MIME mechanism, for more visual convenience.
7654 \*(BO Enable saving of (partial) messages in
7656 upon interrupt or delivery error.
7660 The number of lines that represents a
7669 line display and scrolling via
7671 If this variable is not set \*(UA falls back to a calculation based upon
7672 the detected terminal window size and the baud rate: the faster the
7673 terminal, the more will be shown.
7674 Overall screen dimensions and pager usage is influenced by the
7675 environment variables
7683 .It Va searchheaders
7684 \*(BO Expand message-list specifiers in the form
7686 to all messages containing the substring
7690 The string search is case insensitive.
7694 \*(OP A comma-separated list of character set names that can be used in
7695 outgoing internet mail.
7696 The value of the variable
7698 is automatically appended to this list of character-sets.
7699 If no character set conversion capabilities are compiled into \*(UA then
7700 the only supported charset is
7703 .Va sendcharsets-else-ttycharset
7704 and refer to the section
7705 .Sx "Character sets"
7706 for the complete picture of character set conversion in \*(UA.
7709 .It Va sendcharsets-else-ttycharset
7710 \*(BO\*(OP If this variable is set, but
7712 is not, then \*(UA acts as if
7714 had been set to the value of the variable
7716 In effect this combination passes through the message data in the
7717 character set of the current locale (given that
7719 hasn't been set manually), i.e., without converting it to the
7721 fallback character set.
7722 Thus, mail message text will be in ISO-8859-1 encoding when send from
7723 within a ISO-8859-1 locale, and in UTF-8 encoding when send from within
7725 If no character set conversion capabilities are available in \*(UA then
7726 the only supported character set is
7731 An address that is put into the
7733 field of outgoing messages, quoting RFC 5322: the mailbox of the agent
7734 responsible for the actual transmission of the message.
7735 This field should normally not be used unless the
7737 field contains more than one address, on which case it is required.
7740 address is handled as if it were in the
7746 \*(OB Predecessor of
7750 .It Va sendmail-arguments
7751 \*(OB Predecessor of
7755 .It Va sendmail-no-default-arguments
7756 \*(OB\*(BO Predecessor of
7757 .Va mta-no-default-arguments .
7760 .It Va sendmail-progname
7761 \*(OB Predecessor of
7766 \*(BO When sending a message wait until the
7768 (including the builtin SMTP one) exits before accepting further commands.
7770 with this variable set errors reported by the MTA will be recognizable!
7771 If the MTA returns a non-zero exit status,
7772 the exit status of \*(UA will also be non-zero.
7776 \*(BO Setting this option causes \*(UA to start at the last message
7777 instead of the first one when opening a mail folder.
7781 \*(BO Causes \*(UA to use the sender's real name instead of the plain
7782 address in the header field summary and in message specifications.
7786 \*(BO Causes the recipient of the message to be shown in the header
7787 summary if the message was sent by the user.
7791 A string for use with the
7797 A string for use with the
7803 Must correspond to the name of a readable file if set.
7804 The file's content is then appended to each singlepart message
7805 and to the first part of each multipart message.
7806 Be warned that there is no possibility to edit the signature for an
7810 .It Va skipemptybody
7811 \*(BO If an outgoing message does not contain any text in its first or
7812 only message part, do not send it but discard it silently (see also the
7818 \*(OP Specifies a directory with CA certificates in PEM (Privacy
7819 Enhanced Mail) format for verification of S/MIME signed messages.
7822 .It Va smime-ca-file
7823 \*(OP Specifies a file with CA certificates in PEM format for
7824 verification of S/MIME signed messages.
7827 .It Va smime-cipher-USER@HOST , smime-cipher
7828 \*(OP Specifies the cipher to use when generating S/MIME encrypted
7829 messages (for the specified account).
7830 RFC 5751 mandates a default of
7833 Possible values are (case-insensitive and) in decreasing cipher strength:
7841 (DES EDE3 CBC, 168 bits; default if
7843 isn't available) and
7847 The actually available cipher algorithms depend on the cryptographic
7848 library that \*(UA uses.
7849 \*(OP Support for more cipher algorithms may be available through
7850 dynamic loading via, e.g.,
7851 .Xr EVP_get_cipherbyname 3
7852 (OpenSSL) if \*(UA has been compiled to support this.
7855 .It Va smime-crl-dir
7856 \*(OP Specifies a directory that contains files with CRLs in PEM format
7857 to use when verifying S/MIME messages.
7860 .It Va smime-crl-file
7861 \*(OP Specifies a file that contains a CRL in PEM format to use when
7862 verifying S/MIME messages.
7865 .It Va smime-encrypt-USER@HOST
7866 \*(OP If this variable is set, messages send to the given receiver are
7867 encrypted before sending.
7868 The value of the variable must be set to the name of a file that
7869 contains a certificate in PEM format.
7871 If a message is sent to multiple recipients,
7872 each of them for whom a corresponding variable is set will receive an
7873 individually encrypted message;
7874 other recipients will continue to receive the message in plain text
7876 .Va smime-force-encryption
7878 It is recommended to sign encrypted messages, i.e., to also set the
7883 .It Va smime-force-encryption
7884 \*(BO\*(OP Causes \*(UA to refuse sending unencrypted messages.
7887 .It Va smime-no-default-ca
7888 \*(BO\*(OP Don't load default CA locations when verifying S/MIME signed
7893 \*(BO\*(OP S/MIME sign outgoing messages with the user's private key
7894 and include the user's certificate as a MIME attachment.
7895 Signing a message enables a recipient to verify that the sender used
7896 a valid certificate,
7897 that the email addresses in the certificate match those in the message
7898 header and that the message content has not been altered.
7899 It does not change the message text,
7900 and people will be able to read the message as usual.
7902 .Va smime-sign-cert , smime-sign-include-certs
7904 .Va smime-sign-message-digest .
7906 .Mx Va smime-sign-cert
7907 .It Va smime-sign-cert-USER@HOST , smime-sign-cert
7908 \*(OP Points to a file in PEM format.
7909 For the purpose of signing and decryption this file needs to contain the
7910 user's private key as well as his certificate.
7914 is always derived from the value of
7916 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
7918 For the purpose of encryption the recipient's public encryption key
7919 (certificate) is expected; the command
7921 can be used to save certificates of signed messages (the section
7922 .Sx "Signed and encrypted messages with S/MIME"
7923 gives some details).
7924 This mode of operation is usually driven by the specialized form.
7926 When decrypting messages the account is derived from the recipient
7931 of the message, which are searched for addresses for which such
7933 \*(UA always uses the first address that matches,
7934 so if the same message is sent to more than one of the user's addresses
7935 using different encryption keys, decryption might fail.
7937 .Mx Va smime-sign-include-certs
7938 .It Va smime-sign-include-certs-USER@HOST , smime-sign-include-certs
7939 \*(OP If used, this is supposed to a consist of a comma-separated list
7940 of files, each of which containing a single certificate in PEM format to
7941 be included in the S/MIME message in addition to the
7944 This is most useful for long certificate chains if it is desired to aid
7945 the receiving party's verification process.
7946 Note that top level certificates may also be included in the chain but
7947 don't play a role for verification.
7949 .Va smime-sign-cert .
7950 Remember that for this
7952 refers to the variable
7954 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
7957 .Mx Va smime-sign-message-digest
7958 .It Va smime-sign-message-digest-USER@HOST , smime-sign-message-digest
7959 \*(OP Specifies the message digest to use when signing S/MIME messages.
7960 RFC 5751 mandates a default of
7962 Possible values are (case-insensitive and) in decreasing cipher strength:
7970 The actually available message digest algorithms depend on the
7971 cryptographic library that \*(UA uses.
7972 \*(OP Support for more message digest algorithms may be available
7973 through dynamic loading via, e.g.,
7974 .Xr EVP_get_digestbyname 3
7975 (OpenSSL) if \*(UA has been compiled to support this.
7976 Remember that for this
7978 refers to the variable
7980 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
7985 \*(OB\*(OP To use the builtin SMTP transport, specify a SMTP URL in
7987 \*(ID For compatibility reasons a set
7989 is used in preference of
7993 .It Va smtp-auth-USER@HOST , smtp-auth-HOST , smtp-auth
7994 \*(OP Variable chain that controls the SMTP
7996 authentication method, possible values are
8002 as well as the \*(OPal methods
8008 method doesn't need any user credentials,
8010 requires a user name and all other methods require a user name and
8018 .Va smtp-auth-password
8020 .Va smtp-auth-user ) .
8025 .Va smtp-auth-USER@HOST :
8026 may override dependent on sender address in the variable
8029 .It Va smtp-auth-password
8030 \*(OP\*(OU Sets the global fallback password for SMTP authentication.
8031 If the authentication method requires a password, but neither
8032 .Va smtp-auth-password
8034 .Va smtp-auth-password-USER@HOST
8036 \*(UA will ask for a password on the user's terminal.
8038 .It Va smtp-auth-password-USER@HOST
8040 .Va smtp-auth-password
8041 for specific values of sender addresses, dependent upon the variable
8044 .It Va smtp-auth-user
8045 \*(OP\*(OU Sets the global fallback user name for SMTP authentication.
8046 If the authentication method requires a user name, but neither
8049 .Va smtp-auth-user-USER@HOST
8051 \*(UA will ask for a user name on the user's terminal.
8053 .It Va smtp-auth-user-USER@HOST
8056 for specific values of sender addresses, dependent upon the variable
8060 .It Va smtp-hostname
8061 \*(OP\*(IN Normally \*(UA uses the variable
8063 to derive the necessary
8065 information in order to issue a
8072 can be used to use the
8074 from the SMTP account
8081 from the content of this variable (or, if that is the empty string,
8083 or the local hostname as a last resort).
8084 This often allows using an address that is itself valid but hosted by
8085 a provider other than which (in
8087 is about to send the message.
8088 Setting this variable also influences the generated
8091 .Mx Va smtp-use-starttls
8092 .It Va smtp-use-starttls-USER@HOST , smtp-use-starttls-HOST , smtp-use-starttls
8093 \*(BO\*(OP Causes \*(UA to issue a
8095 command to make an SMTP
8097 session SSL/TLS encrypted, i.e., to enable transport layer security.
8101 .It Va spam-interface
8102 \*(OP In order to use any of the spam-related commands (like, e.g.,
8104 the desired spam interface must be defined by setting this variable.
8105 Please refer to the manual section
8107 for the complete picture of spam handling in \*(UA.
8108 All or none of the following interfaces may be available:
8110 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ql _ilte_"
8116 .Pf ( Lk http://spamassassin.apache.org SpamAssassin )
8118 Different to the generic filter interface \*(UA will automatically add
8119 the correct arguments for a given command and has the necessary
8120 knowledge to parse the program's output.
8123 will have been compiled into the \*(UA binary if
8128 Shall it be necessary to define a specific connection type (rather than
8129 using a configuration file for that), the variable
8131 can be used as in, e.g.,
8132 .Ql -d server.example.com -p 783 .
8133 It is also possible to specify a per-user configuration via
8135 Note that this interface doesn't inspect the
8137 flag of a message for the command
8141 generic spam filter support via freely configurable hooks.
8142 This interface is meant for programs like
8144 and requires according behaviour in respect to the hooks' exit
8145 status for at least the command
8148 meaning a message is spam,
8152 for unsure and any other return value indicating a hard error);
8153 since the hooks can include shell code snippets diverting behaviour
8154 can be intercepted as necessary.
8156 .Va spamfilter-ham , spamfilter-noham , spamfilter-nospam , \
8159 .Va spamfilter-spam ;
8162 contains examples for some programs.
8163 The process environment of the hooks will have the variables
8164 .Ev NAIL_TMPDIR , TMPDIR
8166 .Ev NAIL_FILENAME_GENERATED
8168 Note that spam score support for
8170 isn't supported unless the \*(OPtional regular expression support is
8172 .Va spamfilter-rate-scanscore
8179 \*(OP Messages that exceed this size won't be passed through to the
8181 .Va spam-interface .
8182 If unset or 0, the default of 420000 bytes is used.
8185 .It Va spamc-command
8186 \*(OP The path to the
8190 .Va spam-interface .
8191 Note that the path is not expanded, but used
8193 A fallback path will have been compiled into the \*(UA binary if the
8194 executable had been found during compilation.
8197 .It Va spamc-arguments
8198 \*(OP Even though \*(UA deals with most arguments for the
8201 automatically, it may at least sometimes be desirable to specify
8202 connection-related ones via this variable, e.g.,
8203 .Ql -d server.example.com -p 783 .
8207 \*(OP Specify a username for per-user configuration files for the
8209 .Va spam-interface .
8210 If this is set to the empty string then \*(UA will use the name of the
8219 .It Va spamfilter-ham , spamfilter-noham , \
8220 spamfilter-nospam , spamfilter-rate , spamfilter-spam
8221 \*(OP Command and argument hooks for the
8223 .Va spam-interface .
8226 contains examples for some programs.
8229 .It Va spamfilter-rate-scanscore
8230 \*(OP Because of the generic nature of the
8233 spam scores are not supported for it by default, but if the \*(OPtional
8234 regular expression support is available then setting this variable can
8235 be used to overcome this restriction.
8236 It is interpreted as follows: first a number (digits) is parsed that
8237 must be followed by a semicolon
8239 and an extended regular expression.
8240 Then the latter is used to parse the first output line of the
8242 hook, and, in case the evaluation is successful, the group that has been
8243 specified via the number is interpreted as a floating point scan score.
8247 \*(OP Specifies a directory with CA certificates in PEM (Pricacy
8248 Enhanced Mail) for verification of of SSL/TLS server certificates.
8250 .Xr SSL_CTX_load_verify_locations 3
8251 for more information.
8255 \*(OP Specifies a file with CA certificates in PEM format for
8256 verification of SSL/TLS server certificates.
8258 .Xr SSL_CTX_load_verify_locations 3
8259 for more information.
8262 .It Va ssl-cert-USER@HOST , ssl-cert-HOST , ssl-cert
8263 \*(OP Variable chain that sets the file name for a SSL/TLS client
8264 certificate required by some servers.
8265 This is a direct interface to the
8269 function of the OpenSSL library, if available.
8271 .Mx Va ssl-cipher-list
8272 .It Va ssl-cipher-list-USER@HOST , ssl-cipher-list-HOST , ssl-cipher-list
8273 \*(OP Specifies a list of ciphers for SSL/TLS connections.
8274 This is a direct interface to the
8278 function of the OpenSSL library, if available; see
8280 for more information.
8281 By default \*(UA doesn't set a list of ciphers, which in effect will use a
8283 specific cipher (protocol standards ship with a list of acceptable
8284 ciphers), possibly cramped to what the actually used SSL/TLS library
8285 supports \(en the manual section
8286 .Sx "An example configuration"
8287 also contains a SSL/TLS use case.
8290 .It Va ssl-config-file
8291 \*(OP If this variable is set \*(UA will call
8292 .Xr CONF_modules_load_file 3
8293 to allow OpenSSL to be configured according to the host system wide
8295 If a non-empty value is given then this will be used to specify the
8296 configuration file to be used instead of the global OpenSSL default;
8297 note that in this case it is an error if the file cannot be loaded.
8298 The application name will always be passed as
8303 \*(OP Specifies a file that contains a CRL in PEM format to use when
8304 verifying SSL/TLS server certificates.
8308 \*(OP Specifies a directory that contains files with CRLs in PEM format
8309 to use when verifying SSL/TLS server certificates.
8312 .It Va ssl-key-USER@HOST , ssl-key-HOST , ssl-key
8313 \*(OP Variable chain that sets the file name for the private key of
8314 a SSL/TLS client certificate.
8315 If unset, the name of the certificate file is used.
8316 The file is expected to be in PEM format.
8317 This is a direct interface to the
8321 function of the OpenSSL library, if available.
8324 .It Va ssl-method-USER@HOST , ssl-method-HOST , ssl-method
8325 \*(OB\*(OP Please use the newer and more flexible
8327 instead: if both values are set,
8329 will take precedence!
8330 Can be set to the following values, the actually used
8332 specification to which it is mapped is shown in parenthesis:
8334 .Pf ( Ql -ALL, TLSv1.2 ) ,
8336 .Pf ( Ql -ALL, TLSv1.1 ) ,
8338 .Pf ( Ql -ALL, TLSv1 )
8341 .Pf ( Ql -ALL, SSLv3 ) ;
8346 and thus includes the SSLv3 protocol.
8347 Note that SSLv2 is no longer supported at all.
8350 .It Va ssl-no-default-ca
8351 \*(BO\*(OP Don't load default CA locations to verify SSL/TLS server
8355 .It Va ssl-protocol-USER@HOST , ssl-protocol-HOST , ssl-protocol
8356 \*(OP Specify the used SSL/TLS protocol.
8357 This is a direct interface to the
8361 function of the OpenSSL library, if available;
8362 otherwise an \*(UA internal parser is used which understands the
8363 following subset of (case-insensitive) command strings:
8369 as well as the special value
8371 Multiple specifications may be given via a comma-separated list which
8372 ignores any whitespace.
8375 plus prefix will enable a protocol, a
8377 minus prefix will disable it, so that
8379 will enable only the TLSv1.2 protocol.
8381 It depends upon the used TLS/SSL library which protocols are actually
8382 supported and which protocols are used if
8384 is not set, but note that SSLv2 is no longer supported at all and
8386 Especially for older protocols explicitly securing
8388 may be worthwile, see
8389 .Sx "An example configuration" .
8393 \*(OP Gives the pathname to an entropy daemon socket, see
8395 Not all SSL/TLS libraries support this.
8398 .It Va ssl-rand-file
8399 \*(OP Gives the filename to a file with random entropy data, see
8400 .Xr RAND_load_file 3 .
8401 If this variable is not set, or set to the empty string, or if the
8402 filename expansion failed, then
8403 .Xr RAND_file_name 3
8404 will be used to create the filename if, and only if,
8406 documents that the SSL PRNG is not yet sufficiently seeded.
8407 If \*(UA successfully seeded the SSL PRNG then it'll update the file via
8408 .Xr RAND_write_file 3 .
8409 This variable is only used if
8411 is not set (or not supported by the SSL/TLS library).
8414 .It Va ssl-verify-USER@HOST , ssl-verify-HOST , ssl-verify
8415 \*(OP Variable chain that sets the action to be performed if an error
8416 occurs during SSL/TLS server certificate validation.
8417 Valid (case-insensitive) values are
8419 (fail and close connection immediately),
8421 (ask whether to continue on standard input),
8423 (show a warning and continue),
8425 (do not perform validation).
8431 If only set without an assigned value, then this option inhibits the
8436 header fields that include obvious references to \*(UA.
8437 There are two pitfalls associated with this:
8438 First, the message id of outgoing messages is not known anymore.
8439 Second, an expert may still use the remaining information in the header
8440 to track down the originating mail user agent.
8445 suppression doesn't occur.
8450 (\*(OP) This specifies a comma-separated list of
8455 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" ,
8456 escape commas with reverse solidus) to be used to overwrite or define
8458 Note that this variable will only be queried once at program startup and
8459 can thus only be specified in resource files or on the command line.
8462 String capabilities form
8464 pairs and are expected unless noted otherwise.
8465 Numerics have to be notated as
8467 where the number is expected in normal decimal notation.
8468 Finally, booleans don't have any value but indicate a true or false
8469 state simply by being defined or not; this indeed means that \*(UA
8470 doesn't support undefining an existing boolean.
8471 String capability values will undergo some expansions before use:
8472 for one notations like
8475 .Ql control-LETTER ,
8476 and for clarification purposes
8478 can be used to specify
8480 (the control notation
8482 could lead to misreadings when a left bracket follows, which it does for
8483 the standard CSI sequence);
8484 finally three letter octal sequences, as in
8487 To specify that a terminal supports 256-colours, and to define sequences
8488 that home the cursor and produce an audible bell, one might write:
8490 .Bd -literal -offset indent
8491 set termcap='Co#256,home=\eE[H,bel=^G'
8495 The following terminal capabilities are or may be meaningful for the
8496 operation of the builtin line editor or \*(UA in general:
8499 .Bl -tag -compact -width yay
8501 .It Cd colors Ns \0or Cd Co
8503 numeric capability specifying the maximum number of colours.
8504 Note that \*(UA doesn't actually care about the terminal beside that,
8505 but always emits ANSI / ISO 6429 escape sequences.
8508 .It Cd rmcup Ns \0or Cd te Ns \0/ Cd smcup Ns \0or Cd ti
8512 respectively: exit and enter the alternative screen
8514 effectively turning \*(UA into a fullscreen application.
8515 To disable that, set (at least) one to the empty string.
8517 .It Cd smkx Ns \0or Cd ks Ns \0/ Cd rmkx Ns \0or Cd ke
8521 respectively: enable and disable the keypad.
8522 This is always enabled if available, because it seems even keyboards
8523 without keypads generate other key codes for, e.g., cursor keys in that
8524 case, and only if enabled we see the codes that we are interested in.
8526 .It Cd ed Ns \0or Cd cd
8530 .It Cd clear Ns \0or Cd cl
8532 clear the screen and home cursor.
8533 (Will be simulated via
8538 .It Cd home Ns \0or Cd ho
8543 .It Cd el Ns \0or Cd ce
8545 clear to the end of line.
8546 (Will be simulated via
8548 plus repetitions of space characters.)
8550 .It Cd hpa Ns \0or Cd ch
8551 .Cd column_address :
8552 move the cursor (to the given column parameter) in the current row.
8553 (Will be simulated via
8559 .Cd carriage_return :
8560 move to the first column in the current row.
8561 The default builtin fallback is
8564 .It Cd cub1 Ns \0or Cd le
8566 move the cursor left one space (non-destructively).
8567 The default builtin fallback is
8570 .It Cd cuf1 Ns \0or Cd nd
8572 move the cursor right one space (non-destructively).
8573 The default builtin fallback is
8575 which is used by most terminals.
8583 Many more capabilities which describe key-sequences are documented for
8587 .It Va termcap-disable
8588 \*(OP Disable any interaction with a terminal control library.
8589 If set only some generic fallback builtins and possibly the content of
8591 describe the terminal to \*(UA.
8593 that this variable will only be queried once at program startup and can
8594 thus only be specified in resource files or on the command line.
8598 If defined, gives the number of lines of a message to be displayed
8601 if unset, the first five lines are printed, if set to 0 the variable
8604 If the value is negative then its absolute value will be used for right
8607 height; (shifting bitwise is like dividing algorithmically, but since
8608 it takes away bits the value decreases pretty fast).
8612 \*(BO If set then the
8614 command series will strip adjacent empty lines and quotations.
8618 The character set of the terminal \*(UA operates on,
8619 and the one and only supported character set that \*(UA can use if no
8620 character set conversion capabilities have been compiled into it,
8621 in which case it defaults to ISO-8859-1 unless it can deduce a value
8625 Refer to the section
8626 .Sx "Character sets"
8627 for the complete picture about character sets.
8631 For a safety-by-default policy \*(UA sets its process
8635 but this variable can be used to override that:
8636 set it to an empty value to don't change the (current) setting,
8637 otherwise the process file mode creation mask is updated to the new value.
8638 Child processes inherit the process file mode creation mask.
8641 .It Va user-HOST , user
8642 \*(IN Variable chain that sets a global fallback user name, which is
8643 used in case none has been given in the protocol and account-specific
8645 This variable defaults to the name of the user who runs \*(UA.
8649 \*(BO Setting this option enables upward compatibility with \*(UA
8650 version 15.0 in respect to which configuration options are available and
8651 how they are handled.
8652 This manual uses \*(IN and \*(OU to refer to the new and the old way of
8653 doing things, respectively.
8657 \*(BO Setting this option, also controllable via the command line option
8659 causes \*(UA to be more verbose, e.g., it will display obsoletion
8660 warnings and SSL/TLS certificate chains.
8661 Even though marked \*(BO this option may be set twice in order to
8662 increase the level of verbosity even more, in which case even details of
8663 the actual message delivery and protocol conversations are shown.
8666 is sufficient to disable verbosity as such.
8672 .It Va version , version-major , version-minor , version-update
8673 \*(RO \*(UA version information: the first variable contains a string
8674 containing the complete version identification, the latter three contain
8675 only digits: the major, minor and update version numbers.
8676 The output of the command
8678 will include this information.
8681 .It Va writebackedited
8682 If this variable is set messages modified using the
8686 commands are written back to the current folder when it is quit;
8687 it is only honoured for writable folders in MBOX format, though.
8688 Note that the editor will be pointed to the raw message content in that
8689 case, i.e., neither MIME decoding nor decryption will have been
8690 performed, and proper RFC 4155
8692 quoting of newly added or edited content is also left as an excercise to
8696 .\" }}} (INTERNAL VARIABLES)
8699 .\" .Sh ENVIRONMENT {{{
8703 .Dq environment variable
8704 should be considered an indication that these variables are either
8705 standardized as vivid parts of process environments, or that they are
8706 commonly found in there.
8707 The process environment is inherited from the
8709 once \*(UA is started, and unless otherwise explicitly noted handling of
8710 the following variables transparently integrates into that of the
8711 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
8712 from \*(UA's point of view.
8713 This means that, e.g., they can be managed via
8717 causing automatic program environment updates (to be inherited by
8718 newly created child processes).
8721 In order to transparently integrate other environment variables equally
8722 they need to be imported (linked) with the command
8724 This command can also be used to set and unset non-integrated
8725 environment variables from scratch, sufficient system support provided.
8726 The following example, applicable to a POSIX shell, sets the
8728 environment variable for \*(UA only, and beforehand exports the
8730 in order to affect any further processing in the running shell:
8732 .Bd -literal -offset indent
8733 $ EDITOR="vim -u ${HOME}/.vimrc"
8735 $ COLUMNS=80 \*(uA -R
8738 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ev _AILR_"
8741 The user's preferred width in column positions for the terminal screen
8743 Queried and used once on program startup, actively managed for child
8744 processes and the MLE (see
8745 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
8746 in interactive mode thereafter.
8750 The name of the (mailbox)
8752 to use for saving aborted messages if
8754 is set; this defaults to
8761 is set no output will be generated, otherwise the contents of the file
8766 Pathname of the text editor to use in the
8770 .Sx "TILDE ESCAPES" .
8771 A default editor is used if this value is not defined.
8775 The user's home directory.
8776 This variable is only used when it resides in the process environment.
8783 .It Ev LANG , LC_ALL , LC_COLLATE , LC_CTYPE , LC_MESSAGES
8787 .Sx "Character sets" .
8791 The user's preferred number of lines on a page or the vertical screen
8792 or window size in lines.
8793 Queried and used once on program startup, actively managed for child
8794 processes in interactive mode thereafter.
8798 Pathname of the directory lister to use in the
8800 command when operating on local mailboxes.
8803 (path search through
8808 Upon startup \*(UA will actively ensure that this variable refers to the
8809 name of the user who runs \*(UA, in order to be able to pass a verified
8810 name to any newly created child process.
8814 Is used as the user's primary system mailbox, if set.
8815 Otherwise, a system-dependent default is used.
8816 Supports the special syntax conventions that are documented for the
8822 \*(OP Overrides the default path search for
8823 .Sx "The Mailcap files" ,
8824 which is defined in the standard RFC 1524 as
8825 .Ql ~/.mailcap:\:/etc/mailcap:\:/usr/etc/mailcap:\:/usr/local/etc/mailcap .
8826 .\" TODO we should have a mailcaps-default virtual RDONLY option!
8827 (\*(UA makes it a configuration option, however.)
8828 Note this is not a search path, but a path search.
8832 Is used as a startup file instead of
8835 When \*(UA scripts are invoked on behalf of other users,
8836 either this variable should be set to
8840 command line option should be used in order to avoid side-effects from
8841 reading their configuration files.
8842 This variable is only used when it resides in the process environment.
8846 The name of the user's mbox file.
8847 A logical subset of the special conventions that are documented for the
8852 The fallback default is
8857 Traditionally this secondary mailbox is used as the file to save
8858 messages from the primary system mailbox that have been read.
8860 .Sx "Message states" .
8863 .It Ev NAIL_NO_SYSTEM_RC
8864 If this variable is set then reading of
8866 at startup is inhibited, i.e., the same effect is achieved as if \*(UA
8867 had been started up with the option
8869 This variable is only used when it resides in the process environment.
8873 \*(IN\*(OP This variable overrides the default location of the user's
8879 Pathname of the program to use for backing the command
8883 variable enforces usage of a pager for output.
8884 The default paginator is
8886 (path search through
8889 \*(UA inspects the contents of this variable: if its contains the string
8891 then a non-existing environment variable
8898 dependent on whether terminal control support is available and whether
8899 that supports full (alternative) screen mode or not (also see
8900 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" ) .
8904 will optionally be set to
8911 A colon-separated list of directories that is searched by the shell when
8912 looking for commands, e.g.,
8913 .Ql /bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin .
8917 The shell to use for the commands
8923 and when starting subprocesses.
8924 A default shell is used if this option is not defined.
8927 .It Ev SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
8928 If set, this specifies a time in seconds since the Unix epoch
8929 (1970-01-01) to be used in place of the current time.
8930 This is for the sake of reproduceability of tests, to be used during
8931 development or by software packagers.
8935 \*(OP The terminal type for which output is to be prepared.
8936 For extended colour and font control please refer to
8937 .Sx "Coloured display" ,
8938 and for terminal management in general to
8939 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" .
8943 Used as directory for temporary files instead of
8946 This variable is only used when it resides in the process environment.
8952 (see there), but this variable is not standardized, should therefore not
8953 be used, and is only corrected if already set.
8957 Pathname of the text editor to use in the
8961 .Sx "TILDE ESCAPES" .
8969 .Bl -tag -width ".It Pa _etc/mime.type_"
8971 File giving initial commands.
8974 System wide initialization file.
8978 \*(OP Personal MIME type handler definition file, see
8979 .Sx "The Mailcap files" .
8980 (RFC 1524 location, the actual path is a configuration option.)
8984 \*(OP System wide MIME type handler definition file, see
8985 .Sx "The Mailcap files" .
8986 (RFC 1524 location, the actual path is a configuration option.)
8989 .It Pa ~/.mime.types
8990 Personal MIME types, see
8991 .Sx "The mime.types files" .
8994 .It Pa /etc/mime.types
8995 System wide MIME types, see
8996 .Sx "The mime.types files" .
9000 \*(IN\*(OP The default location of the users
9002 file \(en the section
9003 .Sx "The .netrc file"
9004 documents the file format.
9007 .\" .Ss "The mime.types files" {{{
9008 .Ss "The mime.types files"
9010 When sending messages \*(UA tries to determine the content type of all
9012 When displaying message content or attachments \*(UA uses the content
9013 type to decide whether it can directly display data or whether it needs
9014 to deal with content handlers.
9015 It learns about MIME types and how to treat them by reading
9017 files, the loading of which can be controlled by setting the variable
9018 .Va mimetypes-load-control .
9021 can also be used to deal with MIME types.)
9023 files have the following syntax:
9026 .Dl type/subtype extension [extension ...]
9031 are strings describing the file contents, and one or multiple
9033 s, separated by whitespace, name the part of a filename starting after
9034 the last dot (of interest).
9035 Comments may be introduced anywhere on a line with a number sign
9037 causing the remaining line to be discarded.
9039 \*(UA also supports an extended, non-portable syntax in specially
9040 crafted files, which can be loaded via the alternative value syntax of
9041 .Va mimetypes-load-control
9042 and prepends an optional
9046 .Dl [type-marker ]type/subtype extension [extension ...]
9049 The following type markers are supported:
9052 .Bl -tag -compact -offset indent -width ".It Ar _n_u"
9054 Treat message parts with this content as plain text.
9059 Treat message parts with this content as HTML tagsoup.
9060 If the \*(OPal HTML-tagsoup-to-text converter is not available treat
9061 the content as plain text instead.
9065 but instead of falling back to plain text require an explicit content
9066 handler to be defined.
9071 for sending messages:
9073 .Va mime-allow-text-controls ,
9074 .Va mimetypes-load-control .
9075 For reading etc. messages:
9076 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" ,
9077 .Sx "The Mailcap files" ,
9079 .Va mime-counter-evidence ,
9080 .Va mimetypes-load-control ,
9081 .Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE ,
9082 .Va pipe-EXTENSION .
9085 .\" .Ss "The Mailcap files" {{{
9086 .Ss "The Mailcap files"
9089 .Dq User Agent Configuration Mechanism
9090 which \*(UA \*(OPally supports.
9091 It defines a file format to be used to inform mail user agent programs
9092 about the locally-installed facilities for handling various data
9093 formats, i.e., about commands and how they can be used to display, edit
9094 etc. MIME part contents, as well as a default path search that includes
9095 multiple possible locations of
9099 environment variable that can be used to overwrite that (repeating here
9100 that it is not a search path, but instead a path search specification).
9101 Any existing files will be loaded in sequence, appending any content to
9102 the list of MIME type handler directives.
9106 files consist of a set of newline separated entries.
9107 Comment lines start with a number sign
9109 (in the first column!) and are ignored.
9110 Empty lines are also ignored.
9111 All other lines form individual entries that must adhere to the syntax
9113 To extend a single entry (not comment) its line can be continued on
9114 follow lines if newline characters are
9116 by preceding them with the reverse solidus character
9118 The standard doesn't specify how leading whitespace of follow lines is
9119 to be treated, therefore \*(UA retains it.
9123 entries consist of a number of semicolon
9125 separated fields, and the reverse solidus
9127 character can be used to escape any following character including
9128 semicolon and itself.
9129 The first two fields are mandatory and must occur in the specified
9130 order, the remaining fields are optional and may appear in any order.
9131 Leading and trailing whitespace of content is ignored (removed).
9134 The first field defines the MIME
9136 the entry is about to handle (case-insensitively, and no reverse solidus
9137 escaping is possible in this field).
9138 If the subtype is specified as an asterisk
9140 the entry is meant to match all subtypes of the named type, e.g.,
9142 would match any audio type.
9143 The second field defines the shell command which shall be used to
9145 MIME parts of the given type; it is implicitly called the
9152 shell commands message (MIME part) data is passed via standard input
9153 unless the given shell command includes one or more instances of the
9156 in which case these instances will be replaced with a temporary filename
9157 and the data will have been stored in the file that is being pointed to.
9160 shell commands data is assumed to be generated on standard output unless
9161 the given command includes (one ore multiple)
9163 In any case any given
9165 format is replaced with a(n already) properly quoted filename.
9166 Note that when a command makes use of a temporary file via
9168 then \*(UA will remove it again, as if the
9169 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile ,
9170 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-fill
9172 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink
9173 flags had been set; see below for more.
9176 The optional fields either define a shell command or an attribute (flag)
9177 value, the latter being a single word and the former being a keyword
9178 naming the field followed by an equals sign
9180 succeeded by a shell command, and as usual for any
9182 content any whitespace surrounding the equals sign will be removed, too.
9183 Optional fields include the following:
9186 .Bl -tag -width textualnewlines
9188 A program that can be used to compose a new body or body part in the
9195 field, but is to be used when the composing program needs to specify the
9197 header field to be applied to the composed data.
9201 A program that can be used to edit a body or body part in the given
9206 A program that can be used to print a message or body part in the given
9211 Specifies a program to be run to test some condition, e.g., the machine
9212 architecture, or the window system in use, to determine whether or not
9213 this mailcap entry applies.
9214 If the test fails, a subsequent mailcap entry should be sought; also see
9215 .Cd x-mailx-test-once .
9217 .It Cd needsterminal
9218 This flag field indicates that the given shell command must be run on
9219 an interactive terminal.
9220 \*(UA will temporarily release the terminal to the given command in
9221 interactive mode, in non-interactive mode this entry will be entirely
9222 ignored; this flag implies
9223 .Cd x-mailx-noquote .
9225 .It Cd copiousoutput
9226 A flag field which indicates that the output of the
9228 command will be an extended stream of textual output that can be
9229 (re)integrated into \*(UA's normal visual display.
9230 It is mutually exclusive with
9233 .Cd x-mailx-always .
9235 .It Cd textualnewlines
9236 A flag field which indicates that this type of data is line-oriented and
9239 all newlines should be converted to canonical form (CRLF) before
9240 encoding, and will be in that form after decoding.
9244 This field gives a file name format, in which
9246 will be replaced by a random string, the joined combination of which
9247 will be used as the filename denoted by
9248 .Ev NAIL_FILENAME_TEMPORARY .
9249 One could specify that a GIF file being passed to an image viewer should
9250 have a name ending in
9253 .Ql nametemplate=%s.gif .
9254 Note that \*(UA ignores the name template unless that solely specifies
9255 a filename suffix that consists of (ASCII) alphabetic and numeric
9256 characters, the underscore and dot only.
9259 Names a file, in X11 bitmap (xbm) format, which points to an appropriate
9260 icon to be used to visually denote the presence of this kind of data.
9261 This field is not used by \*(UA.
9264 A textual description that describes this type of data.
9266 .It Cd x-mailx-always
9267 Extension flag field that denotes that the given
9269 command shall be executed even if multiple messages will be displayed
9271 Normally messages which require external viewers that produce output
9272 which doesn't integrate into \*(UA's visual display (i.e., don't have
9274 set) have to be addressed directly and individually.
9275 (To avoid cases where, e.g., a thousand PDF viewer instances are spawned
9278 .It Cd x-mailx-even-if-not-interactive
9279 An extension flag test field \(em by default handlers without
9281 are entirely ignored in non-interactive mode, but if this flag is set
9282 then their use will be considered.
9283 It is an error if this flag is set for commands that use the flag
9286 .It Cd x-mailx-noquote
9287 An extension flag field that indicates that even a
9290 command shall not be used to generate message quotes
9291 (as it would be by default).
9293 .It Cd x-mailx-async
9294 Extension flag field that denotes that the given
9296 command shall be executed asynchronously, without blocking \*(UA.
9297 Cannot be used in conjunction with
9300 .It Cd x-mailx-test-once
9301 Extension flag which denotes whether the given
9303 command shall be evaluated once only and the (boolean) result be cached.
9304 This is handy if some global unchanging condition is to be queried, like
9305 .Dq running under the X Window System .
9307 .It Cd x-mailx-tmpfile
9308 Extension flag field that requests creation of a zero-sized temporary
9309 file, the name of which is to be placed in the environment variable
9310 .Ev NAIL_FILENAME_TEMPORARY .
9311 It is an error to use this flag with commands that include a
9315 .It Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-fill
9316 Normally the MIME part content is passed to the handler via standard
9317 input; if this flag is set then the data will instead be written into
9319 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile .
9320 In order to cause deletion of the temporary file you will have to set
9321 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink
9323 It is an error to use this flag with commands that include a
9327 .It Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink
9328 Extension flag field that requests that the temporary file shall be
9329 deleted automatically when the command loop is entered again at latest.
9330 (Don't use this for asynchronous handlers.)
9331 It is an error to use this flag with commands that include a
9333 format, or without also setting
9336 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-fill .
9338 .It Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-keep
9341 implies the three tmpfile related flags above, but if you want, e.g.,
9343 and deal with the temporary file yourself, you can add in this flag to
9345 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink .
9350 The standard includes the possibility to define any number of additional
9351 entry fields, prefixed by
9353 Flag fields apply to the entire
9355 entry \(em in some unusual cases, this may not be desirable, but
9356 differentiation can be accomplished via separate entries, taking
9357 advantage of the fact that subsequent entries are searched if an earlier
9358 one does not provide enough information.
9361 command needs to specify the
9365 command shall not, the following will help out the latter (with enabled
9369 level \*(UA will show information about handler evaluation):
9371 .Bd -literal -offset indent
9372 application/postscript; ps-to-terminal %s; needsterminal
9373 application/postscript; ps-to-terminal %s; compose=idraw %s
9377 In fields any occurrence of the format string
9379 will be replaced by the
9382 Named parameters from the
9384 field may be placed in the command execution line using
9386 followed by the parameter name and a closing
9389 The entire parameter should appear as a single command line argument,
9390 regardless of embedded spaces; thus:
9392 .Bd -literal -offset indent
9394 Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary=42
9397 multipart/*; /usr/local/bin/showmulti \e
9398 %t %{boundary} ; composetyped = /usr/local/bin/makemulti
9400 # Executed shell command
9401 /usr/local/bin/showmulti multipart/mixed 42
9405 .\" TODO v15: Mailcap: %n,%F
9406 Note that \*(UA doesn't support handlers for multipart MIME parts as
9407 shown in this example (as of today).
9408 \*(UA doesn't support the additional formats
9412 An example file, also showing how to properly deal with the expansion of
9414 which includes any quotes that are necessary to make it a valid shell
9415 argument by itself and thus will cause undesired behaviour when placed
9416 in additional user-provided quotes:
9418 .Bd -literal -offset indent
9420 text/richtext; richtext %s; copiousoutput
9422 text/x-perl; perl -cWT %s
9426 trap "rm -f ${infile}" EXIT\e; \e
9427 trap "exit 75" INT QUIT TERM\e; \e
9429 x-mailx-async; x-mailx-tmpfile-keep
9431 application/*; echo "This is \e"%t\e" but \e
9432 is 50 \e% Greek to me" \e; < %s head -c 1024 | cat -vET; \e
9433 copiousoutput; x-mailx-noquote
9438 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" ,
9439 .Sx "The mime.types files" ,
9442 .Va mime-counter-evidence ,
9443 .Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE ,
9444 .Va pipe-EXTENSION .
9447 .\" .Ss "The .netrc file" {{{
9448 .Ss "The .netrc file"
9452 file contains user credentials for machine accounts.
9453 The default location in the user's
9455 directory may be overridden by the
9457 environment variable.
9458 The file consists of space, tabulator or newline separated tokens.
9459 \*(UA implements a parser that supports a superset of the original BSD
9460 syntax, but users should nonetheless be aware of portability glitches
9461 of that file format, shall their
9463 be usable across multiple programs and platforms:
9466 .Bl -bullet -compact
9468 BSD doesn't support single, but only double quotation marks, e.g.,
9469 .Ql password="pass with spaces" .
9471 BSD (only?) supports escaping of single characters via a reverse solidus
9472 (e.g., a space can be escaped via
9474 in- as well as outside of a quoted string.
9476 BSD doesn't require the final quotation mark of the final user input token.
9478 The original BSD (Berknet) parser also supported a format which allowed
9479 tokens to be separated with commas \(en whereas at least Hewlett-Packard
9480 still seems to support this syntax, \*(UA does not!
9482 As a non-portable extension some widely-used programs support
9483 shell-style comments: if an input line starts, after any amount of
9484 whitespace, with a number sign
9486 then the rest of the line is ignored.
9488 Whereas other programs may require that the
9490 file is accessible by only the user if it contains a
9496 \*(UA will always require these strict permissions.
9500 Of the following list of supported tokens \*(UA only uses (and caches)
9505 At runtime the command
9507 can be used to control \*(UA's
9511 .Bl -tag -width password
9512 .It Cd machine Ar name
9513 The hostname of the entries' machine, lowercase-normalized by \*(UA
9515 Any further file content, until either end-of-file or the occurrence
9520 first-class token is bound (only related) to the machine
9523 As an extension that shouldn't be the cause of any worries
9524 \*(UA supports a single wildcard prefix for
9526 .Bd -literal -offset indent
9527 machine *.example.com login USER password PASS
9528 machine pop3.example.com login USER password PASS
9529 machine smtp.example.com login USER password PASS
9535 .Ql pop3.example.com ,
9539 .Ql local.smtp.example.com .
9540 Note that in the example neither
9541 .Ql pop3.example.com
9543 .Ql smtp.example.com
9544 will be matched by the wildcard, since the exact matches take
9545 precedence (it is however faster to specify it the other way around).
9550 except that it is a fallback entry that is used shall none of the
9551 specified machines match; only one default token may be specified,
9552 and it must be the last first-class token.
9554 .It Cd login Ar name
9555 The user name on the remote machine.
9557 .It Cd password Ar string
9558 The user's password on the remote machine.
9560 .It Cd account Ar string
9561 Supply an additional account password.
9562 This is merely for FTP purposes.
9564 .It Cd macdef Ar name
9566 A macro is defined with the specified
9568 it is formed from all lines beginning with the next line and continuing
9569 until a blank line is (consecutive newline characters are) encountered.
9572 entries cannot be utilized by multiple machines, too, but must be
9573 defined following the
9575 they are intended to be used with.)
9578 exists, it is automatically run as the last step of the login process.
9579 This is merely for FTP purposes.
9586 .\" .Sh EXAMPLES {{{
9589 .\" .Ss "An example configuration" {{{
9590 .Ss "An example configuration"
9592 .Bd -literal -offset indent
9593 # This example assumes v15.0 compatibility mode
9596 # Where are the up-to-date SSL certificates?
9597 #set ssl-ca-dir=/etc/ssl/certs
9598 set ssl-ca-file=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
9600 # (Since we manage up-to-date ones explicitly, don't use any,
9601 # possibly outdated, default certificates shipped with OpenSSL)
9602 set ssl-no-default-ca
9604 # Don't use protocols older than TLS v1.2.
9605 # Change this only when the remote server doesn't support it:
9606 # maybe use ssl-protocol-HOST (or -USER@HOST) syntax to define
9607 # such explicit exceptions, then
9608 set ssl-protocol='-ALL,+TLSv1.2'
9610 # Explicitly define the list of ciphers, which may improve security,
9611 # especially with protocols older than TLS v1.2. See ciphers(1).
9612 # Including "@STRENGTH" will sort the final list by algorithm strength.
9613 # In reality it is possibly best to only use ssl-cipher-list-HOST
9614 # (or -USER@HOST), as necessary, again..
9615 set ssl-cipher-list=TLSv1.2:!aNULL:!eNULL:!MEDIUM:!LOW:!EXPORT:@STRENGTH
9616 # ALL:!aNULL:!MEDIUM:!LOW:!MD5:!RC4:!EXPORT:@STRENGTH
9618 # Request strict transport security checks!
9619 set ssl-verify=strict
9621 # Essential setting: select allowed character sets
9622 set sendcharsets=utf-8,iso-8859-1
9624 # A very kind option: when replying to a message, first try to
9625 # use the same encoding that the original poster used herself!
9626 set reply-in-same-charset
9628 # When replying to or forwarding a message the comment and name
9629 # parts of email addresses are removed unless this variable is set
9632 # When sending messages, wait until the Mail-Transfer-Agent finishs.
9633 # Only like this you'll be able to see errors reported through the
9634 # exit status of the MTA (including the builtin SMTP one)!
9637 # Only use builtin MIME types, no mime.types(5) files
9638 set mimetypes-load-control
9640 # Default directory where we act in (relative to $HOME)
9642 # A leading "+" (often) means: under *folder*
9643 # *record* is used to save copies of sent messages
9644 set MBOX=+mbox.mbox record=+sent.mbox DEAD=+dead.txt
9646 # Make "file mymbox" and "file myrec" go to..
9647 shortcut mymbox %:+mbox.mbox myrec +sent.mbox
9649 # Not really optional, e.g., for S/MIME
9650 set from='Your Name <address@exam.ple>'
9652 # It may be necessary to set hostname and/or smtp-hostname
9653 # if the "SERVER" of mta and "domain" of from don't match.
9654 # The `urlencode' command can be used to encode USER and PASS
9655 set mta=(smtps?|submission)://[USER[:PASS]@]SERVER[:PORT] \e
9656 smtp-auth=login/plain... \e
9659 # Never refuse to start into interactive mode, and more
9661 colour-pager crt= \e
9662 followup-to followup-to-honour=ask-yes \e
9663 history-file=+.\*(uAhist history-size=-1 history-gabby \e
9664 mime-counter-evidence=0xE \e
9665 prompt='?\e?[\e$ \e@]\e& ' \e
9666 reply-to-honour=ask-yes \e
9669 # When `t'yping messages, show only these headers
9670 # (use `T'ype for all headers and `S'how for raw message)
9671 retain date from to cc subject
9673 # Some mailing lists
9674 mlist '@xyz-editor\e.xyz$' '@xyzf\e.xyz$'
9675 mlsubscribe '^xfans@xfans\e.xyz$'
9677 # A real life example of a very huge free mail provider
9679 set folder=~/spool/XooglX MAIL=+syste.mbox sent=+sent
9680 set from='Your Name <address@examp.ple>'
9681 set mta=smtp://USER:PASS@smtp.gmXil.com smtp-use-starttls
9684 # Here is a pretty large one which does not allow sending mails
9685 # if there is a domain name mismatch on the SMTP protocol level,
9686 # which would bite us if the value of from does not match, e.g.,
9687 # for people who have a sXXXXeforge project and want to speak
9688 # with the mailing list under their project account (in from),
9689 # still sending the message through their normal mail provider
9691 set folder=~/spool/XandeX MAIL=+syste.mbox sent=+sent
9692 set from='Your Name <address@exam.ple>'
9693 set mta=smtps://USER:PASS@smtp.yaXXex.ru:465 \e
9694 hostname=yaXXex.com smtp-hostname=
9697 # Create some new commands so that, e.g., `ls /tmp' will..
9698 wysh ghost lls '!ls ${LS_COLOR_FLAG} -aFlrS'
9699 wysh ghost llS '!ls ${LS_COLOR_FLAG} -aFlS'
9700 wysh ghost ls '!ls ${LS_COLOR_FLAG} -aFrS'
9701 wysh ghost lS '!ls ${LS_COLOR_FLAG} -aFS'
9702 wysh ghost lla '!ls ${LS_COLOR_FLAG} -aFlr'
9703 wysh ghost llA '!ls ${LS_COLOR_FLAG} -aFl'
9704 wysh ghost la '!ls ${LS_COLOR_FLAG} -aFr'
9705 wysh ghost lA '!ls ${LS_COLOR_FLAG} -aF'
9706 wysh ghost ll '!ls ${LS_COLOR_FLAG} -aFltr'
9707 wysh ghost lL '!ls ${LS_COLOR_FLAG} -aFlt'
9708 wysh ghost l '!ls ${LS_COLOR_FLAG} -aFtr'
9709 wysh ghost L '!ls ${LS_COLOR_FLAG} -aFt'
9711 # We don't support gpg(1) directly yet. But simple --clearsign'd
9712 # message parts can be dealt with as follows:
9714 wysh set pipe-text/plain=$'@*#++=@\e
9715 < "${NAIL_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}" awk \e
9716 -v TMPFILE="${NAIL_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}" \e'\e
9718 /^-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----/,/^$/{\e
9721 print "--- GPG --verify ---";\e
9722 system("gpg --verify " TMPFILE " 2>&1");\e
9723 print "--- GPG --verify ---";\e
9727 /^-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----/,\e
9728 /^-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----/{\e
9738 !printf 'Key IDs to gpg --recv-keys: ';\e
9740 gpg --recv-keys ${keyids};
9746 When storing passwords in
9748 appropriate permissions should be set on this file with
9749 .Ql $ chmod 0600 \*(ur .
9752 is available user credentials can be stored in the central
9754 file instead; e.g., here is a different version of the example account
9755 that sets up SMTP and POP3:
9757 .Bd -literal -offset indent
9759 set folder=~/spool/XandeX MAIL=+syste.mbox sent=+sent
9760 set from='Your Name <address@exam.ple>'
9762 # Load an encrypted ~/.netrc by uncommenting the next line
9763 #set netrc-pipe='gpg -qd ~/.netrc.pgp'
9765 set mta=smtps://smtp.yXXXXx.ru:465 \e
9766 smtp-hostname= hostname=yXXXXx.com
9767 set pop3-keepalive=240 pop3-no-apop-pop.yXXXXx.ru
9768 ghost xp fi pop3s://pop.yXXXXx.ru
9777 .Bd -literal -offset indent
9778 machine *.yXXXXx.ru login USER password PASS
9782 This configuration should now work just fine:
9785 .Dl $ echo text | \*(uA -vv -AXandeX -s Subject user@exam.ple
9788 .\" .Ss "Signed and encrypted messages with S/MIME" {{{
9789 .Ss "Signed and encrypted messages with S/MIME"
9791 \*(OP S/MIME provides two central mechanisms:
9792 message signing and message encryption.
9793 A signed message contains some data in addition to the regular text.
9794 The data can be used to verify that the message was sent using a valid
9795 certificate, that the sender's address in the message header matches
9796 that in the certificate, and that the message text has not been altered.
9797 Signing a message does not change its regular text;
9798 it can be read regardless of whether the recipient's software is able to
9802 It is thus usually possible to sign all outgoing messages if so desired.
9803 Encryption, in contrast, makes the message text invisible for all people
9804 except those who have access to the secret decryption key.
9805 To encrypt a message, the specific recipient's public encryption key
9807 It is therefore not possible to send encrypted mail to people unless their
9808 key has been retrieved from either previous communication or public key
9810 A message should always be signed before it is encrypted.
9811 Otherwise, it is still possible that the encrypted message text is
9815 A central concept to S/MIME is that of the certification authority (CA).
9816 A CA is a trusted institution that issues certificates.
9817 For each of these certificates it can be verified that it really
9818 originates from the CA, provided that the CA's own certificate is
9820 A set of CA certificates is usually delivered with OpenSSL and installed
9822 If you trust the source of your OpenSSL software installation,
9823 this offers reasonable security for S/MIME on the Internet.
9825 .Va ssl-no-default-ca
9829 .Va smime-ca-dir . )
9830 In general, a certificate cannot be more secure than the method its CA
9831 certificate has been retrieved with, though.
9832 Thus if you download a CA certificate from the Internet,
9833 you can only trust the messages you verify using that certificate as
9834 much as you trust the download process.
9837 The first thing you need for participating in S/MIME message exchange is
9838 your personal certificate, including a private key.
9839 The certificate contains public information, in particular your name and
9840 your email address(es), and the public key that is used by others to
9841 encrypt messages for you,
9842 and to verify signed messages they supposedly received from you.
9843 The certificate is included in each signed message you send.
9844 The private key must be kept secret.
9845 It is used to decrypt messages that were previously encrypted with your
9846 public key, and to sign messages.
9849 For personal use it is recommended that you get a S/MIME certificate
9850 from one of the major CAs on the Internet using your WWW browser.
9851 Many CAs offer such certificates for free.
9853 .Lk https://www.CAcert.org
9854 which issues client and server certificates to members of their
9855 community for free; their root certificate
9856 .Pf ( Lk https://\:www.cacert.org/\:certs/\:root.crt )
9857 is often not in the default set of trusted CA root certificates, though,
9858 which means you will have to download their root certificate separately
9859 and ensure it is part of our S/MIME certificate validation chain by
9862 or as a vivid member of the
9864 But let's take a step-by-step tour on how to setup S/MIME with
9865 a certificate from CAcert.org despite this situation!
9868 First of all you will have to become a member of the CAcert.org
9869 community, simply by registrating yourself via the web interface.
9870 Once you are, create and verify all email addresses you want to be able
9871 to create signed and encrypted messages for/with using the corresponding
9872 entries of the web interface.
9873 Now ready to create S/MIME certificates, so let's create a new
9874 .Dq client certificate ,
9875 ensure to include all email addresses that should be covered by the
9876 certificate in the following web form, and also to use your name as the
9880 Create a private key and a certificate request on your local computer
9881 (please see the manual pages of the used commands for more in-depth
9882 knowledge on what the used arguments etc. do):
9885 .Dl openssl req -nodes -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout key.pem -out creq.pem
9888 Afterwards copy-and-paste the content of
9890 into the certificate-request (CSR) field of the web form on the
9891 CAcert.org website (you may need to unfold some
9892 .Dq advanced options
9893 to see the corresponding text field).
9894 This last step will ensure that your private key (which never left your
9895 box) and the certificate belong together (through the public key that
9896 will find its way into the certificate via the certificate-request).
9897 You are now ready and can create your CAcert certified certificate.
9898 Download and store or copy-and-paste it as
9903 In order to use your new S/MIME setup you will have to create
9904 a combined private key/public key (certificate) file:
9907 .Dl cat key.pem pub.crt > ME@HERE.com.paired
9910 This is the file \*(UA will work with.
9911 If you have created your private key with a passphrase then \*(UA will
9912 ask you for it whenever a message is signed or decrypted.
9913 Set the following variables to henceforth use S/MIME (setting
9915 is of interest for verification only):
9917 .Bd -literal -offset indent
9918 set smime-ca-file=ALL-TRUSTED-ROOT-CERTS-HERE \e
9919 smime-sign-cert=ME@HERE.com.paired \e
9920 smime-sign-message-digest=SHA256 \e
9925 From each signed message you send, the recipient can fetch your
9926 certificate and use it to send encrypted mail back to you.
9927 Accordingly if somebody sends you a signed message, you can do the same,
9930 command to check the validity of the certificate.
9933 Variables of interest for S/MIME signing:
9937 .Va smime-crl-file ,
9938 .Va smime-no-default-ca ,
9940 .Va smime-sign-cert ,
9941 .Va smime-sign-include-certs
9943 .Va smime-sign-message-digest .
9946 After it has been verified save the certificate via
9948 and tell \*(UA that it should use it for encryption for further
9949 communication with that somebody:
9951 .Bd -literal -offset indent
9953 set smime-encrypt-USER@HOST=FILENAME \e
9954 smime-cipher-USER@HOST=AES256
9958 Additional variables of interest for S/MIME en- and decryption:
9961 .Va smime-encrypt-USER@HOST .
9964 You should carefully consider if you prefer to store encrypted messages
9966 If you do, anybody who has access to your mail folders can read them,
9967 but if you do not, you might be unable to read them yourself later if
9968 you happen to lose your private key.
9971 command saves messages in decrypted form, while the
9975 commands leave them encrypted.
9978 Note that neither S/MIME signing nor encryption applies to message
9979 subjects or other header fields yet.
9980 Thus they may not contain sensitive information for encrypted messages,
9981 and cannot be trusted even if the message content has been verified.
9982 When sending signed messages,
9983 it is recommended to repeat any important header information in the
9987 .\" .Ss "Using CRLs with S/MIME or SSL/TLS" {{{
9988 .Ss "Using CRLs with S/MIME or SSL/TLS"
9990 \*(OP Certification authorities (CAs) issue certificate revocation
9991 lists (CRLs) on a regular basis.
9992 These lists contain the serial numbers of certificates that have been
9993 declared invalid after they have been issued.
9994 Such usually happens because the private key for the certificate has
9996 because the owner of the certificate has left the organization that is
9997 mentioned in the certificate, etc.
9998 To seriously use S/MIME or SSL/TLS verification,
9999 an up-to-date CRL is required for each trusted CA.
10000 There is otherwise no method to distinguish between valid and
10001 invalidated certificates.
10002 \*(UA currently offers no mechanism to fetch CRLs, nor to access them on
10003 the Internet, so you have to retrieve them by some external mechanism.
10006 \*(UA accepts CRLs in PEM format only;
10007 CRLs in DER format must be converted, like, e.\|g.:
10010 .Dl $ openssl crl \-inform DER \-in crl.der \-out crl.pem
10013 To tell \*(UA about the CRLs, a directory that contains all CRL files
10014 (and no other files) must be created.
10019 variables, respectively, must then be set to point to that directory.
10020 After that, \*(UA requires a CRL to be present for each CA that is used
10021 to verify a certificate.
10024 .\" .Ss "Handling spam" {{{
10025 .Ss "Handling spam"
10027 \*(OP \*(UA can make use of several spam interfaces for the purpose of
10028 identification of, and, in general, dealing with spam messages.
10029 A precondition of most commands in order to function is that the
10031 variable is set to one of the supported interfaces.
10032 Once messages have been identified as spam their (volatile)
10034 state can be prompted: the
10038 message specifications will address respective messages and their
10040 entries will be used when displaying the
10042 in the header display.
10047 rates the given messages and sets their
10050 If the spam interface offers spam scores those can also be displayed in
10051 the header display by including the
10061 will interact with the Bayesian filter of the chosen interface and learn
10062 the given messages as
10066 respectively; the last command can be used to cause
10068 of messages; it adheres to their current
10070 state and thus reverts previous teachings.
10075 will simply set and clear, respectively, the mentioned volatile
10077 message flag, without any interface interaction.
10086 requires a running instance of the
10088 server in order to function, started with the option
10090 shall Bayesian filter learning be possible.
10092 .Bd -literal -offset indent
10093 $ spamd -i localhost:2142 -i /tmp/.spamsock -d [-L] [-l]
10094 $ spamd --listen=localhost:2142 --listen=/tmp/.spamsock \e
10095 --daemonize [--local] [--allow-tell]
10099 Thereafter \*(UA can make use of these interfaces:
10101 .Bd -literal -offset indent
10102 $ \*(uA -Sspam-interface=spamc -Sspam-maxsize=500000 \e
10103 -Sspamc-command=/usr/local/bin/spamc \e
10104 -Sspamc-arguments="-U /tmp/.spamsock" -Sspamc-user=
10106 $ \*(uA -Sspam-interface=spamc -Sspam-maxsize=500000 \e
10107 -Sspamc-command=/usr/local/bin/spamc \e
10108 -Sspamc-arguments="-d localhost -p 2142" -Sspamc-user=
10112 Using the generic filter approach allows usage of programs like
10114 Here is an example, requiring it to be accessible via
10117 .Bd -literal -offset indent
10118 $ \*(uA -Sspam-interface=filter -Sspam-maxsize=500000 \e
10119 -Sspamfilter-ham="bogofilter -n" \e
10120 -Sspamfilter-noham="bogofilter -N" \e
10121 -Sspamfilter-nospam="bogofilter -S" \e
10122 -Sspamfilter-rate="bogofilter -TTu 2>/dev/null" \e
10123 -Sspamfilter-spam="bogofilter -s" \e
10124 -Sspamfilter-rate-scanscore="1;^(.+)$"
10128 Because messages must exist on local storage in order to be scored (or
10129 used for Bayesian filter training), it is possibly a good idea to
10130 perform the local spam check last:
10132 .Bd -literal -offset indent
10133 define spamdelhook {
10135 spamset (header x-dcc-brand-metrics "bulk")
10136 # Server-side spamassassin(1)
10137 spamset (header x-spam-flag "YES")
10138 del :s # TODO we HAVE to be able to do `spamrate :u ! :sS'
10139 move :S +maybe-spam
10142 move :S +maybe-spam
10144 set folder-hook-FOLDER=spamdelhook
10148 See also the documentation for the variables
10149 .Va spam-interface , spam-maxsize ,
10150 .Va spamc-command , spamc-arguments , spamc-user ,
10151 .Va spamfilter-ham , spamfilter-noham , spamfilter-nospam , \
10154 .Va spamfilter-rate-scanscore .
10162 In general it is a good idea to turn on
10168 twice) if something doesn't work well.
10169 Very often a diagnostic message can be produced that leads to the
10170 problems' solution.
10172 .\" .Ss "\*(UA shortly hangs on startup" {{{
10173 .Ss "\*(UA shortly hangs on startup"
10175 This can have two reasons, one is the necessity to wait for a file lock
10176 and can't be helped, the other being that \*(UA calls the function
10178 in order to query the nodename of the box (sometimes the real one is
10179 needed instead of the one represented by the internal variable
10181 You may have varying success by ensuring that the real hostname and
10185 or, more generally, that the name service is properly setup \(en
10188 return what you'd expect?
10189 Does this local hostname has a domain suffix?
10190 RFC 6762 standardized the link-local top-level domain
10194 .\" .Ss "I can't login to Google mail aka GMail" {{{
10195 .Ss "I can't login to Google mail aka GMail"
10197 Since 2014 some free service providers classify programs as
10199 unless they use a special authentification method (OAuth 2.0) which
10200 wasn't standardized for non-HTTP protocol authentication token query
10201 until August 2015 (RFC 7628).
10204 Different to Kerberos / GSSAPI, which is developed since the mid of the
10205 1980s, where a user can easily create a local authentication ticket for
10206 her- and himself with the locally installed
10208 program, that protocol has no such local part but instead requires
10209 a world-wide-web query to create or fetch a token; since there is no
10210 local cache this query has to be performed whenever \*(UA is invoked
10211 from the command line (in interactive sessions situation may differ).
10214 \*(UA doesn't support OAuth.
10215 Because of this it is necessary to declare \*(UA a
10216 .Dq less secure app
10217 (on the providers account web page) in order to read and send mail.
10218 However, it also seems possible to take the following steps instead:
10223 give the provider the number of a mobile phone,
10226 .Dq 2-Step Verification ,
10228 create an application specific password (16 characters), and
10230 use that special password instead of your real Google account password in
10231 \*(UA (for more on that see the section
10232 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" ) .
10236 .\" .Ss "Not \(dqdefunctional\(dq, but the editor key won't work" {{{
10237 .Ss "Not \(dqdefunctional\(dq, but the editor key won't work"
10239 It can happen that the terminal library (see
10240 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor",
10243 reports different codes than the terminal really sends, in which case
10244 \*(UA will tell that a key binding is functional, but won't be able to
10245 recognize it because the received data doesn't match anything expected.
10246 The verbose listing of
10248 ings will show the byte sequences that are expected.
10251 To overcome the situation, use, e.g., the program
10253 in conjunction with the
10255 flag if available, to see the byte sequences which are actually produced
10256 by keypresses, and use the variable
10258 to make \*(UA aware of them.
10259 E.g., the terminal this is typed on produces some false sequences, here
10260 an example showing the shifted home key:
10262 .Bd -literal -offset indent
10265 # 1B 5B=[ 31=1 3B=; 32=2 48=H
10270 ? \*(uA -v -Stermcap='kHOM=\eE[H'
10279 .\" .Sh "SEE ALSO" {{{
10289 .Xr spamassassin 1 ,
10298 .Xr mailwrapper 8 ,
10303 .\" .Sh HISTORY {{{
10306 M. Douglas McIlroy writes in his article
10307 .Dq A Research UNIX Reader: Annotated Excerpts \
10308 from the Programmer's Manual, 1971-1986
10311 command already appeared in First Edition
10315 .Bd -ragged -offset indent
10316 Electronic mail was there from the start.
10317 Never satisfied with its exact behavior, everybody touched it at one
10318 time or another: to assure the safety of simultaneous access, to improve
10319 privacy, to survive crashes, to exploit uucp, to screen out foreign
10320 freeloaders, or whatever.
10321 Not until v7 did the interface change (Thompson).
10322 Later, as mail became global in its reach, Dave Presotto took charge and
10323 brought order to communications with a grab-bag of external networks
10329 Mail was written in 1978 by Kurt Shoens and developed as part of the
10332 distribution until 1995.
10333 Mail has then seen further development in open source
10335 variants, noticeably by Christos Zoulas in
10337 Basing upon this Nail, later Heirloom Mailx, was developed by Gunnar
10338 Ritter in the years 2000 until 2008.
10339 Since 2012 S-nail is maintained by Steffen (Daode) Nurpmeso.
10340 This man page is derived from
10341 .Dq The Mail Reference Manual
10342 that was originally written by Kurt Shoens.
10348 .An "Kurt Shoens" ,
10349 .An "Edward Wang" ,
10350 .An "Keith Bostic" ,
10351 .An "Christos Zoulas" ,
10352 .An "Gunnar Ritter" ,
10353 .An "Steffen Nurpmeso" Aq Mt s-nail-users@lists.sourceforge.net
10355 .Mt s-mailx@sdaoden.eu ) .
10358 .\" .Sh CAVEATS {{{
10361 \*(ID Interrupting an operation via
10365 is often problematic: many library functions cannot deal with the
10367 that this software (still) performs.
10370 The SMTP and POP3 protocol support of \*(UA is very basic.
10371 Also, if it fails to contact its upstream SMTP server, it will not make
10372 further attempts to transfer the message at a later time (setting
10377 If this is a concern, it might be better to set up a local SMTP server
10378 that is capable of message queuing.
10384 After deleting some message of a POP3 mailbox the header summary falsely
10385 claims that there are no messages to display, you need to perform
10386 a scroll or dot movement to restore proper state.
10388 In threaded display a power user may encounter crashes very
10389 occasionally (this is may and very).
10393 in the source repository lists future directions.