1 .\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1990, 1993
2 .\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
4 .\" Gunnar Ritter. All rights reserved.
5 .\" Copyright (c) 2012 - 2013 Steffen "Daode" Nurpmeso <sdaoden@users.sf.net>.
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17 .\" This product includes software developed by the University of
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19 .\" This product includes software developed by Gunnar Ritter
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41 .ds UV \\%S-nail dirty
45 .\" If not ~/.mailrc, it breaks POSIX compatibility. And adjust main.c.
55 .Nd send and receive Internet mail
63 .Op Fl a Ar attachment
66 .Op Fl O Ar mta-option
67 .Op Fl q Ar quote-file
69 .Op Fl S Ar variable Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value
77 .Op Fl S Ar variable Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value
84 .Op Fl S Ar variable Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value
91 \*(UA is a mail processing system with a command syntax reminiscent of
93 with lines replaced by messages.
94 It is intended to provide the functionality of the POSIX
96 command and offers (mostly optional) extensions for line editing, IDNA,
97 MIME, S/MIME, SMTP, POP3 and IMAP.
98 It is usable as a mail batch language.
100 In the following list of supported command line options,
108 are implemented by means of setting the respective option, as via
111 .Bl -tag -width ".Fl A Ar account"
115 command (see below) for
117 after the startup files have been read.
119 Attach the given file to the message.
120 The same filename conventions as described in the section
124 Make standard input and standard output line-buffered.
126 Send blind carbon copies to the given list of addresses.
128 below goes into more detail on that.
130 Send carbon copies to the given list of addresses.
138 variable, which enables debug messages and disables message delivery.
139 Note that this is not a real `sandbox' mode.
143 variable and thus discard messages with an empty message part body.
144 This is useful for sending messages from scripts.
146 Just check if mail is present in the system mailbox.
147 If yes, return an exit status of zero, a non-zero value otherwise.
149 Save the message to send in a file named after the local part of the
150 first recipient's address.
152 Read in the contents of the user's mbox (or the specified file)
154 when \*(UA is quit, it writes undeleted messages back to this file.
157 is interpreted as described for the
162 is not a direct argument to the flag
164 but is instead taken from the command line after option processing has
167 Print header summaries for all messages and exit.
171 variable to ignore tty interrupt signals.
175 variable and thus inhibits the initial display of message headers when
176 reading mail or editing a mail folder.
178 Inhibits reading \*(UR upon startup.
179 This option should be activated for \*(UA scripts that are invoked on
180 more than one machine, because the contents of that file may differ
182 (The same behaviour can be achieved by setting the
183 .Ev NAIL_NO_SYSTEM_RC
184 environment variable.)
185 .It Fl O Ar mta-option
186 Pass the given option through to the mail-transfer-agent (MTA).
187 This option has no effect when mail is send via SMTP.
189 .Ns ` Ns Li "-O-h -Onumber" Ns '
190 to specify the hop count for an old
192 Options set like that persist for an entire (interactive) session.
194 Start the message with the contents of the specified file.
195 May be given in send mode only.
197 Opens any folders read-only.
199 Sets the envelope sender address by passing an
201 option to the MTA when a message is send.
204 argument is given it'll be checked for validity and then fixated to
205 the given value, but otherwise the content of the variable
207 will be used for that purpose \(en i.e., it'll be passed through to
210 option whenever a message is send.
211 A valid non-empty value will also be set as if an additional
212 .Ns ` Ns Li "-Sfrom=VALUE" Ns '
213 option had been used and therefore affect sending of messages via SMTP
214 (as a consideration for `From:').
215 .It Fl S Ar variable Ns Op = Ns value
216 Sets the internal option
218 and, in case of a value option, assigns
221 Even though options set via
223 may be overwritten from within resource files,
224 the command line setting will be reestablished after all resources have
227 Specify the subject on the command line
228 (be careful to quote subjects containing spaces).
230 The message to be sent is expected to contain a message header with
231 `To:', `Cc:', or `Bcc:' fields giving its recipients and `Subject:'
232 giving the subject of the message.
233 Recipients and subject specified on the command line are ignored.
237 Note that this has consequences in respect to expansions of `%' etc.
241 Print \*(UA's version and exit.
245 option, which enables more verbose messages.
247 Enable tilde escapes even if not in interactive mode.
249 This sets multiple options to prepare \*(UA for working in batch mode
250 (most likely in non-interactive mode):
255 it also enables processing of tilde escapes.
256 E.g., the following should send an email message to `alias'.
258 .Dl printf 'm alias\en~s Subject\enBody\en.\enx\en' | \
259 MAILRC=/dev/null s-nail -n -#
264 To send a message to one or more people,
265 \*(UA can be invoked with arguments which are the names of people to
266 whom the mail will be sent.
269 es, plain addresses or full address specifications including user names
271 in which case care for proper quoting may be necessary.
272 If this manual refers to a \fIlist of addresses\fR,
273 then \*(UA expects a comma-separated list of such names.
275 .Sx "Recipient address specifications"
276 below explains the interpretation of names in more detail.
277 The user is then expected to type in his message, followed by a
279 at the beginning of a line.
281 .Sx "Replying to or originating mail"
282 describes some features of \*(UA available to help when composing
287 In normal usage \*(UA is given no arguments and checks the user's mail
288 out of the post office,
289 then prints out a one line header of each message found.
290 The current message is initially the first message (numbered 1) and can
293 command, which can be abbreviated `p'.
294 The commands `p+' and `p\-' move forward to the next and backward to the
295 previous message, respectively, and messages can be addressed directly
296 by specifying their message number, as in `p 1'.
299 .Ss "Disposing of mail"
300 After examining a message the user can
305 Deletion causes the \*(UA program to forget about the message.
306 This is not irreversible;
309 (`u') the message by giving its number,
310 or the \*(UA session can be ended by giving the
313 Deleted messages will, however, usually disappear never to be seen
317 .Ss "Specifying messages"
318 Commands such as print and delete can be given a list of message numbers
319 as arguments to apply to a number of messages at once.
321 .Ns ` Ns Li "delete 1 2" Ns '
322 deletes messages 1 and 2,
324 .Ns ` Ns Li "delete 1-5" Ns '
325 will delete the messages 1 through 5.
326 In sorted or threaded mode (see the
331 .Ns ` Ns Li "delete 1-5" Ns '
332 will delete the messages that are located between (and including)
333 messages 1 through 5 in the sorted/threaded order, as shown in the
335 The following special message names exist:
337 .Bl -tag -width ".It .Ar :n:u"
341 All old messages (any not in state read or new).
345 All deleted messages (for the
351 All `flagged' messages.
353 All answered messages
358 All messages marked as draft.
360 \*(OP All messages classified as spam.
364 The message that was previously the current message.
366 The parent message of the current message,
367 that is the message with the Message-ID given in the `In-Reply-To:' field
368 or the last entry of the `References:' field of the current message.
370 The next previous undeleted message,
371 or the next previous deleted message for the
374 In sorted/threaded mode,
375 the next previous such message in the sorted/threaded order.
377 The next undeleted message,
378 or the next deleted message for the
381 In sorted/threaded mode,
382 the next such message in the sorted/threaded order.
384 The first undeleted message,
385 or the first deleted message for the
388 In sorted/threaded mode,
389 the first such message in the sorted/threaded order.
392 In sorted/threaded mode,
393 the last message in the sorted/threaded order.
396 selects the message addressed with
400 is any other message specification,
401 and all messages from the thread that begins at it.
402 Otherwise it is identical to
407 the thread beginning with the current message is selected.
411 All messages that were included in the message list for the previous
413 .It Ar / Ns Ar string
414 All messages that contain
416 in the subject field (case ignored).
423 the string from the previous specification of that type is used again.
427 By default, this is a case-sensitive search for the complete email
432 only the local part of the addresses is evaluated for the comparison.
436 a case-sensitive search for the complete real name of a sender is
439 .Ns ` Ns Li "(from address)" Ns '
440 expression can be used instead if substring matches are desired.
442 All messages that satisfy the given IMAP-style SEARCH
444 This addressing mode is available with all types of folders;
445 for folders not located on IMAP servers,
446 or for servers unable to execute the SEARCH command,
447 \*(UA will perform the search locally.
448 Strings must be enclosed by double quotes `"' in their entirety
449 if they contain white space or parentheses;
451 only backslash `\e' is recognized as an escape character.
452 All string searches are case-insensitive.
453 When the description indicates that the `envelope' representation of an
454 address field is used,
455 this means that the search string is checked against both a list
458 .Dl ( \*q Ns name Ns \*q \*q Ns source Ns \*q \*q Ns \
459 local-part Ns \*q \*q Ns domain-part Ns \*q )
462 and the addresses without real names from the respective header field.
463 Criteria can be nested using parentheses.
464 .It Ar ( criterion1 criterion2 ... criterionN )
465 All messages that satisfy all of the given criteria.
466 .It Ar ( or criterion1 criterion2 )
467 All messages that satisfy either
472 To connect more than two criteria using `or',
473 (or) specifications have to be nested using additional parentheses,
475 .Ns ` Ns Li "(or a (or b c))" Ns ',
477 .Ns ` Ns Li "(or a b c)" Ns '
479 .Ns ` Ns Li "((a or b) and c)" Ns '.
480 For a simple `or' operation of independent criteria on the lowest
482 it is possible to achieve similar effects by using three separate
484 .Ns ` Ns Li "(a) (b) (c)" Ns '.
485 .It Ar ( not criterion )
486 All messages that do not satisfy
488 .It Ar ( bcc \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
489 All messages that contain
491 in the `envelope' representation of the `Bcc:' field.
492 .It Ar ( cc \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
493 All messages that contain
495 in the `envelope' representation of the `Cc:' field.
496 .It Ar ( from \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
497 All messages that contain
499 in the `envelope' representation of the `From:' field.
500 .It Ar ( subject \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
501 All messages that contain
503 in the `Subject:' field.
504 .It Ar ( to \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
505 All messages that contain
507 in the `envelope' representation of the `To:' field.
508 .It Ar ( header name \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
509 All messages that contain
514 .It Ar ( body \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
515 All messages that contain
518 .It Ar ( text \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
519 All messages that contain
521 in their header or body.
522 .It Ar ( larger size )
523 All messages that are larger than
526 .It Ar ( smaller size )
527 All messages that are smaller than
530 .It Ar ( before date )
531 All messages that were received before
533 which must be in the form
534 .Li "d[d]-mon-yyyy" ,
535 where `d' denotes the day of the month as one or two digits,
536 `mon' is the name of the month \(en one of
537 `Jan', `Feb', `Mar', `Apr', `May', `Jun',
538 `Jul', `Aug', `Sep', `Oct', `Nov', or `Dec',
539 and `yyyy' is the year as four digits, e.g., "28-Dec-2012".
541 All messages that were received on the specified date.
542 .It Ar ( since date )
543 All messages that were received since the specified date.
544 .It Ar ( sentbefore date )
545 All messages that were sent on the specified date.
546 .It Ar ( senton date )
547 All messages that were sent on the specified date.
548 .It Ar ( sentsince date )
549 All messages that were sent since the specified date.
551 The same criterion as for the previous search.
552 This specification cannot be used as part of another criterion.
553 If the previous command line contained more than one independent
554 criterion then the last of those criteria is used.
557 A practical method to read a set of messages is to issue a
559 command with the search criteria first to check for appropriate messages,
560 and to read each single message then by typing ``' repeatedly.
563 .Ss "Replying to or originating mail"
566 can be used to set up a response to a message,
567 sending it back to the person who it was from.
568 Text the user types in, up to an end-of-file,
569 defines the contents of the message.
570 While the user is composing a message \*(UA treats lines beginning with
571 the character `~' specially.
572 For instance, typing `~m' (alone on a line) will place a copy of the
573 current message into the response right shifting it by a tabstop
577 Other escapes will set up subject fields,
578 add and delete recipients to the message,
580 and allow the user to escape to an editor to revise the message
581 or to a shell to run some commands.
582 (These options are given in the summary below.)
585 .Ss "Ending a mail processing session"
586 The user can end a \*(UA session by issuing the
589 Messages which have been examined go to the user's mbox file unless they
591 in which case they are discarded.
592 Unexamined messages go back to the post office.
598 .Ss "Personal and systemwide distribution lists"
599 It is also possible to create personal distribution lists so that,
600 for instance, the user can send mail to `cohorts'
601 and have it go to a group of people.
602 Such lists can be defined via the
604 command by, e.g., placing lines like
606 .Dl alias cohorts bill ozalp jkf mark kridle@ucbcory
608 in the file \*(ur in the user's home directory.
611 without arguments lists all the currently known aliases.
613 System wide distribution lists can be created by editing
620 which are kept in a different syntax and will be used by the MTA
621 (mail-transfer-agent) rather than by \*(UA.
622 Personal aliases will be expanded by \*(UA before the message is sent.
623 System wide aliases are not expanded when the mail is sent by \*(UA,
624 but any reply returned to the machine will have the system wide alias
625 expanded as all mail goes through the MTA.
628 .Ss "Recipient address specifications"
629 When an address is used to name a recipient (in `To:', `Cc:', or `Bcc:'),
630 names of local mail folders and pipes to external commands may also be
631 specified \(en the message text is then written to them.
632 The rules are: Any name which starts with a `|' (vertical bar) character
633 specifies a pipe \(en the command string following the `|' is executed
634 and the message is sent to its standard input;
635 any other name which contains a `@' (at sign) character is treated as
637 any other name which starts with a `+' (plus sign) character specifies
639 any other name which contains a `/' (slash) character but no `!'
640 (exclamation mark) or `%' (percent sign) character before also specifies
642 what remains is treated as a mail address.
643 Compressed folders are handled as described for the
648 .Ss "Network mail (Internet / ARPA, UUCP, Berknet)"
651 for a description of network addresses.
652 If support for IDNA (internationalized domain names for applications)
653 has been compiled into \*(UA,
654 then the domain name part of network addresses will be converted via
655 IDNA mechanisms as necessary, effectively treating it as a name in the
659 for the complete picture about character sets.
661 \*(UA has a number of options which can be set in the \*(ur file
662 to alter its behavior; e.g.,
667 .Ic "set idna-disable"
668 will disable the mentioned IDNA conversion even if support is available.
669 (These options are summarized below.)
673 For any outgoing attachment \*(UA tries to determine the content type.
674 It does this by reading MIME type files whose lines have the following
677 .Dl type/subtype extension [extension ...]
679 where `type/subtype' are strings describing the file contents,
680 and `extension' is the part of a filename starting after the last dot.
681 Any line not immediately beginning with an ASCII alphabetical character
683 If \*(UA cannot find any MIME type files,
684 it will use a restricted set of builtin mappings.
687 command can be used to show the list of mime types known to \*(UA.
688 If there is a match with the `extension' of the file to attach,
689 the given `type/subtype' pair is used.
690 Otherwise, or if the filename has no extension,
691 the content types `text/plain' or `application/octet-stream' are used,
692 dependent upon file content inspection.
696 \*(UA normally detects the character set of the terminal by using
697 mechanisms that are controlled by the `LC_CTYPE' locale setting,
698 if such are supported; the variable
700 will be set to the detected terminal character set and will thus
701 show up in the output of the command
706 value is not overwritten by this detection mechanism;
707 this feature must be used if the detection doesn't work properly,
708 and it may be used to adjust the name of the locale character set.
709 E.g., on BSD systems one may use a locale with the character set
710 `ISO8859-1', which is not a valid name for this character set;
711 to be on the safe side, one may set
713 to the correct name, `ISO-8859-1'.
715 Note that changing the value doesn't mean much beside that,
716 since several aspects of the real character set are implied by the
717 locale environment of the system,
718 and that stays unaffected by the content of an overwritten
721 (This is mostly an issue when interactively using \*(UA, though.
722 It is actually possible to send mail in a completely "faked" locale
725 If no character set conversion capabilities have been compiled into
728 library has been found), then
730 will be the only supported character set,
731 and it is simply assumed that it can be used to exchange 8 bit messages,
732 and the rest of this section does not apply;
733 it may however still be necessary to explicitly set it if automatic
734 detection fails, since in that case it defaults to `ISO-8859-1'.
736 When reading messages, their text is converted into
738 as necessary in order to display them on the users terminal.
739 Unprintable characters and illegal byte sequences are detected
740 and replaced by proper substitution characters
743 was set once \*(UA was started).
745 When sending messages all their parts and attachments are classified.
746 Whereas no character set conversion is performed on those parts which
747 appear to be binary data,
748 the character set being used must be declared within the MIME header of
749 an outgoing text part if it contains characters that do not conform to
750 the set of characters that are allowed by the email standards.
751 Permissible values for character sets can be declared using the
753 variable, which is expected to contain a (comma-separated list of)
754 character set (names), and the
756 variable, which is used as a catch-all last-resort fallback.
758 All the specified character sets are tried in order unless the
759 conversion of the part or attachment succeeds.
760 If none of the tried (8 bit) character sets is capable to represent the
761 content of the part or attachment,
762 then the message will not be sent and its text will be saved to
764 Note that some character set conversions will never fail, even if the
765 result is incorrect; e.g., `ISO-8859-1' is capable to represent any
768 In general, if the message `Cannot convert from a to b' appears, either
769 some characters are not appropriate for the currently selected
770 (terminal) character set,
771 or the needed conversion is not supported by the system.
772 In the first case, it is necessary to set an appropriate `LC_CTYPE'
773 locale and/or the variable
776 The best results are usually achieved when \*(UA is run in a UTF-8
777 locale on a UTF-8 capable terminal,
778 in which case the full Unicode spectrum of characters is available.
779 In this setup characters from various countries can be displayed,
780 while it is still possible to use more simple character sets for sending
781 to retain maximum compatibility with older mail clients.
784 .Ss "Command line editor"
785 \*(OP \*(UA can be configured to support a command line editor and
786 command history lists which are saved in between sessions.
787 One may link against fully-fledged external libraries
788 .Ns ( Ns Xr readline 3 ,
790 ) or use the \*(UA command line editor instead, which should work in all
791 environments which comply to ISO C (ISO/IEC 9899:1990/Amendment 1:1995).
793 Regardless of the actually used command line editor history entries
794 will be created for lines entered in command mode only, and creation of
795 such an entry can be forcefully suppressed by starting the line with
797 Note that history handling is by itself an optional feature and may
798 therefore not be available.
799 For more information see the documentation of the options
801 .Va line-editor-disable ,
806 The builtin \*(UA command line editor supports the following operations;
807 the notation `^-character' stands for the combination of the `control'
808 key plus the mentioned character, e.g., `^A' means "hold control key
809 while adding an A key on top of it":
810 .Bl -tag -width "^M^"
812 Go to the start of the line.
814 Move the cursor backward one character.
816 Forward delete the character under the cursor;
817 quits \*(UA if used on the empty line, unless the
821 Go to the end of the line.
823 Move the cursor forward one character.
825 Cancel current operation, full reset.
826 If there is an active history search or tabulator expansion then this
827 command will first reset that, reverting to the former line content;
828 thus a second reset is needed for a full reset in this case.
829 In all cases \*(UA will reset a possibly used multibyte character input
832 The same as `backspace': backward delete one character.
834 \*(OP The same as `horizontal tabulator': try to expand the "word"
836 Here "expansion" refers to the \*(UA expansion, as documented for
838 and thus includes shell word expansion (as a last step).
839 I.e., this is \*(UA "expansion", not what one usually expects from
842 The same as `RETURN': complete this line of input.
844 Delete all characters from the cursor to the end of the line.
848 \*(OP Go to the next history entry.
850 \*(OP Go to the previous history entry.
852 \*(OP Complete the current line from (the remaining older) history entries.
854 The same as `^A' followed by `^K'.
856 Delete the characters from the one preceding the cursor to the preceding
859 Move the cursor forward one word boundary.
861 Move the cursor backward one word boundary.
864 If problems with commands that are based upon rightwise movement are
865 encountered, adjustments of the option
866 .Va line-editor-cursor-right
867 may solve the problem, as documented for it.
871 Each command is typed on a line by itself,
872 and may take arguments following the command word.
873 The command need not be typed in its entirety \(en
874 the first command which matches the typed prefix is used.
877 prints a sorted list of available commands, and the command
879 when given an argument, will show a documentation string for the
881 .Ns ` Ns Ic ? Ns Ar unc Ns ' ;
882 this mode is \*(OP, though.)
884 For commands which take message lists as arguments,
885 if no message list is given,
886 then the next message forward which satisfies the command's requirements
888 If there are no messages forward of the current message,
889 the search proceeds backwards,
890 and if there are no good messages at all,
891 \*(UA types `no applicable messages' and aborts the command.
892 If the command begins with a `#' (number sign) character,
895 The arguments to commands can be quoted, using the following methods:
896 .Bl -bullet -offset indent
898 An argument can be enclosed between paired double-quotes `"argument"' or
899 single-quotes `'argument'';
900 any white space, shell word expansion, or backslash characters (except
901 as described next) within the quotes are treated literally as part of
903 A double-quote will be treated literally within single-quotes and vice
905 Inside such a quoted string the actually used quote character can be
906 used nonetheless by escaping it with a backslash `\\', as in
909 An argument that is not enclosed in quotes, as above, can usually still
910 contain space characters if those spaces are backslash-escaped.
912 A backslash outside of the enclosing quotes is discarded
913 and the following character is treated literally as part of the argument.
915 An unquoted backslash at the end of a command line is discarded and the
916 next line continues the command.
919 Filenames, where expected, are subsequently subjected to the following
920 transformations, in sequence:
921 .Bl -bullet -offset indent
923 If the filename begins with an unquoted plus sign, and the
926 the plus sign will be replaced by the value of the
928 variable followed by a slash.
931 variable is unset or is set to null, the filename will be unchanged.
933 Shell word expansions are applied to the filename.
934 If more than a single pathname results from this expansion and the
935 command is expecting one file, an error results.
939 The following commands are provided:
940 .Bl -tag -width ".Ic account"
942 Interprets the remainder of the word as a macro name and passes it
946 .Ns ` Ns Ic ~ Ns Ar mymacro Ns '
947 is a shorter synonym for
948 .Ns ` Ns Ic call Ar mymacro Ns ' .
950 Print out the preceding message.
951 If given a numeric argument n,
952 goes to the n'th previous message and prints it.
954 Prints a brief summary of commands.
955 \*(OP Given an argument a synopsis for the command in question is
958 Executes the shell (see
962 ) command which follows.
968 (ac) Creates, selects or lists an email account.
969 An account is formed by a group of commands,
970 primarily of those to set variables.
972 of which the second is a `{',
973 the first argument gives an account name,
974 and the following lines create a group of commands for that account
975 until a line containing a single `}' appears.
976 With one argument the previously created group of commands for the
977 account name is executed, and a
979 command is executed for the system mailbox or inbox of that account.
980 Without arguments the list of accounts and their contents are printed.
982 .Bd -literal -offset indent
984 set folder=imaps://mylogin@imap.myisp.example
986 set from="myname@myisp.example (My Name)"
987 set smtp=smtp.myisp.example
991 creates an account named `myisp' which can later be selected by
992 specifying `account myisp'.
993 The special account `null' (case-insensitive) always exists.
995 (a) With no arguments, prints out all currently-defined aliases.
996 With one argument, prints out that alias.
997 With more than one argument,
998 creates a new alias or changes an old one.
1000 (alt) The alternates command is useful if the user has accounts on
1002 It can be used to inform \*(UA that the listed addresses all belong to
1004 When replying to messages \*(UA will not send a copy of the message
1005 to any of the addresses listed on the alternates list.
1006 If the alternates command is given with no argument,
1007 the current set of alternate names is displayed.
1009 (ans) Takes a message list and marks each message as having been
1011 This mark has no technical meaning in the mail system;
1012 it just causes messages to be marked in the header summary,
1013 and makes them specially addressable.
1015 \*(OP Only applicable to cached IMAP mailboxes;
1016 takes a message list and reads the specified messages into the IMAP
1019 Calls a macro (see the
1026 \*(OP Only applicable to S/MIME signed messages.
1027 Takes a message list and a file name and saves the certificates
1028 contained within the message signatures to the named file in both
1029 human-readable and PEM format.
1030 The certificates can later be used to send encrypted messages to the
1031 respective message senders by setting
1032 .Va smime-encrypt-user@host
1035 (ch) Changes the user's working directory to the specified one,
1036 or to the user's login directory, if none was given.
1039 Only applicable to threaded mode.
1040 Takes a message list and makes all replies to these messages invisible
1041 in header summaries,
1042 unless they are in state `new'.
1044 \*(OP (conn) If operating in disconnected mode on an IMAP mailbox,
1045 switch to online mode and connect to the mail server while retaining the
1047 See the description of the
1049 variable for more information.
1051 (c) The copy command does the same thing that
1053 does except that it does not mark the given messages for deletion when
1055 Compressed files and IMAP mailboxes are handled as described for the
1061 but saves the messages in a file named after the local part of the
1062 sender address of the first message.
1064 Print the current working directory.
1066 \*(OP (dec) For unencrypted messages,
1067 this command is identical to
1069 Encrypted messages are first decrypted, if possible, and then copied.
1071 \*OP (Dec) Similar to
1073 but saves the messages in a file named after the local part of the
1074 sender address of the first message.
1076 (def) Defines a macro.
1077 A macro definition is a sequence of commands in the following form:
1078 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1087 A defined macro can be explicitly invoked using
1091 or it can be implicitly invoked by setting the
1094 .Va folder-hook-fullname
1097 Prints the currently defined macros including their contents.
1099 (d) Takes a list of messages as argument and marks them all as deleted.
1100 Deleted messages will not be saved in `mbox',
1101 nor will they be available for most other commands.
1106 \*(OP (disco) If operating in online mode on an IMAP mailbox,
1107 switch to disconnected mode while retaining the mailbox status.
1108 See the description of the
1111 A list of messages may optionally be given as argument;
1112 the respective messages are then read into the cache before the
1113 connection is closed.
1114 Thus `disco *' makes the entire mailbox available for disconnected use.
1115 .It Ic dp Ns \ or Ic dt
1116 Deletes the current message and prints the next message.
1117 If there is no next message, \*(UA says `at EOF'.
1119 Takes a message list and marks each given message as a draft.
1120 This mark has no technical meaning in the mail system;
1121 it just causes messages to be marked in the header summary,
1122 and makes them specially addressable.
1124 Echoes its arguments,
1125 resolving special names as documented for the command
1127 The escape sequences `\ea', `\eb', `\ec', `\ef', `\en', `\er', `\et',
1128 `\ev', `\e\e', and `\e0octal-num\fR' are interpreted just as they are by
1130 (proper quoting provided).
1132 (e) Point the text editor at each message from the given list in turn.
1133 Modified contents are discarded unless the
1137 Marks the end of the then-part of an if statement and the beginning of
1138 the part to take effect if the condition of the if statement is false.
1140 Marks the end of an if statement.
1142 (ex or x) Effects an immediate return to the Shell without modifying the
1143 user's system mailbox, his `mbox' file, or his edit file in
1149 (fl) Takes a message list and marks the messages as `flagged' for
1150 urgent/special attention.
1151 This mark has no technical meaning in the mail system;
1152 it just causes messages to be highlighted in the header summary,
1153 and makes them specially addressable.
1155 With no arguments, list the names of the folders in the folder directory.
1156 With an existing folder as an argument,
1157 lists the names of folders below the named folder;
1158 e.\|g. the command `folders @' lists the folders on the base level of
1159 the current IMAP server.
1160 See also the variable
1161 .Va imap-list-depth .
1163 (fold) The folder command switches to a new mail file or folder.
1164 With no arguments, it tells the user which file he is currently reading.
1165 If an argument is given, it will write out changes (such as deletions)
1166 the user has made in the current file and read in the new file.
1167 Some special conventions are recognized for the
1170 .Bl -tag -offset indent -width ".Ar %:filespec"
1172 (number sign) means the previous file,
1174 (percent sign) means the invoking user's system mailbox
1179 means the system mailbox of `user'
1180 (and never the value of
1182 regardless of its actual setting),
1184 (ampersand) means the invoking user's `mbox' file (see
1188 means a `file' in the
1192 expands to the same value as `filespec',
1193 but the file is handled as a system mailbox by, e.g., the
1200 If the name matches one of the strings defined with the command
1202 it is replaced by its long form and expanded.
1203 If the name ends with `.gz' or `.bz2' it is treated as being compressed
1209 Likewise, if `name' does not exist,
1210 but either `name.gz' or `name.bz2' does,
1211 then the compressed file is used.
1212 If `name' refers to a directory with the subdirectories `tmp', `new',
1213 and `cur', then it is treated as a folder in `maildir' format.
1216 .Dl protocol://[user@]host[:port][/file]
1218 is taken as an Internet mailbox specification.
1219 The (optionally) supported protocols are `imap' (IMAP v4r1), `imaps'
1220 (IMAP with SSL/TLS encrypted transport), `pop3' (POP3) and `pop3s' (POP3
1221 with SSL/TLS encrypted transport).
1222 If `user' contains special characters, in particular `/' or `%',
1223 they must be escaped in URL notation, as `%2F' or `%25'.
1224 The optional `file' part applies to IMAP only;
1225 if it is omitted, the default `INBOX' is used.
1227 If \*(UA is connected to an IMAP server,
1228 a name of the form `@mailbox' refers to the `mailbox' on that server,
1229 but otherwise a `@' prefix has no special meaning.
1233 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
1234 recipient's address.
1238 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
1239 recipient's address.
1243 but responds to all recipients regardless of the
1248 .It Ic followupsender
1251 but responds to the sender only regardless of the
1257 (fwd) Takes a message and the address of a recipient
1258 and forwards the message to him.
1259 The text of the original message is included in the new one,
1260 with the value of the
1262 variable printed before.
1267 commands specify which header fields are included in the new message.
1268 Only the first part of a multipart message is included unless the
1269 .Va forward-as-attachment
1274 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the
1275 recipient's address.
1277 (f) Takes a list of messages and prints their message headers,
1278 piped through the pager if the output does not fit on the screen.
1280 Specifies which header fields are to be ignored with the command
1282 This command has no effect when the
1283 .Va forward-as-attachment
1286 Specifies which header fields are to be retained with the command
1291 This command has no effect when the
1292 .Va forward-as-attachment
1295 Without arguments it lists all currently defined command aliases,
1297 With two arguments it defines a new command alias: the first argument is
1298 the name under which the second should be accessible.
1299 The content of the second argument can be just about anything.
1300 A ghost can be used everywhere a normal command can be used, but always
1301 takes precedence; any arguments that are given to the command alias are
1302 joined onto the alias content, and the resulting string forms the
1303 command line that is, in effect, executed.
1307 .Dl ? ghost ls '!ls -latro'
1310 (h) Lists the current range of headers, which is an 18-message group.
1311 If a `+' argument is given the next 18-message group is printed,
1312 likewise the previous is printed if the argument was `-'.
1316 (ho, also preserve) Takes a message list and marks each message therein
1317 to be saved in the user's system mailbox instead of in `mbox'.
1318 Does not override the
1321 \*(UA deviates from the POSIX standard with this command,
1324 command issued after
1326 will display the following message, not the current one.
1328 Commands in \*(UA's startup files can be executed conditionally
1329 depending on whether the user is sending or receiving mail with the if
1331 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1337 An else form is also available:
1338 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1346 Note that the only allowed conditions are `receive', `send' and `term'
1347 (execute if standard input is a tty).
1349 Add the list of header fields named to the ignored list.
1350 Header fields in the ignore list are not printed on the terminal when
1351 a message is printed.
1352 This command is very handy for suppression of certain machine-generated
1358 commands can be used to print a message in its entirety, including
1360 It lists the current set of ignored fields if no arguments were given.
1362 \*(OP Sends command strings directly to the current IMAP server.
1363 \*(UA operates always in IMAP `selected state' on the current mailbox;
1364 commands that change this will produce undesirable results and should be
1366 Useful IMAP commands are:
1367 .Bl -tag -offset indent -width ".Ic getquotearoot"
1369 Takes the name of an IMAP mailbox as an argument and creates it.
1371 (RFC 2087) Takes the name of an IMAP mailbox as an argument
1372 and prints the quotas that apply to the mailbox.
1373 Not all IMAP servers support this command.
1375 (RFC 2342) Takes no arguments and prints the Personal Namespaces,
1376 the Other User's Namespaces and the Shared Namespaces.
1377 Each namespace type is printed in parentheses;
1378 if there are multiple namespaces of the same type,
1379 inner parentheses separate them.
1380 For each namespace a prefix and a hierarchy separator is listed.
1381 Not all IMAP servers support this command.
1387 Prints the names of all available commands, alphabetically sorted.
1389 Can only be used inside of a macro definition block introduced by
1393 and is interpreted as a boolean (value `0' means false, everything
1395 Any option setting that is performed after `localopts' has been turned
1396 on will be reset to the value it had before the macro has been called
1397 (or the `account' is switched).
1398 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1399 define temporary_settings {
1409 Note that these options stack upon each other, i.e., if macro1 sets
1410 `localopts' and calls macro2, which explicitly resets `localopts', then
1411 any values set within macro2 will still be cleaned up by macro1.
1415 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
1416 recipient's address.
1418 (m) Takes a (list of) recipient address(es) as (an) argument(s),
1419 or asks on standard input if none were given;
1420 then collects the remaining mail content and sends it out.
1422 The given message list is to be sent to `mbox' when \*(UA is quit.
1423 This is the default action unless the
1426 \*(UA deviates from the POSIX standard with this command,
1429 command issued after
1431 will display the following message, not the current one.
1440 In the former case all sources are loaded first as necessary.
1442 .Va mimetypes-load-control
1443 option can be used to fine-tune loading of the sources.
1447 but marks the messages for deletion if they were transferred
1450 Takes a message list and invokes the
1452 on that list, printing a form-feed (`\\f') in between messages.
1456 but also prints ignored header fields and all MIME parts.
1460 but moves the messages to a file named after the local part of the
1461 sender address of the first message.
1463 Checks for new mail in the current folder without committing any changes
1465 If new mail is present, a message is printed.
1469 the headers of each new message are also printed.
1471 (n) (like `+' or `ENTER') Goes to the next message in sequence
1473 With an argument list, types the next matching message.
1484 If the current folder is located on an IMAP or POP3 server,
1485 a `NOOP' command is sent.
1486 Otherwise, no operation is performed.
1490 but also pipes ignored header fields and all parts of MIME
1491 `multipart/alternative' messages.
1493 (pi) Takes a message list and a shell command
1494 and pipes the messages through the command.
1495 Without an argument the current message is piped through the command
1502 every message is followed by a formfeed character.
1509 but also prints out ignored header fields and all parts of MIME
1510 `multipart/alternative' messages.
1517 (p) Takes a message list and types out each message on the user's
1519 If the message is a MIME multipart message,
1520 all parts with a content type of `text' or `message' are shown,
1521 the other are hidden except for their headers.
1522 Messages are decrypted and converted to the terminal character set
1525 (q) Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in
1526 the current `mbox', preserving all messages marked with
1530 or never referenced in his system mailbox,
1531 and removing all other messages from his system mailbox.
1532 If new mail has arrived during the session,
1533 the message `You have new mail' is given.
1534 If given while editing a mailbox file with the command line flag
1536 then the edit file is rewritten.
1537 A return to the shell is effected,
1538 unless the rewrite of edit file fails,
1539 in which case the user can escape with the exit command.
1547 (rem) Removes the named folders.
1548 The user is asked for confirmation in interactive mode.
1550 (ren) Takes the name of an existing folder
1551 and the name for the new folder
1552 and renames the first to the second one.
1553 Both folders must be of the same type
1554 and must be located on the current server for IMAP.
1556 (R) Reply to originator.
1557 Does not reply to other recipients of the original message.
1559 (r) Takes a message list and sends mail to the sender and all recipients
1560 of the specified messages.
1561 The default message must not be deleted.
1565 but responds to all recipients regardless of the
1573 but responds to the sender only regardless of the
1581 but does not add any header lines.
1582 This is not a way to hide the sender's identity,
1583 but useful for sending a message again to the same recipients.
1585 Takes a list of messages and a user name
1586 and sends each message to the named user.
1587 `Resent-From:' and related header fields are prepended to the new copy
1598 .It Ic respondsender
1602 Add the list of header fields named to the retained list.
1603 Only the header fields in the retain list are shown on the terminal when
1604 a message is printed, all other header fields are suppressed.
1609 commands can be used to print a message in its entirety.
1610 The current set of retained fields is shown if
1612 is used without arguments.
1616 but saves the messages in a file named after the local part of the
1617 sender of the first message instead of taking a filename argument.
1619 (s) Takes a message list and a filename and appends each message in turn
1620 to the end of the file.
1621 If no filename is given, the `mbox' file is used.
1622 The filename in quotes, followed by the line count and character count
1623 is echoed on the user's terminal.
1624 If editing a system mailbox the messages are marked for deletion.
1625 Compressed files and IMAP mailboxes are handled as described for the
1627 command line option above.
1640 Header fields thus marked are filtered out when saving a message by
1642 or when automatically saving to `mbox'.
1643 This command should only be applied to header fields that do not contain
1644 information needed to decode the message,
1645 as MIME content fields do.
1646 If saving messages on an IMAP account ignoring fields makes it
1647 impossible to copy the data directly on the server,
1648 thus operation usually becomes much slower.
1658 Header fields thus marked are the only ones saved with a message when
1661 or when automatically saving to `mbox'.
1665 The use of this command is strongly discouraged since it may strip
1666 header fields that are needed to decode the message correctly.
1668 (se) With no arguments, prints all variable values.
1669 Otherwise, sets an option.
1670 Arguments are of the form `option=value' (no space before or after `='),
1671 or plain `option' if there is no value.
1672 Quotation marks may be placed around any part of the assignment
1673 statement to quote blanks or tabs, e.g.,
1675 .Dl set indentprefix="->"
1677 If an argument begins with `no', as in `set nosave',
1678 the effect is the same as invoking the
1680 command with the remaining part of the variable (`unset save').
1682 Takes a message list and marks all messages as having been read.
1684 (sh) Invokes an interactive version of the shell.
1686 Defines a shortcut name and its string for expansion,
1687 as described for the
1690 If used without arguments the currently defined shortcuts are printed.
1694 but performs neither MIME decoding nor decryption so that the raw
1695 message text is shown.
1697 Print the size in characters of each message of the given message-list.
1699 Create a sorted representation of the current folder,
1702 command and the addressing modes such that they refer to messages in the
1704 Message numbers are the same as in regular mode.
1708 a header summary in the new order is also printed.
1709 Possible sorting criteria are:
1710 .Bl -tag -offset indent -width "subject"
1712 Sort the messages by their `Date:' field,
1713 that is by the time they were sent.
1715 Sort messages by the value of their `From:' field,
1716 that is by the address of the sender.
1720 the sender's real name (if any) is used.
1722 Sort the messages by their size.
1724 \*(OP Sort the message by their spam score, as has been classified via
1728 Sort the messages by their message status (new, read, old, etc.).
1730 Sort the messages by their subject.
1732 Create a threaded order,
1736 Sort messages by the value of their `To:' field,
1737 that is by the address of the recipient.
1741 the recipient's real name (if any) is used.
1744 If no argument is given,
1745 the current sorting criterion is printed.
1747 The source command reads commands from a file.
1749 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and clears their `is-spam' flag.
1751 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and forces the spam detector to forget it
1752 has ever used them to train its Bayesian filter, wether as `ham' or
1755 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and teaches them to the spam detector as
1757 This also clears the `is-spam' flag of the messages in question.
1759 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and rates them using the configured spam
1760 detector, setting their `is-spam' flag as appropriate.
1761 Note that the messages are not modified, and due to that the rating will
1762 get lost once the mailbox is left.
1763 Refer to the manual section
1765 for the complete picture of spam handling in \*(UA.
1767 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and sets their `is-spam' flag.
1769 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and teaches them to the spam detector as
1771 This also sets the `is-spam' flag of the messages in question.
1773 (th) Create a threaded representation of the current folder,
1774 i.\|e. indent messages that are replies to other messages in the header
1775 display and change the
1777 command and the addressing modes such that they refer to messages in the
1779 Message numbers are the same as in unthreaded mode.
1783 a header summary in threaded order is also printed.
1785 Takes a message list and prints the top few lines of each.
1786 The number of lines printed is controlled by the variable
1788 and defaults to five.
1790 Takes a message list and marks the messages for saving in `mbox'.
1791 \*(UA deviates from the POSIX standard with this command,
1794 command issued after `mbox' will display the following message instead
1797 (T) Identical to the
1804 Takes a list of names defined by alias commands
1805 and discards the remembered groups of users.
1807 Takes a message list and marks each message as not having been answered.
1809 (unc) Only applicable to threaded mode.
1810 Takes a message list and makes the message and all replies to it visible
1811 in header summaries again.
1812 When a message becomes the current message,
1813 it is automatically made visible.
1814 Also when a message with collapsed replies is printed,
1815 all of these are automatically uncollapsed.
1817 Undefines each of the named macros.
1818 It is not an error to use a name that does not belong to
1819 one of the currently defined macros.
1821 (u) Takes a message list and marks each message as not being deleted.
1823 Takes a message list and
1824 .Ns un Ns Ic draft Ns
1827 Takes a message list and marks each message as not being
1830 Removes the header field names from the list of ignored fields for the
1834 Removes the header field names from the list of retained fields for the
1838 Remove an existing command
1841 Removes the header field names from the list of ignored fields.
1846 (U) Takes a message list and marks each message as not having been read.
1848 Removes the header field names from the list of retained fields.
1850 Removes the header field names from the list of ignored fields for
1853 Removes the header field names from the list of retained fields for
1856 Takes a list of option names and discards their remembered values;
1860 Deletes the shortcut names given as arguments.
1862 Disable sorted or threaded mode
1868 return to normal message order and,
1872 print a header summary.
1877 \*(OP (verif) Takes a message list and verifies each message.
1878 If a message is not an S/MIME signed message,
1879 verification will fail for it.
1880 The verification process checks if the message was signed using a valid
1882 if the message sender's email address matches one of those contained
1883 within the certificate,
1884 and if the message content has been altered.
1886 (v) Takes a message list and invokes the display editor on each message.
1887 Modified contents are discarded unless the
1891 (w) For conventional messages the body without all headers is written.
1892 The output is decrypted and converted to its native format as necessary.
1893 If the output file exists, the text is appended.
1894 If a message is in MIME multipart format its first part is written to
1895 the specified file as for conventional messages,
1896 and the user is asked for a filename to save each other part.
1897 For convience saving of each part may be skipped by giving an empty value;
1898 the same result can also be achieved by writing it to
1900 For the second and subsequent parts a leading `|' character causes the
1901 part to be piped to the remainder of the user input interpreted as
1903 otherwise the user input is expanded as usually for folders,
1904 e.g., tilde expansion is performed.
1905 In non-interactive mode, only the parts of the multipart message
1906 that have a filename given in the part header are written,
1907 the others are discarded.
1908 The original message is never marked for deletion in the originating
1911 the contents of the destination file are overwritten if the file
1913 No special handling of compressed files is performed.
1918 \*(UA presents message headers in windowfuls as described under the
1921 This command scrolls to the next window of messages.
1922 If an argument is given,
1923 it specifies the window to use.
1924 A number prefixed by `+' or `\-' indicates
1925 that the window is calculated in relation to the current position.
1926 A number without a prefix specifies an absolute window number,
1927 and a `$' lets \*(UA scroll to the last window of messages.
1931 but scrolls to the next or previous window that contains at least one
1932 new or `flagged' message.
1937 Here is a summary of the tilde escapes,
1938 which are used to perform special functions when composing messages.
1939 Tilde escapes are only recognized at the beginning of lines.
1940 The name `tilde escape' is somewhat of a misnomer since the actual
1941 escape character can be set by the option
1943 .Bl -tag -width ".Ic ~< filename"
1945 Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single `~'.
1946 (If the escape character has been changed,
1947 that character must be doubled
1948 in order to send it at the beginning of a line.)
1949 .It Ic ~! Ar command
1950 Execute the indicated shell
1952 then return to the message.
1954 Same effect as typing the end-of-file character.
1955 .It Ic ~: Ar \*(UA-command Ns \ or Ic ~_ Ar \*(UA-command
1956 Execute the given \*(UA command.
1957 Not all commands, however, are allowed.
1959 Write a summary of command escapes.
1960 .It Ic ~< Ar filename
1963 .It Ic ~<! Ar command
1965 is executed using the shell.
1966 Its standard output is inserted into the message.
1967 .It Ic ~@ Op Ar filename...
1968 With no arguments, edit the attachment list interactively.
1969 If an attachment's file name is left empty,
1970 that attachment is deleted from the list.
1971 When the end of the attachment list is reached,
1972 \*(UA will ask for further attachments until an empty name is given.
1973 If a given file name solely consists of the number sign `#' followed
1974 by a valid message number of the currently active mailbox, the given
1975 message is attached as a MIME `message/rfc822' and the rest of this
1976 section does not apply.
1978 If character set conversion has been compiled into \*(UA, then this mode
1979 gives the user the option to specify input and output character sets,
1980 unless the file extension indicates binary content, in which case \*(UA
1981 asks wether this step shall be skipped for the attachment in question.
1982 If not skipped, then the charset that succeeds to represent the
1983 attachment data will be used in the `charset=' MIME parameter of the
1987 If input and output character sets are specified, then the conversion is
1988 performed on the fly.
1989 The user will be asked repeatedly until the desired conversion succeeds.
1991 If only an output character set is specified, then the input is assumed
1994 charset and will be converted to the given output charset on the fly.
1995 The user will be asked repeatedly until the desired conversion succeeds.
1997 If no character sets are specified at all then the algorithm that is
1998 documented in the section
1999 .Sx "Character sets"
2000 is applied, but directly and on the fly.
2001 The user will be asked repeatedly until the desired conversion succeeds.
2003 Finally, if an input-, but no output character set is specified, then no
2004 conversion is ever performed, but the `charset=' MIME parameter will
2005 still be set to the user input.
2008 Without character set conversion support, \*(UA will ask for the input
2009 character set only, and it'll set the `charset=' MIME parameter to the
2010 given input, if any;
2011 if no user input is seen then the
2013 character set will be used for the `charset=' parameter instead.
2014 Note that the file extension check isn't performed in this mode, since
2015 no conversion will take place anyway.
2017 Note that in non-interactive mode, for reproduceabilities sake, there
2018 will always be two questions for each attachment, regardless of wether
2019 character set conversion is available and what the file extension is.
2020 The first asks for the filename, and the second asks for the input
2021 character set to be passed through to the `charset=' MIME parameter;
2022 no conversion will be tried if there is input to the latter question,
2023 otherwise the usual conversion algorithm, as above, is applied.
2024 For message attachments, the answer to the second question is completely
2029 arguments are specified,
2030 they are treated as a comma separated list of files,
2031 which are all expanded and appended to the end of the attachment list.
2032 (Filenames with commas, or with leading or trailing whitespace can only
2033 be added via the command line or the first method.
2034 Message attachments can only be added via the first method;
2035 filenames which clash with message numbers can only be added via the
2036 command line or the second method.)
2037 In this mode the (text) attachments are assumed to be in
2039 encoding, and will be evaluated as documented in the section
2040 .Sx "Character sets" .
2042 Inserts the string contained in the
2044 variable (same as `~i Sign').
2045 The escape sequences `\et' (tabulator) and `\en' (newline) are understood.
2047 Inserts the string contained in the
2049 variable (same as `~i sign').
2050 The escape sequences `\et' (tabulator) and `\en' (newline) are understood.
2051 .It Ic ~b Ar name ...
2052 Add the given names to the list of blind carbon copy recipients.
2053 .It Ic ~c Ar name ...
2054 Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients.
2056 Read the file specified by the
2058 variable into the message.
2060 Invoke the text editor on the message collected so far.
2061 After the editing session is finished,
2062 the user may continue appending text to the message.
2063 .It Ic ~f Ar messages
2064 Read the named messages into the message being sent.
2065 If no messages are specified,
2066 read in the current message.
2067 Message headers currently being ignored (by the
2071 command) are not included.
2072 For MIME multipart messages,
2073 only the first printable part is included.
2074 .It Ic ~F Ar messages
2075 Identical to `~f', except that all message headers and MIME parts are
2078 Edit the message header fields `To:', `Cc:', `Bcc:', and `Subject:' by
2079 typing each one in turn and allowing the user to edit the field.
2081 Edit the message header fields `From:', `Reply-To:', `Sender:' and
2082 `Organization:' in the same manner as described for
2084 The default values for these fields originate from the
2091 .It Ic ~i Ar variable
2092 Insert the value of the specified variable into the message,
2093 adding a newline character at the end.
2094 The message remains unaltered if the variable is unset or empty.
2095 The escape sequences `\et' (tabulator) and `\en' (newline) are understood.
2096 .It Ic ~m Ar messages
2097 Read the named messages into the message being sent,
2098 indented by a tab or by the value of
2100 If no messages are specified,
2101 read the current message.
2102 Message headers currently being ignored (by the
2106 commands) are not included.
2107 For MIME multipart messages,
2108 only the first printable part is included.
2109 .It Ic ~M Ar messages
2110 Identical to `~m', except that all message headers and MIME parts are
2113 Print out the message collected so far,
2114 prefaced by the message header fields
2115 and followed by the attachment list, if any.
2117 Abort the message being sent,
2118 copying it to the file specified by the
2123 .It Ic ~r Ar filename
2124 Read the named file into the message.
2126 Cause the named string to become the current subject field.
2127 .It Ic ~t Ar name ...
2128 Add the given name(s) to the direct recipient list.
2130 Invoke an alternate editor (defined by the
2132 option) on the message collected so far.
2133 Usually, the alternate editor will be a screen editor.
2134 After the editor is quit,
2135 the user may resume appending text to the end of the message.
2136 .It Ic ~w Ar filename
2137 Write the message onto the named file.
2139 the message is appended to it.
2141 Same as `~q', except that the message is not saved at all.
2142 .It Ic ~| Ar command
2143 Pipe the message through the specified filter command.
2144 If the command gives no output or terminates abnormally,
2145 retain the original text of the message.
2148 is often used as a rejustifying filter.
2152 .Ss "Variable options"
2153 Options are controlled via
2157 commands, see the corresponding entries for a syntax description.
2158 An option is also set if it is passed to \*(UA as part of the program
2159 environment (this is not restricted to specific variables as in the
2161 A value given in a startup file overrides a value imported from the
2163 Options may be either binary, in which case it is only significant to
2164 see whether they are set or not;
2165 or string, in which case the actual value is of interest.
2168 .Ss "Binary options"
2169 The binary options include the following:
2170 .Bl -tag -width ".Va autoprint"
2171 .It Va add-file-recipients
2172 When file or pipe recipients have been specified,
2173 mention them in the corresponding address fields of the message instead
2174 of silently stripping them from their recipient list.
2175 By default such addressees are not mentioned.
2177 Causes only the local part to be evaluated
2178 when comparing addresses.
2180 Causes messages saved in mbox to be appended to the end rather than
2182 This should always be set.
2183 .It Va ask Ns \ or Va asksub
2184 Causes \*(UA to prompt for the subject of each message sent.
2185 If the user responds with simply a newline,
2186 no subject field will be sent.
2188 Causes the prompts for `Cc:' and `Bcc:' lists to appear after the
2189 message has been edited.
2191 If set, \*(UA asks for files to attach at the end of each message.
2192 An empty line finalizes the list.
2194 Causes the user to be prompted for additional carbon copy recipients (at
2195 the end of each message if
2200 An empty line finalizes the list.
2202 Causes the user to be prompted for additional blind carbon copy
2203 recipients (at the end of each message if
2208 An empty line finalizes the list.
2210 \*(OP Causes the user to be prompted if the message is to be signed at
2211 the end of each message.
2214 variable is ignored when this variable is set.
2216 Causes threads to be collapsed automatically when threaded mode is
2224 Causes the delete command to behave like `dp -';
2225 thus, after deleting a message the next one will be typed automatically.
2227 Causes threaded mode (see the
2229 command) to be entered automatically when a folder is opened.
2231 Enables the substitution of `!' by the contents of the last command line
2233 .It Va batch-exit-on-error
2234 If the batch mode has been enabled via the
2236 command line option, then this variable will be consulted whenever \*(UA
2237 completes one operation (returns to the command prompt); if it is set
2238 then \*(UA will terminate if the last operation generated an error.
2240 Causes automatic display of a header summary after executing a
2244 Sets some cosmetical features to traditional BSD style;
2245 has the same affect as setting
2247 and all other variables prefixed with `bsd' as well as setting
2251 Changes the letters printed in the first column of a header summary
2252 to traditional BSD style.
2254 Changes the display of columns in a header summary to traditional BSD
2257 Changes some informational messages to traditional BSD style.
2259 Causes the `Subject:' field to appear immediately after the `To:' field
2260 in message headers and with the `~h' tilde command.
2262 Changes the output format of the
2264 command to traditional BSD style.
2266 Prints debugging messages and disables the actual delivery of messages.
2269 this option is intended for \*(UA development only.
2271 \*(OP When an IMAP mailbox is selected and this variable is set,
2272 no connection to the server is initiated.
2273 Instead, data is obtained from the local cache (see
2276 Mailboxes that are not present in the cache
2277 and messages that have not yet entirely been fetched from the server
2279 to fetch all messages in a mailbox at once,
2281 .Ns ` Ns Li copy * /dev/null Ns '
2282 can be used while still in
2285 Changes that are made to IMAP mailboxes in disconnected mode are queued
2286 and committed later when a connection to that server is opened in online
2288 This procedure is not completely reliable since it cannot be guaranteed
2289 that the IMAP unique identifiers (UIDs) on the server still match the
2290 ones in the cache at that time.
2293 when this problem occurs.
2294 .It Va disconnected-user@host
2295 The specified account is handled as described for the
2298 but other accounts are not affected.
2300 The binary option dot causes \*(UA to interpret a period alone on a line
2301 as the terminator of a message the user is sending.
2303 If this variable is set then the editor is started automatically when
2304 composing a message in an interactive mode,
2305 as if the `~e' tilde command had been specified.
2308 variable is implied for this automatically spawned editor session.
2310 When a message is edited while being composed,
2311 its header is included in the editable text.
2312 The `To:', `Cc:', `Bcc:', `Subject:', `From:', `Reply-To:', `Sender:',
2313 and 'Organization:' fields are accepted within the header,
2314 other fields are ignored.
2316 If set, an empty mailbox file is not removed.
2317 This may improve the interoperability with other mail user agents
2318 when using a common folder directory.
2320 If the mailbox is empty \*(UA normally prints `No mail for user' and
2322 If this option is set \*(UA starts even with an empty mailbox.
2328 commands and vice-versa.
2329 .It Va forward-as-attachment
2330 Original messages are normally sent as inline text with the
2333 and only the first part of a multipart message is included.
2334 With this option messages are sent as MIME `message/rfc822' attachments
2335 with all of their parts included.
2340 options are ignored when the
2341 .Va forward-as-attachment
2344 When replying to a message \*(UA normally removes the comment parts of
2346 which by convention contain the full names of the recipients.
2347 If this variable is set such stripping is not performed,
2348 and comments are retained.
2350 Causes the header summary to be written at startup and after commands
2351 that affect the number of messages or the order of messages in the
2352 current folder; enabled by default.
2354 This option is used to hold messages in the system mailbox by default.
2356 \*(OP Can be used to turn off the automatic conversion of domain names
2357 according to the rules of IDNA (internationalized domain names for
2359 Since the IDNA code assumes domain names are specified with the
2361 character set, an UTF-8 locale charset is required to represent
2362 all possible international domain names (before conversion, that is).
2364 Causes interrupt signals from the terminal to be ignored
2367 An option related to
2371 which makes \*(UA refuse to accept a `control-D' as the end of a message.
2372 This option also applies to \*(UA command mode.
2373 .It Va imap-use-starttls
2374 \*(OP Causes \*(UA to issue a `STARTTLS' command to make an unencrypted
2375 IMAP session SSL/TLS encrypted.
2376 This functionality is not supported by all servers,
2377 and is not used if the session is already encrypted by the IMAPS method.
2378 .It Va imap-use-starttls-user@host
2380 .Va imap-use-starttls
2381 for a specific account.
2383 This option causes \*(UA to truncate the user's system mailbox instead
2384 of deleting it when it is empty.
2385 This should always be set since it prevents malicious users from
2386 creating fake mail folders in a world-writable spool directory.
2388 When a message is saved it is usually discarded from the originating
2389 folder when \*(UA is quit.
2390 Setting this option causes all saved message to be retained.
2391 .It Va line-editor-disable
2392 Turn off any enhanced command line editing capabilities (see
2393 .Sx "Command line editor"
2396 When a message is replied to and this variable is set,
2397 it is marked as having been answered.
2398 This mark has no technical meaning in the mail system;
2399 it just causes messages to be marked in the header summary,
2400 and makes them specially addressable.
2401 .It Va message-id-disable
2402 By setting this option the generation of `Message-ID:' can be completely
2403 suppressed, effectively leaving this task up to the mail-transfer-agent
2404 (MTA) or the SMTP server.
2405 (According to RFC 5321 your SMTP server is not required to add this
2406 field by itself, so you should ensure that it accepts messages without
2409 Usually, when a group is expanded that contains the sender,
2410 the sender is removed from the expansion.
2411 Setting this option causes the sender to be included in the group.
2412 .It Va mime-allow-text-controls
2413 When sending messages, each part of the message is MIME-inspected in
2414 order to classify the `Content-Type:' and `Content-Transfer-Encoding:'
2415 that is required to send this part over mail transport, i.e.,
2416 a computation rather similar to what the
2418 command produces when used with the
2422 This classification however treats text files which are encoded in
2423 UTF-16 (often found for HTML files) and similar character sets as binary
2424 octet-streams, forcefully changing any `text/plain' or `text/html'
2425 specification to `application/octet-stream';
2426 if that actually happens, then a yet unset charset MIME parameter is set
2427 to `binary', effectively making it impossible for the receiving MUA to
2428 automatically interpret the contents of the part.
2430 If this option is set, and the data was unambiguously identified as text
2431 data at first glance (by a `.txt' or `.html' file extension), then the
2432 original `Content-Type:' will not be overwritten.
2433 .It Va mime-counter-evidence
2434 Normally the `Content-Type:' field is used to decide how to treat
2435 a messages MIME part.
2436 Some MUAs however don't use
2438 or a similar mechanism to correctly classify content,
2439 but simply specify `application/octet-stream',
2440 even for plain text attachments like `text/diff'.
2441 If this variable is set then \*(UA will use the file extension of
2442 attachments to classify such MIME message parts, if possible.
2444 Checks for new mail in the current folder each time the prompt is
2446 For IMAP mailboxes the server is then polled for new mail,
2447 which may result in delayed operation if the connection to the server is
2449 A `maildir' folder must be re-scanned to determine if new mail has
2452 If this variable is set to the special value `nopoll' an IMAP server is
2453 not actively asked for new mail,
2454 but new mail may still be detected and announced with any other IMAP
2455 command that is sent to the server.
2456 A `maildir' folder is not scanned, then.
2458 In either case the IMAP server may send notifications about messages
2459 that have been deleted on the server by another process or client.
2460 In this case, `Expunged X messages' is printed regardless of this
2462 and message numbers may have changed.
2464 Setting this option is the same as using the command line option
2467 Causes the filename given in the
2470 and the sender-based filenames for the
2474 commands to be interpreted relative to the directory given in the
2476 variable rather than to the current directory,
2477 unless it is set to an absolute pathname.
2479 If set, each message the
2481 command prints out is followed by a formfeed character.
2483 Send messages to the
2485 command without performing MIME and character set conversions.
2486 .It Va pop3-bulk-load
2487 \*(OP When accessing a POP3 server \*(UA loads the headers of the
2488 messages, and only requests the message bodies on user request.
2489 For the POP3 protocol this means that the message headers will be
2491 If this option is set then \*(UA will download only complete messages
2492 from POP3 servers instead.
2495 a macro that temporarily sets this option, then accesses a POP3 account
2496 that is known to only get small text messages, and then unsets this
2499 \*(OP Unless this variable is set the `APOP' authentication method
2500 will be used when connecting to a POP3 server that advertises support.
2501 The advantage of APOP over `USER/PASS' authentication is that the
2502 password is not sent in clear text over the wire and that only a single
2503 packet is sent for the user/password tuple.
2504 .It Va pop3-no-apop-user@host
2505 Disables usage of the `APOP' authentication method (see
2507 for a specific account.
2508 .It Va pop3-use-starttls
2509 \*(OP Causes \*(UA to issue a `STLS' command to make an unencrypted POP3
2510 session SSL/TLS encrypted.
2511 This functionality is not supported by all servers,
2512 and is not used if the session is already encrypted by the POP3S method.
2513 .It Va pop3-use-starttls-user@host
2515 .Va pop3-use-starttls
2516 for a specific account.
2517 .It Va print-all-chars
2518 This option causes all characters to be considered printable.
2519 It is only effective if given in a startup file.
2520 With this option set some character sequences in messages may put the
2521 user's terminal in an undefined state when printed;
2522 it should only be used as a last resort if no working system locale can
2524 .It Va print-alternatives
2525 When a MIME message part of type `multipart/alternative' is displayed
2526 and it contains a subpart of type `text/plain',
2527 other parts are normally discarded.
2528 Setting this variable causes all subparts to be displayed,
2529 just as if the surrounding part was of type `multipart/mixed'.
2531 Suppresses the printing of the version when first invoked.
2532 .It Va quote-as-attachment
2533 If this is set, then the original message is added in its entirety
2534 as a `message/rfc822' MIME attachment when replying to a message.
2535 Note this works regardless of the setting of
2537 .It Va recipients-in-cc
2538 On group replies, specify only the sender of the original mail in `To:'
2539 and mention it's other recipients in the secondary `Cc:'.
2540 .It Va record-resent
2541 If both this variable and the
2548 commands save messages to the
2550 folder as it is normally only done for newly composed messages.
2551 .It Va reply-in-same-charset
2552 If this variable is set \*(UA first tries to use the same character set
2553 of the original message for replies.
2554 If this fails, the mechanism described in
2555 .Sx "Character sets"
2556 is evaluated as usual.
2558 Reverses the sense of
2563 .It Va rfc822-body-from_
2564 This variable can be used to force the display of a so-called `From_'
2565 line for messages that are embedded into an envelope mail via the
2566 `message/rfc822' MIME mechanism.
2568 When the user aborts a message with two `RUBOUT' (interrupt) characters,
2569 \*(UA will copy the partial letter to the file
2571 This option is set by default.
2572 .It Va searchheaders
2573 Expand message-list specifiers in the form `/x:y' to all messages
2574 containing the substring `y' in the header field `x'.
2575 The string search is case insensitive.
2576 .It Va sendcharsets-else-ttycharset
2577 \*(OP If this variable is set, but
2579 is not, then \*(UA acts as if
2581 had been set to the value of the variable
2583 In effect this combination passes through the message data in the
2584 character set of the current locale (given that
2586 hasn't been set manually), i.e., without converting it to the
2588 fallback character set.
2589 Thus, mail message text will be in `ISO-8859-1' encoding when send from
2590 within a `ISO-8859-1' locale, and in `UTF-8' encoding when send from
2591 within an `UTF-8' locale.
2593 When sending a message wait until the MTA exits before accepting further
2595 If the MTA returns a non-zero exit status,
2596 the exit status of \*(ua will also be non-zero.
2598 Setting this option causes \*(UA to start at the last message instead of
2599 the first one when opening a mail folder.
2601 Causes \*(UA to use the sender's real name instead of the plain address
2602 in the header field summary and in message specifications.
2604 Causes the recipient of the message to be shown in the header summary
2605 if the message was sent by the user.
2606 .It Va skipemptybody
2607 If an outgoing message does not contain any text in its first or only
2609 do not send it but discard it silently (see also the command line option
2612 .It Va smime-force-encryption
2613 \*(OP Causes \*(UA to refuse sending unencrypted messages.
2615 \*(OP S/MIME sign outgoing messages with the user's private key.
2616 Signing a message enables a recipient to verify that the sender used
2617 a valid certificate,
2618 that the email addresses in the certificate match those in the message
2619 header and that the message content has not been altered.
2620 It does not change the message text,
2621 and people will be able to read the message as usual.
2622 .It Va smime-no-default-ca
2623 \*(OP Don't load default CA locations when verifying S/MIME signed
2625 .It Va smtp-use-starttls
2626 \*(OP Causes \*(UA to issue a `STARTTLS' command to make an SMTP session
2628 Not all servers support this command \(en because of common
2629 implementation defects it can't be automatically determined whether
2630 a server supports it or not.
2631 .It Va ssl-no-default-ca
2632 \*(OP Don't load default CA locations to verify SSL/TLS server
2635 \*(OP Accept SSLv2 connections.
2636 These are normally not allowed because this protocol version is insecure.
2637 .It Va keep-content-length
2638 When (editing messages and) writing MBOX mailbox files \*(UA can be told
2639 to keep the `Content-Length:' and `Lines:' header fields that some MUAs
2640 generate by setting this variable.
2641 Since \*(UA does neither use nor update these non-standardized header
2642 fields (which in itself shows one of their conceptual problems),
2643 stripping them should increase interoperability in between MUAs that
2644 work with with same mailbox files.
2645 Note that, if this is not set but
2646 .Va writebackedited ,
2647 as below, is, a possibly performed automatic stripping of these header
2648 fields already marks the message as being modified.
2650 Setting the option verbose is the same as using the command line option
2652 When \*(UA runs in verbose mode details of the actual message delivery
2653 and protocol conversations for IMAP, POP3, and SMTP,
2654 as well as of other internal processes,
2655 are displayed on the user's terminal.
2656 This is sometimes useful to debug problems.
2657 \*(UA prints all data that is sent to remote servers in clear texts,
2658 including passwords,
2659 so care should be taken that no unauthorized option can view the screen
2660 if this option is enabled.
2661 .It Va writebackedited
2662 If this variable is set messages modified using the
2666 commands are written back to the current folder when it is quit;
2667 it is only honoured for writable folders in `mbox' format, though.
2668 Note that the editor will be pointed to the raw message content in that
2669 case, i.e., neither MIME decoding nor decryption will have been
2671 and proper RFC 4155 `From ' quoting of newly added or edited content is
2672 also left as an excercise to the user.
2677 The value options include the following:
2678 .Bl -tag -width ".Va autoprint"
2680 A sequence of characters to print in the `attribute' column of a header
2682 each for one type of messages in the following order:
2683 new (N), unread but old (U), new but read (R), read and old (O), saved
2684 (S), preserved (P), mboxed (M), flagged (F), answered (A), draft (T),
2685 start of a collapsed thread (+), collapsed (\-), classified as spam ($).
2686 The default is `NUROSPMFAT+\-$',
2687 or `NU\ \ *HMFAT+\-$' if
2691 environment variable are set.
2693 Specifies a list of recipients to which a blind carbon copy of each
2694 outgoing message will be sent automatically.
2696 Specifies a list of recipients to which a carbon copy of each outgoing
2697 message will be sent automatically.
2699 Causes sorted mode (see the
2701 command) to be entered automatically with the value of this option as
2702 sorting method when a folder is opened.
2704 The value that should appear in the `charset=' parameter of
2705 `Content-Type:' MIME header fields when no character set conversion of
2706 the message data was performed.
2707 This defaults to `US-ASCII', and the chosen character set should be
2708 `US-ASCII' compatible.
2710 \*(OP The default 8 bit character set that is used if
2712 is not set or no character set therein was capable to represent the
2713 content of a message.
2714 Defaults to `UTF-8'.
2715 If no character set conversion capabilities are available in \*(UA then
2716 the only supported character set is
2718 Refer to the section
2719 .Sx "Character sets"
2720 for the complete picture of character set conversion in \*(UA.
2722 The default value for the
2726 The valued option crt is used as a threshold to determine how long
2727 a message must be before
2732 is set without a value then the height of the terminal screen stored in
2733 the system is used to compute the threshold (see
2739 The name of the file to use for saving aborted messages.
2740 This defaults to `dead.letter' in the user's home directory.
2742 The date in a header summary is normally the date of the mailbox `From\ '
2743 line of the message.
2744 If this variable is set, then the date as given in the `Date:' field is
2745 used, converted to local time.
2746 It is possible to control the display of the date by assigning a value,
2749 function will be used to format the date accordingly.
2750 Please read your system manual for the available formats.
2751 Note that the `%n' format should not be used, because \*(UA doesn't
2752 take embedded newlines into account when calculating how many lines fit
2754 .It Va datefield-markout-older
2755 This option, when set in addition to
2757 modifies the display of messages that are not really current in a way
2758 that is rather comparable to the
2763 The interpretation of the value is identical to what has been described
2767 Pathname of the text editor to use in the
2772 A default editor is used if this value is not defined.
2774 The default MIME encoding to use in outgoing text messages and message
2776 Valid values are the default `quoted-printable', `8bit' and `base64'.
2777 `8bit' may cause problems with mail transfers that are not ESMTP
2779 If there is no need to encode a message,
2780 `7bit' transfer mode is always used regardless of this variable.
2781 Binary data is always encoded as `base64'.
2783 If defined, the first character of this option
2784 gives the character to use in place of `~' to denote tilde escapes.
2786 The name of the directory to use for storing folders of messages.
2787 All folder names that begin with `+' refer to files below it.
2788 The same special conventions as documented for the
2790 command may be used when specifying a new value for
2792 but be aware that the expansion is fully performed immediately.
2793 E.g., if the expanded name refers to an IMAP account, all names that
2794 begin with `+' refer to IMAP mailboxes below the
2798 Note: some IMAP servers do not accept the creation of mailboxes in
2799 the hierarchy base, but require that they are created as subfolders of
2800 `INBOX' \(en with such servers a folder name of the form
2802 .Dl imaps://mylogin@imap.myisp.example/INBOX.
2804 should be used (the last character is the server's hierarchy delimiter).
2805 Folder names prefixed by `+' will then refer to folders below `INBOX',
2806 while folder names prefixed by `@' refer to folders below the hierarchy
2810 namespace command for a method to detect the appropriate prefix and
2813 When a folder is opened and this variable is set,
2814 the macro corresponding to the value of this variable is executed.
2815 The macro is also invoked when new mail arrives,
2816 but message lists for commands executed from the macro
2817 only include newly arrived messages then.
2818 .It Va folder-hook-fullname
2819 When a folder named `fullname' is opened,
2820 the macro corresponding to the value of this variable is executed.
2821 Unlike other folder specifications,
2822 the fully expanded name of a folder, without metacharacters,
2823 is used to avoid ambiguities.
2824 The macro specified with
2826 is not executed if this variable is effective for a folder
2829 ed from within the actually executed macro).
2831 The address (or a list of addresses) to put into the `From:' field of
2833 If replying to messages these addresses are handled as if they were in
2837 If the machine's hostname is not valid at the Internet (for example at
2838 a dialup machine), then either this variable or
2843 contains more than one address,
2846 variable must also be set.
2848 The string to print before the text of a message with the
2852 .Va forward-as-attachment
2854 Defaults to `-------- Original Message --------' if unset.
2855 No heading is printed if it is set to the empty string.
2857 A format string to use for the header summary,
2861 A `%' character introduces a format specifier.
2862 It may be followed by a number indicating the field width.
2863 If the (possibly implicitly implied) field width is negative, the field
2864 is to be left-aligned.
2865 Valid format specifiers are:
2866 .Bl -tag -offset indent -width "%%"
2870 The date when the message was received.
2872 The indenting level in threaded mode.
2874 The address of the message sender.
2876 The message thread structure.
2877 (Note that this format doesn't support a field width.)
2879 The number of lines of the message.
2883 The number of octets (bytes) in the message.
2885 Message subject (if any).
2887 Message subject (if any) in double quotes.
2889 The position in threaded/sorted order.
2891 A `>' for the current message, otherwise ` '.
2893 A `<' for the current message, otherwise ` '.
2895 The spam score of the message, as has been classified via the command
2901 The default is `%>\&%a\&%m\ %-18f\ %16d\ %4l/%\-5o\ %i%-s',
2902 or `%>\&%a\&%m\ %20-f\ \ %16d\ %3l/%\-5o\ %i%-S' if
2906 Use this string as hostname when expanding local addresses instead of
2907 the value obtained from
2911 i.e., in `Message-ID:' and `From:' fields.
2914 transport is not used then it is normally the responsibility of the MTA
2915 to create these fields; you should produce some test messages with the
2916 desired combination of
2923 \*(OP Sets the IMAP authentication method.
2924 Valid values are `login' for the usual password-based authentication
2926 `cram-md5', which is a password-based authentication that does not send
2927 the password over the network in clear text,
2928 and `gssapi' for GSSAPI-based authentication.
2929 .It Va imap-auth-user@host
2930 Sets the IMAP authentication method for a specific account.
2932 \*(OP Enables caching of IMAP mailboxes.
2933 The value of this variable must point to a directory that is either
2934 existent or can be created by \*(UA.
2935 All contents of the cache can be deleted by \*(UA at any time;
2936 it is not safe to make assumptions about them.
2937 .It Va imap-keepalive
2938 \*(OP IMAP servers may close the connection after a period of
2939 inactivity; the standard requires this to be at least 30 minutes,
2940 but practical experience may vary.
2941 Setting this variable to a numeric `value' greater than 0 causes
2942 a `NOOP' command to be sent each `value' seconds if no other operation
2944 .It Va imap-list-depth
2945 \*(OP When retrieving the list of folders on an IMAP server, the
2947 command stops after it has reached a certain depth to avoid possible
2949 The value of this variable sets the maximum depth allowed.
2951 If the folder separator on the current IMAP server is a slash `/',
2952 this variable has no effect and the
2954 command does not descend to subfolders.
2956 String used by the `~m' and `~M' tilde escapes and by the
2958 option for indenting messages,
2959 in place of the normal tab character (`^I').
2960 Be sure to quote the value if it contains spaces or tabs.
2962 Pathname of the directory lister to use in the
2964 command when operating on local mailboxes.
2967 .It Va line-editor-cursor-right
2968 \*(OP If the builtin command line editor is used, actions which are
2969 based on rightwise movement may not work on some terminals.
2970 If you encounter such problems, set this variable to the terminal
2971 control sequence that is necessary to move the cursor one column to the
2973 The default is `\\033[C', which should work for most terminals.
2974 Less often occur `\\033OC' and `\\014'.
2975 Note that `ESCAPE' and other control character have to be written as
2976 shell-style escape sequences, e.g., `\\033' for `ESCAPE'.
2978 Is used as the user's mailbox, if set.
2979 Otherwise, a system-dependent default is used.
2980 Supports a logical subset of the special conventions that are documented
2987 The name of the mbox file.
2988 Supports a logical subset of the special conventions that are documented
2994 The fallback default is `mbox' in the user's home directory.
2995 .It Va mimetypes-load-control
2996 This option can be used to control which of the
2998 MIME type databases are loaded by \*(UA.
2999 If the letter `u' (or `U') is part of this options value, then the
3002 file will be loaded (if it exists);
3003 likewise the letter `s' (or `S') controls loading of the system wide
3004 .Pa /etc/mime.types .
3005 If this option is not set \*(UA will try to load both files instead.
3006 Incorporation of the MIME types that are compiled into \*(UA cannot be
3008 .It Va NAIL_EXTRA_RC
3009 The name of an optional startup file to be read after \*(ur.
3010 This variable is ignored if it is imported from the environment;
3011 it has an effect only if it is set in \*(UR or \*(ur to allow bypassing
3012 the configuration with, e.g., `MAILRC=/dev/null'.
3013 Use this file for commands that are not understood by other \*(UA
3016 A string to put at the beginning of each new message.
3017 The escape sequences `\et' (tabulator) and `\en' (newline) are understood.
3018 .It Va NAIL_HISTFILE
3019 \*(OP If a command line editor is available then this can be set to
3020 name the (expandable) path of the location of a permanent history file.
3021 .It Va NAIL_HISTSIZE
3022 \*(OP If a command line editor is available this value restricts the
3023 amount of history entries that are saved into a set and valid
3025 A value of less than 0 disables this feature;
3026 note that loading and incorporation of
3028 upon program startup can also be suppressed by doing this.
3029 An unset or invalid value, or 0, causes a default value to be used.
3030 Dependent on the available command line editor this will also define the
3031 number of history entries in memory;
3032 it is also editor-specific wether runtime updates of this value will be
3035 A string to put at the end of each new message.
3036 The escape sequences `\et' (tabulator) and `\en' (newline) are understood.
3038 If this variable has the value `maildir',
3039 newly created local folders will be in `maildir' format.
3041 The value to put into the `Organization:' field of the message header.
3043 Pathname of the program to use in the more command or when the
3046 The default paginator is
3048 .It Va password-user@host
3049 Set the password for `user' when connecting to `host'.
3050 If no such variable is defined for a host,
3051 the user will be asked for a password on standard input.
3052 Specifying passwords in a startup file is generally a security risk;
3053 the file should be readable by the invoking user only.
3054 .It Va pipe-content/subcontent
3055 When a MIME message part of `content/subcontent' type is displayed or
3057 its text is filtered through the value of this variable interpreted as
3060 The special value `@' can be used to force interpretation of the message
3061 part as plain text, e.g., `set pipe-application/pgp-signature=@' will
3062 henceforth treat signatures as plain text and display them "as is".
3064 Also, if a normal shell command is prefixed with `@', then the command
3065 will only be used to prepare the MIME message part if the message is
3066 displayed by itself, but not when multiple messages are displayed at
3069 Finally, if a normal shell command is prefixed with `@&', then, in
3070 addition to what has been described for the plain `@' shell command
3071 prefix, the command will be run asynchronously, i.e., without blocking
3072 \*(UA, which may be a handy way to display a, e.g., PDF file while also
3073 continuing to read the mail message.
3075 Special care must be taken when using such commands as mail viruses may
3076 be distributed by this method;
3077 if messages of type `application/x-sh' were filtered through the shell,
3079 a message sender could easily execute arbitrary code on the system \*(UA
3081 .It Va pop3-keepalive
3082 \*(OP POP3 servers close the connection after a period of inactivity;
3083 the standard requires this to be at least 10 minutes,
3084 but practical experience may vary.
3085 Setting this variable to a numeric `value' greater than 0 causes
3086 a `NOOP' command to be sent each `value' seconds if no other operation
3089 The string printed when a command is accepted.
3090 The prompt may be disabled by either setting this to the empty string
3093 Defaults to `?\ ', or to `&\ ' if the
3096 The same XSI escape sequences that are understood by the
3098 command may be used within
3101 \*(UA specific escape sequence extensions are:
3102 `\\?', which will expand to `1' if the last command failed, and to `0'
3104 `\\$', which will expand to the name of the currently active
3106 if any, and to the empty string otherwise,
3107 and `\\@', which will expand to the name of the currently active mailbox.
3108 (Note that the prompt buffer is size-limited, excess is cut off.)
3110 When a newer version of the
3112 .Sx "Command line editor"
3113 is used, any escape sequence must itself be encapsulated with another
3114 escape character for usage with the
3116 mechanism: \*(UA configures the control character `\\01' for this.
3118 If set, \*(UA starts a replying message with the original message
3119 prefixed by the value of the variable
3121 Normally, a heading consisting of `Fromheaderfield wrote:' is printed
3122 before the quotation.
3123 If the string `noheading' is assigned to the
3125 variable, this heading is omitted.
3126 If the string `headers' is assigned, the headers selected by the
3127 .Ic ignore Ns / Ns Ic retain
3128 commands are printed above the message body,
3131 acts like an automatic `~m' tilde escape command, then.
3132 If the string `allheaders' is assigned, all headers are printed above
3133 the message body and all MIME parts are included,
3136 act like an automatic `~M' command.
3138 .Va quote-as-attachment .
3140 \*(OP Can be set in addition to
3142 Setting this turns on a more fancy quotation algorithm in that leading
3143 quotation characters are compressed and overlong lines are folded.
3145 can be set to either one or two (space separated) numeric values,
3146 which are interpreted as the maximum (goal) and the minimum line length,
3147 respectively, in a spirit rather equal to the
3149 program, but line-, not paragraph-based.
3150 If not set explicitly the minimum will reflect the goal algorithmically.
3151 The goal can't be smaller than the length of
3153 plus some additional pad.
3154 Necessary adjustments take place silently.
3156 If defined, gives the pathname of the folder used to record all outgoing
3158 If not defined, then outgoing mail is not saved.
3159 When saving to this folder fails the message is not sent,
3160 but instead saved to
3163 A list of addresses to put into the `Reply-To:' field of the message
3165 Members of this list are handled as if they were in the
3169 When \*(UA initially prints the message headers it determines the number
3170 to print by looking at the speed of the terminal.
3171 The faster the terminal, the more it prints.
3172 This option overrides this calculation and specifies how many message
3173 headers are printed.
3174 This number is also used for scrolling with the
3178 \*(OP A comma-separated list of character set names that can be used in
3179 outgoing Internet mail.
3180 If no character set conversion capabilities are compiled into \*(UA then
3181 the only supported charset is
3184 .Va sendcharsets-else-ttycharset
3185 and refer to the section
3186 .Sx "Character sets"
3187 for the complete picture of character set conversion in \*(UA.
3189 An address that is put into the `Sender:' field of outgoing messages.
3190 This field needs not normally be present.
3191 It is, however, required if the `From:' field contains more than one
3193 It can also be used to indicate that a message was sent on behalf of
3194 someone else \(en in this case, `From:' should contain the address
3195 of the person that took responsibility for the message,
3196 and `Sender:' should contain the address of the person that actually
3200 address is handled as if it were in the
3204 To use an alternate mail delivery system,
3205 set this option to the full pathname of the program to use.
3206 It may be necessary to set
3207 .Va sendmail-progname
3209 .It Va sendmail-progname
3210 Many systems use a so-called
3212 environment to ensure compatibility with
3214 This works by inspecting the name that was used to invoke the mail
3216 If this variable is set then the mailwrapper (the program that is
3217 actually executed when calling `sendmail') will treat its contents as
3219 The default is `sendmail'.
3221 Pathname of the shell to use in the
3223 command and the `~!' tilde escape.
3224 A default shell is used if this option is not defined.
3226 A string for use with the `~A' tilde escape.
3228 A string for use with the `~a' tilde escape.
3230 Must correspond to the name of a readable file if set.
3231 The file's content is then appended to each singlepart message
3232 and to the first part of each multipart message.
3233 Be warned that there is no possibility to edit the signature for an
3236 \*(OP Specifies a directory with CA certificates in PEM (Privacy
3237 Enhanced Mail) format for verification of S/MIME signed messages.
3238 .It Va smime-ca-file
3239 \*(OP Specifies a file with CA certificates in PEM format for
3240 verification of S/MIME signed messages.
3241 .It Va smime-cipher-user@host
3242 \*(OP Specifies a cipher to use when generating S/MIME encrypted
3243 messages for `user@host'.
3244 Valid ciphers are `rc2-40' (RC2 with 40 bits), `rc2-64' (RC2 with 64
3245 bits), `des' (DES, 56 bits) and `des-ede3' (3DES, 112/168 bits).
3246 The default is 3DES.
3247 It is not recommended to use the other ciphers unless a recipient's
3248 client is actually unable to handle 3DES since they are comparatively
3250 .It Va smime-crl-file
3251 \*(OP Specifies a file that contains a CRL in PEM format to use when
3252 verifying S/MIME messages.
3253 .It Va smime-crl-dir
3254 \*(OP Specifies a directory that contains files with CRLs in PEM format
3255 to use when verifying S/MIME messages.
3256 .It Va smime-encrypt-user@host
3257 \*(OP If this variable is set, messages to `user@host' are encrypted
3259 The value of the variable must be set to the name of a file that
3260 contains a certificate in PEM format.
3262 If a message is sent to multiple recipients,
3263 each of them for whom a corresponding variable is set will receive an
3264 individually encrypted message;
3265 other recipients will continue to receive the message in plain text
3267 .Va smime-force-encryption
3269 It is recommended to sign encrypted messages, i.e., to also set the
3272 .It Va smime-sign-cert
3273 \*(OP Points to a file in PEM format that contains the user's private
3274 key as well as his certificate.
3275 Both are used with S/MIME for signing and decrypting messages.
3276 .It Va smime-sign-cert-user@host
3279 for the specific addresses.
3280 When signing messages and the value of the
3282 variable is set to `user@host', the specific file is used.
3283 When decrypting messages,
3284 their recipient fields (`To:' and `Cc:') are searched for addresses
3285 for which such a variable is set.
3286 \*(UA always uses the first address that matches,
3287 so if the same message is sent to more than one of the user's addresses
3288 using different encryption keys, decryption might fail.
3289 .It Va smime-sign-include-certs
3290 \*(OP If used, this must be set to a comma-separated list of files,
3291 each of which containing a single certificate in PEM format to be
3292 included in the S/MIME message in addition to the
3295 This is most useful for long certificate chains if it is desired to aid
3296 the receiving party's verification process.
3297 .It Va smime-sign-include-certs-user@host
3299 .Va smime-sign-include-certs
3300 for the specific addresses.
3301 Refer to the discussion of
3302 .Va smime-sign-cert-user@host
3303 for more on this topic.
3305 \*(OP Normally \*(UA invokes
3307 directly to transfer messages.
3310 variable is set, a SMTP connection to the server specified by the value
3311 of this variable is used instead.
3312 If the SMTP server does not use the standard port, a value of
3313 `server:port' can be given, with `port' as a name or as a number.
3315 There are two possible methods to get SSL/TLS encrypted SMTP sessions:
3316 First, the `STARTTLS' command can be used to encrypt a session after it
3318 but before any user-related data has been sent; see
3319 .Va smtp-use-starttls
3321 Second, some servers accept sessions that are encrypted from begin on.
3322 This mode is configured by assigning `smtps://server[:port]' to the
3326 The SMTP transfer is executed in a child process, which runs
3327 asynchronously unless either the
3332 If it receives a TERM signal, it will abort and save the message to
3335 \*(OP Sets the SMTP authentication method.
3336 If set to `login', or if unset and
3338 is set, `AUTH LOGIN' is used.
3339 If set to `cram-md5', `AUTH CRAM-MD5' is used;
3340 if set to `plain', `AUTH PLAIN' is used.
3341 Otherwise, no SMTP authentication is performed.
3342 .It Va smtp-auth-user@host
3345 for specific values of sender addresses, dependend upon the variable
3347 .It Va smtp-auth-password
3348 \*(OP Sets the global password for `SMTP AUTH'.
3349 Both user and password have to be given for `AUTH LOGIN' and
3351 .It Va smtp-auth-password-user@host
3353 .Va smtp-auth-password
3354 for specific values of sender addresses, dependent upon the variable
3356 .It Va smtp-auth-user
3357 \*(OP Sets the global user name for `SMTP AUTH'.
3358 Both user and password have to be given for `AUTH LOGIN' and
3360 If this variable is set but neither
3361 .Va smtp-auth-password
3363 .Va smtp-auth-password-user@host
3365 \*(UA will ask for a password on the user's terminal.
3366 .It Va smtp-auth-user-user@host
3369 for specific values of sender addresses, dependent upon the variable
3372 \*(OP The path to the spam detector.
3373 Note that the path is not expanded, but used "as is".
3374 A fallback path will have been compiled into the \*(UA binary if the
3376 executable had been found during compilation.
3378 \*(OP Can be used to specify the host on which
3380 listens for connections; if not set, defaults to `localhost'.
3382 \*(OP Spam detectors like
3384 decline to work with messages which exceed a specific size;
3385 if this variable is set then \*(UA won't even try to pass messages which
3386 exceed the given limit.
3387 The default is 420000 bytes.
3389 \*(OP Can be used to explicitly specify the port on which
3391 listens for connections.
3393 \*(OP If the spam detector listens on a path-based UNIX domain socket,
3394 then setting this variable to the fully qualified path will force its
3395 usage for communication.
3397 \*(OP This can be used to support multiple, per-used configuration files
3398 of the spam detector.
3399 Note that \*(UA doesn't automatically set this to reflect a possibly set
3403 \*(OP Specifies a directory with CA certificates in PEM (Pricacy
3404 Enhanced Mail) for verification of of SSL/TLS server certificates.
3406 .Xr SSL_CTX_load_verify_locations 3
3407 for more information.
3409 \*(OP Specifies a file with CA certificates in PEM format for
3410 verification of SSL/TLS server certificates.
3412 .Xr SSL_CTX_load_verify_locations 3
3413 for more information.
3415 \*(OP Sets the file name for a SSL/TLS client certificate required by
3417 .It Va ssl-cert-user@host
3418 Sets an account-specific file name for a SSL/TLS client certificate
3419 required by some servers.
3422 for the specified account.
3423 .It Va ssl-cipher-list
3424 \*(OP Specifies a list of ciphers for SSL/TLS connections.
3427 for more information.
3429 \*(OP Specifies a file that contains a CRL in PEM format to use when
3430 verifying SSL/TLS server certificates.
3432 \*(OP Specifies a directory that contains files with CRLs in PEM format
3433 to use when verifying SSL/TLS server certificates.
3435 \*(OP Sets the file name for the private key of a SSL/TLS client
3437 If unset, the name of the certificate file is used.
3438 The file is expected to be in PEM format.
3439 .It Va ssl-key-user@host
3440 Sets an account-specific file name for the private key of a SSL/TLS
3444 for the specified account.
3446 \*(OP Selects a SSL/TLS protocol version;
3447 \*(UA accepts the values `ssl2', `ssl3', `tls1', `tls1.1' and `tls1.2',
3448 though it depends on the OpenSSL library that is found on the system
3449 what is truly supported.
3450 If unset, the method is selected automatically, if possible
3451 (this process usually tries to use the most secure method possible).
3452 This approach is also taken if the chosen value is not supported by the
3453 OpenSSL library, in which case an error message will be printed first.
3454 .It Va ssl-method-user@host
3457 for a specific account.
3459 \*(OP Gives the pathname to an entropy daemon socket, see
3461 .It Va ssl-rand-file
3462 \*(OP Gives the pathname to a file with entropy data, see
3463 .Xr RAND_load_file 3 .
3464 If the file is a regular file writable by the invoking user,
3465 new data is written to it after it has been loaded.
3467 \*(OP Sets the action to be performed if an error occurs during SSL/TLS
3468 server certificate validation.
3470 `strict' (fail and close connection immediately),
3471 `ask' (ask whether to continue on standard input),
3472 `warn' (print a warning and continue),
3473 `ignore' (do not perform validation).
3474 The default is `ask'.
3475 .It Va ssl-verify-user@host
3478 for a specific account.
3480 If only set without an assigned value, then this option inhibits the
3481 generation of the `Message-Id:' and `User-Agent:' header fields that
3482 include obvious references to \*(UA.
3483 There are two pitfalls associated with this:
3484 First, the message id of outgoing messages is not known anymore.
3485 Second, an expert may still use the remaining information in the header
3486 to track down the originating mail user agent.
3487 If set to the value `noagent', then the mentioned `Message-Id:'
3488 suppression doesn't occur.
3490 If defined, gives the number of lines of a message to be printed out
3491 with the top command;
3492 normally, the first five lines are printed.
3494 The character set of the terminal \*(UA operates on,
3495 and the one and only supported character set that \*(UA can use if no
3496 character set conversion capabilities have been compiled into it,
3497 in which case it defaults to `ISO-8859-1' unless it can deduce a value
3498 from the `LC_CTYPE' locale environment.
3499 Refer to the section
3500 .Sx "Character sets"
3501 for the complete picture about character sets.
3503 Pathname of the text editor to use in the
3505 command and `~v' tilde escape.
3511 Besides the variables described above,
3512 \*(UA uses the following environment variables:
3513 .Bl -tag -width ".It Va MAILRC"
3515 The user's preferred width in column positions for the terminal screen
3516 or window (only used during startup).
3518 The user's home directory.
3519 .It Va LANG , Va LC_ALL , Va LC_COLLATE , Va LC_CTYPE , Va LC_MESSAGES
3523 The user's preferred number of lines on a page or the vertical screen or
3524 window size in lines (only used during startup).
3526 Is used as a startup file instead of \*(ur if set.
3527 When \*(UA scripts are invoked on behalf of other users,
3528 this variable should be set to
3530 to avoid side-effects from reading their configuration files.
3532 If this variable is set and
3534 is not, it is treated as a startup configuration file and read.
3535 .It Va NAIL_NO_SYSTEM_RC
3536 If this variable is set then reading of \*(UR at startup is inhibited,
3537 i.e., the same effect is achieved as if \*(UA had been started up with
3541 Changes the letters printed in the first column of a header summary.
3543 Used as directory for temporary files instead of
3547 Can be used to force identification as
3549 i.e., identical to the
3551 command line option.
3557 .Bl -tag -width ".It Pa /etc/mime.types"
3559 File giving initial commands.
3561 System wide initialization file.
3562 .It Pa ~/.mime.types
3563 Personal MIME types.
3564 .It Pa /etc/mime.types
3565 System wide MIME types.
3573 .Ss "Getting started"
3574 The \*(UA command has two distinct usages, according to whether one
3575 wants to send or receive mail.
3576 Sending mail is simple: to send a message to a user whose email address
3577 is, say, `<bill@host.example>', use the shell command:
3579 .Dl $ \*(ua bill@host.example
3581 then type your message.
3582 \*(UA will prompt you for a message `Subject:' first;
3583 after that, lines typed by you form the body of the message.
3584 When you reach the end of the message,
3585 type an EOT (`control\-D') at the beginning of a line,
3586 which will cause \*(UA to echo `EOT' and return you to the shell.
3588 If, while you are composing the message you decide that you do not wish
3589 to send it after all, you can abort the letter by typing two `RUBOUT'
3590 (interrupt) characters.
3591 Typing a single `RUBOUT' causes \*(UA to print
3592 .Ns ` Ns Li (Interrupt -- one more to kill letter) Ns '.
3593 Typing a second `RUBOUT' causes \*(UA to save your partial letter on the
3596 and abort the letter.
3597 Once you have sent mail to someone, there is no way to undo the act, so
3600 If you want to send the same message to several other people,
3601 you can list their email addresses on the command line.
3602 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3603 $ \*(ua sam@workstation.example bob@server.example
3605 Tuition fees are due next Friday. Don't forget!
3611 will sendout to `<sam@workstation.example>' and `<bob@server.example>'.
3612 To read your mail, simply type
3616 \*(UA will respond by typing its version number and date and then
3617 listing the messages you have waiting.
3618 Then it will type a prompt and await your command.
3619 The messages are assigned numbers starting with 1 \(en you refer to the
3620 messages with these numbers.
3621 \*(UA keeps track of which messages are `new' (have been sent since you
3622 last read your mail) and `read' (have been read by you).
3623 New messages have an `N' next to them in the header listing and old,
3624 but unread messages have a `U' next to them.
3625 \*(UA keeps track of new/old and read/unread messages by putting a
3626 header field called `Status' into your messages.
3628 To look at a specific message, use the
3630 command, which may be abbreviated to simply `t'.
3631 For example, if you had the following messages:
3632 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3633 O 1 drfoo@myhost.example Wed Sep 1 19:52 5/421 "Fees"
3634 O 2 sam@friends.example Thu Sep 2 00:08 30/895
3637 you could examine the first message by giving the command:
3641 which might cause \*(UA to respond with, for example:
3642 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3643 [-- Message 1 -- 5 lines, 421 bytes --]:
3644 From drfoo@myhost.example Wed Sep 1 19:52:25 2004
3648 Tuition fees are due next Wednesday. Don't forget!
3651 Many \*(UA commands that operate on messages take a message number as an
3652 argument, just as the shown
3655 For these commands, there is a notion of a current message.
3656 When you enter the \*(UA program,
3657 the current message is initially the first (or the first recent) one.
3658 Thus, you can often omit the message number and use, for example, `t` to
3659 type the current message.
3660 As a further shorthand, you can type a message by simply giving its
3661 message number \(en hence `1` would type the first message.
3663 Frequently, it is useful to read the messages in your mailbox in order,
3665 You can read the next message in \*(UA by simply typing a newline.
3666 As a special case, you can type a newline as your first command to
3667 \*(UA to type the first message.
3669 If, after typing a message, you wish to immediately send a reply,
3670 you can do so with the command
3674 takes a message number as an argument.
3675 \*(UA then begins a message addressed to the user who sent you the
3676 message and let you type in your letter in reply, followed by
3677 a `<control-D>' at the beginning of a line, as before.
3679 Note that \*(UA copies the subject header from the original message.
3680 This is useful in that correspondence about a particular matter will
3681 tend to retain the same subject heading, making it easy to recognize.
3682 If there are other header fields in the message, like `Cc:',
3683 the information found will also be used.
3685 Sometimes you will receive a message that has been sent to several
3686 people and wish to reply only to the person who sent it.
3688 (with a capital `R') replies to a message, but sends a copy to the
3691 If you wish, while reading your mail, to send a message to someone,
3692 but not as a reply to one of your messages, you can send the message
3695 command, which takes as arguments the names of the recipients you wish
3697 For example, to send a message to `<frank@machine.example>':
3699 .Dl mail frank@machine.example
3701 To delete a message from the mail folder, you can use the command
3703 In addition to not saving deleted messages,
3704 \*(UA will not let you type them, either.
3705 The effect is to make the message disappear altogether, along with its
3708 Many features of \*(UA can be tailored to your liking with the
3710 command; it has two forms, depending on whether you are setting
3711 a `binary' or a `valued' option.
3712 Binary options are either on or off \(en for example, the
3714 option informs \*(UA that each time you send a message, you want it to
3715 prompt you for a `Cc:' header to be included in the message.
3718 option, you would type
3722 Valued options are values which \*(UA uses to adapt to your tastes.
3725 option tells \*(UA where to save messages sent by you,
3726 and is specified by, e.g.,
3730 Note that no spaces are allowed in `set record=Sent'.
3732 \*(UA includes a simple facility for maintaining groups of messages
3733 together in folders.
3734 To use the folder facility, you must tell \*(UA where you wish to keep
3736 Each folder of messages will be a single file.
3737 For convenience, all of your folders are kept in a single directory of
3739 To tell \*(UA where your folder directory is, put a line of the form
3741 .Dl set folder=letters
3744 If, as in the example above, your folder directory does not begin with
3745 a `/', \*(UA will assume that your folder directory is to be found
3746 starting from your home directory.
3748 Anywhere a file name is expected, you can use a folder name, preceded
3750 For example, to put a message into a folder with the
3752 command, you can use:
3756 to save the current message in the `classwork' folder.
3757 If the `classwork' folder does not yet exist, it will be created.
3758 Note that messages which are saved with the
3760 command are automatically removed from your system mailbox.
3762 In order to make a copy of a message in a folder without causing
3763 that message to be removed from your system mailbox, use the
3765 command, which is identical in all other respects to the
3772 can be used to direct \*(UA to the contents of a different folder.
3775 .Dl folder +classwork
3777 directs \*(UA to read the contents of the `classwork' folder.
3778 All of the commands that you can use on your system mailbox are also
3779 applicable to folders, including
3784 To inquire which folder you are currently editing, use `folder' without
3786 And to list your current set of folders, use the
3792 command is available to print out a brief summary of the most important
3795 While typing in a message to be sent to others it is often useful to be
3796 able to invoke the text editor on the partial message, print the
3797 message, execute a shell command, or do some other auxiliary function.
3798 \*(UA provides these capabilities through `tilde escapes',
3799 which consist of a tilde (`~') at the beginning of a line, followed by
3800 a single character which indicates the function to be performed.
3801 For example, to print the text of the message so far, use:
3805 which will print a line of dashes, the recipients of your message, and
3806 the text of the message so far.
3807 A list of the most important tilde escapes is available with `~?'.
3810 .Ss "IMAP or POP3 client setup"
3811 \*(OP First you need the following data from your ISP:
3812 the host name of the IMAP or POP3 server,
3813 user name and password for this server,
3814 and a notice whether the server uses SSL/TLS encryption.
3815 Assuming the SSL/TLS secured host name of your IMAP account is
3816 `server.myisp.example' and your user name for that server is `mylogin',
3817 you could refer to this account using the
3821 command line option with
3823 .Dl imaps://mylogin@server.myisp.example
3825 (This string is not necessarily the same as your Internet mail address.)
3826 Even if the server does not accept IMAPS or POP3S connections,
3827 it is possible that it supports the `STARTTLS' method of upgrading
3828 already connected, but not yet authenticated sessions to use SSL/TLS
3830 The only reliable method to see if this works is to try it; enter one of
3832 .Dl set imap-use-starttls
3833 .Dl set pop3-use-starttls
3835 before you initiate the connection, dependent on the actual protocol.
3837 As you probably want messages to be deleted from this account
3838 after saving them, prefix it with `%:'.
3841 command can be used to avoid typing that many characters every time you
3844 .Dl shortcut myisp %:imaps://mylogin@server.myisp.example
3846 You might want to put this string into a startup file.
3848 is one of those commands that are specific to \*(UA and will thus
3849 confuse other implementations of POSIX
3851 so it should possibly not be placed in \*(ur.
3854 .Dl set NAIL_EXTRA_RC=.\*(uarc
3856 in \*(ur and create a file
3858 containing all the commands that are specific to \*(UA.
3859 You can then access your remote mailbox by invoking
3863 on the command line, or by executing
3868 If you want to use more than one IMAP mailbox on a server,
3869 or if you want to use the IMAP server for mail storage too, the
3871 command (which is also \*(UA-specific) is possibly more appropriate.
3872 You can put the following in
3874 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3876 set folder=imaps://mylogin@server.myisp.example
3877 set record=+Sent MBOX=+mbox outfolder
3881 and can then access incoming mail for this account by invoking
3882 `\*(ua \-A myisp' on the command line or by executing `ac myisp' within
3884 After that, a command like `copy 1 +otherfolder' will refer to
3885 `otherfolder' on the IMAP server.
3886 In particular, `fi &' will change to the `mbox' folder,
3887 and `fi +Sent' will show your recorded sent mail,
3888 with both folders located on the IMAP server.
3890 \*(UA will ask you for a password string each time you connect to
3892 If you can reasonably trust the security of your workstation,
3893 you can give this password in the startup file as
3895 .Dl set password-mylogin@server.myisp.example="SECRET"
3897 You should change the permissions of this file to 0600, see
3900 \*(UA supports different authentication methods for both IMAP and POP3.
3901 If Kerberos is used at your location,
3902 you can try to activate (the optional) GSSAPI-based authentication via
3904 .Dl set imap-auth=gssapi
3906 The advantage of this method is that \*(UA doesn't need to know your
3907 password at all, nor does it have to send sensitive data over the network.
3908 If that isn't possible, try to use authentication methods that at least
3909 avoid sending the password in clear over the wire, which is especially
3910 important if SSL/TLS cannot be used, e.g.,
3912 .Dl set imap-auth=cram-md5
3914 For POP3 \*(UA will try to use the `APOP' mechanism automatically unless
3915 explicitly disabled.
3916 If the server does not offer any such authentication methods,
3917 conventional user/password based authentication must be used.
3918 It is sometimes helpful, especially when setting up an account or when
3919 there are authentification problems, to enable verbosity by setting the
3921 option \(en \*(UA will display all data sent to the server in clear text
3922 on the screen when this option is set.
3923 (Because this may also include passwords you should take care that no
3924 unauthorized person can look at your terminal when this option is set.)
3926 If you regularly use the same workstation to access IMAP accounts,
3927 you can greatly enhance performance by enabling local caching of IMAP
3929 For any message that has been fully or partially fetched from the server,
3930 a local copy is made and is used when the message is accessed again,
3931 so most data is transferred over the network once only.
3932 To enable the IMAP cache, select a local directory name and put
3934 .Dl set imap-cache=~/localdirectory
3936 in the (\*(UA-specific) startup file.
3937 All files within that directory can be overwritten or deleted by \*(UA
3939 so you should not use the directory to store other information.
3941 Once the cache contains some messages,
3942 it is not strictly necessary anymore to open a connection to the IMAP
3943 server to access them.
3944 When \*(UA is invoked with the option
3949 only cached data is used for any folder you open.
3950 Messages that have not yet been completely cached are not available
3951 then, but all other messages can be handled as usual.
3952 Changes made to IMAP mailboxes in
3954 mode are committed to the IMAP server next time it is used in
3957 Synchronizing the local status with the status on the server is thus
3958 partially within your responsibility;
3959 if you forget to initiate a connection to the server again before you
3960 leave your location,
3961 changes made on one workstation are not available on others.
3962 Also if you alter IMAP mailboxes from a workstation while uncommitted
3963 changes are still pending on another,
3964 the latter data may become invalid.
3965 The same might also happen because of internal server status changes.
3966 You should thus carefully evaluate this feature in your environment
3967 before you rely on it.
3969 Many servers will close the connection after a short period of
3970 inactivity \(en use one of
3972 .Dl set pop3-keepalive=30
3973 .Dl set imap-keepalive=240
3975 to send a keepalive message each 30 seconds for POP3,
3976 or each 4 minutes for IMAP.
3978 If you encounter problems connecting to a SSL/TLS server,
3983 variables (see the OpenSSL FAQ for more information) or specify the
3984 protocol version with
3986 Contact your ISP if you need a client certificate or if verification of
3987 the server certificate fails.
3988 If the failed certificate is indeed valid,
3989 fetch its CA certificate by executing the shell command
3991 .Dl $ </dev/null openssl s_client \-showcerts \-connect \e
3992 .Dl \ \ \ \ \ \ server.myisp.example:imaps 2>&1 | tee log.txt
3996 ) and put it into the file specified with
3998 The data you need is located at the end of the certificate chain
3999 within (and including) the `BEGIN CERTIFICATE'
4000 and `END CERTIFICATE' lines.
4001 Note that the example above is \fBinsecure\fR!
4002 One should use the `-verify' and `-CAfile' options of
4004 to be "on the safe side" regarding the fetched certificates.
4007 .Ss "Reading HTML mail"
4012 utility or another command-line web browser that can write plain text to
4015 .Dl set pipe-text/html="elinks -force-html -dump 1"
4016 .Dl set pipe-text/html="lynx -stdin -dump -force_html"
4018 will cause HTML message parts to be converted into a more friendly form.
4021 .Ss "Viewing PDF attachments"
4022 Most PDF viewers do not accept input directly from a pipe.
4023 It is thus necessary to store the attachment in a temporary file first:
4025 .Dl set pipe-application/pdf="@&cat >/tmp/\*(ua$$.pdf; \e
4026 .Dl \ \ \ \ \ \ acroread /tmp/\*(ua$$.pdf; rm /tmp/\*(ua$$.pdf"
4028 Note that security defects are discovered in PDF viewers from time to
4030 Automatical command execution like this can compromise your system
4032 in particular if you stay not always informed about such issues.
4035 .Ss "Signed and encrypted messages with S/MIME"
4036 \*(OP S/MIME provides two central mechanisms:
4037 message signing and message encryption.
4038 A signed message contains some data in addition to the regular text.
4039 The data can be used to verify that the message was sent using a valid
4040 certificate, that the sender's address in the message header matches
4041 that in the certificate, and that the message text has not been altered.
4042 Signing a message does not change its regular text;
4043 it can be read regardless of whether the recipient's software is able to
4045 It is thus usually possible to sign all outgoing messages if so desired.
4046 Encryption, in contrast, makes the message text invisible for all people
4047 except those who have access to the secret decryption key.
4048 To encrypt a message, the specific recipient's public encryption key
4050 It is thus not possible to send encrypted mail to people unless their
4051 key has been retrieved from either previous communication or public key
4053 A message should always be signed before it is encrypted.
4054 Otherwise, it is still possible that the encrypted message text is
4057 A central concept to S/MIME is that of the certification authority (CA).
4058 A CA is a trusted institution that issues certificates.
4059 For each of these certificates it can be verified that it really
4060 originates from the CA, provided that the CA's own certificate is
4062 A set of CA certificates is usually delivered with OpenSSL and installed
4064 If you trust the source of your OpenSSL software installation,
4065 this offers reasonable security for S/MIME on the Internet.
4066 In general, a certificate cannot be more secure than the method its CA
4067 certificate has been retrieved with, though.
4068 Thus if you download a CA certificate from the Internet,
4069 you can only trust the messages you verify using that certificate as
4070 much as you trust the download process.
4072 The first thing you need for participating in S/MIME message exchange is
4073 your personal certificate, including a private key.
4074 The certificate contains public information, in particular your name and
4075 your email address, and the public key that is used by others to encrypt
4077 and to verify signed messages they supposedly received from you.
4078 The certificate is included in each signed message you send.
4079 The private key must be kept secret.
4080 It is used to decrypt messages that were previously encrypted with your
4081 public key, and to sign messages.
4083 For personal use it is recommended that you get a S/MIME certificate
4084 from one of the major CAs on the Internet using your WWW browser.
4085 (Many CAs offer such certificates for free.)
4086 You will usually receive a combined certificate and private key in
4087 PKCS#12 format which \*(UA does not directly accept.
4088 To convert it to PEM format, use the following shell command:
4090 .Dl $ openssl pkcs12 \-in cert.p12 \-out cert.pem \-clcerts \-nodes
4092 If you omit the `\-nodes' parameter, you can specifiy an additional `PEM
4093 pass phrase' for protecting the private key.
4094 \*(UA will then ask you for that pass phrase each time it signs or
4098 .Dl set smime-sign-cert-myname@myisp.example=cert.pem
4100 to make this private key and certificate known to \*(UA.
4101 You can now sign outgoing messages.
4107 From each signed message you send,
4108 the recipient can fetch your certificate and use it to send encrypted
4110 Accordingly if somebody sends you a signed message, you can do the same.
4113 command to check the validity of the certificate.
4114 After that, retrieve the certificate and tell \*(UA that it should use
4117 .Dl certsave filename
4118 .Dl set smime-encrypt-user@host=filename
4120 You should carefully consider if you prefer to store encrypted messages
4122 If you do, anybody who has access to your mail folders can read them,
4123 but if you do not, you might be unable to read them yourself later if
4124 you happen to lose your private key.
4127 command saves messages in decrypted form, while the
4132 commands leave them encrypted.
4134 Note that neither S/MIME signing nor encryption applies to message
4135 subjects or other header fields.
4136 Thus they may not contain sensitive information for encrypted messages,
4137 and cannot be trusted even if the message content has been verified.
4138 When sending signed messages,
4139 it is recommended to repeat any important header information in the
4143 .Ss "Using CRLs with S/MIME or SSL/TLS"
4144 \*(OP Certification authorities (CAs) issue certificate revocation
4145 lists (CRLs) on a regular basis.
4146 These lists contain the serial numbers of certificates that have been
4147 declared invalid after they have been issued.
4148 Such usually happens because the private key for the certificate has
4150 because the owner of the certificate has left the organization that is
4151 mentioned in the certificate, etc.
4152 To seriously use S/MIME or SSL/TLS verification,
4153 an up-to-date CRL is required for each trusted CA.
4154 There is otherwise no method to distinguish between valid and
4155 invalidated certificates.
4156 \*(UA currently offers no mechanism to fetch CRLs, nor to access them on
4157 the Internet, so you have to retrieve them by some external mechanism.
4159 \*(UA accepts CRLs in PEM format only;
4160 CRLs in DER format must be converted, like, e.\|g.:
4162 .Dl $ openssl crl \-inform DER \-in crl.der \-out crl.pem
4164 To tell \*(UA about the CRLs, a directory that contains all CRL files
4165 (and no other files) must be created.
4170 variables, respectively, must then be set to point to that directory.
4171 After that, \*(UA requires a CRL to be present for each CA that is used
4172 to verify a certificate.
4176 \*(OP \*(UA can make use of spam detection and learning facilities \(en
4177 more precisely, SpamAssassin (\%<http://spamassassin.apache.org>).
4178 A very comprehensive documentation of
4180 can be found at the O'Reilly Commons
4181 (\%<http://commons.oreilly.com/wiki/index.php/SpamAssassin>).
4183 Currently \*(UA supports interaction with
4185 only via its daemonized
4188 server / client pair, which means that, in order to detect and work
4189 with spam through \*(UA, an instance of the
4191 daemon must be running (the examples are equivalent):
4192 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4193 $ spamd -i localhost:2142 -i /tmp/.spamsock -d [-L] [-l]
4194 $ spamd --listen=localhost:2142 --listen=/tmp/.spamsock \\
4195 --daemonize [--local] [--allow-tell]
4200 should only listen on a local, path-based UNIX domain socket instead of
4201 offering its service over the network, it maybe necessary to use
4204 option instead of the shown
4206 In order to support training of the Bayesian classifier through \*(UA,
4208 must have been started with the
4214 is running \*(UA can classify messages by using the client side program,
4217 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4218 $ \*(ua -Sspam-command=/usr/local/bin/spamc \\
4219 -Sspam-socket=/tmp/.spamsock -Sspam-maxsize=500000
4222 The commands offered are
4226 which simply set an `is-spam' flag that can be used for, e.g., message
4229 which passes messages through to the spam detector in order to gain
4230 a spam score and conditionally set the `is-spam' flag accordingly,
4231 as well as the Bayesian filter related
4237 Because messages must exist on local storage in order to be scored (or
4238 used for Bayesian filter training), it is possibly a good idea to
4239 perform the local spam check last:
4240 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4241 define spamdelhook {
4243 spamset (header x-dcc-brand-metrics "bulk")
4244 # Server-side spamassassin(1)
4245 spamset (header x-spam-flag "YES")
4246 del :s # TODO we HAVE to be able to do `spamrate :u ! :s'
4247 # And finally the local spamc(1)
4251 set folder-hook-FOLDER=spamdelhook
4254 See also the documentation for the variables
4264 .Ss "Sending mail from scripts"
4265 If you want to send mail from scripts, you must be aware that \*(UA
4266 reads the user's configuration files by default.
4267 So unless your script is only intended for your own personal use
4268 (as, e.g., a cron job), you need to circumvent this:
4270 .Dl MAILRC=/dev/null \*(ua \-n
4272 You then need to create a script-local configuration for \*(UA.
4273 This can be done by either pointing the
4275 variable to a custom configuration file,
4276 by passing the configuration in environment variables,
4279 command line option to specify options.
4280 Since many configuration options are not valid shell variables, the
4282 command is useful if the approach via environment variables is used:
4283 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4284 env MAILRC=/dev/null from=scriptreply@domain smtp=host \e
4285 smtp-auth-user=login smtp-auth-password=secret \e
4286 smtp-auth=login \*(ua \-n \-s "subject" \e
4287 \-a attachment_file recipient@domain < content_file
4301 .Xr spamassassin 1 ,
4317 .Sh "IMPLEMENTATION NOTES"
4318 The character set conversion uses and relies upon the
4321 Its functionality differs widely between the various system environments
4324 Limitations with IMAP mailboxes are:
4325 It is not possible to edit messages, but it is possible to append them.
4326 Thus to edit a message, create a local copy of it, edit it, append it,
4327 and delete the original.
4328 The line count for the header display is only appropriate if the entire
4329 message has been downloaded from the server.
4330 The marking of messages as `new' is performed by the IMAP server;
4335 will not cause it to be reset, and if the
4336 .Va autoinc Ns / Ns Va newmail
4337 variables are unset, messages that arrived during a session will not be
4338 in state `new' anymore when the folder is opened again.
4339 Also if commands queued in disconnected mode are committed,
4340 the IMAP server will delete the `new' flag for all messages in the
4342 and new messages will appear as unread when it is selected for viewing
4344 The `flagged', `answered', and `draft' attributes are usually permanent,
4345 but some IMAP servers are known to drop them without notification.
4346 Message numbers may change with IMAP every time before the prompt is
4347 printed if \*(UA is notified by the server that messages have been
4348 deleted by some other client or process.
4349 In this case, `Expunged n messages' is printed, and message numbers may
4352 Limitations with POP3 mailboxes are:
4353 It is not possible to edit messages, they can only be copied and deleted.
4354 The line count for the header display is only appropriate if the entire
4355 message has been downloaded from the server.
4356 The status field of a message is maintained by the server between
4357 connections; some servers do not update it at all, and with a server
4358 that does, the `exit' command will not cause the message status to be
4360 The `newmail' command and the `newmail' variable have no effect.
4361 It is not possible to rename or to remove POP3 mailboxes.
4363 If a `RUBOUT' (interrupt) is typed while an IMAP or POP3 operation is in
4364 progress, \*(UA will wait until the operation can be safely aborted, and
4365 will then return to the command loop and print the prompt again.
4366 When a second `RUBOUT' is typed while \*(UA is waiting for the operation
4367 to complete, the operation itself will be cancelled.
4368 In this case, data that has not been fetched yet will have to be fetched
4369 before the next command can be performed.
4370 If the cancelled operation was using an SSL/TLS encrypted channel,
4371 an error in the SSL transport will very likely result and render the
4372 connection unusable.
4374 As \*(UA is a mail user agent, it provides only basic SMTP services.
4375 If it fails to contact its upstream SMTP server, it will not make
4376 further attempts to transfer the message at a later time,
4377 and it does not leave other information about this condition than an
4378 error message on the terminal and an entry in
4380 This is usually not a problem if the SMTP server is located in the same
4381 local network as the computer on which \*(UA is run.
4382 However, care should be taken when using a remote server of an ISP;
4383 it might be better to set up a local SMTP server then which just acts as
4386 \*(UA immediately contacts the SMTP server (or
4388 ) even when operating in
4391 It would not make much sense for \*(UA to defer outgoing mail since SMTP
4392 servers usually provide much more elaborated delay handling than \*(UA
4393 could perform as a client.
4394 Thus the recommended setup for sending mail in
4396 mode is to configure a local SMTP server such that it sends outgoing
4397 mail as soon as an external network connection is available again,
4398 i.e., to advise it to do that from a network startup script.
4403 A \fImail\fR command appeared in Version 1 AT&T Unix.
4404 Berkeley Mail was written in 1978 by Kurt Shoens.
4405 This man page is derived from from The Mail Reference Manual originally
4406 written by Kurt Shoens.
4407 "Heirloom Mailx" enhancements are maintained and documented by Gunnar
4409 "S-nail" is maintained and documented by Steffen "Daode" Nurpmeso.
4411 Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
4412 from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
4413 \(en Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
4414 Specifications Issue 6, Copyright \(co 2001-2003 by the Institute of
4415 Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group.
4416 In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original
4417 IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group
4418 Standard is the referee document.
4419 The original Standard can be obtained online at
4420 \%<http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html>.
4421 Redistribution of this material is permitted so long as this notice
4428 .An "Christos Zoulas" ,
4429 .An "Gunnar Ritter" ,
4430 .An Steffen Qo Daode Qc Nurpmeso Aq s-nail-users@lists.sourceforge.net
4435 Variables in the environment passed to \*(UA cannot be unset.