1 .\"@ nail.1 - S-nail(1) reference manual.
3 .\" Copyright (c) 2000-2008 Gunnar Ritter, Freiburg i. Br., Germany.
4 .\" Copyright (c) 2012 - 2018 Steffen (Daode) Nurpmeso <steffen@sdaoden.eu>.
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34 .\"@ S-nail v14.9.10 / 2018-03-25
44 .ds VD \\%~/dead.letter
48 .ds vS /etc/mime.types
56 .ds OU [no v15-compat]
57 .ds ID [v15 behaviour may differ]
58 .ds NQ [Only new quoting rules]
62 .if !d str-Lb-libterminfo \
63 .ds str-Lb-libterminfo Terminal Information Library (libterminfo, \-lterminfo)
72 .Nd send and receive Internet mail
78 .\" Keep in SYNC: ./nail.1:"SYNOPSIS, main()
84 .Op : Ns Fl a Ar attachment Ns \&:
85 .Op : Ns Fl b Ar bcc-addr Ns \&:
86 .Op : Ns Fl C Ar """custom:\0header""" Ns \&:
87 .Op : Ns Fl c Ar cc-addr Ns \&:
88 .Op Fl M Ar type | Fl m Ar file | Fl q Ar file | Fl t
91 .Fl S\0 Ns Ar var Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value Ns
94 .Op : Ns Fl X Ar cmd Ns \&:
96 .Pf : Ar to-addr Ns \&:
97 .Op Fl Fl \~ Ns : Ns Ar mta-option Ns \&:
105 .Op : Ns Fl C Ar """custom:\0header""" Ns \&:
107 .Op Fl r Ar from-addr
109 .Fl S Ar var Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value Ns
112 .Op : Ns Fl X Ar cmd Ns \&:
113 .Op Fl Fl \~ Ns : Ns Ar mta-option Ns \&:
120 .Op : Ns Fl C Ar """custom:\0header""" Ns \&:
123 .Op Fl r Ar from-addr
125 .Fl S Ar var Ns Op Ns = Ns Ar value Ns
127 .Op : Ns Fl X Ar cmd Ns \&:
129 .Op Fl Fl \~ Ns : Ns Ar mta-option Ns \&:
135 .Fl V | Fl Fl version
140 .Mx -toc -tree html pdf ps xhtml
143 .\" .Sh DESCRIPTION {{{
146 .Bd -filled -compact -offset indent
147 .Sy Compatibility note:
148 S-nail (\*(UA) will wrap up into \%S-mailx in v15.0 (circa 2020).
149 Backward incompatibility has to be expected \(en
152 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
153 rules, for example, and shell metacharacters will become meaningful.
154 New and old behaviour is flagged \*(IN and \*(OU, and setting
157 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ,
158 will choose new behaviour when applicable.
159 \*(OB flags what will vanish, and enabling
163 enables obsoletion warnings.
167 \*(UA provides a simple and friendly environment for sending and
169 It is intended to provide the functionality of the POSIX
171 command, but is MIME capable and optionally offers extensions for
172 line editing, S/MIME, SMTP and POP3, among others.
173 \*(UA divides incoming mail into its constituent messages and allows
174 the user to deal with them in any order.
178 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
179 for manipulating messages and sending mail.
180 It provides the user simple editing capabilities to ease the composition
181 of outgoing messages, and increasingly powerful and reliable
182 non-interactive scripting capabilities.
184 .\" .Ss "Options" {{{
187 .Bl -tag -width ".It Fl BaNg"
190 Explicitly control which of the
194 d (loaded): if the letter
196 is (case-insensitively) part of the
200 is sourced, likewise the letter
202 controls sourcing of the user's personal
204 file, whereas the letters
208 explicitly forbid sourcing of any resource files.
209 Scripts should use this option: to avoid environmental noise they should
211 from any configuration and create a script-specific environment, setting
213 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
216 and running configurating commands via
218 This option overrides
225 command for the given user email
227 after program startup is complete (all resource files are loaded, any
229 setting is being established; only
231 commands have not been evaluated yet).
232 Being a special incarnation of
234 macros for the purpose of bundling longer-lived
236 tings, activating such an email account also switches to the accounts
238 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
241 If the operation fails the program will exit if it is used
242 non-interactively, or if any of
249 .It Fl a Ar file Ns Op Ar =input-charset Ns Op Ar #output-charset
252 to the message (for compose mode opportunities refer to
256 .Sx "Filename transformations"
259 will be performed, except that shell variables are not expanded.
262 not be accessible but contain a
264 character, then anything before the last
266 will be used as the filename, anything thereafter as a character set
269 If an input character set is specified,
270 .Mx -ix "character set specification"
271 but no output character set, then the given input character set is fixed
272 as-is, and no conversion will be applied;
273 giving the empty string or the special string hyphen-minus
275 will be treated as if
277 has been specified (the default).
279 If an output character set has also been given then the conversion will
280 be performed exactly as specified and on-the-fly, not considering the
281 file type and content.
282 As an exception, if the output character set is specified as the empty
283 string or hyphen-minus
285 then the default conversion algorithm (see
286 .Sx "Character sets" )
287 is applied (therefore no conversion is performed on-the-fly,
289 will be MIME-classified and its contents will be inspected first) \(em
290 without support for character set conversions
292 does not include the term
294 only this argument is supported.
297 (\*(OB: \*(UA will always use line-buffered output, to gain
298 line-buffered input even in batch mode enable batch mode via
303 Send a blind carbon copy to
310 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ,
315 The option may be used multiple times.
317 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" .
320 .It Fl C Ar """field: body"""
321 Create a custom header which persists for an entire session.
322 A custom header consists of the field name followed by a colon
324 and the field content body, e.g.,
325 .Ql -C """Blah: Neminem laede; imo omnes, quantum potes, juva""" .
326 Standard header field names cannot be overwritten by custom headers.
327 Runtime adjustable custom headers are available via the variable
332 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" ,
333 is the most flexible and powerful option to manage message headers.
334 This option may be used multiple times.
340 except it places the argument in the list of carbon copies.
350 Almost enable a sandbox mode with the internal variable
352 the same can be achieved via
353 .Ql Fl S Va \&\&debug
355 .Ql Ic set Va \&\&debug .
361 and thus discard messages with an empty message part body.
365 Just check if mail is present (in the system
367 or the one specified via
369 if yes, return an exit status of zero, a non-zero value otherwise.
370 To restrict the set of mails to consider in this evaluation a message
371 specification can be added with the option
376 Save the message to send in a file named after the local part of the
377 first recipient's address (instead of in
382 Read in the contents of the user's
384 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
386 (or the specified file) for processing;
387 when \*(UA is quit, it writes undeleted messages back to this file
393 argument will undergo some special
394 .Sx "Filename transformations"
399 is not an argument to the flag
401 but is instead taken from the command line after option processing has
405 that starts with a hyphen-minus, prefix with a relative path, as in
406 .Ql ./-hyphenbox.mbox .
421 A configurable summary view is available via the option
423 This mode does not honour
428 Show a short usage summary.
434 to ignore tty interrupt signals.
440 of all messages that match the given
444 found by the same algorithm used by
448 .Sx "Specifying messages"
451 This mode does not honour
456 option has been given in addition no header summary is produced,
457 but \*(UA will instead indicate via its exit status whether
463 note that any verbose output is suppressed in this mode and must instead
464 be enabled explicitly (e.g., by using the option
469 Special send mode that will flag standard input with the MIME
473 and use it as the main message body.
474 \*(ID Using this option will bypass processing of
475 .Va message-inject-head
477 .Va message-inject-tail .
483 Special send mode that will MIME classify the specified
485 and use it as the main message body.
486 \*(ID Using this option will bypass processing of
487 .Va message-inject-head
489 .Va message-inject-tail .
495 inhibit the initial display of message headers when reading mail or
500 for the internal variable
505 Standard flag that inhibits reading the system wide
510 allows more control over the startup sequence; also see
511 .Sx "Resource files" .
515 Special send mode that will initialize the message body with the
516 contents of the specified
518 which may be standard input
520 only in non-interactive context.
530 opened will be in read-only mode.
534 .It Fl r Ar from-addr
535 Whereas the source address that appears in the
537 header of a message (or in the
539 header if the former contains multiple addresses) is honoured by the
540 built-in SMTP transport, it is not used by a file-based
542 (Mail-Transfer-Agent) for the RFC 5321 reverse-path used for relaying
543 and delegating a message to its destination(s), for delivery errors
544 etc., but it instead uses the local identity of the initiating user.
547 When this command line option is used the given
549 will be assigned to the internal variable
551 but in addition the command line option
552 .Fl \&\&f Ar from-addr
553 will be passed to a file-based
555 whenever a message is sent.
558 include a user name the address components will be separated and
559 the name part will be passed to a file-based
565 If an empty string is passed as
567 then the content of the variable
569 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
571 will be evaluated and used for this purpose whenever the file-based
580 command line options are used when contacting a file-based MTA, unless
581 this automatic deduction is enforced by
583 ing the internal variable
584 .Va r-option-implicit .
587 Remarks: many default installations and sites disallow overriding the
588 local user identity like this unless either the MTA has been configured
589 accordingly or the user is member of a group with special privileges.
590 Passing an invalid address will cause an error.
594 .It Fl S Ar var Ns Op = Ns value
596 (or, with a prefix string
599 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ,
602 iable and optionally assign
604 if supported; \*(ID the entire expression is evaluated as if specified
605 within dollar-single-quotes (see
606 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" )
607 if the internal variable
610 If the operation fails the program will exit if any of
615 Settings established via
617 cannot be changed from within
619 or an account switch initiated by
621 They will become mutable again before commands registered via
627 Specify the subject of the message to be sent.
628 Newline (NL) and carriage-return (CR) bytes are invalid and will be
629 normalized to space (SP) characters.
633 The message given (on standard input) is expected to contain, separated
634 from the message body by an empty line, one or multiple message headers.
635 Headers can span multiple consecutive lines if follow lines start with
636 any amount of whitespace.
637 A line starting with the number sign
639 in the first column is ignored.
640 Message recipients can be given via the message headers
646 they will be added to any recipients specified on the command line,
647 and are likewise subject to
650 If a message subject is specified via
652 then it will be used in favour of one given on the command line.
654 More optional headers are
668 .Ql Mail-Followup-To: ,
669 by default created automatically dependent on message context, will
670 be used if specified (a special address massage will however still occur
672 Any other custom header field (also see
677 is passed through entirely
678 unchanged, and in conjunction with the options
682 it is possible to embed
683 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" .
691 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
694 appropriate privileges presumed; effectively identical to
695 .Ql Fl \&\&f Ns \0%user .
704 will also show the list of
706 .Ql $ \*(uA -Xversion -Xx .
711 ting the internal variable
713 enables display of some informational context messages.
714 Using it twice increases the level of verbosity.
718 Add the given (or multiple for a multiline argument)
720 to the list of commands to be executed,
721 as a last step of program startup, before normal operation starts.
722 This is the only possibility to execute commands in non-interactive mode
723 when reading startup files has been disabled.
724 The commands will be evaluated as a unit, just as via
734 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
735 in compose mode even in non-interactive use cases.
736 This can be used to, e.g., automatically format the composed message
737 text before sending the message:
738 .Bd -literal -offset indent
739 $ ( echo 'line one. Word. Word2.';\e
740 echo '~| /usr/bin/fmt -tuw66' ) |\e
741 LC_ALL=C \*(uA -d~:/ -Sttycharset=utf-8 bob@exam.ple
746 Enables batch mode: standard input is made line buffered, the complete
747 set of (interactive) commands is available, processing of
748 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
749 is enabled in compose mode, and diverse
750 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
751 are adjusted for batch necessities, exactly as if done via
767 The following prepares an email message in a batched dry run:
768 .Bd -literal -offset indent
769 $ LC_ALL=C printf 'm bob\en~s ubject\enText\en~.\enx\en' |\e
770 LC_ALL=C \*(uA -d#:/ -X'alias bob bob@exam.ple'
775 This flag forces termination of option processing in order to prevent
778 It also forcefully puts \*(UA into send mode, see
779 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" .
785 arguments and all receivers established via
789 are subject to the checks established by
792 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ;
793 they all support the flag
797 allows their recognition all
799 arguments given at the end of the command line after a
801 separator will be passed through to a file-based
803 (Mail-Transfer-Agent) and persist for the entire session.
805 constraints do not apply to the content of
809 .\" .Ss "A starter" {{{
812 \*(UA is a direct descendant of
814 Mail, itself a successor of the Research
817 .Dq was there from the start
820 It thus represents the user side of the
822 mail system, whereas the system side (Mail-Transfer-Agent, MTA) was
823 traditionally taken by
825 and most MTAs provide a binary of this name for compatibility purposes.
830 of \*(UA then the system side is not a mandatory precondition for mail
834 Because \*(UA strives for compliance with POSIX
836 it is likely that some configuration settings have to be adjusted before
837 using it is a smooth experience.
838 (Rather complete configuration examples can be found in the section
843 .Sx "Resource files" )
844 template bends those standard imposed settings of the
845 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
846 a bit towards more user friendliness and safety, however.
854 in order to suppress the automatic moving of messages to the
856 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
858 that would otherwise occur (see
859 .Sx "Message states" ) ,
862 to not remove empty system MBOX mailbox files (or all empty such files if
864 .Pf a.k.a.\0 Ev POSIXLY_CORRECT
865 mode has been enabled) to avoid mangling of file permissions when files
866 eventually get recreated.
870 in order to synchronize \*(UA with the exit status report of the used
877 to enter interactive startup even if the initial mailbox is empty,
879 to allow editing of headers as well as
881 to not strip down addresses in compose mode, and
883 to include the message that is being responded to when
885 ing, which is indented by an
887 that also deviates from standard imposed settings.
888 .Va mime-counter-evidence
889 is fully enabled, too.
893 The file mode creation mask can be managed explicitly via the variable
895 Sufficient system support provided symbolic links will not be followed
896 when files are opened for writing.
897 Files and shell pipe output can be
899 d for evaluation, also during startup from within the
900 .Sx "Resource files" .
903 .\" .Ss "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" {{{
904 .Ss "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode"
906 To send a message to one or more people, using a local or built-in
908 (Mail-Transfer-Agent) transport to actually deliver the generated mail
909 message, \*(UA can be invoked with arguments which are the names of
910 people to whom the mail will be sent, and the command line options
914 can be used to add (blind) carbon copy receivers:
916 .Bd -literal -offset indent
918 $ \*(uA -s ubject -a ttach.txt bill@exam.ple
920 # But... try it in an isolated dry-run mode (-d) first
921 $ LC_ALL=C \*(uA -d -:/ -Ssendwait -Sttycharset=utf8 \e
922 -b bcc@exam.ple -c cc@exam.ple \e
924 '(Lovely) Bob <bob@exam.ple>' eric@exam.ple
927 $ LC_ALL=C \*(uA -d -:/ -Sv15-compat -Ssendwait -Sttycharset=utf8 \e
928 -S mta=smtps://mylogin@exam.ple:465 -Ssmtp-auth=none \e
929 -S from=scriptreply@exam.ple \e
935 If standard input is a terminal rather than the message to be sent,
936 the user is expected to type in the message contents.
937 In this compose mode \*(UA treats lines beginning with the character
939 special \(en these are so-called
940 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" ,
941 which can be used to read in files, process shell commands, add and edit
942 attachments and more; e.g.,
950 respectively, to revise the message in its current state,
952 allows editing of the most important message headers, with the potent
954 custom headers can be created, for example (more specifically than with
959 gives an overview of most other available command escapes.
964 will leave compose mode and send the message once it is completed.
965 Aborting letter composition is possible with either of
969 the latter of which will save the message in the file denoted by
978 can also be achieved by typing end-of-transmission (EOT) via
981 at the beginning of an empty line, and
983 is always reachable by typing end-of-text (ETX) twice via
991 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
992 can be used to alter default behavior.
993 E.g., messages are sent asynchronously, without supervision, unless the
996 is set, therefore send errors will not be recognizable until then.
1001 will automatically startup an editor when compose mode is entered, and
1002 editing of headers additionally to plain body content can be enabled via
1004 \*(ID some, but not all headers can be created, edited or deleted in an
1009 will cause the user to be prompted actively for (blind) carbon-copy
1010 recipients, respectively, and (the default)
1012 will request confirmation whether the message shall be sent.
1015 The envelope sender address is defined by
1017 explicitly defining an originating
1019 may be desirable, especially with the built-in SMTP Mail-Transfer-Agent
1021 .Sx "Character sets"
1022 for outgoing message and MIME part content are configurable via
1024 whereas input data is assumed to be in
1026 Message data will be passed over the wire in a
1028 MIME parts a.k.a. attachments need to be assigned a
1030 usually taken out of
1031 .Sx "The mime.types files" .
1032 Saving a copy of sent messages in a
1034 mailbox may be desirable \(en as for most mailbox
1036 targets the value will undergo
1037 .Sx "Filename transformations" .
1042 sandbox dry-run tests will prove correctness.
1045 Message recipients (as specified on the command line or defined in
1052 filtering, and may not only be email addressees but can also be names of
1053 mailboxes and even complete shell command pipe specifications.
1056 is not set then only network addresses (see
1058 for a description of mail addresses) and plain user names (including MTA
1059 aliases) may be used, other types will be filtered out, giving a warning
1061 A network address that contains no domain-, but only a valid local user
1063 in angle brackets will be automatically expanded to a valid address when
1065 is set to a non-empty value; setting it to the empty value instructs
1068 will perform the necessary expansion.
1071 may help to generate standard compliant network addresses.
1073 .\" When changing any of the following adjust any RECIPIENTADDRSPEC;
1074 .\" grep the latter for the complete picture
1078 is set then an extended set of recipient addresses will be accepted:
1079 Any name that starts with a vertical bar
1081 character specifies a command pipe \(en the command string following the
1083 is executed and the message is sent to its standard input;
1084 Likewise, any name that consists only of hyphen-minus
1086 or starts with the character solidus
1088 or the character sequence dot solidus
1090 is treated as a file, regardless of the remaining content.
1091 Any other name which contains a commercial at
1093 character is a network address;
1094 Any other name which starts with a plus sign
1096 character is a mailbox name;
1097 Any other name which contains a solidus
1099 character but no exclamation mark
1103 character before is also a mailbox name;
1104 What remains is treated as a network address.
1106 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1107 $ echo bla | \*(uA -Sexpandaddr -s test ./mbox.mbox
1108 $ echo bla | \*(uA -Sexpandaddr -s test '|cat >> ./mbox.mbox'
1109 $ echo safe | LC_ALL=C \e
1110 \*(uA -:/ -Sv15-compat -Ssendwait -Sttycharset=utf8 \e
1111 -Sexpandaddr=fail,-all,+addr,failinvaddr -s test \e
1116 To create file-carbon-copies the special recipient header
1118 may be used as often as desired.
1119 Its entire value (or body in standard terms) is interpreted as a
1121 target, after having been subject to
1122 .Sx "Filename transformations" .
1123 Beside using the command escape
1127 header) this is the only way to create a file-carbon-copy without
1128 introducing an ambiguity regarding the interpretation of the address,
1129 e.g., to use file names with leading vertical bars or commercial ats.
1130 Like all other recipients
1132 is subject to the checks of
1136 It is possible to create personal distribution lists via the
1138 command, so that, for instance, the user can send mail to
1140 and have it go to a group of people.
1141 Different to the alias mechanism of a local
1143 which is often tracked in a file
1147 and the names of which are subject to the
1151 personal aliases will be expanded by \*(UA before the message is sent.
1152 They are thus a convenient alternative to specifying each addressee by
1153 itself, correlate with the active set of
1159 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1160 ? alias cohorts bill jkf mark kridle@ucbcory ~/cohorts.mbox
1161 ? alias mark mark@exam.ple
1165 .Va on-compose-enter , on-compose-leave
1167 .Va on-compose-cleanup
1168 hook variables may be set to
1170 d macros to automatically adjust some settings dependent
1171 on receiver, sender or subject contexts, and via the
1172 .Va on-compose-splice
1174 .Va on-compose-splice-shell
1175 variables, the former also to be set to a
1177 d macro, increasingly powerful mechanisms to perform automated message
1178 adjustments, including signature creation, are available.
1179 (\*(ID These hooks work for commands which newly create messages, namely
1180 .Ic forward , mail , reply
1185 for now provide only the hooks
1188 .Va on-resend-cleanup . )
1191 For the purpose of arranging a complete environment of settings that can
1192 be switched to with a single command or command line option there are
1194 Alternatively it is also possible to use a flat configuration, making use
1195 of so-called variable chains which automatically pick
1199 context-dependent variable variants: for example addressing
1200 .Ql Ic File Ns \& pop3://yaa@exam.ple
1202 .Va \&\&pop3-no-apop-yaa@exam.ple ,
1203 .Va \&\&pop3-no-apop-exam.ple
1208 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup"
1210 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" .
1213 To avoid environmental noise scripts should
1215 \*(UA from any configuration files and create a script-local
1216 environment, ideally with the command line options
1218 to disable any configuration file in conjunction with repetitions of
1220 to specify variables:
1222 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1223 $ env LC_ALL=C \*(uA -:/ \e
1224 -Sv15-compat -Ssendwait -Sttycharset=utf-8 \e
1225 -Sexpandaddr=fail,-all,failinvaddr \e
1226 -S mta=smtps://mylogin@exam.ple:465 -Ssmtp-auth=login \e
1227 -S from=scriptreply@exam.ple \e
1228 -s 'Subject to go' -a attachment_file \e
1230 'Recipient 1 <rec1@exam.ple>' rec2@exam.ple \e
1235 As shown, scripts can
1237 a locale environment, the above specifies the all-compatible 7-bit clean
1240 but will nonetheless take and send UTF-8 in the message text by using
1242 In interactive mode, which is introduced in the next section, messages
1243 can be sent by calling the
1245 command with a list of recipient addresses:
1247 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1248 $ \*(uA -d -Squiet -Semptystart
1249 "/var/spool/mail/user": 0 messages
1250 ? mail "Recipient 1 <rec1@exam.ple>", rec2@exam.ple
1252 ? # Will do the right thing (tm)
1253 ? m rec1@exam.ple rec2@exam.ple
1257 .\" .Ss "On reading mail, and interactive mode" {{{
1258 .Ss "On reading mail, and interactive mode"
1260 When invoked without addressees \*(UA enters interactive mode in which
1262 When used like that the user's system
1264 (for more on mailbox types please see the command
1266 is read in and a one line header of each message therein is displayed if
1270 The visual style of this summary of
1272 can be adjusted through the variable
1274 and the possible sorting criterion via
1280 can be performed with the command
1282 If the initially opened mailbox is empty \*(UA will instead exit
1283 immediately (after displaying a message) unless the variable
1292 will give a listing of all available commands and
1294 will \*(OPally give a summary of some common ones.
1295 If the \*(OPal documentation strings are available (see
1300 and see the actual expansion of
1302 and what its purpose is, i.e., commands can be abbreviated
1303 (note that POSIX defines some abbreviations, so that the alphabetical
1304 order of commands does not necessarily relate to the abbreviations; it is
1305 however possible to define overwrites with
1306 .Ic commandalias ) .
1307 These commands can also produce a more
1312 Messages are given numbers (starting at 1) which uniquely identify
1313 messages; the current message \(en the
1315 \(en will either be the first new message, or the first unread message,
1316 or the first message of the mailbox; the internal variable
1318 will instead cause usage of the last message for this purpose.
1323 ful of header summaries containing the
1327 will display only the summaries of the given messages, defaulting to the
1331 Message content can be displayed with the command
1338 controls whether and when \*(UA will use the configured
1340 for display instead of directly writing to the user terminal
1342 the sole difference to the command
1344 which will always use the
1348 will instead only show the first
1350 of a message (maybe even compressed if
1353 Message display experience may improve by setting and adjusting
1354 .Va mime-counter-evidence ,
1356 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" .
1359 By default the current message
1361 is displayed, but like with many other commands it is possible to give
1362 a fancy message specification (see
1363 .Sx "Specifying messages" ) ,
1366 will display all unread messages,
1371 will type the messages 1 and 5,
1373 will type the messages 1 through 5, and
1377 will display the previous and the next message, respectively.
1380 (a more substantial alias for
1382 will display a header summary of the given message specification list
1383 instead of their content, e.g., the following will search for subjects:
1386 .Dl ? from "'@Some subject to search for'"
1389 In the default setup all header fields of a message will be
1391 d, but fields can be white- or blacklisted for a variety of
1392 applications by using the command
1394 e.g., to restrict their display to a very restricted set for
1396 .Ql Ic \:headerpick Cd \:type retain Ar \:from to cc subject .
1397 In order to display all header fields of a message regardless of
1398 currently active ignore or retain lists, use the commands
1403 will show the raw message content.
1404 Note that historically the global
1406 not only adjusts the list of displayed headers, but also sets
1410 Dependent upon the configuration a line editor (see the section
1411 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
1412 aims at making the user experience with the many
1415 When reading the system
1421 specified a mailbox explicitly prefixed with the special
1423 modifier (to propagate it to a
1425 .Sx "primary system mailbox" ) ,
1426 then messages which have been read
1427 .Pf (see\0 Sx "Message states" )
1428 will be automatically moved to a
1430 .Sx "secondary mailbox" ,
1433 file, when the mailbox is left, either by changing the active mailbox or
1434 by quitting \*(UA \(en this automatic moving from a system- or primary-
1435 to the secondary mailbox is not performed when the variable
1438 Messages can also be explicitly
1440 d to other mailboxes, whereas
1442 keeps the original message.
1444 can be used to write out data content of specific parts of messages.
1447 After examining a message the user can
1449 to the sender and all recipients (which will also be placed in
1452 .Va recipients-in-cc
1455 exclusively to the sender(s).
1458 knows how to apply a special addressee massage, see
1459 .Sx "Mailing lists" .
1461 ing a message will allow editing the new message: the original message
1462 will be contained in the message body, adjusted according to
1468 messages: the former will add a series of
1470 headers, whereas the latter will not; different to newly created
1471 messages editing is not possible and no copy will be saved even with
1473 unless the additional variable
1476 When sending, replying or forwarding messages comments and full names
1477 will be stripped from recipient addresses unless the internal variable
1482 Of course messages can be
1484 and they can spring into existence again via
1486 or when the \*(UA session is ended via the
1490 commands to perform a quick program termation.
1491 To end a mail processing session regulary and perform a full program
1492 exit one may issue the command
1494 It will, among others, move read messages to the
1496 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
1498 as necessary, discard deleted messages in the current mailbox,
1499 and update the \*(OPal (see
1505 .\" .Ss "HTML mail and MIME attachments" {{{
1506 .Ss "HTML mail and MIME attachments"
1508 Messages which are HTML-only become more and more common, and of course
1509 many messages come bundled with a bouquet of MIME (Multipurpose Internet
1510 Mail Extensions) parts.
1511 To get a notion of MIME types \*(UA has a default set of types built-in,
1512 onto which the content of
1513 .Sx "The mime.types files"
1514 will be added (as configured and allowed by
1515 .Va mimetypes-load-control ) .
1516 Types can also become registered with the command
1518 To improve interaction with faulty MIME part declarations which are
1519 often seen in real-life messages, setting
1520 .Va mime-counter-evidence
1521 will allow verification of the given assertion, and possible provision
1522 of an alternative, better MIME type.
1525 Whereas \*(UA \*(OPally supports a simple HTML-to-text filter for
1526 displaying HTML messages, it cannot handle MIME types other than plain
1528 Instead programs need to become registered to deal with specific MIME
1529 types or file extensions.
1530 These programs may either prepare plain text versions of their input in
1531 order to enable \*(UA to integrate their output neatlessly in its own
1532 message visualization (a mode which is called
1533 .Cd copiousoutput ) ,
1534 or display the content themselves, for example in an external graphical
1535 window: such handlers will only be considered by and for the command
1539 To install a handler program for a specific MIME type an according
1540 .Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE
1541 variable needs to be set; to instead define a handler for a specific
1542 file extension the respective
1544 variable can be used \(en these handlers take precedence.
1545 \*(OPally \*(UA supports mail user agent configuration as defined in
1546 RFC 1524; this mechanism (see
1547 .Sx "The Mailcap files" )
1548 will be queried for display or quote handlers if none of the former two
1549 .\" TODO v15-compat "will be" -> "is"
1550 did; it will be the sole source for handlers of other purpose.
1551 A last source for handlers is the MIME type definition itself, if
1552 a type-marker has been registered with the command
1554 which many of the built-in MIME types do.
1557 For example, to display a HTML message inline (converted to a more fancy
1558 plain text representation than the built-in filter is capable to produce)
1559 with either of the text-mode browsers
1563 teach \*(UA about MathML documents and make it display them as plain
1564 text, and to open PDF attachments in an external PDF viewer,
1565 asynchronously and with some other magic attached:
1567 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1568 ? if [ "$features" !% +filter-html-tagsoup ]
1569 ? #set pipe-text/html='@* elinks -force-html -dump 1'
1570 ? set pipe-text/html='@* lynx -stdin -dump -force_html'
1571 ? # Display HTML as plain text instead
1572 ? #set pipe-text/html=@
1574 ? mimetype @ application/mathml+xml mathml
1575 ? wysh set pipe-application/pdf='@&=@ \e
1576 trap "rm -f \e"${MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}\e"" EXIT;\e
1577 trap "trap \e"\e" INT QUIT TERM; exit 1" INT QUIT TERM;\e
1578 mupdf "${MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}"'
1582 .\" .Ss "Mailing lists" {{{
1585 \*(UA offers some support to ease handling of mailing lists.
1588 promotes all given arguments to known mailing lists, and
1590 sets their subscription attribute, creating them first as necessary.
1595 automatically, but only resets the subscription attribute.)
1596 Using the commands without arguments will show (a subset of) all
1597 currently defined mailing lists.
1602 can be used to mark out messages with configured list addresses
1607 If the \*(OPal regular expression support is available a mailing list
1608 specification that contains any of the
1610 regular expression characters
1614 will be interpreted as one, which allows matching of many addresses with
1615 a single expression.
1616 However, all fully qualified list addresses are matched via a fast
1617 dictionary, whereas expressions are placed in (a) list(s) which is
1618 (are) matched sequentially.
1620 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1621 ? set followup-to followup-to-honour=ask-yes \e
1622 reply-to-honour=ask-yes
1623 ? wysh mlist a1@b1.c1 a2@b2.c2 '.*@lists\e.c3$'
1624 ? mlsubscribe a4@b4.c4 exact@lists.c3
1629 .Va followup-to-honour
1631 .Ql Mail-\:Followup-\:To:
1632 header is honoured when the message is being replied to (via
1638 controls whether this header is created when sending mails; it will be
1639 created automatically for a couple of reasons, too, like when the
1641 .Dq mailing list specific
1646 is used to respond to a message with its
1647 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
1651 A difference in between the handling of known and subscribed lists is
1652 that the address of the user is usually not part of a generated
1653 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
1654 when addressing the latter, whereas it is for the former kind of lists.
1655 Usually because there are exceptions: say, if multiple lists are
1656 addressed and not all of them are subscribed lists.
1658 For convenience \*(UA will, temporarily, automatically add a list
1659 address that is presented in the
1661 header of a message that is being responded to to the list of known
1663 Shall that header have existed \*(UA will instead, dependent on the
1665 .Va reply-to-honour ,
1668 for this purpose (if it provides a single address which resides on the
1669 same domain as what is stated in
1671 in order to accept a list administrator's wish that is supposed to have
1672 been manifested like that.
1675 .\" .Ss "Signed and encrypted messages with S/MIME" {{{
1676 .Ss "Signed and encrypted messages with S/MIME"
1678 \*(OP S/MIME provides two central mechanisms:
1679 message signing and message encryption.
1680 A signed message contains some data in addition to the regular text.
1681 The data can be used to verify that the message has been sent using
1682 a valid certificate, that the sender address matches that in the
1683 certificate, and that the message text has not been altered.
1684 Signing a message does not change its regular text;
1685 it can be read regardless of whether the recipients software is able to
1687 It is thus usually possible to sign all outgoing messages if so desired.
1690 Encryption, in contrast, makes the message text invisible for all people
1691 except those who have access to the secret decryption key.
1692 To encrypt a message, the specific recipients public encryption key
1694 It is therefore not possible to send encrypted mail to people unless their
1695 key has been retrieved from either previous communication or public key
1697 A message should always be signed before it is encrypted.
1700 A central concept to S/MIME is that of the certification authority (CA).
1701 A CA is a trusted institution that issues certificates.
1702 For each of these certificates it can be verified that it really
1703 originates from the CA, provided that the CA's own certificate is
1705 A set of CA certificates is usually delivered and installed together
1706 with the cryptographical library that is used on the local system.
1707 Therefore reasonable security for S/MIME on the Internet is provided if
1708 the source that provides that library installation is trusted.
1709 It is also possible to use a specific pool of trusted certificates.
1711 .Va smime-ca-no-defaults
1712 should be set to avoid using the default certificate pool, and
1716 should be pointed to a trusted pool of certificates.
1717 A certificate cannot be more secure than the method its CA certificate
1718 has been retrieved with.
1721 This trusted pool of certificates is used by the command
1723 to ensure that the given S/MIME messages can be trusted.
1724 If so, verified sender certificates that were embedded in signed
1725 messages can be saved locally with the command
1727 and used by \*(UA to encrypt further communication with these senders:
1729 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1731 ? set smime-encrypt-USER@HOST=FILENAME \e
1732 smime-cipher-USER@HOST=AES256
1736 To sign outgoing messages, in order to allow receivers to verify the
1737 origin of these messages, a personal S/MIME certificate is required.
1738 \*(UA supports password-protected personal certificates (and keys), see
1739 .Va smime-sign-cert .
1741 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup"
1742 gives an overview of the possible sources of user credentials, and
1743 .Sx "S/MIME step by step"
1744 shows examplarily how a private S/MIME certificate can be obtained.
1745 In general, if such a private key plus certificate
1747 is available, all that needs to be done is to set some variables:
1749 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1750 ? set smime-sign-cert=ME@exam.ple.paired \e
1751 smime-sign-digest=SHA512 \e
1756 Variables of interest for S/MIME in general are
1759 .Va smime-ca-flags ,
1760 .Va smime-ca-no-defaults ,
1762 .Va smime-crl-file .
1763 For S/MIME signing of interest are
1765 .Va smime-sign-cert ,
1766 .Va smime-sign-include-certs
1768 .Va smime-sign-digest .
1769 Additional variables of interest for S/MIME en- and decryption:
1772 .Va smime-encrypt-USER@HOST .
1775 \*(ID Note that neither S/MIME signing nor encryption applies to
1776 message subjects or other header fields yet.
1777 Thus they may not contain sensitive information for encrypted messages,
1778 and cannot be trusted even if the message content has been verified.
1779 When sending signed messages,
1780 it is recommended to repeat any important header information in the
1784 .\" .Ss "On URL syntax and credential lookup" {{{
1785 .Ss "On URL syntax and credential lookup"
1787 \*(IN For accessing protocol-specific resources usage of Uniform
1788 Resource Locators (URL, RFC 1738) has become omnipresent.
1789 \*(UA expects and understands URLs in the following form;
1792 denote optional parts, optional either because there also exist other
1793 ways to define the information in question or because support of the
1794 part is protocol-specific, e.g.,
1796 is used by the \*(OPal Maildir directory and the IMAP protocol, but not
1801 are specified they must be given in URL percent encoded form (RFC 3986;
1807 .Dl PROTOCOL://[USER[:PASSWORD]@]server[:port][/path]
1810 Note that these \*(UA URLs most often do not conform to any real
1811 standard, but instead represent a normalized variant of RFC 1738 \(en
1812 they are not used in data exchange but only meant as a compact,
1813 easy-to-use way of defining and representing information in
1814 a well-known notation.
1817 Many internal variables of \*(UA exist in multiple versions, called
1818 variable chains for the rest of this document: the plain
1823 .Ql variable-USER@HOST .
1830 had been specified in the respective URL, otherwise it refers to the plain
1836 that had been found when doing the user chain lookup as is described
1839 will never be in URL percent encoded form, whether it came from an URL
1840 or not; i.e., variable chain name extensions of
1841 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
1842 must not be URL percent encoded.
1845 For example, whether an hypothetical URL
1846 .Ql smtp://hey%3Ayou@our.house
1847 had been given that includes a user, or whether the URL was
1848 .Ql smtp://our.house
1849 and the user had been found differently, to lookup the variable chain
1850 .Va smtp-use-starttls
1851 \*(UA first looks for whether
1852 .Ql smtp-\:use-\:starttls-\:hey:you@our.house
1853 is defined, then whether
1854 .Ql smtp-\:use-\:starttls-\:our.house
1855 exists before finally ending up looking at the plain variable itself.
1858 \*(UA obeys the following logic scheme when dealing with the
1859 necessary credential information of an account:
1865 has been given in the URL the variables
1870 If no such variable(s) can be found then \*(UA will,
1871 when enforced by the \*(OPal variables
1872 .Va netrc-lookup-HOST
1876 .Sx "The .netrc file"
1879 specific entry which provides a
1881 name: this lookup will only succeed if unambiguous (one possible matching
1885 If there is still no
1887 then \*(UA will fall back to the user who is supposed to run \*(UA,
1888 the identity of which has been fixated during \*(UA startup and is
1889 known to be a valid user on the current host.
1892 Authentication: unless otherwise noted this will lookup the
1893 .Va PROTOCOL-auth-USER@HOST , PROTOCOL-auth-HOST , PROTOCOL-auth
1894 variable chain, falling back to a protocol-specific default should this
1900 has been given in the URL, then if the
1902 has been found through the \*(OPal
1904 that may have already provided the password, too.
1905 Otherwise the variable chain
1906 .Va password-USER@HOST , password-HOST , password
1907 is looked up and used if existent.
1909 Afterwards the complete \*(OPal variable chain
1910 .Va netrc-lookup-USER@HOST , netrc-lookup-HOST , netrc-lookup
1914 cache is searched for a password only (multiple user accounts for
1915 a single machine may exist as well as a fallback entry without user
1916 but with a password).
1918 If at that point there is still no password available, but the
1919 (protocols') chosen authentication type requires a password, then in
1920 interactive mode the user will be prompted on the terminal.
1925 S/MIME verification works relative to the values found in the
1929 header field(s), which means that the values of
1930 .Va smime-sign , smime-sign-cert , smime-sign-include-certs
1932 .Va smime-sign-digest
1933 will not be looked up using the
1937 chains from above but instead use the corresponding values from the
1938 message that is being worked on.
1939 In unusual cases multiple and different
1943 combinations may therefore be involved \(en on the other hand those
1944 unusual cases become possible.
1945 The usual case is as short as:
1947 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1948 set mta=smtp://USER:PASS@HOST smtp-use-starttls \e
1949 smime-sign smime-sign-cert=+smime.pair
1955 contains complete example configurations.
1958 .\" .Ss "Encrypted network communication" {{{
1959 .Ss "Encrypted network communication"
1961 SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) a.k.a. its successor TLS (Transport Layer
1962 Security) are protocols which aid in securing communication by providing
1963 a safely initiated and encrypted network connection.
1964 A central concept of TLS is that of certificates: as part of each
1965 network connection setup a (set of) certificates will be exchanged, and
1966 by using those the identity of the network peer can be cryptographically
1967 verified; if possible the TLS/SNI (ServerNameIndication) extension will
1968 be enabled in order to allow servers fine-grained control over the
1969 certificates being used.
1970 TLS works by using a locally installed pool of trusted certificates,
1971 and verifying the connection peer succeeds if that provides
1972 a certificate which has been issued or is trusted by any certificate in
1973 the trusted local pool.
1976 The local pool of trusted so-called CA (Certification Authority)
1977 certificates is usually delivered with the used TLS library, and
1978 will be selected automatically.
1979 It is also possible to use a specific pool of trusted certificates.
1981 .Va tls-ca-no-defaults
1982 should be set to avoid using the default certificate pool, and
1984 and/or (with special preparation)
1986 should be pointed to a trusted pool of certificates.
1987 A certificate cannot be more secure than the method its CA certificate
1988 has been retrieved with.
1989 For inspection or other purposes, the certificate of a server (as seen
1990 when connecting to it) can be fetched like this:
1992 .Bd -literal -offset indent
1993 $ </dev/null openssl s_client -showcerts -connect \e
1994 the-server.example:pop3s 2>&1 | tee log.txt
1998 \*(UA also supports a mode of operation in which certificates are not
1999 at all matched against a local pool of CA certificates.
2000 Instead a message digest will be calculated for the certificate
2001 presented by the connection peer, and be compared against
2003 (a variable chain that picks up
2007 context-dependent variable variants), and the connection will succeed if
2008 the calculated digest equals the expected one.
2009 The used message digest can be configured via (the chain)
2010 .Va tls-fingerprint-digest .
2016 It depends on the used protocol whether encrypted communication is
2017 possible, and which configuration steps have to be taken to enable it.
2018 Some protocols, e.g., POP3S, are implicitly encrypted, others, like
2019 POP3, can upgrade a plain text connection if so requested.
2020 For example, to use the
2022 that POP3 offers (a member of) the variable (chain)
2023 .Va pop3-use-starttls
2026 .Bd -literal -offset indent
2027 shortcut encpop1 pop3s://pop1.exam.ple
2029 shortcut encpop2 pop3://pop2.exam.ple
2030 set pop3-use-starttls-pop2.exam.ple
2032 set mta=smtps://smtp.exam.ple:465
2033 set mta=smtp://smtp.exam.ple smtp-use-starttls
2037 Normally that is all there is to do, given that TLS libraries try to
2038 provide safe defaults, plenty of knobs however exist to adjust settings.
2039 For example certificate verification settings can be fine-tuned via
2041 and the TLS configuration basics are accessible via
2042 .Va tls-config-pairs ,
2043 for example to specify the allowed protocols or cipher lists that
2044 a communication channel may use.
2045 In the past hints on how to restrict the set of protocols to highly
2046 secure ones were indicated, but as of the time of this writing the list
2047 of protocols or ciphers may need to become relaxed in order to be able
2048 to connect to some servers; the following example allows connecting to a
2050 that uses OpenSSL 0.9.8za from June 2014 (refer to
2051 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
2052 for more on variable chains):
2054 .Bd -literal -offset indent
2055 wysh set tls-config-pairs-lion@exam.ple='MinProtocol=TLSv1.1,\e
2056 CipherString=TLSv1.2:!aNULL:!eNULL:\e
2057 ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA:\e
2058 DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA:@STRENGTH'
2064 can be used and should be referred to when creating a custom cipher list.
2065 Variables of interest for TLS in general are
2069 .Va tls-ca-no-defaults ,
2070 .Va tls-config-file ,
2071 .Va tls-config-module ,
2072 .Va tls-config-pairs ,
2080 .\" .Ss "Character sets" {{{
2081 .Ss "Character sets"
2083 \*(OP \*(UA detects the character set of the terminal by using
2084 mechanisms that are controlled by the
2086 environment variable
2091 in that order, see there).
2092 The internal variable
2094 will be set to the detected terminal character set accordingly,
2095 and will thus show up in the output of commands like, e.g.,
2101 However, the user may give
2103 a value during startup, making it possible to send mail in a completely
2105 locale environment, an option which can be used to generate and send,
2106 e.g., 8-bit UTF-8 input data in a pure 7-bit US-ASCII
2108 environment (an example of this can be found in the section
2109 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" ) .
2110 Changing the value does not mean much beside that, because several
2111 aspects of the real character set are implied by the locale environment
2112 of the system, which stays unaffected by
2116 Messages and attachments which consist of 7-bit clean data will be
2117 classified as consisting of
2120 This is a problem if the
2122 character set is a multibyte character set that is also 7-bit clean.
2123 For example, the Japanese character set ISO-2022-JP is 7-bit clean but
2124 capable to encode the rich set of Japanese Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana
2125 characters: in order to notify receivers of this character set the mail
2126 message must be MIME encoded so that the character set ISO-2022-JP can
2128 To achieve this, the variable
2130 must be set to ISO-2022-JP.
2131 (Today a better approach regarding email is the usage of UTF-8, which
2132 uses 8-bit bytes for non-US-ASCII data.)
2135 If the \*(OPal character set conversion capabilities are not available
2137 does not include the term
2141 will be the only supported character set,
2142 it is simply assumed that it can be used to exchange 8-bit messages
2143 (over the wire an intermediate, configurable
2146 and the rest of this section does not apply;
2147 it may however still be necessary to explicitly set it if automatic
2148 detection fails, since in that case it defaults to
2149 .\" (Keep in SYNC: ./nail.1:"Character sets", ./config.h:CHARSET_*!)
2150 LATIN1 a.k.a. ISO-8859-1 unless the operating system environment is
2151 known to always and exclusively support UTF-8 locales.
2154 \*(OP When reading messages, their text is converted into
2156 as necessary in order to display them on the user's terminal.
2157 Unprintable characters and invalid byte sequences are detected
2158 and replaced by proper substitution characters.
2159 Character set mappings for source character sets can be established with
2162 which may be handy to work around faulty character set catalogues (e.g.,
2163 to add a missing LATIN1 to ISO-8859-1 mapping), or to enforce treatment
2164 of one character set as another one (e.g., to interpret LATIN1 as CP1252).
2166 .Va charset-unknown-8bit
2167 to deal with another hairy aspect of message interpretation.
2170 When sending messages their parts and attachments are classified.
2171 Whereas no character set conversion is performed on those parts which
2172 appear to be binary data,
2173 the character set being used must be declared within the MIME header of
2174 an outgoing text part if it contains characters that do not conform to
2175 the set of characters that are allowed by the email standards.
2176 Permissible values for character sets used in outgoing messages can be
2181 which defines a catch-all last-resort fallback character set that is
2182 implicitly appended to the list of character sets in
2186 When replying to a message and the variable
2187 .Va reply-in-same-charset
2188 is set, then the character set of the message being replied to
2189 is tried first (still being a subject of
2190 .Ic charsetalias ) .
2191 And it is also possible to make \*(UA work even more closely related to
2192 the current locale setting automatically by using the variable
2193 .Va sendcharsets-else-ttycharset ,
2194 please see there for more information.
2197 All the specified character sets are tried in order unless the
2198 conversion of the part or attachment succeeds.
2199 If none of the tried (8-bit) character sets is capable to represent the
2200 content of the part or attachment,
2201 then the message will not be send and its text will optionally be
2205 In general, if a message saying
2206 .Dq cannot convert from a to b
2207 appears, either some characters are not appropriate for the currently
2208 selected (terminal) character set,
2209 or the needed conversion is not supported by the system.
2210 In the first case, it is necessary to set an appropriate
2212 locale and/or the variable
2216 The best results are usually achieved when \*(UA is run in a UTF-8
2217 locale on an UTF-8 capable terminal, in which case the full Unicode
2218 spectrum of characters is available.
2219 In this setup characters from various countries can be displayed,
2220 while it is still possible to use more simple character sets for sending
2221 to retain maximum compatibility with older mail clients.
2224 On the other hand the POSIX standard defines a locale-independent 7-bit
2225 .Dq portable character set
2226 that should be used when overall portability is an issue, the even more
2227 restricted subset named
2228 .Dq portable filename character set
2229 consists of A-Z, a-z, 0-9, period
2237 .\" .Ss "Message states" {{{
2238 .Ss "Message states"
2240 \*(UA differentiates in between several message states; the current
2241 state will be reflected in the summary of
2248 .Sx "Specifying messages"
2249 dependent on their state is possible.
2250 When operating on the system
2254 .Sx "primary system mailbox" ,
2255 special actions, like the automatic moving of messages to the
2257 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
2259 may be applied when the mailbox is left (also implicitly by program
2260 termination, unless the command
2262 was used) \(en however, because this may be irritating to users which
2265 mail-user-agents, the provided global
2267 template sets the internal
2271 variables in order to suppress this behaviour.
2273 .Bl -hang -width ".It Ql new"
2275 Message has neither been viewed nor moved to any other state.
2276 Such messages are retained even in the
2278 .Sx "primary system mailbox" .
2281 Message has neither been viewed nor moved to any other state, but the
2282 message was present already when the mailbox has been opened last:
2283 Such messages are retained even in the
2285 .Sx "primary system mailbox" .
2288 The message has been processed by one of the following commands:
2307 will always try to automatically
2313 logical message, and may thus mark multiple messages as read, the
2315 command will do so if the internal variable
2321 command is used, messages that are in a
2323 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
2326 state when the mailbox is left will be saved in the
2328 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
2330 unless the internal variable
2335 The message has been processed by one of the following commands:
2341 can be used to access such messages.
2344 The message has been processed by a
2346 command and it will be retained in its current location.
2349 The message has been processed by one of the following commands:
2355 command is used, messages that are in a
2357 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
2360 state when the mailbox is left will be deleted; they will be saved in the
2362 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
2364 when the internal variable
2370 In addition to these message states, flags which otherwise have no
2371 technical meaning in the mail system except allowing special ways of
2372 addressing them when
2373 .Sx "Specifying messages"
2374 can be set on messages.
2375 These flags are saved with messages and are thus persistent, and are
2376 portable between a set of widely used MUAs.
2378 .Bl -hang -width ".It Ic answered"
2380 Mark messages as having been answered.
2382 Mark messages as being a draft.
2384 Mark messages which need special attention.
2388 .\" .Ss "Specifying messages" {{{
2389 .Ss "Specifying messages"
2391 \*(NQ Commands which take
2392 .Sx "Message list arguments" ,
2400 can be given a list of message numbers as arguments to apply to a number
2401 of messages at once.
2404 deletes messages 1 and 2,
2407 will delete the messages 1 through 5.
2408 In sorted or threaded mode (see the
2412 will delete the messages that are located between (and including)
2413 messages 1 through 5 in the sorted/threaded order, as shown in the
2416 The following special message names exist:
2419 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ar BaNg"
2421 The current message, the so-called
2425 The message that was previously the current message; needs to be quoted.
2428 The parent message of the current message,
2429 that is the message with the Message-ID given in the
2431 field or the last entry of the
2433 field of the current message.
2436 The previous undeleted message, or the previous deleted message for the
2442 ed mode, the previous such message in the according order.
2445 The next undeleted message, or the next deleted message for the
2451 ed mode, the next such message in the according order.
2454 The first undeleted message,
2455 or the first deleted message for the
2461 ed mode, the first such message in the according order.
2464 The last message; In
2468 ed mode, the last such message in the according order.
2476 mode, selects the message addressed with
2480 is any other message specification,
2481 and all messages from the thread that begins at it.
2482 Otherwise it is identical to
2487 the thread beginning with the current message is selected.
2493 All messages that were included in the
2494 .Sx "Message list arguments"
2495 of the previous command; needs to be quoted.
2498 An inclusive range of message numbers.
2499 Selectors that may also be used as endpoints include any of
2504 .Dq any substring matches
2507 header, which will match addresses (too) even if
2509 is set (and POSIX says
2510 .Dq any address as shown in a header summary shall be matchable in this form ) ;
2513 variable is set, only the local part of the address is evaluated
2514 for the comparison, not ignoring case, and the setting of
2516 is completely ignored.
2517 For finer control and match boundaries use the
2521 .It Ar / Ns Ar string
2522 All messages that contain
2524 in the subject field (case ignored according to locale).
2531 the string from the previous specification of that type is used again.
2534 .It Xo Op Ar @ Ns Ar name-list Ns
2537 All messages that contain the given case-insensitive search
2539 ession; If the \*(OPal regular expression support is available
2541 will be interpreted as (an extended) one if any of the
2543 regular expression characters
2548 .Ar @ Ns Ar name-list
2549 part is missing the search is restricted to the subject field body,
2552 specifies a comma-separated list of header fields to search, e.g.,
2555 .Dl '@to,from,cc@Someone i ought to know'
2558 In order to search for a string that includes a
2560 (commercial at) character the
2562 is effectively non-optional, but may be given as the empty string.
2563 Also, specifying an empty search
2565 ession will effectively test for existence of the given header fields.
2566 Some special header fields may be abbreviated:
2580 respectively and case-insensitively.
2581 \*(OPally, and just like
2584 will be interpreted as (an extended) regular expression if any of the
2586 regular expression characters is seen.
2593 can be used to search in (all of) the header(s) of the message, and the
2602 will perform full text searches \(en whereas the former searches only
2603 the body, the latter also searches the message header (\*(ID this mode
2604 yet brute force searches over the entire decoded content of messages,
2605 including administrativa strings).
2608 This specification performs full text comparison, but even with
2609 regular expression support it is almost impossible to write a search
2610 expression that safely matches only a specific address domain.
2611 To request that the body content of the header is treated as a list of
2612 addresses, and to strip those down to the plain email address which the
2613 search expression is to be matched against, prefix the effective
2619 .Dl '@~f,c@@a\e.safe\e.domain\e.match$'
2623 All messages of state or with matching condition
2627 is one or multiple of the following colon modifiers:
2629 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ar :M"
2632 messages (cf. the variable
2633 .Va markanswered ) .
2645 Messages with receivers that match
2649 Messages with receivers that match
2656 Old messages (any not in state
2664 \*(OP Messages with unsure spam classification (see
2665 .Sx "Handling spam" ) .
2667 \*(OP Messages classified as spam.
2679 \*(OP IMAP-style SEARCH expressions may also be used.
2680 These consist of keywords and criterions, and because
2681 .Sx "Message list arguments"
2682 are split into tokens according to
2683 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
2684 it is necessary to quote the entire IMAP search expression in order to
2685 ensure that it remains a single token.
2686 This addressing mode is available with all types of mailbox
2688 s; \*(UA will perform the search locally as necessary.
2689 Strings must be enclosed by double quotes
2691 in their entirety if they contain whitespace or parentheses;
2692 within the quotes, only reverse solidus
2694 is recognized as an escape character.
2695 All string searches are case-insensitive.
2696 When the description indicates that the
2698 representation of an address field is used,
2699 this means that the search string is checked against both a list
2702 .Bd -literal -offset indent
2703 \&'(\*qname\*q \*qsource\*q \*qlocal-part\*q \*qdomain-part\*q)'
2708 and the addresses without real names from the respective header field.
2709 These search expressions can be nested using parentheses, see below for
2713 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ar _n_u"
2714 .It Ar ( criterion )
2715 All messages that satisfy the given
2717 .It Ar ( criterion1 criterion2 ... criterionN )
2718 All messages that satisfy all of the given criteria.
2720 .It Ar ( or criterion1 criterion2 )
2721 All messages that satisfy either
2726 To connect more than two criteria using
2728 specifications have to be nested using additional parentheses,
2730 .Ql (or a (or b c)) ,
2734 .Ql ((a or b) and c) .
2737 operation of independent criteria on the lowest nesting level,
2738 it is possible to achieve similar effects by using three separate
2742 .It Ar ( not criterion )
2743 All messages that do not satisfy
2745 .It Ar ( bcc \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2746 All messages that contain
2748 in the envelope representation of the
2751 .It Ar ( cc \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2752 All messages that contain
2754 in the envelope representation of the
2757 .It Ar ( from \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2758 All messages that contain
2760 in the envelope representation of the
2763 .It Ar ( subject \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2764 All messages that contain
2769 .It Ar ( to \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2770 All messages that contain
2772 in the envelope representation of the
2775 .It Ar ( header name \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2776 All messages that contain
2781 .It Ar ( body \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2782 All messages that contain
2785 .It Ar ( text \*q Ns Ar string Ns Ar \*q )
2786 All messages that contain
2788 in their header or body.
2789 .It Ar ( larger size )
2790 All messages that are larger than
2793 .It Ar ( smaller size )
2794 All messages that are smaller than
2798 .It Ar ( before date )
2799 All messages that were received before
2801 which must be in the form
2805 denotes the day of the month as one or two digits,
2807 is the name of the month \(en one of
2808 .Ql Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec ,
2811 is the year as four digits, e.g.,
2815 All messages that were received on the specified date.
2816 .It Ar ( since date )
2817 All messages that were received since the specified date.
2818 .It Ar ( sentbefore date )
2819 All messages that were sent on the specified date.
2820 .It Ar ( senton date )
2821 All messages that were sent on the specified date.
2822 .It Ar ( sentsince date )
2823 All messages that were sent since the specified date.
2825 The same criterion as for the previous search.
2826 This specification cannot be used as part of another criterion.
2827 If the previous command line contained more than one independent
2828 criterion then the last of those criteria is used.
2832 .\" .Ss "On terminal control and line editor" {{{
2833 .Ss "On terminal control and line editor"
2835 \*(OP Terminal control will be realized through one of the standard
2837 libraries, either the
2839 or, alternatively, the
2841 both of which will be initialized to work with the environment variable
2843 Terminal control will enhance or enable interactive usage aspects, e.g.,
2844 .Sx "Coloured display" ,
2845 and extend behaviour of the Mailx-Line-Editor (MLE), which may learn the
2846 byte-sequences of keys like the cursor- and function-keys.
2849 The internal variable
2851 can be used to overwrite settings or to learn (correct(ed)) keycodes.
2852 Actual library interaction can be disabled completely by setting
2853 .Va termcap-disable ;
2855 will be queried regardless, which is true even if the \*(OPal library
2856 support has not been enabled at configuration time as long as some other
2857 \*(OP which (may) query terminal control sequences has been enabled.
2858 \*(UA can be told to enter an alternative exclusive screen, the
2859 so-called ca-mode, by setting
2860 .Va termcap-ca-mode ;
2861 this requires sufficient terminal support, and the used
2863 may also need special configuration, dependent on the value of
2867 \*(OP The built-in Mailx-Line-Editor (MLE) should work in all
2868 environments which comply to the ISO C standard
2870 and will support wide glyphs if possible (the necessary functionality
2871 had been removed from ISO C, but was included in
2873 Usage of a line editor in interactive mode can be prevented by setting
2874 .Va line-editor-disable .
2875 Especially if the \*(OPal terminal control support is missing setting
2876 entries in the internal variable
2878 will help shall the MLE misbehave, see there for more.
2879 The MLE can support a little bit of
2885 feature is available then input from line editor prompts will be saved
2886 in a history list that can be searched in and be expanded from.
2887 Such saving can be prevented by prefixing input with any amount of
2889 Aspects of history, like allowed content and maximum size, as well as
2890 whether history shall be saved persistently, can be configured with the
2894 .Va history-gabby-persist
2899 The MLE supports a set of editing and control commands.
2900 By default (as) many (as possible) of these will be assigned to a set of
2901 single-letter control codes, which should work on any terminal (and can
2902 be generated by holding the
2904 key while pressing the key of desire, e.g.,
2908 command is available then the MLE commands can also be accessed freely
2909 by assigning the command name, which is shown in parenthesis in the list
2910 below, to any desired key-sequence, and the MLE will instead and also use
2912 to establish its built-in key bindings
2913 (more of them if the \*(OPal terminal control is available),
2914 an action which can then be suppressed completely by setting
2915 .Va line-editor-no-defaults .
2916 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
2917 notation is used in the following;
2918 combinations not mentioned either cause job control signals or do not
2919 generate a (unique) keycode:
2923 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql \eBa"
2925 Go to the start of the line
2927 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-home ) .
2930 Move the cursor backward one character
2932 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-bwd ) .
2935 Forward delete the character under the cursor;
2936 quits \*(UA if used on the empty line unless the internal variable
2940 .Pf ( Cd mle-del-fwd ) .
2943 Go to the end of the line
2945 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-end ) .
2948 Move the cursor forward one character
2950 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-fwd ) .
2953 Cancel current operation, full reset.
2954 If there is an active history search or tabulator expansion then this
2955 command will first reset that, reverting to the former line content;
2956 thus a second reset is needed for a full reset in this case
2958 .Pf ( Cd mle-reset ) .
2961 Backspace: backward delete one character
2963 .Pf ( Cd mle-del-bwd ) .
2967 Horizontal tabulator:
2968 try to expand the word before the cursor, supporting the usual
2969 .Sx "Filename transformations"
2971 .Pf ( Cd mle-complete ;
2973 .Cd mle-quote-rndtrip ) .
2977 commit the current line
2979 .Pf ( Cd mle-commit ) .
2982 Cut all characters from the cursor to the end of the line
2984 .Pf ( Cd mle-snarf-end ) .
2989 .Pf ( Cd mle-repaint ) .
2992 \*(OP Go to the next history entry
2994 .Pf ( Cd mle-hist-fwd ) .
2997 (\*(OPally context-dependent) Invokes the command
3001 \*(OP Go to the previous history entry
3003 .Pf ( Cd mle-hist-bwd ) .
3006 Toggle roundtrip mode shell quotes, where produced,
3009 .Pf ( Cd mle-quote-rndtrip ) .
3010 This setting is temporary, and will be forgotten once the command line
3011 is committed; also see
3015 \*(OP Complete the current line from (the remaining) older history entries
3017 .Pf ( Cd mle-hist-srch-bwd ) .
3020 \*(OP Complete the current line from (the remaining) newer history entries
3022 .Pf ( Cd mle-hist-srch-fwd ) .
3025 Paste the snarf buffer
3027 .Pf ( Cd mle-paste ) .
3035 .Pf ( Cd mle-snarf-line ) .
3038 Prompts for a Unicode character (hexadecimal number without prefix, see
3042 .Pf ( Cd mle-prompt-char ) .
3043 Note this command needs to be assigned to a single-letter control code
3044 in order to become recognized and executed during input of
3045 a key-sequence (only three single-letter control codes can be used for
3046 that shortcut purpose); this control code is then special-treated and
3047 thus cannot be part of any other sequence (because it will trigger the
3049 function immediately).
3052 Cut the characters from the one preceding the cursor to the preceding
3055 .Pf ( Cd mle-snarf-word-bwd ) .
3058 Move the cursor forward one word boundary
3060 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-word-fwd ) .
3063 Move the cursor backward one word boundary
3065 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-word-bwd ) .
3068 Escape: reset a possibly used multibyte character input state machine
3069 and \*(OPally a lingering, incomplete key binding
3071 .Pf ( Cd mle-cancel ) .
3072 This command needs to be assigned to a single-letter control code in
3073 order to become recognized and executed during input of a key-sequence
3074 (only three single-letter control codes can be used for that shortcut
3076 This control code may also be part of a multi-byte sequence, but if
3077 a sequence is active and the very control code is currently also an
3078 expected input, then the active sequence takes precedence and will
3079 consume the control code.
3082 (\*(OPally context-dependent) Invokes the command
3086 (\*(OPally context-dependent) Invokes the command
3090 (\*(OPally context-dependent) Invokes the command
3094 Cut the characters from the one after the cursor to the succeeding word
3097 .Pf ( Cd mle-snarf-word-fwd ) .
3104 Move the cursor forward one screen width
3106 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-screen-fwd ) .
3109 Move the cursor backward one screen width
3111 .Pf ( Cd mle-go-screen-bwd ) .
3114 \*(OP Move the cursor home and clear the screen
3116 .Pf ( Cd mle-clear-screen ) .
3123 this will immediately reset a possibly active search etc.
3128 ring the audible bell.
3132 .\" .Ss "Coloured display" {{{
3133 .Ss "Coloured display"
3135 \*(OP \*(UA can be configured to support a coloured display and font
3136 attributes by emitting ANSI a.k.a. ISO 6429 SGR (select graphic
3137 rendition) escape sequences.
3138 Usage of colours and font attributes solely depends upon the
3139 capability of the detected terminal type that is defined by the
3140 environment variable
3142 and which can be fine-tuned by the user via the internal variable
3146 On top of what \*(UA knows about the terminal the boolean variable
3148 defines whether the actually applicable colour and font attribute
3149 sequences should also be generated when output is going to be paged
3150 through the external program defined by the environment variable
3155 This is not enabled by default because different pager programs need
3156 different command line switches or other configuration in order to
3157 support those sequences.
3158 \*(UA however knows about some widely used pagers and in a clean
3159 environment it is often enough to simply set
3161 please refer to that variable for more on this topic.
3164 Colours and font attributes can be managed with the multiplexer command
3168 can be used to remove mappings of a given colour type.
3171 is set then any active usage of colour and font attribute sequences
3172 is suppressed without affecting possibly established
3175 Since colours are only available in interactive mode, it may make
3176 sense to conditionalize the colour setup by encapsulating it with
3179 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3180 if terminal && [ "$features" =% +colour ]
3181 colour iso view-msginfo ft=bold,fg=green
3182 colour iso view-header ft=bold,fg=red from,subject
3183 colour iso view-header fg=red
3185 uncolour iso view-header from,subject
3186 colour iso view-header ft=bold,fg=magenta,bg=cyan
3187 colour 256 view-header ft=bold,fg=208,bg=230 "subject,from"
3188 colour mono view-header ft=bold
3189 colour mono view-header ft=bold,ft=reverse subject,from
3194 .\" .Ss "Handling spam" {{{
3197 \*(OP \*(UA can make use of several spam interfaces for the purpose of
3198 identification of, and, in general, dealing with spam messages.
3199 A precondition of most commands in order to function is that the
3201 variable is set to one of the supported interfaces.
3202 .Sx "Specifying messages"
3203 that have been identified as spam is possible via their (volatile)
3209 specifications, and their
3211 entries will be used when displaying the
3219 rates the given messages and sets their
3222 If the spam interface offers spam scores these can be shown in
3231 will interact with the Bayesian filter of the chosen interface and learn
3232 the given messages as
3236 respectively; the last command can be used to cause
3238 of messages; it adheres to their current
3240 state and thus reverts previous teachings.
3245 will simply set and clear, respectively, the mentioned volatile
3247 message flag, without any interface interaction.
3256 requires a running instance of the
3258 server in order to function, started with the option
3260 shall Bayesian filter learning be possible.
3262 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3263 $ spamd -i localhost:2142 -i /tmp/.spamsock -d [-L] [-l]
3264 $ spamd --listen=localhost:2142 --listen=/tmp/.spamsock \e
3265 --daemonize [--local] [--allow-tell]
3269 Thereafter \*(UA can make use of these interfaces:
3271 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3272 $ \*(uA -Sspam-interface=spamc -Sspam-maxsize=500000 \e
3273 -Sspamc-command=/usr/local/bin/spamc \e
3274 -Sspamc-arguments="-U /tmp/.spamsock" -Sspamc-user=
3276 $ \*(uA -Sspam-interface=spamc -Sspam-maxsize=500000 \e
3277 -Sspamc-command=/usr/local/bin/spamc \e
3278 -Sspamc-arguments="-d localhost -p 2142" -Sspamc-user=
3282 Using the generic filter approach allows usage of programs like
3284 Here is an example, requiring it to be accessible via
3287 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3288 $ \*(uA -Sspam-interface=filter -Sspam-maxsize=500000 \e
3289 -Sspamfilter-ham="bogofilter -n" \e
3290 -Sspamfilter-noham="bogofilter -N" \e
3291 -Sspamfilter-nospam="bogofilter -S" \e
3292 -Sspamfilter-rate="bogofilter -TTu 2>/dev/null" \e
3293 -Sspamfilter-spam="bogofilter -s" \e
3294 -Sspamfilter-rate-scanscore="1;^(.+)$"
3298 Because messages must exist on local storage in order to be scored (or
3299 used for Bayesian filter training), it is possibly a good idea to
3300 perform the local spam check last.
3301 Spam can be checked automatically when opening specific folders by
3302 setting a specialized form of the internal variable
3305 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3306 define spamdelhook {
3308 spamset (header x-dcc-brand-metrics "bulk")
3309 # Server-side spamassassin(1)
3310 spamset (header x-spam-flag "YES")
3311 del :s # TODO we HAVE to be able to do `spamrate :u ! :sS'
3317 set folder-hook-SOMEFOLDER=spamdelhook
3321 See also the documentation for the variables
3322 .Va spam-interface , spam-maxsize ,
3323 .Va spamc-command , spamc-arguments , spamc-user ,
3324 .Va spamfilter-ham , spamfilter-noham , spamfilter-nospam , \
3327 .Va spamfilter-rate-scanscore .
3330 .\" }}} (DESCRIPTION)
3333 .\" .Sh COMMANDS {{{
3336 \*(UA reads input in lines.
3337 An unquoted reverse solidus
3339 at the end of a command line
3341 the newline character: it is discarded and the next line of input is
3342 used as a follow-up line, with all leading whitespace removed;
3343 once an entire line is completed, the whitespace characters
3344 .Cm space , tabulator , newline
3345 as well as those defined by the variable
3347 are removed from the beginning and end.
3348 Placing any whitespace characters at the beginning of a line will
3349 prevent a possible addition of the command line to the \*(OPal
3353 The beginning of such input lines is then scanned for the name of
3354 a known command: command names may be abbreviated, in which case the
3355 first command that matches the given prefix will be used.
3356 .Sx "Command modifiers"
3357 may prefix a command in order to modify its behaviour.
3358 A name may also be a
3360 which will become expanded until no more expansion is possible.
3361 Once the command that shall be executed is known, the remains of the
3362 input line will be interpreted according to command-specific rules,
3363 documented in the following.
3366 This behaviour is different to the
3368 ell, which is a programming language with syntactic elements of clearly
3369 defined semantics, and therefore capable to sequentially expand and
3370 evaluate individual elements of a line.
3371 \*(UA will never be able to handle
3372 .Ql ? set one=value two=$one
3373 in a single statement, because the variable assignment is performed by
3381 can be used to show the list of all commands, either alphabetically
3382 sorted or in prefix search order (these do not match, also because the
3383 POSIX standard prescribes a set of abbreviations).
3384 \*(OPally the command
3388 when given an argument, will show a documentation string for the
3389 command matching the expanded argument, as in
3391 which should be a shorthand of
3393 with these documentation strings both commands support a more
3395 listing mode which includes the argument type of the command and other
3396 information which applies; a handy suggestion might thus be:
3398 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3400 # Before v15: need to enable sh(1)ell-style on _entire_ line!
3401 localopts yes;wysh set verbose;ignerr eval "${@}";return ${?}
3403 ? commandalias xv '\ecall __xv'
3407 .\" .Ss "Command modifiers" {{{
3408 .Ss "Command modifiers"
3410 Commands may be prefixed by one or multiple command modifiers.
3411 Some command modifiers can be used with a restricted set of commands
3416 will (\*(OPally) show which modifiers apply.
3420 The modifier reverse solidus
3423 to be placed first, prevents
3425 expansions on the remains of the line, e.g.,
3427 will always evaluate the command
3429 even if an (command)alias of the same name exists.
3431 content may itself contain further command modifiers, including
3432 an initial reverse solidus to prevent further expansions.
3438 indicates that any error generated by the following command should be
3439 ignored by the state machine and not cause a program exit with enabled
3441 or for the standardized exit cases in
3446 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ,
3447 will be set to the real exit status of the command regardless.
3452 will alter the called command to apply changes only temporarily,
3453 local to block-scope, and can thus only be used inside of a
3458 Specifying it implies the modifier
3460 Block-scope settings will not be inherited by macros deeper in the
3462 chain, and will be garbage collected once the current block is left.
3463 To record and unroll changes in the global scope use the command
3469 does yet not implement any functionality.
3474 does yet not implement any functionality.
3477 Some commands support the
3480 modifier: if used, they expect the name of a variable, which can itself
3481 be a variable, i.e., shell expansion is applied, as their first
3482 argument, and will place their computation result in it instead of the
3483 default location (it is usually written to standard output).
3485 The given name will be tested for being a valid
3487 variable name, and may therefore only consist of upper- and lowercase
3488 characters, digits, and the underscore; the hyphen-minus may be used as
3489 a non-portable extension; digits may not be used as first, hyphen-minus
3490 may not be used as last characters.
3491 In addition the name may either not be one of the known
3492 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ,
3493 or must otherwise refer to a writable (non-boolean) value variable.
3494 The actual put operation may fail nonetheless, e.g., if the variable
3495 expects a number argument only a number will be accepted.
3496 Any error during these operations causes the command as such to fail,
3497 and the error number
3500 .Va ^ERR Ns -NOTSUP ,
3505 but some commands deviate from the latter, which is documented.
3508 Last, but not least, the modifier
3511 can be used for some old and established commands to choose the new
3512 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
3513 rules over the traditional
3514 .Sx "Old-style argument quoting" .
3518 .\" .Ss "Old-style argument quoting" {{{
3519 .Ss "Old-style argument quoting"
3521 \*(ID This section documents the old, traditional style of quoting
3522 non-message-list arguments to commands which expect this type of
3523 arguments: whereas still used by the majority of such commands, the new
3524 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
3525 may be available even for those via
3528 .Sx "Command modifiers" .
3529 Nonetheless care must be taken, because only new commands have been
3530 designed with all the capabilities of the new quoting rules in mind,
3531 which can, e.g., generate control characters.
3534 .Bl -bullet -offset indent
3536 An argument can be enclosed between paired double-quotes
3541 any whitespace, shell word expansion, or reverse solidus characters
3542 (except as described next) within the quotes are treated literally as
3543 part of the argument.
3544 A double-quote will be treated literally within single-quotes and vice
3546 Inside such a quoted string the actually used quote character can be
3547 used nonetheless by escaping it with a reverse solidus
3553 An argument that is not enclosed in quotes, as above, can usually still
3554 contain space characters if those spaces are reverse solidus escaped, as in
3558 A reverse solidus outside of the enclosing quotes is discarded
3559 and the following character is treated literally as part of the argument.
3563 .\" .Ss "Shell-style argument quoting" {{{
3564 .Ss "Shell-style argument quoting"
3567 ell-style, and therefore POSIX standardized, argument parsing and
3568 quoting rules are used by most commands.
3569 \*(ID Most new commands only support these new rules and are flagged
3570 \*(NQ, some elder ones can use them with the command modifier
3572 in the future only this type of argument quoting will remain.
3575 A command line is parsed from left to right and an input token is
3576 completed whenever an unquoted, otherwise ignored, metacharacter is seen.
3577 Metacharacters are vertical bar
3583 as well as all characters from the variable
3586 .Cm space , tabulator , newline .
3587 The additional metacharacters left and right parenthesis
3589 and less-than and greater-than signs
3593 supports are not used, and are treated as ordinary characters: for one
3594 these characters are a vivid part of email addresses, and it seems
3595 highly unlikely that their function will become meaningful to \*(UA.
3597 .Bd -filled -offset indent
3598 .Sy Compatibility note:
3599 \*(ID Please note that even many new-style commands do not yet honour
3601 to parse their arguments: whereas the
3603 ell is a language with syntactic elements of clearly defined semantics,
3604 \*(UA parses entire input lines and decides on a per-command base what
3605 to do with the rest of the line.
3606 This also means that whenever an unknown command is seen all that \*(UA
3607 can do is cancellation of the processing of the remains of the line.
3609 It also often depends on an actual subcommand of a multiplexer command
3610 how the rest of the line should be treated, and until v15 we are not
3611 capable to perform this deep inspection of arguments.
3612 Nonetheless, at least the following commands which work with positional
3613 parameters fully support
3615 for an almost shell-compatible field splitting:
3616 .Ic call , call_if , read , vpospar , xcall .
3620 Any unquoted number sign
3622 at the beginning of a new token starts a comment that extends to the end
3623 of the line, and therefore ends argument processing.
3624 An unquoted dollar sign
3626 will cause variable expansion of the given name, which must be a valid
3628 ell-style variable name (see
3630 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
3633 (shell) variables can be accessed through this mechanism, brace
3634 enclosing the name is supported (i.e., to subdivide a token).
3637 Whereas the metacharacters
3638 .Cm space , tabulator , newline
3639 only complete an input token, vertical bar
3645 also act as control operators and perform control functions.
3646 For now supported is semicolon
3648 which terminates a single command, therefore sequencing the command line
3649 and making the remainder of the line a subject to reevaluation.
3650 With sequencing, multiple command argument types and quoting rules may
3651 therefore apply to a single line, which can become problematic before
3652 v15: e.g., the first of the following will cause surprising results.
3655 .Dl ? echo one; set verbose; echo verbose=$verbose.
3656 .Dl ? echo one; wysh set verbose; echo verbose=$verbose.
3659 Quoting is a mechanism that will remove the special meaning of
3660 metacharacters and reserved words, and will prevent expansion.
3661 There are four quoting mechanisms: the escape character, single-quotes,
3662 double-quotes and dollar-single-quotes:
3665 .Bl -bullet -offset indent
3667 The literal value of any character can be preserved by preceding it
3668 with the escape character reverse solidus
3672 Arguments which are enclosed in
3673 .Ql 'single-\:quotes'
3674 retain their literal value.
3675 A single-quote cannot occur within single-quotes.
3678 The literal value of all characters enclosed in
3679 .Ql \(dqdouble-\:quotes\(dq
3680 is retained, with the exception of dollar sign
3682 which will cause variable expansion, as above, backquote (grave accent)
3684 (which not yet means anything special), reverse solidus
3686 which will escape any of the characters dollar sign
3688 (to prevent variable expansion), backquote (grave accent)
3692 (to prevent ending the quote) and reverse solidus
3694 (to prevent escaping, i.e., to embed a reverse solidus character as-is),
3695 but has no special meaning otherwise.
3698 Arguments enclosed in
3699 .Ql $'dollar-\:single-\:quotes'
3700 extend normal single quotes in that reverse solidus escape sequences are
3701 expanded as follows:
3703 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".Ql \eNNN"
3705 bell control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 BEL).
3707 backspace control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 BS).
3709 escape control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 ESC).
3713 form feed control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 FF).
3715 line feed control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 LF).
3717 carriage return control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 CR).
3719 horizontal tabulator control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 HT).
3721 vertical tabulator control character (ASCII and ISO-10646 VT).
3723 emits a reverse solidus character.
3727 double quote (escaping is optional).
3729 eight-bit byte with the octal value
3731 (one to three octal digits), optionally prefixed by an additional
3733 A 0 byte will suppress further output for the quoted argument.
3735 eight-bit byte with the hexadecimal value
3737 (one or two hexadecimal characters, no prefix, see
3739 A 0 byte will suppress further output for the quoted argument.
3741 the Unicode / ISO-10646 character with the hexadecimal codepoint value
3743 (one to eight hexadecimal characters) \(em note that Unicode defines the
3744 maximum codepoint ever to be supported as
3749 This escape is only supported in locales that support Unicode (see
3750 .Sx "Character sets" ) ,
3751 in other cases the sequence will remain unexpanded unless the given code
3752 point is ASCII compatible or (if the \*(OPal character set conversion is
3753 available) can be represented in the current locale.
3754 The character NUL will suppress further output for the quoted argument.
3758 except it takes only one to four hexadecimal characters.
3760 Emits the non-printable (ASCII and compatible) C0 control codes
3761 0 (NUL) to 31 (US), and 127 (DEL).
3762 Printable representations of ASCII control codes can be created by
3763 mapping them to a different, visible part of the ASCII character set.
3764 Adding the number 64 achieves this for the codes 0 to 31, e.g., 7 (BEL):
3765 .Ql 7 + 64 = 71 = G .
3766 The real operation is a bitwise logical XOR with 64 (bit 7 set, see
3768 thus also covering code 127 (DEL), which is mapped to 63 (question mark):
3769 .Ql ? vexpr ^ 127 64 .
3771 Whereas historically circumflex notation has often been used for
3772 visualization purposes of control codes, e.g.,
3774 the reverse solidus notation has been standardized:
3776 Some control codes also have standardized (ISO-10646, ISO C) aliases,
3777 as shown above (e.g.,
3781 whenever such an alias exists it will be used for display purposes.
3782 The control code NUL
3784 a non-standard extension) will suppress further output for the remains
3785 of the token (which may extend beyond the current quote), or, depending
3786 on the context, the remains of all arguments for the current command.
3788 Non-standard extension: expand the given variable name, as above.
3789 Brace enclosing the name is supported.
3791 Not yet supported, just to raise awareness: Non-standard extension.
3798 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3799 ? echo 'Quotes '${HOME}' and 'tokens" differ!"# no comment
3800 ? echo Quotes ${HOME} and tokens differ! # comment
3801 ? echo Don"'"t you worry$'\ex21' The sun shines on us. $'\eu263A'
3805 .\" .Ss "Message list arguments" {{{
3806 .Ss "Message list arguments"
3808 Many commands operate on message list specifications, as documented in
3809 .Sx "Specifying messages" .
3810 The argument input is first split into individual tokens via
3811 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" ,
3812 which are then interpreted as the mentioned specifications.
3813 If no explicit message list has been specified, many commands will
3814 search for and use the next message forward that satisfies the commands'
3815 requirements, and if there are no messages forward of the current
3816 message, the search proceeds backwards;
3817 if there are no good messages at all to be found, an error message is
3818 shown and the command is aborted.
3821 output of the command
3823 will indicate whether a command searches for a default message, or not.
3826 .\" .Ss "Raw data arguments for codec commands" {{{
3827 .Ss "Raw data arguments for codec commands"
3829 A special set of commands, which all have the string
3831 in their name, e.g.,
3835 take raw string data as input, which means that the content of the
3836 command input line is passed completely unexpanded and otherwise
3837 unchanged: like this the effect of the actual codec is visible without
3838 any noise of possible shell quoting rules etc., i.e., the user can input
3839 one-to-one the desired or questionable data.
3840 To gain a level of expansion, the entire command line can be
3844 .Bd -literal -offset indent
3845 ? vput shcodec res encode /usr/Sch\[:o]nes Wetter/heute.txt
3847 $'/usr/Sch\eu00F6nes Wetter/heute.txt'
3849 $'/usr/Sch\eu00F6nes Wetter/heute.txt'
3850 ? eval shcodec d $res
3851 /usr/Sch\[:o]nes Wetter/heute.txt
3855 .\" .Ss "Filename transformations" {{{
3856 .Ss "Filename transformations"
3858 Filenames, where expected, and unless documented otherwise, are
3859 subsequently subject to the following filename transformations, in
3862 .Bl -bullet -offset indent
3864 If the given name is a registered
3866 it will be replaced with the expanded shortcut.
3869 The filename is matched against the following patterns or strings:
3871 .Bl -hang -compact -width ".Ar %user"
3873 (Number sign) is expanded to the previous file.
3875 (Percent sign) is replaced by the invoking
3876 .Mx -ix "primary system mailbox"
3877 user's primary system mailbox, which either is the (itself expandable)
3879 if that is set, the standardized absolute pathname indicated by
3881 if that is set, or a built-in compile-time default otherwise.
3883 Expands to the primary system mailbox of
3885 (and never the value of
3887 regardless of its actual setting).
3889 (Ampersand) is replaced with the invoking user's
3890 .Mx -ix "secondary mailbox"
3891 secondary mailbox, the
3898 directory (if that variable is set).
3900 Expands to the same value as
3902 but has special meaning when used with, e.g., the command
3904 the file will be treated as a primary system mailbox by, e.g., the
3908 commands, meaning that messages that have been read in the current
3909 session will be moved to the
3911 mailbox instead of simply being flagged as read.
3915 Meta expansions may be applied to the resulting filename, as allowed by
3916 the operation and applicable to the resulting access protocol (also see
3917 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" ) .
3918 For the file-protocol, a leading tilde
3920 character will be replaced by the expansion of
3922 except when followed by a valid user name, in which case the home
3923 directory of the given user is used instead.
3925 A shell expansion as if specified in double-quotes (see
3926 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" )
3927 may be applied, so that any occurrence of
3931 will be replaced by the expansion of the variable, if possible;
3932 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
3935 (shell) variables can be accessed through this mechanism.
3937 Shell pathname wildcard pattern expansions
3939 may be applied as documented.
3940 If the fully expanded filename results in multiple pathnames and the
3941 command is expecting only one file, an error results.
3943 In interactive context, in order to allow simple value acceptance (via
3945 arguments will usually be displayed in a properly quoted form, e.g., a file
3946 .Ql diet\e is \ecurd.txt
3948 .Ql 'diet\e is \ecurd.txt' .
3952 .\" .Ss "Commands" {{{
3955 The following commands are available:
3957 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ic BaNg"
3964 command which follows, replacing unescaped exclamation marks with the
3965 previously executed command if the internal variable
3968 This command supports
3971 .Sx "Command modifiers" ,
3972 and manages the error number
3974 A 0 or positive exit status
3976 reflects the exit status of the command, negative ones that
3977 an error happened before the command was executed, or that the program
3978 did not exit cleanly, but, e.g., due to a signal: the error number is
3979 .Va ^ERR Ns -CHILD ,
3983 In conjunction with the
3985 modifier the following special cases exist:
3986 a negative exit status occurs if the collected data could not be stored
3987 in the given variable, which is a
3989 error that should otherwise not occur.
3990 .Va ^ERR Ns -CANCELED
3991 indicates that no temporary file could be created to collect the command
3992 output at first glance.
3993 In case of catchable out-of-memory situations
3995 will occur and \*(UA will try to store the empty string, just like with
3996 all other detected error conditions.
4001 The comment-command causes the entire line to be ignored.
4003 this really is a normal command which' purpose is to discard its
4006 indicating special character, which means that, e.g., trailing comments
4007 on a line are not possible (except for commands which use
4008 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" ) .
4012 Goes to the next message in sequence and types it
4018 Display the preceding message, or the n'th previous message if given
4019 a numeric argument n.
4023 Show the current message number (the
4028 \*(OP Show a brief summary of commands.
4029 \*(OP Given an argument a synopsis for the command in question is
4030 shown instead; commands can be abbreviated in general and this command
4031 can be used to see the full expansion of an abbreviation including the
4032 synopsis, try, e.g.,
4037 and see how the output changes.
4038 This mode also supports a more
4040 output, which will provide the information documented for
4051 .It Ic account , unaccount
4052 (ac, una) Creates, selects or lists (an) account(s).
4053 Accounts are special incarnations of
4055 macros and group commands and variable settings which together usually
4056 arrange the environment for the purpose of creating an email account.
4057 Different to normal macros settings which are covered by
4059 \(en here by default enabled! \(en will not be reverted before the
4064 (case-insensitive) always exists, and all but it can be deleted by the
4065 latter command, and in one operation with the special name
4067 Also for all but it a possibly set
4068 .Va on-account-cleanup
4069 hook is called once they are left.
4071 Without arguments a listing of all defined accounts is shown.
4072 With one argument the given account is activated: the system
4074 of that account will be activated (as via
4076 a possibly installed
4078 will be run, and the internal variable
4081 The two argument form is identical to defining a macro as via
4083 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4085 set folder=~/mail inbox=+syste.mbox record=+sent.mbox
4086 set from='(My Name) myname@myisp.example'
4087 set mta=smtp://mylogin@smtp.myisp.example
4094 Perform email address codec transformations on raw-data argument, rather
4095 according to email standards (RFC 5322; \*(ID will furtherly improve).
4099 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) ,
4100 and manages the error number
4102 The first argument must be either
4103 .Ar [+[+[+]]]e[ncode] ,
4108 and specifies the operation to perform on the rest of the line.
4111 Decoding will show how a standard-compliant MUA will display the given
4112 argument, which should be an email address.
4113 Please be aware that most MUAs have difficulties with the address
4114 standards, and vary wildly when (comments) in parenthesis,
4116 strings, or quoted-pairs, as below, become involved.
4117 \*(ID \*(UA currently does not perform decoding when displaying addresses.
4120 Skinning is identical to decoding but only outputs the plain address,
4121 without any string, comment etc. components.
4122 Another difference is that it may fail with the error number
4126 if decoding fails to find a(n) (valid) email address, in which case the
4127 unmodified input will be output again.
4131 first performs a skin operation, and thereafter checks a valid
4132 address for whether it is a registered mailing list (see
4136 eventually reporting that state in the error number
4139 .Va ^ERR Ns -EXIST .
4140 (This state could later become overwritten by an I/O error, though.)
4143 Encoding supports four different modes, lesser automated versions can be
4144 chosen by prefixing one, two or three plus signs: the standard imposes
4145 a special meaning on some characters, which thus have to be transformed
4146 to so-called quoted-pairs by pairing them with a reverse solidus
4148 in order to remove the special meaning; this might change interpretation
4149 of the entire argument from what has been desired, however!
4150 Specify one plus sign to remark that parenthesis shall be left alone,
4151 two for not turning double quotation marks into quoted-pairs, and three
4152 for also leaving any user-specified reverse solidus alone.
4153 The result will always be valid, if a successful exit status is reported
4154 (\*(ID the current parser fails this assertion for some constructs).
4155 \*(ID Addresses need to be specified in between angle brackets
4158 if the construct becomes more difficult, otherwise the current parser
4159 will fail; it is not smart enough to guess right.
4161 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4162 ? addrc enc "Hey, you",<diet@exam.ple>\e out\e there
4163 "\e"Hey, you\e", \e\e out\e\e there" <diet@exam.ple>
4164 ? addrc d "\e"Hey, you\e", \e\e out\e\e there" <diet@exam.ple>
4165 "Hey, you", \e out\e there <diet@exam.ple>
4166 ? addrc s "\e"Hey, you\e", \e\e out\e\e there" <diet@exam.ple>
4173 .It Ic alias , unalias
4174 (a, una) Aliases are a method of creating personal distribution lists
4175 that map a single alias name to none to multiple real receivers;
4176 these aliases become expanded after message composing is completed.
4177 The latter command removes the given list of aliases, the special name
4179 will discard all existing aliases.
4181 The former command shows all currently defined aliases when used without
4182 arguments, and with one argument the expansion of the given alias.
4183 With more than one argument, creates or appends to the alias name given
4184 as the first argument the remaining arguments.
4185 Alias names adhere to the Postfix MTA
4187 rules and are thus restricted to alphabetic characters, digits, the
4188 underscore, hyphen-minus, the number sign, colon and commercial at,
4189 the last character can also be the dollar sign; the regular expression:
4190 .Ql [[:alnum:]_#:@-]+$? .
4191 .\" ALIASCOLON next sentence
4192 \*(ID Unfortunately the colon is currently not supported, as it
4193 interferes with normal address parsing rules.
4194 As extensions the exclamation mark
4199 .Dq any character that has the high bit set
4201 .\" ALIASCOLON next sentence
4202 \*(ID Such high bit characters will likely cause warnings at the moment
4203 for the same reasons why colon is unsupported.
4207 .It Ic alternates , unalternates
4208 \*(NQ (alt) Manage a list of alternate addresses or names of the active
4209 user, members of which will be removed from recipient lists (except one).
4210 There is a set of implicit alternates which is formed of the values of
4220 The latter command removes the given list of alternates, the special name
4222 will discard all existing alternate names.
4224 The former command manages the error number
4226 It shows the current set of alternates when used without arguments; in
4227 this mode only it also supports
4230 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
4231 Otherwise the given arguments (after being checked for validity) are
4232 appended to the list of alternate names; in
4234 mode they replace that list instead.
4238 .It Ic answered , unanswered
4239 Take a message lists and mark each message as (not) having been answered.
4240 Messages will be marked answered when being
4242 to automatically if the
4246 .Sx "Message states" .
4251 .It Ic bind , unbind
4252 \*(OP\*(NQ The bind command extends the MLE (see
4253 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
4254 with freely configurable key bindings.
4255 The latter command removes from the given context the given key binding,
4256 both of which may be specified as a wildcard
4260 will remove all bindings of all contexts.
4261 Due to initialization order unbinding will not work for built-in key
4262 bindings upon program startup, however: please use
4263 .Va line-editor-no-defaults
4264 for this purpose instead.
4267 With one argument the former command shows all key bindings for the
4268 given context, specifying an asterisk
4270 will show the bindings of all contexts; a more verbose listing will be
4271 produced if either of
4276 With two or more arguments a binding is (re)established:
4277 the first argument is the context to which the binding shall apply,
4278 the second argument is a comma-separated list of the
4280 which form the binding, and any remaining arguments form the expansion.
4281 To indicate that a binding shall not be auto-committed, but that the
4282 expansion shall instead be furtherly editable by the user, a commercial at
4284 (that will be removed) can be placed last in the expansion, from which
4285 leading and trailing whitespace will finally be removed.
4286 Reverse solidus cannot be used as the last character of expansion.
4289 Contexts define when a binding applies, i.e., a binding will not be seen
4290 unless the context for which it is defined for is currently active.
4291 This is not true for the shared binding
4293 which is the foundation for all other bindings and as such always
4294 applies, its bindings, however, only apply secondarily.
4295 The available contexts are the shared
4299 context which is used in all not otherwise documented situations, and
4301 which applies to compose mode only.
4305 which form the binding are specified as a comma-separated list of
4306 byte-sequences, where each list entry corresponds to one key(press).
4307 A list entry may, indicated by a leading colon character
4309 also refer to the name of a terminal capability; several dozen names
4310 will be compiled in and may be specified either by their
4312 or, if existing, by their
4314 name, regardless of the actually used \*(OPal terminal control library.
4315 It is possible to use any capability, as long as the name is resolvable
4316 by the \*(OPal control library or was defined via the internal variable
4318 Input sequences are not case-normalized, so that an exact match is
4319 required to update or remove a binding.
4322 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4323 ? bind base $'\eE',d mle-snarf-word-fwd # Esc(ape)
4324 ? bind base $'\eE',$'\ec?' mle-snarf-word-bwd # Esc,Delete
4325 ? bind default $'\ecA',:khome,w 'echo Editable binding@'
4326 ? bind default a,b,c rm -irf / @ # Also editable
4327 ? bind default :kf1 File %
4328 ? bind compose :kf1 ~v
4332 Note that the entire comma-separated list is first parsed (over) as a
4333 shell-token with whitespace as the field separator, before being parsed
4334 and expanded for real with comma as the field separator, therefore
4335 whitespace needs to be properly quoted, see
4336 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" .
4337 Using Unicode reverse solidus escape sequences renders a binding
4338 defunctional if the locale does not support Unicode (see
4339 .Sx "Character sets" ) ,
4340 and using terminal capabilities does so if no (corresponding) terminal
4341 control support is (currently) available.
4344 The following terminal capability names are built-in and can be used in
4346 or (if available) the two-letter
4349 See the respective manual for a list of capabilities.
4352 can be used to show all the capabilities of
4354 or the given terminal type;
4357 flag will also show supported (non-standard) extensions.
4360 .Bl -tag -compact -width kcuuf_or_kcuuf
4361 .It Cd kbs Ns \0or Cd kb
4363 .It Cd kdch1 Ns \0or Cd kD
4365 .It Cd kDC Ns \0or Cd *4
4366 \(em shifted variant.
4367 .It Cd kel Ns \0or Cd kE
4368 Clear to end of line.
4369 .It Cd kext Ns \0or Cd @9
4371 .It Cd kich1 Ns \0or Cd kI
4373 .It Cd kIC Ns \0or Cd #3
4374 \(em shifted variant.
4375 .It Cd khome Ns \0or Cd kh
4377 .It Cd kHOM Ns \0or Cd #2
4378 \(em shifted variant.
4379 .It Cd kend Ns \0or Cd @7
4381 .It Cd knp Ns \0or Cd kN
4383 .It Cd kpp Ns \0or Cd kP
4385 .It Cd kcub1 Ns \0or Cd kl
4386 Left cursor (with more modifiers: see below).
4387 .It Cd kLFT Ns \0or Cd #4
4388 \(em shifted variant.
4389 .It Cd kcuf1 Ns \0or Cd kr
4390 Right cursor (ditto).
4391 .It Cd kRIT Ns \0or Cd %i
4392 \(em shifted variant.
4393 .It Cd kcud1 Ns \0or Cd kd
4394 Down cursor (ditto).
4396 \(em shifted variant (only terminfo).
4397 .It Cd kcuu1 Ns \0or Cd ku
4400 \(em shifted variant (only terminfo).
4401 .It Cd kf0 Ns \0or Cd k0
4403 Add one for each function key up to
4408 .It Cd kf10 Ns \0or Cd k;
4410 .It Cd kf11 Ns \0or Cd F1
4412 Add one for each function key up to
4420 Some terminals support key-modifier combination extensions, e.g.,
4422 For example, the delete key,
4424 in its shifted variant, the name is mutated to
4426 then a number is appended for the states
4438 .Ql Shift+Alt+Control
4440 The same for the left cursor key,
4442 .Cd KLFT , KLFT3 , KLFT4 , KLFT5 , KLFT6 , KLFT7 , KLFT8 .
4445 It is advisable to use an initial escape or other control character (e.g.,
4447 for bindings which describe user key combinations (as opposed to purely
4448 terminal capability based ones), in order to avoid ambiguities whether
4449 input belongs to key sequences or not; it also reduces search time.
4452 may help shall keys and sequences be falsely recognized.
4457 \*(NQ Calls the given macro, which must have been created via
4462 Calling macros recursively will at some time excess the stack size
4463 limit, causing a hard program abortion; if recursively calling a macro
4464 is the last command of the current macro, consider to use the command
4466 which will first release all resources of the current macro before
4467 replacing the current macro with the called one.
4468 Numeric and string operations can be performed via
4472 may be helpful to recreate argument lists.
4479 if the given macro has been created via
4481 but does not fail nor warn if the macro does not exist.
4485 (ch) Change the working directory to
4487 or the given argument.
4493 \*(OP Only applicable to S/MIME signed messages.
4494 Takes a message list and a filename and saves the certificates
4495 contained within the message signatures to the named file in both
4496 human-readable and PEM format.
4497 The certificates can later be used to send encrypted messages to the
4498 respective message senders by setting
4499 .Va smime-encrypt-USER@HOST
4504 .It Ic charsetalias , uncharsetalias
4505 \*(NQ Manage alias mappings for (conversion of)
4506 .Sx "Character sets" .
4507 Mappings are ineffective if character set conversion is not available
4511 Expansion happens recursively, but expansion is not performed for
4512 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ,
4516 The latter command deletes all aliases given as arguments,
4517 all aliases can be deleted at once with the special argument
4519 The former shows the list of all currently defined aliases if used
4520 without arguments, the expansion of the given alias with one argument.
4521 Otherwise all given arguments are treated as pairs of character sets and
4522 their desired target alias name, creating new or changing already
4523 existing aliases, as necessary.
4527 (ch) Change the working directory to
4529 or the given argument.
4535 .It Ic collapse , uncollapse
4541 Takes a message list and makes all replies to these messages invisible
4542 in header summaries, except for
4546 Also when a message with collapsed replies is displayed,
4547 all of these are automatically uncollapsed.
4548 The latter command undoes collapsing.
4551 .\" FIXME review until this point
4554 .It Ic colour , uncolour
4555 \*(OP\*(NQ Manage colour mappings of and for a
4556 .Sx "Coloured display" .
4557 The type of colour is given as the (case-insensitive) first argument,
4558 which must be one of
4560 for 256-colour terminals,
4565 for the standard 8-colour ANSI / ISO 6429 colour palette and
4569 for monochrome terminals.
4570 Monochrome terminals cannot deal with colours, but only (some) font
4574 Without further arguments the list of all currently defined mappings
4575 for the given colour type is shown (as a special case giving
4579 will show the mappings of all types).
4580 Otherwise the second argument defines the mappable slot, and the third
4581 argument a (comma-separated list of) colour and font attribute
4582 specification(s), and the optional fourth argument can be used to
4583 specify a precondition: if conditioned mappings exist they are tested in
4584 (creation) order unless a (case-insensitive) match has been found, and
4585 the default mapping (if any has been established) will only be chosen as
4587 The types of precondition available depend on the mappable slot (see
4588 .Sx "Coloured display"
4589 for some examples), the following of which exist:
4592 Mappings prefixed with
4594 are used for the \*(OPal built-in Mailx-Line-Editor (MLE, see
4595 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
4596 and do not support preconditions.
4598 .Bl -tag -compact -width view-partinfo
4600 This mapping is used for the position indicator that is visible when
4601 a line cannot be fully displayed on the screen.
4608 Mappings prefixed with
4610 are used in header summaries, and they all understand the preconditions
4612 (the current message) and
4614 for elder messages (only honoured in conjunction with
4615 .Va datefield-markout-older ) .
4617 .Bl -tag -compact -width view-partinfo
4619 This mapping is used for the
4621 that can be created with the
4625 formats of the variable
4628 For the complete header summary line except the
4630 and the thread structure.
4632 For the thread structure which can be created with the
4634 format of the variable
4639 Mappings prefixed with
4641 are used when displaying messages.
4643 .Bl -tag -compact -width view-partinfo
4645 This mapping is used for so-called
4647 lines, which are MBOX file format specific header lines.
4650 A comma-separated list of headers to which the mapping applies may be
4651 given as a precondition; if the \*(OPal regular expression support is
4652 available then if any of the
4654 (extended) regular expression characters is seen the precondition will
4655 be evaluated as (an extended) one.
4657 For the introductional message info line.
4658 .It Ar view-partinfo
4659 For MIME part info lines.
4663 The following (case-insensitive) colour definitions and font attributes
4664 are understood, multiple of which can be specified in a comma-separated
4674 It is possible (and often applicable) to specify multiple font
4675 attributes for a single mapping.
4678 foreground colour attribute:
4688 To specify a 256-colour mode a decimal number colour specification in
4689 the range 0 to 255, inclusive, is supported, and interpreted as follows:
4691 .Bl -tag -compact -width "999 - 999"
4693 the standard ISO 6429 colours, as above.
4695 high intensity variants of the standard colours.
4697 216 colours in tuples of 6.
4699 grayscale from black to white in 24 steps.
4701 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4703 fg() { printf "\e033[38;5;${1}m($1)"; }
4704 bg() { printf "\e033[48;5;${1}m($1)"; }
4706 while [ $i -lt 256 ]; do fg $i; i=$(($i + 1)); done
4707 printf "\e033[0m\en"
4709 while [ $i -lt 256 ]; do bg $i; i=$(($i + 1)); done
4710 printf "\e033[0m\en"
4714 background colour attribute (see
4716 for possible values).
4722 will remove for the given colour type (the special type
4724 selects all) the given mapping; if the optional precondition argument is
4725 given only the exact tuple of mapping and precondition is removed.
4728 will remove all mappings (no precondition allowed), thus
4730 will remove all established mappings.
4735 .It Ic commandalias , uncommandalias
4736 \*(NQ Define or list, and remove, respectively, command aliases.
4737 An (command)alias can be used everywhere a normal command can be used,
4738 but always takes precedence: any arguments that are given to the command
4739 alias are joined onto the alias expansion, and the resulting string
4740 forms the command line that is, in effect, executed.
4741 The latter command removes all given aliases, the special name
4743 will remove all existing aliases.
4744 When used without arguments the former shows a list of all currently
4745 known aliases, with one argument only the expansion of the given one.
4747 With two or more arguments a command alias is defined or updated: the
4748 first argument is the name under which the remaining command line should
4749 be accessible, the content of which can be just about anything.
4750 An alias may itself expand to another alias, but to avoid expansion loops
4751 further expansion will be prevented if an alias refers to itself or if
4752 an expansion depth limit is reached.
4753 Explicit expansion prevention is available via reverse solidus
4756 .Sx "Command modifiers" .
4757 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4759 \*(uA: `commandalias': no such alias: xx
4760 ? commandalias xx echo hello,
4762 commandalias xx 'echo hello,'
4771 (C) Copy messages to files whose names are derived from the author of
4772 the respective message and do not mark them as being saved;
4773 otherwise identical to
4778 (c) Copy messages to the named file and do not mark them as being saved;
4779 otherwise identical to
4784 Show the name of the current working directory, as reported by
4789 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
4790 The return status is tracked via
4795 \*(OP For unencrypted messages this command is identical to
4797 Encrypted messages are first decrypted, if possible, and then copied.
4801 \*(OP For unencrypted messages this command is identical to
4803 Encrypted messages are first decrypted, if possible, and then copied.
4808 .It Ic define , undefine
4809 The latter command deletes the given macro, the special name
4811 will discard all existing macros.
4812 Deletion of (a) macro(s) can be performed from within running (a)
4813 macro(s), including self-deletion.
4814 Without arguments the former command prints the current list of macros,
4815 including their content, otherwise it it defines a macro, replacing an
4816 existing one of the same name as applicable.
4819 A defined macro can be invoked explicitly by using the
4824 commands, or implicitly if a macro hook is triggered, e.g., a
4826 Execution of a macro body can be stopped from within by calling
4830 Temporary macro block-scope variables can be created or deleted with the
4832 command modifier in conjunction with the commands
4837 To enforce unrolling of changes made to (global)
4838 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
4841 can be used instead; its covered scope depends on how (i.e.,
4843 normal macro, folder hook, hook,
4845 switch) the macro is invoked.
4850 ed macro, the given positional parameters are implicitly local
4851 to the macro's scope, and may be accessed via the variables
4857 and any other positive unsigned decimal number less than or equal to
4859 Positional parameters can be
4861 ed, or become completely replaced, removed etc. via
4864 .Bd -literal -offset indent
4874 echo Parameter 1 of ${#} is ${1}, all: ${*} / ${@}
4877 call exmac Hello macro exmac!
4878 echo ${?}/${!}/${^ERRNAME}
4884 .It Ic delete , undelete
4885 (d, u) Marks the given message list as being or not being
4887 respectively; if no argument has been specified then the usual search
4888 for a visible message is performed, as documented for
4889 .Sx "Message list arguments" ,
4890 showing only the next input prompt if the search fails.
4891 Deleted messages will neither be saved in the
4893 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
4895 nor will they be available for most other commands.
4898 variable is set, the new
4900 or the last message restored, respectively, is automatically
4910 Superseded by the multiplexer
4916 Delete the given messages and automatically
4920 if one exists, regardless of the setting of
4927 up or down by one message when given
4931 argument, respectively.
4935 .It Ic draft , undraft
4936 Take message lists and mark each given message as being draft, or not
4937 being draft, respectively, as documented in the section
4938 .Sx "Message states" .
4942 \*(NQ (ec) Echoes arguments to standard output and writes a trailing
4943 newline, whereas the otherwise identical
4946 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
4948 .Sx "Filename transformations"
4949 are applied to the expanded arguments.
4950 This command also supports
4953 .Sx "Command modifiers" ,
4954 and manages the error number
4956 if data is stored in a variable then the return value reflects the
4957 length of the result string in case of success and is
4965 except that is echoes to standard error.
4968 In interactive sessions the \*(OPal message ring queue for
4970 will be used instead, if available and
4978 but does not write or store a trailing newline.
4984 but does not write or store a trailing newline.
4990 at each message from the given list in turn.
4991 Modified contents are discarded unless the
4993 variable is set, and are not used unless the mailbox can be written to
4994 and the editor returns a successful exit status.
4996 can be used instead for a more display oriented editor.
5001 .Ic if Ns \0/\: Ic elif Ns \0/\: Ic else Ns \0/\: Ic endif
5002 conditional \(em if the condition of a preceding
5004 was false, check the following condition and execute the following block
5005 if it evaluates true.
5010 .Ic if Ns \0/\: Ic elif Ns \0/\: Ic else Ns \0/\: Ic endif
5011 conditional \(em if none of the conditions of the preceding
5015 commands was true, the
5021 (en) Marks the end of an
5022 .Ic if Ns \0/\: Ic elif Ns \0/\: Ic else Ns \0/\: Ic endif
5023 conditional execution block.
5028 \*(NQ \*(UA has a strict notion about which variables are
5029 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
5030 and which are managed in the program
5032 Since some of the latter are a vivid part of \*(UAs functioning,
5033 however, they are transparently integrated into the normal handling of
5034 internal variables via
5038 To integrate other environment variables of choice into this
5039 transparent handling, and also to export internal variables into the
5040 process environment where they normally are not, a
5042 needs to become established with this command, as in, e.g.,
5045 .Dl environ link PERL5LIB TZ
5048 Afterwards changing such variables with
5050 will cause automatic updates of the program environment, and therefore
5051 be inherited by newly created child processes.
5052 Sufficient system support provided (it was in BSD as early as 1987, and
5053 is standardized since Y2K) removing such variables with
5055 will remove them also from the program environment, but in any way
5056 the knowledge they ever have been
5059 Note that this implies that
5061 may cause loss of such links.
5066 will remove an existing link, but leaves the variables as such intact.
5067 Additionally the subcommands
5071 are provided, which work exactly the same as the documented commands
5075 but (additionally un)link the variable(s) with the program environment
5076 and thus immediately export them to, or remove them from (if possible),
5077 respectively, the program environment.
5082 \*(OP Since \*(UA uses the console as a user interface it can happen
5083 that messages scroll by too fast to become recognized.
5084 An error message ring queue is available which stores duplicates of any
5085 error message and notifies the user in interactive sessions whenever
5086 a new error has occurred.
5087 The queue is finite: if its maximum size is reached any new message
5088 replaces the eldest.
5091 can be used to manage this message queue: if given
5093 or no argument the queue will be displayed and cleared,
5095 will only clear all messages from the queue.
5099 \*(NQ Construct a command by concatenating the arguments, separated with
5100 a single space character, and then evaluate the result.
5101 This command passes through the exit status
5105 of the evaluated command; also see
5107 .Bd -literal -offset indent
5118 call yyy '\ecall xxx' "b\e$'\et'u ' "
5126 (ex or x) Exit from \*(UA without changing the active mailbox and skip
5127 any saving of messages in the
5129 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
5131 as well as a possibly tracked line editor
5133 The optional status number argument will be passed through to
5135 \*(ID For now it can happen that the given status will be overwritten,
5136 later this will only occur if a later error needs to be reported onto an
5137 otherwise success indicating status.
5143 but open the mailbox read-only.
5148 (fi) The file command switches to a new mailbox.
5149 Without arguments it shows status information of the current mailbox.
5150 If an argument is given, it will write out changes (such as deletions)
5151 the user has made, open a new mailbox, update the internal variables
5152 .Va mailbox-resolved
5154 .Va mailbox-display ,
5155 execute an according
5157 if one is installed, and optionally display a summary of
5164 .Sx "Filename transformations"
5165 will be applied to the
5169 prefixes are, i.e., URL syntax is understood, e.g.,
5170 .Ql mbox:///tmp/mdirbox :
5171 if a protocol prefix is used the mailbox type is fixated and neither
5172 the auto-detection (read on) nor the
5175 \*(OPally URLs can also be used to access network resources, which may
5176 be accessed securely via
5177 .Sx "Encrypted network communication"
5178 if so supported, and it is possible to proxy all network traffic over
5179 a SOCKS5 server given via
5183 .Dl \*(IN protocol://[user[:password]@]host[:port][/path]
5184 .Dl \*(OU protocol://[user@]host[:port][/path]
5187 \*(OPally supported network protocols are
5191 (POP3 with TLS encrypted transport),
5197 part is valid only for IMAP; there it defaults to
5199 Network URLs require a special encoding as documented in the section
5200 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" .
5203 If the resulting file protocol (MBOX database)
5205 is located on a local filesystem then the list of all registered
5207 s is traversed in order to see whether a transparent intermediate
5208 conversion step is necessary to handle the given mailbox, in which case
5209 \*(UA will use the found hook to load and save data into and from
5210 a temporary file, respectively.
5211 Changing hooks will not affect already opened mailboxes.
5212 For example, the following creates hooks for the
5214 compression tool and a combined compressed and encrypted format:
5216 .Bd -literal -offset indent
5218 gzip 'gzip -dc' 'gzip -c' \e
5219 zst.pgp 'gpg -d | zstd -dc' 'zstd -19 -zc | gpg -e'
5223 MBOX databases will always be protected via file-region locks
5225 during file operations in order to avoid inconsistencies due to
5226 concurrent modifications.
5227 .Mx -ix "dotlock files"
5228 \*(OP In addition mailbox files treated as the system
5233 .Sx "primary system mailbox" Ns
5234 es in general will also be protected by so-called dotlock files,
5235 the traditional way of mail spool file locking: for any file
5239 will be created for the duration of the synchronization \(em
5240 as necessary an external privileged dotlock helper will be used
5241 to create the dotlock file in the same directory and with the same user
5242 and group identities as the file of interest.
5244 can be used to turn off additional dotlock files, shall the need arise.
5247 \*(UA by default uses tolerant POSIX rules when reading MBOX database
5248 files, but it will detect invalid message boundaries in this mode and
5249 complain (even more with
5251 if any is seen: in this case
5253 can be used to create a valid MBOX database from the invalid input.
5256 \*(OP If no protocol has been fixated, and
5258 refers to a directory with the subdirectories
5263 then it is treated as a folder in
5266 The maildir format stores each message in its own file, and has been
5267 designed so that file locking is not necessary when reading or writing
5271 \*(ID If no protocol has been fixated and no existing file has
5272 been found, the variable
5274 controls the format of mailboxes yet to be created.
5279 .It Ic filetype , unfiletype
5280 \*(NQ Define or list, and remove, respectively, file handler hooks,
5281 which provide (shell) commands that enable \*(UA to load and save MBOX
5282 files from and to files with the registered file extensions;
5283 it will use an intermediate temporary file to store the plain data.
5284 The latter command removes the hooks for all given extensions,
5286 will remove all existing handlers.
5288 When used without arguments the former shows a list of all currently
5289 defined file hooks, with one argument the expansion of the given alias.
5290 Otherwise three arguments are expected, the first specifying the file
5291 extension for which the hook is meant, and the second and third defining
5292 the load- and save commands, respectively, to deal with the file type,
5293 both of which must read from standard input and write to standard
5295 Changing hooks will not affect already opened mailboxes (\*(ID except below).
5296 \*(ID For now too much work is done, and files are oftened read in twice
5297 where once would be sufficient: this can cause problems if a filetype is
5298 changed while such a file is opened; this was already so with the
5299 built-in support of .gz etc. in Heirloom, and will vanish in v15.
5300 \*(ID For now all handler strings are passed to the
5301 .Ev SHELL for evaluation purposes; in the future a
5303 prefix to load and save commands may mean to bypass this shell instance:
5304 placing a leading space will avoid any possible misinterpretations.
5305 .Bd -literal -offset indent
5306 ? filetype bz2 'bzip2 -dc' 'bzip2 -zc' \e
5307 gz 'gzip -dc' 'gzip -c' xz 'xz -dc' 'xz -zc' \e
5308 zst 'zstd -dc' 'zstd -19 -zc' \e
5309 zst.pgp 'gpg -d | zstd -dc' 'zstd -19 -zc | gpg -e'
5310 ? set record=+sent.zst.pgp
5315 .It Ic flag , unflag
5316 Take message lists and mark the messages as being flagged, or not being
5317 flagged, respectively, for urgent/special attention.
5319 .Sx "Message states" .
5328 With no arguments, list the names of the folders in the folder directory.
5329 With an existing folder as an argument,
5330 lists the names of folders below the named folder.
5336 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
5337 recipient's address (instead of in
5344 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
5345 recipient's address (instead of in
5352 but responds to all recipients regardless of the
5357 .It Ic followupsender
5360 but responds to the sender only regardless of the
5368 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the
5369 recipient's address (instead of in
5374 Takes a message and the address of a recipient
5375 and forwards the message to him.
5376 The text of the original message is included in the new one,
5377 with the value of the
5378 .Va forward-inject-head
5379 variable preceding, and the value of
5380 .Va forward-inject-tail
5382 To filter the included header fields to the desired subset use the
5384 slot of the white- and blacklisting command
5386 Only the first part of a multipart message is included unless
5387 .Va forward-as-attachment ,
5388 and recipient addresses will be stripped from comments, names
5389 etc. unless the internal variable
5393 This may generate the errors
5394 .Va ^ERR Ns -DESTADDRREQ
5395 if no receiver has been specified,
5397 if some addressees where rejected by
5400 if no applicable messages have been given,
5402 if multiple messages have been specified,
5404 if an I/O error occurs,
5406 if a necessary character set conversion fails, and
5412 (f) Takes a list of message specifications and displays a summary of
5413 their message headers, exactly as via
5415 making the first message of the result the new
5417 (the last message if
5420 An alias of this command is
5423 .Sx "Specifying messages" .
5434 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
5438 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
5441 .It Ic ghost , unghost
5444 .Ic uncommandalias .
5448 .It Ic headerpick , unheaderpick
5449 \*(NQ Multiplexer command to manage white- and blacklisting
5450 selections of header fields for a variety of applications.
5451 Without arguments the set of contexts that have settings is displayed.
5452 When given arguments, the first argument is the context to which the
5453 command applies, one of (case-insensitive)
5455 for display purposes (via, e.g.,
5458 for selecting which headers shall be stored persistently when
5464 ing messages (note that MIME related etc. header fields should not be
5465 ignored in order to not destroy usability of the message in this case),
5467 for stripping down messages when
5469 ing message (has no effect if
5470 .Va forward-as-attachment
5473 for defining user-defined set of fields for the command
5476 The current settings of the given context are displayed if it is the
5478 A second argument denotes the type of restriction that is to be chosen,
5479 it may be (a case-insensitive prefix of)
5483 for white- and blacklisting purposes, respectively.
5484 Establishing a whitelist suppresses inspection of the corresponding
5487 If no further argument is given the current settings of the given type
5488 will be displayed, otherwise the remaining arguments specify header
5489 fields, which \*(OPally may be given as regular expressions, to be added
5491 The special wildcard field (asterisk,
5493 will establish a (fast) shorthand setting which covers all fields.
5495 The latter command always takes three or more arguments and can be used
5496 to remove selections, i.e., from the given context, the given type of
5497 list, all the given headers will be removed, the special argument
5499 will remove all headers.
5503 (h) Show the current group of headers, the size of which depends on
5506 in interactive mode, and the format of which can be defined with
5508 If a message-specification is given the group of headers containing the
5509 first message therein is shown and the message at the top of the screen
5512 the last message is targeted if
5523 \*(OP Without arguments or when given
5525 all history entries are shown (this mode also supports a more
5529 will replace the list of entries with the content of
5533 will dump the current list to said file, replacing former content.
5535 will delete all history entries.
5536 The argument can also be a signed decimal
5538 which will select and evaluate the respective history entry, and move it
5539 to the top of the history; a negative number is used as an offset to the
5540 current command, e.g.,
5542 will select the last command, the history top.
5544 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor"
5545 for more on this topic.
5551 Takes a message list and marks each message therein to be saved in the
5556 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
5558 Does not override the
5561 \*(UA deviates from the POSIX standard with this command, because a
5563 command issued after
5565 will display the following message, not the current one.
5570 (i) Part of the nestable
5571 .Ic if Ns \0/\: Ic elif Ns \0/\: Ic else Ns \0/\: Ic endif
5572 conditional execution construct \(em if the given condition is true then
5573 the encapsulated block is executed.
5574 The POSIX standards supports the (case-insensitive) conditions
5579 end, all remaining conditions are non-portable extensions.
5580 \*(ID These commands do not yet use
5581 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
5582 and therefore do not know about input tokens, so that syntax
5583 elements have to be surrounded by whitespace; in v15 \*(UA will inspect
5584 all conditions bracket group wise and consider the tokens, representing
5585 values and operators, therein, which also means that variables will
5586 already have been expanded at that time (just like in the shell).
5588 .Bd -literal -offset indent
5597 The (case-insensitive) condition
5599 erminal will evaluate to true if the standard input is a terminal, i.e.,
5600 in interactive sessions.
5601 Another condition can be any boolean value (see the section
5602 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
5603 for textual boolean representations) to mark an enwrapped block as
5606 .Dq always execute .
5607 (It shall be remarked that a faulty condition skips all branches until
5612 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
5613 will be used, and this command will simply interpret expanded tokens.)
5614 It is possible to check
5615 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
5618 variables for existence or compare their expansion against a user given
5619 value or another variable by using the
5621 .Pf ( Dq variable next )
5622 conditional trigger character;
5623 a variable on the right hand side may be signalled using the same
5625 Variable names may be enclosed in a pair of matching braces.
5626 When this mode has been triggered, several operators are available:
5629 Integer operators treat the arguments on the left and right hand side of
5630 the operator as integral numbers and compare them arithmetically.
5631 It is an error if any of the operands is not a valid integer, an empty
5632 argument (which implies it had been quoted) is treated as if it were 0.
5633 Available operators are
5637 (less than or equal to),
5643 (greater than or equal to), and
5648 String data operators compare the left and right hand side according to
5649 their textual content.
5650 Unset variables are treated as the empty string.
5651 The behaviour of string operators can be adjusted by prefixing the
5652 operator with the modifier trigger commercial at
5654 followed by none to multiple modifiers: for now supported is
5656 which turns the comparison into a case-insensitive one: this is
5657 implied if no modifier follows the trigger.
5660 Available string operators are
5664 (less than or equal to),
5670 (greater than or equal to),
5674 (is substring of) and
5676 (is not substring of).
5677 By default these operators work on bytes and (therefore) do not take
5678 into account character set specifics.
5679 If the case-insensitivity modifier has been used, case is ignored
5680 according to the rules of the US-ASCII encoding, i.e., bytes are
5684 When the \*(OPal regular expression support is available, the additional
5690 They treat the right hand side as an extended regular expression that is
5691 matched according to the active locale (see
5692 .Sx "Character sets" ) ,
5693 i.e., character sets should be honoured correctly.
5696 Conditions can be joined via AND-OR lists (where the AND operator is
5698 and the OR operator is
5700 which have equal precedence and will be evaluated with left
5701 associativity, thus using the same syntax that is known for the
5703 It is also possible to form groups of conditions and lists by enclosing
5704 them in pairs of brackets
5705 .Ql [\ \&.\&.\&.\ ] ,
5706 which may be interlocked within each other, and also be joined via
5710 The results of individual conditions and entire groups may be modified
5711 via unary operators: the unary operator
5713 will reverse the result.
5715 .Bd -literal -offset indent
5716 # (This not in v15, there [ -n "$debug"]!)
5720 if [ "$ttycharset" == UTF-8 ] || \e
5721 [ "$ttycharset" @i== UTF8 ]
5722 echo *ttycharset* is UTF-8, the former case-sensitive!
5725 if [ "${t1}" == "${t2}" ]
5726 echo These two variables are equal
5728 if [ "$features" =% +regex ] && \e
5729 [ "$TERM" @i=~ "^xterm\&.*" ]
5730 echo ..in an X terminal
5732 if [ [ true ] && [ [ "${debug}" != '' ] || \e
5733 [ "$verbose" != '' ] ] ]
5736 if true && [ "$debug" != '' ] || [ "${verbose}" != '' ]
5737 echo Left associativity, as is known from the shell
5746 Superseded by the multiplexer
5751 Shows the names of all available commands, alphabetically sorted.
5752 If given any non-whitespace argument the list will be shown in the order
5753 in which command prefixes are searched.
5754 \*(OP In conjunction with a set variable
5756 additional information will be provided for each command: the argument
5757 type will be indicated, the documentation string will be shown,
5758 and the set of command flags will show up:
5760 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql NEEDS_BOX"
5762 command supports the command modifier
5765 command supports the command modifier
5768 the error number is tracked in
5771 whether the command needs an active mailbox, a
5774 indicators whether command is \&.\h'.3m'.\h'.3m'.
5775 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql SUBPROCESS"
5776 .It Ql batch/interactive
5777 usable in interactive or batch mode
5780 usable in send mode.
5782 allowed to be used when running in a subprocess instance,
5783 e.g., from within a macro that is called via
5784 .Va on-compose-splice .
5787 indicators whether command is not \&.\h'.3m'.\h'.3m'.
5788 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql COMPOSE_MODE"
5790 available in compose mode.
5792 available during program startup, e.g., in
5793 .Sx "Resource files" .
5796 The command produces
5805 This command can be used to localize changes to (linked)
5808 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" ,
5809 meaning that their state will be reverted to the former one once the
5812 Just like the command modifier
5814 which provides block-scope localization for some commands (instead),
5815 it can only be used inside of macro definition blocks introduced by
5819 The covered scope of an
5821 is left once a different account is activated, and some macros, notably
5822 .Va folder-hook Ns s ,
5823 use their own specific notion of covered scope, here it will be extended
5824 until the folder is left again.
5827 This setting stacks up: i.e., if
5829 enables change localization and calls
5831 which explicitly resets localization, then any value changes within
5833 will still be reverted when the scope of
5836 (Caveats: if in this example
5838 changes to a different
5840 which sets some variables that are already covered by localizations,
5841 their scope will be extended, and in fact leaving the
5843 will (thus) restore settings in (likely) global scope which actually
5844 were defined in a local, macro private context!)
5847 This command takes one or two arguments, the optional first one
5848 specifies an attribute that may be one of
5850 which refers to the current scope and is thus the default,
5852 which causes any macro that is being
5854 ed to be started with localization enabled by default, as well as
5856 which (if enabled) disallows any called macro to turn off localization:
5857 like this it can be ensured that once the current scope regains control,
5858 any changes made in deeper levels have been reverted.
5859 The latter two are mutually exclusive, and neither affects
5861 The (second) argument is interpreted as a boolean (string, see
5862 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" )
5863 and states whether the given attribute shall be turned on or off.
5865 .Bd -literal -offset indent
5866 define temporary_settings {
5867 set possibly_global_option1
5869 set localized_option1
5870 set localized_option2
5872 set possibly_global_option2
5879 Reply to messages that come in via known
5882 .Pf ( Ic mlsubscribe )
5883 mailing lists, or pretend to do so (see
5884 .Sx "Mailing lists" ) :
5887 functionality this will actively resort and even remove message
5888 recipients in order to generate a message that is supposed to be sent to
5890 For example it will also implicitly generate a
5891 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
5892 header if that seems useful, regardless of the setting of the variable
5894 For more documentation please refer to
5895 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" .
5897 This may generate the errors
5898 .Va ^ERR Ns -DESTADDRREQ
5899 if no receiver has been specified,
5901 if some addressees where rejected by
5904 if no applicable messages have been given,
5906 if an I/O error occurs,
5908 if a necessary character set conversion fails, and
5911 Occurance of some of the errors depend on the value of
5913 Any error stops processing of further messages.
5919 but saves the message in a file named after the local part of the first
5920 recipient's address (instead of in
5925 (m) Takes a (list of) recipient address(es) as (an) argument(s),
5926 or asks on standard input if none were given;
5927 then collects the remaining mail content and sends it out.
5928 Unless the internal variable
5930 is set recipient addresses will be stripped from comments, names etc.
5931 For more documentation please refer to
5932 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" .
5934 This may generate the errors
5935 .Va ^ERR Ns -DESTADDRREQ
5936 if no receiver has been specified,
5938 if some addressees where rejected by
5941 if no applicable messages have been given,
5943 if multiple messages have been specified,
5945 if an I/O error occurs,
5947 if a necessary character set conversion fails, and
5950 Occurance of some of the errors depend on the value of
5955 (mb) The given message list is to be sent to the
5957 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
5959 when \*(UA is quit; this is the default action unless the variable
5962 \*(ID This command can only be used in a
5964 .Sx "primary system mailbox" .
5968 .It Ic mimetype , unmimetype
5969 Without arguments the content of the MIME type cache will displayed;
5970 a more verbose listing will be produced if either of
5975 When given arguments they will be joined, interpreted as shown in
5976 .Sx "The mime.types files"
5978 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" ) ,
5979 and the resulting entry will be added (prepended) to the cache.
5980 In any event MIME type sources are loaded first as necessary \(en
5981 .Va mimetypes-load-control
5982 can be used to fine-tune which sources are actually loaded.
5984 The latter command deletes all specifications of the given MIME type, thus
5985 .Ql ? unmimetype text/plain
5986 will remove all registered specifications for the MIME type
5990 will discard all existing MIME types, just as will
5992 but which also reenables cache initialization via
5993 .Va mimetypes-load-control .
5997 .It Ic mlist , unmlist
5998 The latter command removes all given mailing lists, the special name
6000 can be used to remove all registered lists.
6001 The former will list all currently defined mailing lists (and their
6002 attributes, if any) when used without arguments; a more verbose listing
6003 will be produced if either of
6008 Otherwise all given arguments will be added and henceforth be recognized
6010 If the \*(OPal regular expression support is available then any argument
6011 which contains any of the
6013 regular expression characters
6017 will be interpreted as one, which allows matching of many addresses with
6018 a single expression.
6021 pair of commands manages subscription attributes of mailing lists.
6025 \*(ID Only available in interactive mode, this command allows one to
6026 display MIME parts which require external MIME handler programs to run
6027 which do not integrate in \*(UAs normal
6030 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" ) .
6031 (\*(ID No syntax to directly address parts, this restriction may vanish.)
6032 The user will be asked for each non-text part of the given message in
6033 turn whether the registered handler shall be used to display the part.
6037 .It Ic mlsubscribe , unmlsubscribe
6038 The latter command removes the subscription attribute from all given
6039 mailing lists, the special name
6041 can be used to do so for any registered list.
6042 The former will list all currently defined mailing lists which have
6043 a subscription attribute when used without arguments; a more verbose
6044 listing will be produced if either of
6049 Otherwise this attribute will be set for all given mailing lists,
6050 newly creating them as necessary (as via
6059 but moves the messages to a file named after the local part of the
6060 sender address of the first message (instead of in
6067 but marks the messages for deletion if they were transferred
6074 but also displays header fields which would not pass the
6076 selection, and all MIME parts.
6084 on the given messages, even in non-interactive mode and as long as the
6085 standard output is a terminal.
6091 \*(OP When used without arguments or if
6093 has been given the content of the
6095 cache is shown, loading it first as necessary.
6098 then the cache will only be initialized and
6100 will remove its contents.
6101 Note that \*(UA will try to load the file only once, use
6102 .Ql Ic \&\&netrc Ns \:\0\:clear
6103 to unlock further attempts.
6108 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" ;
6110 .Sx "The .netrc file"
6111 documents the file format in detail.
6115 Checks for new mail in the current folder without committing any changes
6117 If new mail is present, a message is shown.
6121 the headers of each new message are also shown.
6122 This command is not available for all mailbox types.
6130 Goes to the next message in sequence and types it.
6131 With an argument list, types the next matching message.
6145 If the current folder is accessed via a network connection, a
6147 command is sent, otherwise no operation is performed.
6153 but also displays header fields which would not pass the
6155 selection, and all MIME parts.
6163 on the given messages, even in non-interactive mode and as long as the
6164 standard output is a terminal.
6172 but also pipes header fields which would not pass the
6174 selection, and all parts of MIME
6175 .Ql multipart/alternative
6180 (pi) Takes a message list and a shell command
6181 and pipes the messages through the command.
6182 Without an argument the current message is piped through the command
6189 every message is followed by a formfeed character.
6210 (q) Terminates the session, saving all undeleted, unsaved messages in
6213 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
6215 preserving all messages marked with
6219 or never referenced in the system
6221 and removing all other messages from the
6223 .Sx "primary system mailbox" .
6224 If new mail has arrived during the session,
6226 .Dq You have new mail
6228 If given while editing a mailbox file with the command line option
6230 then the edit file is rewritten.
6231 A return to the shell is effected,
6232 unless the rewrite of edit file fails,
6233 in which case the user can escape with the exit command.
6234 The optional status number argument will be passed through to
6236 \*(ID For now it can happen that the given status will be overwritten,
6237 later this will only occur if a later error needs to be reported onto an
6238 otherwise success indicating status.
6242 \*(NQ Read a line from standard input, or the channel set active via
6244 and assign the data, which will be split as indicated by
6246 to the given variables.
6247 The variable names are checked by the same rules as documented for
6249 and the same error codes will be seen in
6253 indicates the number of bytes read, it will be
6255 with the error number
6259 in case of I/O errors, or
6262 If there are more fields than variables, assigns successive fields to the
6263 last given variable.
6264 If there are less fields than variables, assigns the empty string to the
6266 .Bd -literal -offset indent
6269 ? echo "<$a> <$b> <$c>"
6271 ? wysh set ifs=:; read a b c;unset ifs
6272 hey2.0,:"'you ",:world!:mars.:
6273 ? echo $?/$^ERRNAME / <$a><$b><$c>
6274 0/NONE / <hey2.0,><"'you ",><world!:mars.:><><>
6279 \*(NQ Read anything from standard input, or the channel set active via
6281 and assign the data to the given variable.
6282 The variable name is checked by the same rules as documented for
6284 and the same error codes will be seen in
6288 indicates the number of bytes read, it will be
6290 with the error number
6294 in case of I/O errors, or
6297 \*(ID The input data length is restricted to 31-bits.
6301 \*(NQ Manages input channels for
6305 to be used to avoid complicated or impracticable code, like calling
6307 from within a macro in non-interactive mode.
6308 Without arguments, or when the first argument is
6310 a listing of all known channels is printed.
6311 Channels can otherwise be
6313 d, and existing channels can be
6317 d by giving the string used for creation.
6319 The channel name is expected to be a file descriptor number, or,
6320 if parsing the numeric fails, an input file name that undergoes
6321 .Sx "Filename transformations" .
6322 E.g. (this example requires a modern shell):
6323 .Bd -literal -offset indent
6324 $ LC_ALL=C printf 'echon "hey, "\enread a\enyou\enecho $a' |\e
6327 $ LC_ALL=C printf 'echon "hey, "\enread a\enecho $a' |\e
6328 LC_ALL=C 6<<< 'you' \*(uA -R#X'readctl create 6'
6342 Removes the named files or directories.
6343 .Sx "Filename transformations"
6344 including shell pathname wildcard pattern expansions
6346 are performed on the arguments.
6347 If a name refer to a mailbox, e.g., a Maildir mailbox, then a mailbox
6348 type specific removal will be performed, deleting the complete mailbox.
6349 The user is asked for confirmation in interactive mode.
6353 Takes the name of an existing folder
6354 and the name for the new folder
6355 and renames the first to the second one.
6356 .Sx "Filename transformations"
6357 including shell pathname wildcard pattern expansions
6359 are performed on both arguments.
6360 Both folders must be of the same type.
6364 (R) Replies to only the sender of each message of the given message
6365 list, by using the first message as the template to quote, for the
6369 will exchange this command with
6371 Unless the internal variable
6373 is set the recipient address will be stripped from comments, names etc.
6375 headers will be inspected if
6379 This may generate the errors
6380 .Va ^ERR Ns -DESTADDRREQ
6381 if no receiver has been specified,
6383 if some addressees where rejected by
6386 if no applicable messages have been given,
6388 if an I/O error occurs,
6390 if a necessary character set conversion fails, and
6393 Occurance of some of the errors depend on the value of
6398 (r) Take a message and group-responds to it by addressing the sender
6399 and all recipients, subject to
6403 .Va followup-to-honour ,
6406 .Va recipients-in-cc
6407 influence response behaviour.
6408 Unless the internal variable
6410 is set recipient addresses will be stripped from comments, names etc.
6420 offers special support for replying to mailing lists.
6421 For more documentation please refer to
6422 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" .
6424 This may generate the errors
6425 .Va ^ERR Ns -DESTADDRREQ
6426 if no receiver has been specified,
6428 if some addressees where rejected by
6431 if no applicable messages have been given,
6433 if an I/O error occurs,
6435 if a necessary character set conversion fails, and
6438 Occurance of some of the errors depend on the value of
6440 Any error stops processing of further messages.
6446 but initiates a group-reply regardless of the value of
6453 but responds to the sender only regardless of the value of
6460 but does not add any header lines.
6461 This is not a way to hide the sender's identity,
6462 but useful for sending a message again to the same recipients.
6466 Takes a list of messages and a user name
6467 and sends each message to the named user.
6469 and related header fields are prepended to the new copy of the message.
6472 is only performed if
6476 This may generate the errors
6477 .Va ^ERR Ns -DESTADDRREQ
6478 if no receiver has been specified,
6480 if some addressees where rejected by
6483 if no applicable messages have been given,
6485 if an I/O error occurs,
6487 if a necessary character set conversion fails, and
6490 Occurance of some of the errors depend on the value of
6492 Any error stops processing of further messages.
6510 .It Ic respondsender
6516 (ret) Superseded by the multiplexer
6521 Only available inside the scope of a
6525 this will stop evaluation of any further macro content, and return
6526 execution control to the caller.
6527 The two optional parameters must be specified as positive decimal
6528 numbers and default to the value 0:
6529 the first argument specifies the signed 32-bit return value (stored in
6531 \*(ID and later extended to signed 64-bit),
6532 the second the signed 32-bit error number (stored in
6536 a non-0 exit status may cause the program to exit.
6542 but saves the messages in a file named after the local part of the
6543 sender of the first message instead of (in
6545 and) taking a filename argument; the variable
6547 is inspected to decide on the actual storage location.
6551 (s) Takes a message list and a filename and appends each message in turn
6552 to the end of the file.
6553 .Sx "Filename transformations"
6554 including shell pathname wildcard pattern expansions
6556 is performed on the filename.
6557 If no filename is given, the
6559 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
6562 The filename in quotes, followed by the generated character count
6563 is echoed on the user's terminal.
6566 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
6567 the messages are marked for deletion.
6568 .Sx "Filename transformations"
6570 To filter the saved header fields to the desired subset use the
6572 slot of the white- and blacklisting command
6576 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
6580 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
6584 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
6589 Takes a message specification (list) and displays a header summary of
6590 all matching messages, as via
6592 This command is an alias of
6595 .Sx "Specifying messages" .
6599 Takes a message list and marks all messages as having been read.
6605 (se, \*(NQ uns) The latter command will delete all given global
6606 variables, or only block-scope local ones if the
6608 command modifier has been used.
6609 The former, when used without arguments, will show all
6610 currently known variables, being more verbose if either of
6615 Remarks: this list mode will not automatically link-in known
6617 variables, but only explicit addressing will, e.g., via
6619 using a variable in an
6621 condition or a string passed to
6625 ting, as well as some program-internal use cases.
6628 Otherwise the given variables (and arguments) are set or adjusted.
6629 Arguments are of the form
6631 (no space before or after
6635 if there is no value, i.e., a boolean variable.
6636 If a name begins with
6640 the effect is the same as invoking the
6642 command with the remaining part of the variable
6643 .Pf ( Ql unset save ) .
6644 \*(ID In conjunction with the
6646 .Pf (or\0 Cm local )
6648 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
6649 can be used to quote arguments as necessary.
6650 \*(ID Otherwise quotation marks may be placed around any part of the
6651 assignment statement to quote blanks or tabs.
6654 When operating in global scope any
6656 that is known to map to an environment variable will automatically cause
6657 updates in the program environment (unsetting a variable in the
6658 environment requires corresponding system support) \(em use the command
6660 for further environmental control.
6661 If the command modifier
6663 has been used to alter the command to work in block-scope all variables
6664 have values (may they be empty), and creation of names which shadow
6665 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
6666 is actively prevented (\*(ID shadowing of linked
6668 variables and free-form versions of variable chains is not yet detected).
6672 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
6676 .Bd -literal -offset indent
6677 ? wysh set indentprefix=' -> '
6678 ? wysh set atab=$'\t' aspace=' ' zero=0
6684 Apply shell quoting rules to the given raw-data arguments.
6688 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
6689 The first argument specifies the operation:
6693 cause shell quoting to be applied to the remains of the line, and
6694 expanded away thereof, respectively.
6695 If the former is prefixed with a plus-sign, the quoted result will not
6696 be roundtrip enabled, and thus can be decoded only in the very same
6697 environment that was used to perform the encode; also see
6698 .Cd mle-quote-rndtrip .
6699 If the coding operation fails the error number
6702 .Va ^ERR Ns -CANCELED ,
6703 and the unmodified input is used as the result; the error number may
6704 change again due to output or result storage errors.
6708 \*(NQ (sh) Invokes an interactive version of the shell,
6709 and returns its exit status.
6713 .It Ic shortcut , unshortcut
6714 Without arguments the list of all currently defined shortcuts is
6715 shown, with one argument the expansion of the given shortcut.
6716 Otherwise all given arguments are treated as pairs of shortcuts and
6717 their expansions, creating new or changing already existing shortcuts,
6719 The latter command will remove all given shortcuts, the special name
6721 will remove all registered shortcuts.
6725 \*(NQ Shift the positional parameter stack (starting at
6727 by the given number (which must be a positive decimal),
6728 or 1 if no argument has been given.
6729 It is an error if the value exceeds the number of positional parameters.
6730 If the given number is 0, no action is performed, successfully.
6731 The stack as such can be managed via
6733 Note this command will fail in
6735 and hook macros unless the positional parameter stack has been
6736 explicitly created in the current context via
6743 but performs neither MIME decoding nor decryption, so that the raw
6744 message text is shown.
6748 (si) Shows the size in characters of each message of the given
6753 \*(NQ Sleep for the specified number of seconds (and optionally
6754 milliseconds), by default interruptably.
6755 If a third argument is given the sleep will be uninterruptible,
6756 otherwise the error number
6760 if the sleep has been interrupted.
6761 The command will fail and the error number will be
6762 .Va ^ERR Ns -OVERFLOW
6763 if the given duration(s) overflow the time datatype, and
6765 if the given durations are no valid integers.
6770 .It Ic sort , unsort
6771 The latter command disables sorted or threaded mode, returns to normal
6772 message order and, if the
6775 displays a header summary.
6776 The former command shows the current sorting criterion when used without
6777 an argument, but creates a sorted representation of the current folder
6778 otherwise, and changes the
6780 command and the addressing modes such that they refer to messages in
6782 Message numbers are the same as in regular mode.
6786 a header summary in the new order is also displayed.
6787 Automatic folder sorting can be enabled by setting the
6789 variable, as in, e.g.,
6790 .Ql set autosort=thread .
6791 Possible sorting criterions are:
6794 .Bl -tag -compact -width "subject"
6796 Sort the messages by their
6798 field, that is by the time they were sent.
6800 Sort messages by the value of their
6802 field, that is by the address of the sender.
6805 variable is set, the sender's real name (if any) is used.
6807 Sort the messages by their size.
6809 \*(OP Sort the message by their spam score, as has been classified by
6812 Sort the messages by their message status.
6814 Sort the messages by their subject.
6816 Create a threaded display.
6818 Sort messages by the value of their
6820 field, that is by the address of the recipient.
6823 variable is set, the recipient's real name (if any) is used.
6829 \*(NQ (so) The source command reads commands from the given file.
6830 .Sx "Filename transformations"
6832 If the given expanded argument ends with a vertical bar
6834 then the argument will instead be interpreted as a shell command and
6835 \*(UA will read the output generated by it.
6836 Dependent on the settings of
6840 and also dependent on whether the command modifier
6842 had been used, encountering errors will stop sourcing of the given input.
6845 cannot be used from within macros that execute as
6846 .Va folder-hook Ns s
6849 i.e., it can only be called from macros that were
6854 \*(NQ The difference to
6856 (beside not supporting pipe syntax aka shell command input) is that
6857 this command will not generate an error nor warn if the given file
6858 argument cannot be opened successfully.
6862 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and clears their
6868 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and causes the
6870 to forget it has ever used them to train its Bayesian filter.
6871 Unless otherwise noted the
6873 flag of the message is inspected to chose whether a message shall be
6881 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and informs the Bayesian filter of the
6885 This also clears the
6887 flag of the messages in question.
6891 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and rates them using the configured
6892 .Va spam-interface ,
6893 without modifying the messages, but setting their
6895 flag as appropriate; because the spam rating headers are lost the rate
6896 will be forgotten once the mailbox is left.
6897 Refer to the manual section
6899 for the complete picture of spam handling in \*(UA.
6903 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and sets their
6909 \*(OP Takes a list of messages and informs the Bayesian filter of the
6915 flag of the messages in question.
6927 \*(NQ TLS information and management command multiplexer to aid in
6928 .Sx "Encrypted network communication" .
6931 if so documented (see
6932 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
6933 The result that is shown in case of errors is always the empty string,
6934 errors can be identified via the error number
6936 For example, string length overflows are catched and set
6939 .Va ^ERR Ns -OVERFLOW .
6940 Note this command of course honours the overall TLS configuration.
6941 .Bd -literal -offset indent
6942 ? vput tls result fingerprint pop3s://ex.am.ple
6943 ? echo $?/$!/$^ERRNAME: $result
6946 .Bl -hang -width ".It Cm random"
6949 .Va tls-fingerprint-digest Ns
6950 ed fingerprint of the certificate of the given HOST
6951 .Pf ( Ql server:port ,
6952 where the port defaults to the HTTPS port, 443).
6954 is actively ignored for the runtime of this command.
6955 Only available if the term
6969 slot for white- and blacklisting header fields.
6973 (to) Takes a message list and types out the first
6975 lines of each message on the user's terminal.
6976 Unless a special selection has been established for the
6980 command, the only header fields that are displayed are
6991 It is possible to apply compression to what is displayed by setting
6993 Messages are decrypted and converted to the terminal character set
6998 (tou) Takes a message list and marks the messages for saving in the
7000 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
7002 \*(UA deviates from the POSIX standard with this command,
7005 command will display the following message instead of the current one.
7011 but also displays header fields which would not pass the
7013 selection, and all visualizable parts of MIME
7014 .Ql multipart/alternative
7019 (t) Takes a message list and types out each message on the user's terminal.
7020 The display of message headers is selectable via
7022 For MIME multipart messages, all parts with a content type of
7024 all parts which have a registered MIME type handler (see
7025 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" )
7026 which produces plain text output, and all
7028 parts are shown, others are hidden except for their headers.
7029 Messages are decrypted and converted to the terminal character set
7033 can be used to display parts which are not displayable as plain text.
7076 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
7080 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
7085 Superseded by the multiplexer
7096 .It Ic unmlsubscribe
7107 Takes a message list and marks each message as not having been read.
7111 Superseded by the multiplexer
7115 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
7119 \*(OB Superseded by the multiplexer
7141 Perform URL percent codec operations on the raw-data argument, rather
7142 according to RFC 3986.
7146 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) ,
7147 and manages the error number
7149 This is a character set agnostic and thus locale dependent operation,
7150 and it may decode bytes which are invalid in the current
7152 \*(ID This command does not know about URLs beside that.
7154 The first argument specifies the operation:
7158 perform plain URL percent en- and decoding, respectively.
7162 perform a slightly modified operation which should be better for
7163 pathnames: it does not allow a tilde
7165 and will neither accept hyphen-minus
7169 as an initial character.
7170 The remains of the line form the URL data which is to be converted.
7171 If the coding operation fails the error number
7174 .Va ^ERR Ns -CANCELED ,
7175 and the unmodified input is used as the result; the error number may
7176 change again due to output or result storage errors.
7180 \*(NQ This command produces the same output as the listing mode of
7184 ity adjustments, but only for the given variables.
7188 \*(OP Takes a message list and verifies each message.
7189 If a message is not a S/MIME signed message,
7190 verification will fail for it.
7191 The verification process checks if the message was signed using a valid
7193 if the message sender's email address matches one of those contained
7194 within the certificate,
7195 and if the message content has been altered.
7203 of \*(UA, as well as the build and running system environment.
7204 This command can produce a more
7206 output, and supports
7209 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
7214 \*(NQ Evaluate arguments according to a given operator.
7215 This is a multiplexer command which can be used to perform signed 64-bit
7216 numeric calculations as well as byte string and string operations.
7217 It uses polish notation, i.e., the operator is the first argument and
7218 defines the number and type, and the meaning of the remaining arguments.
7219 An empty argument is replaced with a 0 if a number is expected.
7223 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
7226 The result that is shown in case of errors is always
7228 for usage errors and numeric operations, and the empty string for byte
7229 string and string operations;
7230 if the latter two fail to provide result data for
7232 errors, e.g., when a search operation failed, they also set the
7235 .Va ^ERR Ns -NODATA .
7236 Except when otherwise noted numeric arguments are parsed as signed 64-bit
7237 numbers, and errors will be reported in the error number
7239 as the numeric error
7240 .Va ^ERR Ns -RANGE .
7243 Numeric operations work on one or two signed 64-bit integers.
7244 Numbers prefixed with
7248 are interpreted as hexadecimal (base 16) numbers, whereas
7250 indicates octal (base 8), and
7254 denote binary (base 2) numbers.
7255 It is possible to use any base in between 2 and 36, inclusive, with the
7257 notation, where the base is given as an unsigned decimal number, e.g.,
7259 is a different way of specifying a hexadecimal number.
7260 Unsigned interpretation of a number can be enforced by prefixing a
7262 (case-insensitively), e.g.,
7264 this is not necessary for power-of-two bases (2, 4, 8, 16 and 32),
7265 which will be interpreted as unsigned by default, but it still makes
7266 a difference regarding overflow detection and overflow constant.
7267 It is possible to enforce signed interpretation by (instead) prefixing a
7269 (case-insensitively).
7272 One integer is expected by assignment (equals sign
7274 which does nothing but parsing the argument, thus detecting validity and
7275 possible overflow conditions, and unary not (tilde
7277 which creates the bitwise complement.
7278 Two integers are used by addition (plus sign
7280 subtraction (hyphen-minus
7282 multiplication (asterisk
7286 and modulo (percent sign
7288 as well as for the bitwise operators logical or (vertical bar
7291 bitwise and (ampersand
7294 bitwise xor (circumflex
7296 the bitwise signed left- and right shifts
7299 as well as for the unsigned right shift
7303 Another numeric operation is
7305 which takes a number base in between 2 and 36, inclusive, and will act
7306 on the second number given just the same as what equals sign
7308 does, but the number result will be formatted in the base given.
7311 All numeric operators can be prefixed with a commercial at
7315 this will turn the operation into a saturated one, which means that
7316 overflow errors and division and modulo by zero are no longer reported
7317 via the exit status, but the result will linger at the minimum or
7318 maximum possible value, instead of overflowing (or trapping).
7319 This is true also for the argument parse step.
7320 For the bitwise shifts, the saturated maximum is 63.
7321 Any catched overflow will be reported via the error number
7324 .Va ^ERR Ns -OVERFLOW .
7325 .Bd -literal -offset indent
7326 ? vexpr @- +1 -9223372036854775808
7327 ? echo $?/$!/$^ERRNAME
7331 Character set agnostic string functions have no notion of locale
7332 settings and character sets.
7334 .Bl -hang -width ".It Cm random"
7337 .Sx "Filename transformations"
7340 Generates a random string of the given length, or of
7342 bytes (a constant from
7344 if the value 0 is given; the random string will be base64url encoded
7345 according to RFC 4648, and thus be usable as a (portable) filename.
7349 Byte string operations work on 8-bit bytes and have no notion of locale
7350 settings and character sets, effectively assuming ASCII data.
7353 .Bl -hang -width ".It Cm length"
7355 Queries the length of the given argument.
7358 Calculates the Chris Torek hash of the given argument.
7361 Byte-searches in the first for the second argument.
7362 Shows the resulting 0-based offset shall it have been found.
7367 but works case-insensitively according to the rules of the ASCII
7371 Creates a substring of its first argument.
7372 The second argument is the 0-based starting offset, a negative one
7373 counts from the end;
7374 the optional third argument specifies the length of the desired result,
7375 a negative length leaves off the given number of bytes at the end of the
7376 original string, by default the entire string is used;
7377 this operation tries to work around faulty arguments (set
7379 for error logs), but reports them via the error number
7382 .Va ^ERR Ns -OVERFLOW .
7385 Trim away whitespace characters from both ends of the argument.
7388 Trim away whitespace characters from the begin of the argument.
7391 Trim away whitespace characters from the end of the argument.
7396 String operations work, sufficient support provided, according to the
7397 active user's locale encoding and character set (see
7398 .Sx "Character sets" ) .
7401 .Bl -hang -width ".It Cm regex"
7403 (One-way) Converts the argument to something safely printable on the
7407 \*(OP A string operation that will try to match the first argument with
7408 the regular expression given as the second argument.
7409 If the optional third argument has been given then instead of showing
7410 the match offset a replacement operation is performed: the third
7411 argument is treated as if specified within dollar-single-quote (see
7412 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" ) ,
7413 and any occurrence of a positional parameter, e.g.,
7415 is replaced by the corresponding match group of the regular expression:
7416 .Bd -literal -offset indent
7417 ? vput vexpr res regex bananarama \e
7418 (.*)NanA(.*) '\e${1}au\e$2'
7419 ? echo $?/$!/$^ERRNAME: $res
7423 On otherwise identical case-insensitive equivalent to
7425 .Bd -literal -offset indent
7426 ? vput vexpr res ire bananarama \e
7427 (.*)NanA(.*) '\e${1}au\e$2'
7428 ? echo $?/$!/$^ERRNAME: $res
7435 \*(NQ Manage the positional parameter stack (see
7439 If the first argument is
7441 then the positional parameter stack of the current context, or the
7442 global one, if there is none, is cleared.
7445 then the remaining arguments will be used to (re)create the stack,
7446 if the parameter stack size limit is excessed an
7447 .Va ^ERR Ns -OVERFLOW
7451 If the first argument is
7453 a round-trip capable representation of the stack contents is created,
7454 with each quoted parameter separated from each other with the first
7457 and followed by the first character of
7459 if that is not empty and not identical to the first.
7460 If that results in no separation at all a
7466 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
7467 I.e., the subcommands
7471 can be used (in conjunction with
7473 to (re)create an argument stack from and to a single variable losslessly.
7475 .Bd -literal -offset indent
7476 ? vpospar set hey, "'you ", world!
7477 ? echo $#: <${1}><${2}><${3}>
7478 ? vput vpospar x quote
7480 ? echo $#: <${1}><${2}><${3}>
7481 ? eval vpospar set ${x}
7482 ? echo $#: <${1}><${2}><${3}>
7488 (v) Takes a message list and invokes the
7490 display editor on each message.
7491 Modified contents are discarded unless the
7493 variable is set, and are not used unless the mailbox can be written to
7494 and the editor returns a successful exit status.
7496 can be used instead for a less display oriented editor.
7500 (w) For conventional messages the body without all headers is written.
7501 The original message is never marked for deletion in the originating
7503 The output is decrypted and converted to its native format as necessary.
7504 If the output file exists, the text is appended.
7505 If a message is in MIME multipart format its first part is written to
7506 the specified file as for conventional messages, handling of the remains
7507 depends on the execution mode.
7508 No special handling of compressed files is performed.
7510 In interactive mode the user is consecutively asked for the filenames of
7511 the processed parts.
7512 For convience saving of each part may be skipped by giving an empty
7513 value, the same result as writing it to
7515 Shell piping the part content by specifying a leading vertical bar
7517 character for the filename is supported.
7518 Other user input undergoes the usual
7519 .Sx "Filename transformations" ,
7520 including shell pathname wildcard pattern expansions
7522 and shell variable expansion for the message as such, not the individual
7523 parts, and contents of the destination file are overwritten if the file
7526 \*(ID In non-interactive mode any part which does not specify a filename
7527 is ignored, and suspicious parts of filenames of the remaining parts are
7528 URL percent encoded (as via
7530 to prevent injection of malicious character sequences, resulting in
7531 a filename that will be written into the current directory.
7532 Existing files will not be overwritten, instead the part number or
7533 a dot are appended after a number sign
7535 to the name until file creation succeeds (or fails due to other
7540 \*(NQ The sole difference to
7542 is that the new macro is executed in place of the current one, which
7543 will not regain control: all resources of the current macro will be
7545 This implies that any setting covered by
7547 will be forgotten and covered variables will become cleaned up.
7548 If this command is not used from within a
7550 ed macro it will silently be (a more expensive variant of)
7560 \*(NQ \*(UA presents message headers in
7562 fuls as described under the
7565 Without arguments this command scrolls to the next window of messages,
7566 likewise if the argument is
7570 scrolls to the last,
7572 scrolls to the first, and
7577 A number argument prefixed by
7581 indicates that the window is calculated in relation to the current
7582 position, and a number without a prefix specifies an absolute position.
7588 but scrolls to the next or previous window that contains at least one
7599 .\" .Sh COMMAND ESCAPES {{{
7600 .Sh "COMMAND ESCAPES"
7602 Command escapes are available in compose mode, and are used to perform
7603 special functions when composing messages.
7604 Command escapes are only recognized at the beginning of lines, and
7605 consist of a trigger (escape), and a command character.
7606 The actual escape character can be set via the internal variable
7608 it defaults to the tilde
7610 Otherwise ignored whitespace characters following the escape character
7611 will prevent a possible addition of the command line to the \*(OPal
7615 Unless otherwise noted all compose mode command escapes ensure proper
7616 updates of the variables which represent the error number
7622 is set they will, unless stated otherwise, error out message compose mode
7623 and cause a program exit if an operation fails;
7624 an effect equivalent to the command modifier
7626 can however be achieved by placing a hyphen-minus
7628 after (possible whitespace following) the escape character.
7629 If the \*(OPal key bindings are available it is possible to create
7631 ings specifically for the compose mode.
7634 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ic BaNg"
7637 Insert the string of text in the message prefaced by a single
7639 (If the escape character has been changed,
7640 that character must be doubled instead.)
7643 .It Ic ~! Ar command
7644 Execute the indicated shell
7646 which follows, replacing unescaped exclamation marks with the previously
7647 executed command if the internal variable
7649 is set, then return to the message.
7653 End compose mode and send the message.
7655 .Va on-compose-splice-shell
7657 .Va on-compose-splice ,
7658 in order, will be called when set, after which
7660 will be checked, a set
7661 .Va on-compose-leave
7662 hook will be called,
7666 will be joined in if set,
7668 will be honoured in interactive mode, finally a given
7669 .Va message-inject-tail
7670 will be incorporated, after which the compose mode is left.
7673 .It Ic ~: Ar \*(UA-command Ns \0or Ic ~_ Ar \*(UA-command
7674 Execute the given \*(UA command.
7675 Not all commands, however, are allowed.
7678 .It Ic ~< Ar filename
7683 .It Ic ~<! Ar command
7685 is executed using the shell.
7686 Its standard output is inserted into the message.
7690 \*(OP Write a summary of command escapes.
7693 .It Ic ~@ Op Ar filename...
7694 Append or edit the list of attachments.
7695 Does not manage the error number
7701 instead if this is a concern).
7702 The append mode expects a list of
7704 arguments as shell tokens (see
7705 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" ;
7706 token-separating commas are ignored, too), to be
7707 interpreted as documented for the command line option
7709 with the message number exception as below.
7713 arguments the attachment list is edited, entry by entry;
7714 if a filename is left empty, that attachment is deleted from the list;
7715 once the end of the list is reached either new attachments may be
7716 entered or the session can be quit by committing an empty
7719 In non-interactive mode or in batch mode
7721 the list of attachments is effectively not edited but instead recreated;
7722 again, an empty input ends list creation.
7724 For all modes, if a given filename solely consists of the number sign
7726 followed by either a valid message number of the currently active
7727 mailbox, or by a period
7729 referring to the current message of the active mailbox, the so-called
7731 then the given message is attached as a
7734 The number sign must be quoted to avoid misinterpretation with the shell
7738 .It Ic ~| Ar command
7739 Pipe the message text through the specified filter command.
7740 If the command gives no output or terminates abnormally,
7741 retain the original text of the message.
7744 is often used as a rejustifying filter.
7746 If the first character of the command is a vertical bar, then the entire
7747 message including header fields is subject to the filter command, e.g.,
7748 .Ql ~|| echo Fcc: /tmp/test; cat
7749 will prepend a file-carbon-copy message header.
7755 .It Ic ~^ Ar cmd Op Ar subcmd Op Ar arg3 Op Ar arg4
7756 Low-level command meant for scripted message access, i.e., for
7757 .Va on-compose-splice
7759 .Va on-compose-splice-shell .
7760 The used protocol is likely subject to changes, and therefore the
7761 mentioned hooks receive the used protocol version as an initial line.
7762 In general the first field of a response line represents a status code
7763 which specifies whether a command was successful or not, whether result
7764 data is to be expected, and if, the format of the result data.
7765 Does not manage the error number
7769 because errors are reported via the protocol
7770 (hard errors like I/O failures cannot be handled).
7771 This command has read-only access to several virtual pseudo headers in
7772 the \*(UA private namespace, which may not exist (except for the first):
7776 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Va BaNg"
7777 .It Ql Mailx-Command:
7778 The name of the command that generates the message, one of
7786 .It Ql Mailx-Raw-To:
7787 .It Ql Mailx-Raw-Cc:
7788 .It Ql Mailx-Raw-Bcc:
7789 Represent the frozen initial state of these headers before any
7790 transformation (e.g.,
7793 .Va recipients-in-cc
7796 .It Ql Mailx-Orig-From:
7797 .It Ql Mailx-Orig-To:
7798 .It Ql Mailx-Orig-Cc:
7799 .It Ql Mailx-Orig-Bcc:
7800 The values of said headers of the original message which has been
7802 .Ic reply , forward , resend .
7806 The status codes are:
7810 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql 210"
7812 Status ok; the remains of the line are the result.
7815 Status ok; the rest of the line is optionally used for more status.
7816 What follows are lines of result addresses, terminated by an empty line.
7817 The address lines consist of two fields, the first of which is the
7818 plain address, e.g.,
7820 separated by a single ASCII SP space from the second which contains the
7821 unstripped address, even if that is identical to the first field, e.g.,
7822 .Ql (Lovely) Bob <bob@exam.ple> .
7823 Non-network addressees, however, place a single-letter indicating
7824 the address type in the first field (hyphen-minus
7826 for files, vertical bar
7828 for pipes, and number sign
7830 for names: what is supposed to become expanded via
7832 ), and only the second field contains a value.
7833 All the input, including the empty line, must be consumed before further
7834 commands can be issued.
7837 Status ok; the rest of the line is optionally used for more status.
7838 What follows are lines of furtherly unspecified string content,
7839 terminated by an empty line.
7840 All the input, including the empty line, must be consumed before further
7841 commands can be issued.
7844 Syntax error; invalid command.
7847 Syntax error in parameters or arguments.
7850 Error: an argument fails verification.
7851 For example an invalid address has been specified (also see
7853 or an attempt was made to modify anything in \*(UA's own namespace.
7856 Error: an otherwise valid argument is rendered invalid due to context.
7857 For example, a second address is added to a header which may consist of
7858 a single address only.
7863 If a command indicates failure then the message will have remained
7865 Most commands can fail with
7867 if required arguments are missing (false command usage).
7868 The following (case-insensitive) commands are supported:
7871 .Bl -hang -width ".It Cm header"
7873 This command allows listing, inspection, and editing of message headers.
7874 Header name case is not normalized, and case-insensitive comparison
7875 should be used when matching names.
7876 The second argument specifies the subcommand to apply, one of:
7878 .Bl -hang -width ".It Cm remove"
7880 Without a third argument a list of all yet existing headers is given via
7882 this command is the default command of
7884 if no second argument has been given.
7885 A third argument restricts output to the given header only, which may
7888 if no such field is defined.
7891 Shows the content of the header given as the third argument.
7892 Dependent on the header type this may respond with
7896 any failure results in
7900 This will remove all instances of the header given as the third
7905 if no such header can be found, and
7907 on \*(UA namespace violations.
7910 This will remove from the header given as the third argument the
7911 instance at the list position (counting from one!) given with the fourth
7916 if the list position argument is not a number or on \*(UA namespace
7919 if no such header instance exists.
7922 Create a new or an additional instance of the header given in the third
7923 argument, with the header body content as given in the fourth argument
7924 (the remains of the line).
7927 if the third argument specifies a free-form header field name that is
7928 invalid, or if body content extraction fails to succeed,
7930 if any extracted address does not pass syntax and/or security checks or
7931 on \*(UA namespace violations, and
7933 to indicate prevention of excessing a single-instance header \(em note that
7935 can be appended to (a space separator will be added automatically first).
7938 is returned upon success, followed by the name of the header and the list
7939 position of the newly inserted instance.
7940 The list position is always 1 for single-instance header fields.
7941 All free-form header fields are managed in a single list.
7946 This command allows listing, removal and addition of message attachments.
7947 The second argument specifies the subcommand to apply, one of:
7949 .Bl -hang -width ".It Cm remove"
7951 List all attachments via
7955 if no attachments exist.
7956 This command is the default command of
7958 if no second argument has been given.
7961 This will remove the attachment given as the third argument, and report
7965 if no such attachment can be found.
7966 If there exists any path component in the given argument, then an exact
7967 match of the path which has been used to create the attachment is used
7968 directly, but if only the basename of that path matches then all
7969 attachments are traversed to find an exact match first, and the removal
7970 occurs afterwards; if multiple basenames match, a
7973 Message attachments are treated as absolute pathnames.
7975 If no path component exists in the given argument, then all attachments
7976 will be searched for
7978 parameter matches as well as for matches of the basename of the path
7979 which has been used when the attachment has been created; multiple
7984 This will interpret the third argument as a number and remove the
7985 attachment at that list position (counting from one!), reporting
7989 if the argument is not a number or
7991 if no such attachment exists.
7994 Adds the attachment given as the third argument, specified exactly as
7995 documented for the command line option
7997 and supporting the message number extension as documented for
8001 upon success, with the index of the new attachment following,
8003 if the given file cannot be opened,
8005 if an on-the-fly performed character set conversion fails, otherwise
8007 is reported; this is also reported if character set conversion is
8008 requested but not available.
8011 This uses the same search mechanism as described for
8013 and prints any known attributes of the first found attachment via
8017 if no such attachment can be found.
8018 The attributes are written as lines of keyword and value tuples, the
8019 keyword being separated from the rest of the line with an ASCII SP space
8023 This uses the same search mechanism as described for
8025 and is otherwise identical to
8028 .It Cm attribute-set
8029 This uses the same search mechanism as described for
8031 and will assign the attribute given as the fourth argument, which is
8032 expected to be a value tuple of keyword and other data, separated by
8033 a ASCII SP space or TAB tabulator character.
8034 If the value part is empty, then the given attribute is removed, or
8035 reset to a default value if existence of the attribute is crucial.
8039 upon success, with the index of the found attachment following,
8041 for message attachments or if the given keyword is invalid, and
8043 if no such attachment can be found.
8044 The following keywords may be used (case-insensitively):
8046 .Bl -hang -compact -width ".It Ql filename"
8048 Sets the filename of the MIME part, i.e., the name that is used for
8049 display and when (suggesting a name for) saving (purposes).
8050 .It Ql content-description
8051 Associate some descriptive information to the attachment's content, used
8052 in favour of the plain filename by some MUAs.
8054 May be used for uniquely identifying MIME entities in several contexts;
8055 this expects a special reference address format as defined in RFC 2045
8058 upon address content verification failure.
8060 Defines the media type/subtype of the part, which is managed
8061 automatically, but can be overwritten.
8062 .It Ql content-disposition
8063 Automatically set to the string
8067 .It Cm attribute-set-at
8068 This uses the same search mechanism as described for
8070 and is otherwise identical to
8079 .Ql Ic ~i Ns \| Va Sign .
8084 .Ql Ic ~i Ns \| Va sign .
8087 .It Ic ~b Ar name ...
8088 Add the given names to the list of blind carbon copy recipients.
8091 .It Ic ~c Ar name ...
8092 Add the given names to the list of carbon copy recipients.
8096 Read the file specified by the
8098 variable into the message.
8104 on the message collected so far, then return to compose mode.
8106 can be used for a more display oriented editor, and
8108 offers a pipe-based editing approach.
8111 .It Ic ~F Ar messages
8112 Read the named messages into the message being sent, including all
8113 message headers and MIME parts.
8114 If no messages are specified, read in the current message, the
8118 .It Ic ~f Ar messages
8119 Read the named messages into the message being sent.
8120 If no messages are specified, read in the current message, the
8122 Strips down the list of header fields according to the
8124 white- and blacklist selection of
8126 For MIME multipart messages,
8127 only the first displayable part is included.
8131 Edit the message header fields
8136 by typing each one in turn and allowing the user to edit the field.
8137 The default values for these fields originate from the
8145 Edit the message header fields
8151 by typing each one in turn and allowing the user to edit the field.
8154 .It Ic ~I Ar variable
8155 Insert the value of the specified variable into the message.
8156 The message remains unaltered if the variable is unset or empty.
8157 Any embedded character sequences
8159 horizontal tabulator and
8161 line feed are expanded in
8163 mode; otherwise the expansion should occur at
8165 time (\*(ID by using the command modifier
8169 .It Ic ~i Ar variable
8172 but appends a newline character.
8175 .It Ic ~M Ar messages
8176 Read the named messages into the message being sent,
8179 If no messages are specified, read the current message, the
8183 .It Ic ~m Ar messages
8184 Read the named messages into the message being sent,
8187 If no messages are specified, read the current message, the
8189 Strips down the list of header fields according to the
8191 white- and blacklist selection of
8193 For MIME multipart messages,
8194 only the first displayable part is included.
8198 Display the message collected so far,
8199 prefaced by the message header fields
8200 and followed by the attachment list, if any.
8204 Read in the given / current message(s) according to the algorithm of
8209 Abort the message being sent,
8210 copying it to the file specified by the
8217 .It Ic ~R Ar filename
8220 but indent each line that has been read by
8224 .It Ic ~r Ar filename Op Ar HERE-delimiter
8225 Read the named file, object to the usual
8226 .Sx "Filename transformations" ,
8227 into the message; if (the expanded)
8231 then standard input is used, e.g., for pasting purposes.
8232 Only in this latter mode
8234 may be given: if it is data will be read in until the given
8236 is seen on a line by itself, and encountering EOF is an error; the
8238 is a required argument in non-interactive mode; if it is single-quote
8239 quoted then the pasted content will not be expanded, \*(ID otherwise
8240 a future version of \*(UA may perform shell-style expansion on the content.
8244 Cause the named string to become the current subject field.
8245 Newline (NL) and carriage-return (CR) bytes are invalid and will be
8246 normalized to space (SP) characters.
8249 .It Ic ~t Ar name ...
8250 Add the given name(s) to the direct recipient list.
8253 .It Ic ~U Ar messages
8254 Read in the given / current message(s) excluding all headers, indented by
8258 .It Ic ~u Ar messages
8259 Read in the given / current message(s), excluding all headers.
8265 editor on the message collected so far, then return to compose mode.
8267 can be used for a less display oriented editor, and
8269 offers a pipe-based editing approach.
8272 .It Ic ~w Ar filename
8273 Write the message onto the named file, which is object to the usual
8274 .Sx "Filename transformations" .
8276 the message is appended to it.
8282 except that the message is not saved at all.
8288 .\" .Sh INTERNAL VARIABLES {{{
8289 .Sh "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
8291 Internal \*(UA variables are controlled via the
8295 commands; prefixing a variable name with the string
8299 has the same effect as using
8306 will give more insight on the given variable(s), and
8308 when called without arguments, will show a listing of all variables.
8309 Both commands support a more
8312 Some well-known variables will also become inherited from the
8315 implicitly, others can be imported explicitly with the command
8317 and henceforth share said properties.
8320 Two different kinds of internal variables exist, and both of which can
8322 There are boolean variables, which can only be in one of the two states
8326 and value variables with a(n optional) string value.
8327 For the latter proper quoting is necessary upon assignment time, the
8328 introduction of the section
8330 documents the supported quoting rules.
8332 .Bd -literal -offset indent
8333 ? wysh set one=val\e 1 two="val 2" \e
8334 three='val "3"' four=$'val \e'4\e''; \e
8335 varshow one two three four; \e
8336 unset one two three four
8340 Dependent upon the actual option string values may become interpreted as
8341 colour names, command specifications, normal text, etc.
8342 They may be treated as numbers, in which case decimal values are
8343 expected if so documented, but otherwise any numeric format and
8344 base that is valid and understood by the
8346 command may be used, too.
8349 There also exists a special kind of string value, the
8350 .Dq boolean string ,
8351 which must either be a decimal integer (in which case
8355 and any other value is true) or any of the (case-insensitive) strings
8361 for a false boolean and
8367 for a true boolean; a special kind of boolean string is the
8369 which is a boolean string that can optionally be prefixed with the
8370 (case-insensitive) term
8374 which causes prompting of the user in interactive mode, with the given
8375 boolean as the default value.
8378 Variable chains extend a plain
8383 .Ql variable-USER@HOST
8387 will be converted to all lowercase when looked up (but not when the
8388 variable is set or unset!), \*(OPally IDNA converted, and indeed means
8392 had been specified in the contextual Uniform Resource Locator URL, see
8393 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" .
8394 Even though this mechanism is based on URLs no URL percent encoding may
8395 be applied to neither of
8399 variable chains need to be specified using raw data;
8400 the mentioned section contains examples.
8401 Variables which support chains are explicitly documented as such, and
8402 \*(UA treats the base name of any such variable special, meaning that
8403 users should not create custom names like
8405 in order to avoid false classifications and treatment of such variables.
8407 .\" .Ss "Initial settings" {{{
8408 .\" (Keep in SYNC: ./nail.h:okeys, ./nail.rc, ./nail.1:"Initial settings")
8409 .Ss "Initial settings"
8411 The standard POSIX 2008/Cor 2-2016 mandates the following initial
8417 .Pf no Va autoprint ,
8431 .Pf no Va ignoreeof ,
8433 .Pf no Va keepsave ,
8435 .Pf no Va outfolder ,
8443 .Pf no Va sendwait ,
8452 Notes: \*(UA does not support the
8454 variable \(en use command line options or
8456 to pass options through to a
8458 And the default global
8460 file, which is loaded unless the
8462 (with according argument) or
8464 command line options have been used, or the
8465 .Ev MAILX_NO_SYSTEM_RC
8466 environment variable is set (see
8467 .Sx "Resource files" )
8468 bends those initial settings a bit, e.g., it sets the variables
8473 to name a few, establishes a default
8475 selection etc., and should thus be taken into account.
8478 .\" .Ss "Variables" {{{
8481 .Bl -tag -width ".It Va BaNg"
8485 \*(RO The exit status of the last command, or the
8490 This status has a meaning in the state machine: in conjunction with
8492 any non-0 exit status will cause a program exit, and in
8494 mode any error while loading (any of the) resource files will have the
8498 .Sx "Command modifiers" ,
8499 can be used to instruct the state machine to ignore errors.
8503 \*(RO The current error number
8504 .Pf ( Xr errno 3 ) ,
8505 which is set after an error occurred; it is also available via
8507 and the error name and documentation string can be queried via
8511 \*(ID This machinery is new and the error number is only really usable
8512 if a command explicitly states that it manages the variable
8514 for others errno will be used in case of errors, or
8516 if that is 0: it thus may or may not reflect the real error.
8517 The error number may be set with the command
8523 \*(RO This is a multiplexer variable which performs dynamic expansion of
8524 the requested state or condition, of which there are:
8527 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Va BaNg"
8531 .It Va ^ERR , ^ERRDOC , ^ERRNAME
8532 The number, documentation, and name of the current
8534 respectively, which is usually set after an error occurred.
8535 The documentation is an \*(OP, the name is used if not available.
8536 \*(ID This machinery is new and is usually reliable only if a command
8537 explicitly states that it manages the variable
8539 which is effectively identical to
8541 Each of those variables can be suffixed with a hyphen minus followed by
8542 a name or number, in which case the expansion refers to the given error.
8543 Note this is a direct mapping of (a subset of) the system error values:
8544 .Bd -literal -offset indent
8546 eval echo \e$1: \e$^ERR-$1:\e
8547 \e$^ERRNAME-$1: \e$^ERRDOC-$1
8548 vput vexpr i + "$1" 1
8560 \*(RO Expands all positional parameters (see
8562 separated by the first character of the value of
8564 \*(ID The special semantics of the equally named special parameter of the
8566 are not yet supported.
8570 \*(RO Expands all positional parameters (see
8572 separated by a space character.
8573 If placed in double quotation marks, each positional parameter is
8574 properly quoted to expand to a single parameter again.
8578 \*(RO Expands to the number of positional parameters, i.e., the size of
8579 the positional parameter stack in decimal.
8583 \*(RO Inside the scope of a
8587 ed macro this expands to the name of the calling macro, or to the empty
8588 string if the macro is running from top-level.
8589 For the \*(OPal regular expression search and replace operator of
8591 this expands to the entire matching expression.
8592 It represents the program name in global context.
8596 \*(RO Access of the positional parameter stack.
8597 All further parameters can be accessed with this syntax, too, e.g.,
8600 etc.; positional parameters can be shifted off the stack by calling
8602 The parameter stack contains, e.g., the arguments of a
8606 d macro, the matching groups of the \*(OPal regular expression search
8607 and replace expression of
8609 and can be explicitly created or overwritten with the command
8614 \*(RO Is set to the active
8618 .It Va add-file-recipients
8619 \*(BO When file or pipe recipients have been specified,
8620 mention them in the corresponding address fields of the message instead
8621 of silently stripping them from their recipient list.
8622 By default such addressees are not mentioned.
8626 \*(BO Causes only the local part to be evaluated
8627 when comparing addresses.
8631 \*(BO Causes messages saved in the
8633 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
8635 to be appended to the end rather than prepended.
8636 This should always be set.
8640 \*(BO Causes the prompts for
8644 lists to appear after the message has been edited.
8648 \*(BO If set, \*(UA asks for files to attach at the end of each message.
8649 An empty line finalizes the list.
8653 \*(BO Causes the user to be prompted for carbon copy recipients
8654 (at the end of each message if
8662 \*(BO Causes the user to be prompted for blind carbon copy
8663 recipients (at the end of each message if
8671 \*(BO Causes the user to be prompted for confirmation to send the
8672 message or reenter compose mode after having been shown an envelope
8674 This is by default enabled.
8678 \*(BO\*(OP Causes the user to be prompted if the message is to be
8679 signed at the end of each message.
8682 variable is ignored when this variable is set.
8686 .\" The alternative *ask* is not documented on purpose
8687 \*(BO Causes \*(UA to prompt for the subject upon entering compose mode
8688 unless a subject already exists.
8692 A sequence of characters to display in the
8696 as shown in the display of
8698 each for one type of messages (see
8699 .Sx "Message states" ) ,
8700 with the default being
8703 .Ql NU\ \ *HMFAT+\-$~
8706 variable is set, in the following order:
8708 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql _"
8730 \*(ID start of a (collapsed) thread in threaded mode (see
8734 \*(ID an uncollapsed thread in threaded mode; only used in conjunction with
8739 classified as possible spam.
8745 Specifies a list of recipients to which a blind carbon copy of each
8746 outgoing message will be sent automatically.
8750 Specifies a list of recipients to which a carbon copy of each outgoing
8751 message will be sent automatically.
8755 \*(BO Causes threads to be collapsed automatically when .Ql thread Ns
8758 mode is entered (see the
8764 \*(BO Enable automatic
8766 ing of a(n existing)
8772 commands, e.g., the message that becomes the new
8774 is shown automatically, as via
8781 Causes sorted mode (see the
8783 command) to be entered automatically with the value of this variable as
8784 sorting method when a folder is opened, e.g.,
8785 .Ql set autosort=thread .
8789 \*(BO Enables the substitution of all not (reverse-solidus) escaped
8792 characters by the contents of the last executed command for the
8794 shell escape command and
8796 one of the compose mode
8797 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" .
8798 If this variable is not set no reverse solidus stripping is performed.
8802 \*(OP Terminals generate multi-byte sequences for certain forms of
8803 input, for example for function and other special keys.
8804 Some terminals however do not write these multi-byte sequences as
8805 a whole, but byte-by-byte, and the latter is what \*(UA actually reads.
8806 This variable specifies the timeout in milliseconds that the MLE (see
8807 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
8808 waits for more bytes to arrive unless it considers a sequence
8814 \*(BO Sets some cosmetical features to traditional BSD style;
8815 has the same affect as setting
8817 and all other variables prefixed with
8819 it also changes the behaviour of
8821 (which does not exist in BSD).
8825 \*(BO Changes the letters shown in the first column of a header
8826 summary to traditional BSD style.
8830 \*(BO Changes the display of columns in a header summary to traditional
8835 \*(BO Changes some informational messages to traditional BSD style.
8841 field to appear immediately after the
8843 field in message headers and with the
8845 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" .
8851 .It Va build-cc , build-ld , build-os , build-rest
8852 \*(RO The build environment, including the compiler, the linker, the
8853 operating system \*(UA has been build for, usually taken from
8857 and then lowercased, as well as all the rest that may possibly be useful
8858 to include in a bug report, respectively.
8862 The value that should appear in the
8866 MIME header fields when no character set conversion of the message data
8868 This defaults to US-ASCII, and the chosen character set should be
8869 US-ASCII compatible.
8873 \*(OP The default 8-bit character set that is used as an implicit last
8874 member of the variable
8876 This defaults to UTF-8 if character set conversion capabilities are
8877 available, and to ISO-8859-1 otherwise (unless the operating system
8878 environment is known to always and exclusively support UTF-8 locales),
8879 in which case the only supported character set is
8881 and this variable is effectively ignored.
8882 Refer to the section
8883 .Sx "Character sets"
8884 for the complete picture of character set conversion in \*(UA.
8887 .It Va charset-unknown-8bit
8888 \*(OP RFC 1428 specifies conditions when internet mail gateways shall
8890 the content of a mail message by using a character set with the name
8892 Because of the unclassified nature of this character set \*(UA will not
8893 be capable to convert this character set to any other character set.
8894 If this variable is set any message part which uses the character set
8896 is assumed to really be in the character set given in the value,
8897 otherwise the (final) value of
8899 is used for this purpose.
8901 This variable will also be taken into account if a MIME type (see
8902 .Sx "The mime.types files" )
8903 of a MIME message part that uses the
8905 character set is forcefully treated as text.
8909 The default value for the
8914 .It Va colour-disable
8915 \*(BO\*(OP Forcefully disable usage of colours.
8916 Also see the section
8917 .Sx "Coloured display" .
8921 \*(BO\*(OP Whether colour shall be used for output that is paged through
8923 Note that pagers may need special command line options, e.g.,
8931 in order to support colours.
8932 Often doing manual adjustments is unnecessary since \*(UA may perform
8933 adjustments dependent on the value of the environment variable
8935 (see there for more).
8939 .It Va contact-mail , contact-web
8940 \*(RO Addresses for contact per email and web, respectively, e.g., for
8941 bug reports, suggestions, or help regarding \*(UA.
8942 The former can be used directly:
8943 .Ql ? Ns \| Ic eval Ns \| Ic mail Ns \| $contact-mail .
8947 In a(n interactive) terminal session, then if this valued variable is
8948 set it will be used as a threshold to determine how many lines the given
8949 output has to span before it will be displayed via the configured
8953 can be forced by setting this to the value
8955 setting it without a value will deduce the current height of the
8956 terminal screen to compute the threshold (see
8961 \*(ID At the moment this uses the count of lines of the message in wire
8962 format, which, dependent on the
8964 of the message, is unrelated to the number of display lines.
8965 (The software is old and historically the relation was a given thing.)
8969 Define a set of custom headers to be injected into newly composed or
8971 A custom header consists of the field name followed by a colon
8973 and the field content body.
8974 Standard header field names cannot be overwritten by a custom header.
8975 Different to the command line option
8977 the variable value is interpreted as a comma-separated list of custom
8978 headers: to include commas in header bodies they need to become escaped
8979 with reverse solidus
8981 Headers can be managed more freely in compose mode via
8984 .Dl ? set customhdr='Hdr1: Body1-1\e, Body1-2, Hdr2: Body2'
8988 Controls the appearance of the
8990 date and time format specification of the
8992 variable, that is used, for example, when viewing the summary of
8994 If unset, then the local receiving date is used and displayed
8995 unformatted, otherwise the message sending
8997 It is possible to assign a
8999 format string and control formatting, but embedding newlines via the
9001 format is not supported, and will result in display errors.
9003 .Ql %Y-%m-%d %H:%M ,
9005 .Va datefield-markout-older .
9008 .It Va datefield-markout-older
9009 Only used in conjunction with
9011 Can be used to create a visible distinction of messages dated more than
9012 a day in the future, or older than six months, a concept comparable to the
9014 option of the POSIX utility
9016 If set to the empty string, then the plain month, day and year of the
9018 will be displayed, but a
9020 format string to control formatting can be assigned.
9026 \*(BO Enables debug messages and obsoletion warnings, disables the
9027 actual delivery of messages and also implies
9033 .It Va disposition-notification-send
9035 .Ql Disposition-Notification-To:
9036 header (RFC 3798) with the message.
9040 .\" TODO .It Va disposition-notification-send-HOST
9042 .\".Va disposition-notification-send
9043 .\" for SMTP accounts on a specific host.
9044 .\" TODO .It Va disposition-notification-send-USER@HOST
9046 .\".Va disposition-notification-send
9047 .\"for a specific account.
9051 \*(BO When dot is set, a period
9053 on a line by itself during message input in (interactive or batch
9055 compose mode will be treated as end-of-message (in addition to the
9056 normal end-of-file condition).
9057 This behaviour is implied in
9063 .It Va dotlock-disable
9064 \*(BO\*(OP Disable creation of
9069 .It Va dotlock-ignore-error
9070 \*(OB\*(BO\*(OP Ignore failures when creating
9072 .Sx "dotlock files" .
9079 If this variable is set then the editor is started automatically when
9080 a message is composed in interactive mode.
9081 If the value starts with the letter
9083 then this acts as if
9087 .Pf (see\0 Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" )
9091 variable is implied for this automatically spawned editor session.
9095 \*(BO When a message is edited while being composed,
9096 its header is included in the editable text.
9100 \*(BO When entering interactive mode \*(UA normally writes
9101 .Dq \&No mail for user
9102 and exits immediately if a mailbox is empty or does not exist.
9103 If this variable is set \*(UA starts even with an empty or non-existent
9104 mailbox (the latter behaviour furtherly depends upon
9110 \*(BO Let each command with a non-0 exit status, including every
9114 s a non-0 status, cause a program exit unless prefixed by
9117 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) .
9119 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" ,
9120 but which use a different modifier for ignoring the error.
9121 Please refer to the variable
9123 for more on this topic.
9127 The first character of this value defines the escape character for
9128 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
9130 The default value is the character tilde
9132 If set to the empty string, command escapes are disabled.
9136 If unset then file and command pipeline address targets are not allowed,
9137 and any such address will be filtered out, giving a warning message.
9138 If set then all possible recipient address specifications will be
9139 accepted unless a possible value content is more specific (also see
9140 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" ) ;
9141 if desired so only in interactive mode, or when tilde commands were
9142 enabled explicitly via
9146 the (case-insensitive) value
9148 can be used (this really acts like
9149 .Ql restrict,-all,+name,+addr ,
9150 so that care for ordering issues must be taken).
9152 The value is actually interpreted as a comma-separated list.
9155 the existence of disallowed addressees is treated as a hard send error
9156 instead of only causing them to be filtered out.
9157 Address targets can be added and subtracted by prefixing with a plus sign
9163 addresses all possible address specifications,
9167 command pipeline targets,
9169 plain user names and (MTA) aliases and
9172 Targets are interpreted in the given order, so that
9173 .Ql restrict,\:fail,\:+file,\:-all,\:+addr
9174 will cause hard errors for any non-network address recipient address
9175 unless \*(UA is in interactive mode or has been started with the
9179 command line option; in the latter case(s) any address may be used, then.
9181 Historically invalid network addressees were silently stripped off.
9182 To change this so that any encountered invalid email address causes
9183 a hard error it must be ensured that
9185 is an entry in the above list, which automatically enables network
9186 addressees; it really acts like
9187 .Ql failinvaddr,+addr ,
9188 so that care for ordering issues must be taken.
9191 is present a few address providers (for example
9193 and all recipients given on the command line) will be will evaluated as
9194 if specified within dollar-single-quotes (see
9195 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" ) .
9199 Unless this variable is set additional
9201 (Mail-Transfer-Agent)
9202 arguments from the command line, as can be given after a
9204 separator, results in a program termination with failure status.
9205 The same can be accomplished by using the special (case-insensitive) value
9207 A lesser strict variant is the otherwise identical
9209 which does accept such arguments in interactive mode, or if tilde
9210 commands were enabled explicitly by using one of the command line options
9214 The empty value will allow unconditional usage.
9218 \*(RO String giving a list of optional features.
9219 Features are preceded with a plus sign
9221 if they are available, with a hyphen-minus
9224 The output of the command
9226 will include this information in a more pleasant output.
9230 \*(BO This setting reverses the meanings of a set of reply commands,
9231 turning the lowercase variants, which by default address all recipients
9232 included in the header of a message
9233 .Pf ( Ic reply , respond , followup )
9234 into the uppercase variants, which by default address the sender only
9235 .Pf ( Ic Reply , Respond , Followup )
9238 .Ic replysender , respondsender , followupsender
9240 .Ic replyall , respondall , followupall
9241 are not affected by the current setting of
9246 The default path under which mailboxes are to be saved:
9247 filenames that begin with the plus sign
9249 will have the plus sign replaced with the value of this variable if set,
9250 otherwise the plus sign will remain unchanged when doing
9251 .Sx "Filename transformations" ;
9254 for more on this topic, and know about standard imposed implications of
9256 The value supports a subset of transformations itself, and if the
9257 non-empty value does not start with a solidus
9261 will be prefixed automatically.
9262 Once the actual value is evaluated first, the internal variable
9264 will be updated for caching purposes.
9267 .It Va folder-hook-FOLDER , Va folder-hook
9270 macro which will be called whenever a
9273 The macro will also be invoked when new mail arrives,
9274 but message lists for commands executed from the macro
9275 only include newly arrived messages then.
9277 are activated by default in a folder hook, causing the covered settings
9278 to be reverted once the folder is left again.
9280 The specialized form will override the generic one if
9282 matches the file that is opened.
9283 Unlike other folder specifications, the fully expanded name of a folder,
9284 without metacharacters, is used to avoid ambiguities.
9285 However, if the mailbox resides under
9289 specification is tried in addition, e.g., if
9293 (and thus relative to the user's home directory) then
9294 .Pa /home/usr1/mail/sent
9296 .Ql folder-hook-/home/usr1/mail/sent
9297 first, but then followed by
9298 .Ql folder-hook-+sent .
9301 .It Va folder-resolved
9302 \*(RO Set to the fully resolved path of
9304 once that evaluation has occurred; rather internal.
9308 \*(BO Controls whether a
9309 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
9310 header is generated when sending messages to known mailing lists.
9312 .Va followup-to-honour
9314 .Ic mlist , mlsubscribe , reply
9319 .It Va followup-to-honour
9321 .Ql Mail-Followup-To:
9322 header is honoured when group-replying to a message via
9326 This is a quadoption; if set without a value it defaults to
9336 .It Va forward-as-attachment
9337 \*(BO Original messages are normally sent as inline text with the
9340 and only the first part of a multipart message is included.
9341 With this setting enabled messages are sent as unmodified MIME
9343 attachments with all of their parts included.
9347 .It Va forward-inject-head , forward-inject-tail
9348 The strings to put before and after the text of a message with the
9350 command, respectively.
9351 The former defaults to
9352 .Ql -------- Original Message --------\en .
9353 Special format directives in these strings will be expanded if possible,
9354 and if so configured the output will be folded according to
9356 for more please refer to
9357 .Va quote-inject-head .
9358 These variables are ignored if the
9359 .Va forward-as-attachment
9365 The address (or a list of addresses) to put into the
9367 field of the message header, quoting RFC 5322:
9368 the author(s) of the message, that is, the mailbox(es) of the person(s)
9369 or system(s) responsible for the writing of the message.
9370 According to that RFC setting the
9372 variable is required if
9374 contains more than one address.
9375 Dependent on the context these addresses are handled as if they were in
9380 If a file-based MTA is used, then
9382 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
9384 can nonetheless be enforced to appear as the envelope sender address at
9385 the MTA protocol level (the RFC 5321 reverse-path), either by using the
9387 command line option (with an empty argument; see there for the complete
9388 picture on this topic), or by setting the internal variable
9389 .Va r-option-implicit .
9392 If the machine's hostname is not valid at the Internet (for example at
9393 a dialup machine) then either this variable or
9397 adds even more fine-tuning capabilities with
9399 have to be set: if so the message and MIME part related unique ID fields
9403 will be created (except when disallowed by
9404 .Va message-id-disable
9411 \*(BO Due to historical reasons comments and name parts of email
9412 addresses are removed by default when sending mail, replying to or
9413 forwarding a message.
9414 If this variable is set such stripping is not performed.
9417 \*(OB Predecessor of
9418 .Va forward-inject-head .
9422 \*(BO Causes the header summary to be written at startup and after
9423 commands that affect the number of messages or the order of messages in
9428 mode a header summary will also be displayed on folder changes.
9429 The command line option
9437 A format string to use for the summary of
9439 Format specifiers in the given string start with a percent sign
9441 and may be followed by an optional decimal number indicating the field
9442 width \(em if that is negative, the field is to be left-aligned.
9443 Names and addresses are subject to modifications according to
9447 Valid format specifiers are:
9450 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql _%%_"
9452 A plain percent sign.
9455 a space character but for the current message
9457 for which it expands to
9460 .Va headline-plain ) .
9463 a space character but for the current message
9465 for which it expands to
9468 .Va headline-plain ) .
9470 \*(OP The spam score of the message, as has been classified via the
9473 Shows only a replacement character if there is no spam support.
9475 Message attribute character (status flag); the actual content can be
9479 The date found in the
9481 header of the message when
9483 is set (the default), otherwise the date when the message was received.
9484 Formatting can be controlled by assigning a
9489 .Va datefield-markout-older ) .
9491 The indenting level in
9497 The address of the message sender.
9499 The message thread tree structure.
9500 (Note that this format does not support a field width, and honours
9501 .Va headline-plain . )
9503 The number of lines of the message, if available.
9507 The number of octets (bytes) in the message, if available.
9509 Message subject (if any).
9511 Message subject (if any) in double quotes.
9513 Message recipient flags: is the addressee of the message a known or
9514 subscribed mailing list \(en see
9519 The position in threaded/sorted order.
9521 The value 0 except in an IMAP mailbox,
9522 where it expands to the UID of the message.
9526 .Ql %>\&%a\&%m\ %-18f\ %16d\ %4l/%\-5o\ %i%-s ,
9528 .Ql %>\&%a\&%m\ %20-f\ \ %16d\ %3l/%\-5o\ %i%-S
9540 .It Va headline-bidi
9541 Bidirectional text requires special treatment when displaying headers,
9542 because numbers (in dates or for file sizes etc.) will not affect the
9543 current text direction, in effect resulting in ugly line layouts when
9544 arabic or other right-to-left text is to be displayed.
9545 On the other hand only a minority of terminals is capable to correctly
9546 handle direction changes, so that user interaction is necessary for
9548 Note that extended host system support is required nonetheless, e.g.,
9549 detection of the terminal character set is one precondition;
9550 and this feature only works in an Unicode (i.e., UTF-8) locale.
9552 In general setting this variable will cause \*(UA to encapsulate text
9553 fields that may occur when displaying
9555 (and some other fields, like dynamic expansions in
9557 with special Unicode control sequences;
9558 it is possible to fine-tune the terminal support level by assigning
9560 no value (or any value other than
9565 will make \*(UA assume that the terminal is capable to properly deal
9566 with Unicode version 6.3, in which case text is embedded in a pair of
9567 U+2068 (FIRST STRONG ISOLATE) and U+2069 (POP DIRECTIONAL ISOLATE)
9569 In addition no space on the line is reserved for these characters.
9571 Weaker support is chosen by using the value
9573 (Unicode 6.3, but reserve the room of two spaces for writing the control
9574 sequences onto the line).
9579 select Unicode 1.1 support (U+200E, LEFT-TO-RIGHT MARK); the latter
9580 again reserves room for two spaces in addition.
9583 .It Va headline-plain
9584 \*(BO On Unicode (UTF-8) aware terminals enhanced graphical symbols are
9585 used by default for certain entries of
9587 If this variable is set only basic US-ASCII symbols will be used.
9591 \*(OP If a line editor is available then this can be set to
9592 name the (expandable) path of the location of a permanent
9598 .It Va history-gabby
9599 \*(BO\*(OP Add more entries to the
9601 as is normally done.
9604 .It Va history-gabby-persist
9605 \*(BO\*(OP \*(UA's own MLE will not save the additional
9607 entries in persistent storage unless this variable is set.
9608 On the other hand it will not loose the knowledge of whether
9609 a persistent entry was gabby or not.
9615 \*(OP Setting this variable imposes a limit on the number of concurrent
9618 If set to the value 0 then no further history entries will be added,
9619 and loading and incorporation of the
9621 upon program startup can also be suppressed by doing this.
9622 Runtime changes will not be reflected before the
9624 is saved or loaded (again).
9628 \*(BO This setting controls whether messages are held in the system
9630 and it is set by default.
9634 Used instead of the value obtained from
9638 as the hostname when expanding local addresses, e.g., in
9641 .Sx "On sending mail, and non-interactive mode" ,
9642 especially for expansion of network addresses that contain domain-less
9643 valid user names in angle brackets).
9646 or this variable Is set the message and MIME part related unique ID fields
9650 will be created (except when disallowed by
9651 .Va message-id-disable
9654 If the \*(OPal IDNA support is available (see
9656 variable assignment is aborted when a necessary conversion fails.
9658 Setting it to the empty string will cause the normal hostname to be
9659 used, but nonetheless enables creation of said ID fields.
9660 \*(IN in conjunction with the built-in SMTP
9663 also influences the results:
9664 one should produce some test messages with the desired combination of
9673 \*(BO\*(OP Can be used to turn off the automatic conversion of domain
9674 names according to the rules of IDNA (internationalized domain names
9676 Since the IDNA code assumes that domain names are specified with the
9678 character set, an UTF-8 locale charset is required to represent all
9679 possible international domain names (before conversion, that is).
9683 The input field separator that is used (\*(ID by some functions) to
9684 determine where to split input data.
9686 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It MMM"
9688 Unsetting is treated as assigning the default value,
9691 If set to the empty value, no field splitting will be performed.
9693 If set to a non-empty value, all whitespace characters are extracted
9694 and assigned to the variable
9698 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It MMM"
9701 will be ignored at the beginning and end of input.
9702 Diverging from POSIX shells default whitespace is removed in addition,
9703 which is owed to the entirely different line content extraction rules.
9705 Each occurrence of a character of
9707 will cause field-splitting, any adjacent
9709 characters will be skipped.
9714 \*(RO Automatically deduced from the whitespace characters in
9719 \*(BO Ignore interrupt signals from the terminal while entering
9720 messages; instead echo them as
9722 characters and discard the current line.
9726 \*(BO Ignore end-of-file conditions
9727 .Pf ( Ql control-D )
9728 in compose mode on message input and in interactive command input.
9729 If set an interactive command input session can only be left by
9730 explicitly using one of the commands
9734 and message input in compose mode can only be terminated by entering
9737 on a line by itself or by using the
9739 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" ;
9740 Setting this implies the behaviour that
9748 If this is set to a non-empty string it will specify the user's
9750 .Sx "primary system mailbox" ,
9753 and the system-dependent default, and (thus) be used to replace
9756 .Sx "Filename transformations" ;
9759 for more on this topic.
9760 The value supports a subset of transformations itself.
9768 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
9771 option for indenting messages,
9772 in place of the POSIX mandated default tabulator character
9779 \*(BO If set, an empty
9781 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
9782 file is not removed.
9783 Note that, in conjunction with
9785 mode any empty file will be removed unless this variable is set.
9786 This may improve the interoperability with other mail user agents
9787 when using a common folder directory, and prevents malicious users
9788 from creating fake mailboxes in a world-writable spool directory.
9789 \*(ID Only local regular (MBOX) files are covered, Maildir and other
9790 mailbox types will never be removed, even if empty.
9793 .It Va keep-content-length
9794 \*(BO When (editing messages and) writing MBOX mailbox files \*(UA can
9799 header fields that some MUAs generate by setting this variable.
9800 Since \*(UA does neither use nor update these non-standardized header
9801 fields (which in itself shows one of their conceptual problems),
9802 stripping them should increase interoperability in between MUAs that
9803 work with with same mailbox files.
9804 Note that, if this is not set but
9805 .Va writebackedited ,
9806 as below, is, a possibly performed automatic stripping of these header
9807 fields already marks the message as being modified.
9808 \*(ID At some future time \*(UA will be capable to rewrite and apply an
9810 to modified messages, and then those fields will be stripped silently.
9814 \*(BO When a message is saved it is usually discarded from the
9815 originating folder when \*(UA is quit.
9816 This setting causes all saved message to be retained.
9819 .It Va line-editor-disable
9820 \*(BO Turn off any enhanced line editing capabilities (see
9821 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor"
9825 .It Va line-editor-no-defaults
9826 \*(BO\*(OP Do not establish any default key binding.
9830 Error log message prefix string
9831 .Pf ( Ql "\*(uA: " ) .
9834 .It Va mailbox-display
9835 \*(RO The name of the current mailbox
9837 possibly abbreviated for display purposes.
9840 .It Va mailbox-resolved
9841 \*(RO The fully resolved path of the current mailbox.
9844 .It Va mailx-extra-rc
9845 An additional startup file that is loaded as the last of the
9846 .Sx "Resource files" .
9847 Use this file for commands that are not understood by other POSIX
9849 implementations, i.e., mostly anything which is not covered by
9850 .Sx "Initial settings" .
9854 \*(BO When a message is replied to and this variable is set,
9855 it is marked as having been
9858 .Sx "Message states" .
9862 \*(BO When opening MBOX mailbox databases \*(UA by default uses tolerant
9863 POSIX rules for detecting message boundaries (so-called
9865 lines) due to compatibility reasons, instead of the stricter rules that
9866 have been standardized in RFC 4155.
9867 This behaviour can be switched to the stricter RFC 4155 rules by
9868 setting this variable.
9869 (This is never necessary for any message newly generated by \*(UA,
9870 it only applies to messages generated by buggy or malicious MUAs, or may
9871 occur in old MBOX databases: \*(UA itself will choose a proper
9873 to avoid false interpretation of
9875 content lines in the MBOX database.)
9877 This may temporarily be handy when \*(UA complains about invalid
9879 lines when opening a MBOX: in this case setting this variable and
9880 re-opening the mailbox in question may correct the result.
9881 If so, copying the entire mailbox to some other file, as in
9882 .Ql copy * SOME-FILE ,
9883 will perform proper, all-compatible
9885 quoting for all detected messages, resulting in a valid MBOX mailbox.
9886 Finally the variable can be unset again:
9887 .Bd -literal -offset indent
9889 localopts yes; wysh set mbox-rfc4155;\e
9890 wysh File "${1}"; eval copy * "${2}"
9892 call mboxfix /tmp/bad.mbox /tmp/good.mbox
9897 \*(BO Internal development variable.
9900 .It Va message-id-disable
9901 \*(BO By setting this variable the generation of
9905 message and MIME part headers can be completely suppressed, effectively
9906 leaving this task up to the
9908 (Mail-Transfer-Agent) or the SMTP server.
9909 Note that according to RFC 5321 a SMTP server is not required to add this
9910 field by itself, so it should be ensured that it accepts messages without
9914 .It Va message-inject-head
9915 A string to put at the beginning of each new message, followed by a newline.
9916 \*(OB The escape sequences tabulator
9920 are understood (use the
9924 ting the variable(s) instead).
9927 .It Va message-inject-tail
9928 A string to put at the end of each new message, followed by a newline.
9929 \*(OB The escape sequences tabulator
9933 are understood (use the
9937 ting the variable(s) instead).
9941 \*(BO Usually, when an
9943 expansion contains the sender, the sender is removed from the expansion.
9944 Setting this option suppresses these removals.
9949 option to be passed through to the
9951 (Mail-Transfer-Agent); though most of the modern MTAs no longer document
9952 this flag, no MTA is known which does not support it (for historical
9956 .It Va mime-allow-text-controls
9957 \*(BO When sending messages, each part of the message is MIME-inspected
9958 in order to classify the
9961 .Ql Content-Transfer-Encoding:
9964 that is required to send this part over mail transport, i.e.,
9965 a computation rather similar to what the
9967 command produces when used with the
9971 This classification however treats text files which are encoded in
9972 UTF-16 (seen for HTML files) and similar character sets as binary
9973 octet-streams, forcefully changing any
9978 .Ql application/octet-stream :
9979 If that actually happens a yet unset charset MIME parameter is set to
9981 effectively making it impossible for the receiving MUA to automatically
9982 interpret the contents of the part.
9984 If this variable is set, and the data was unambiguously identified as
9985 text data at first glance (by a
9989 file extension), then the original
9991 will not be overwritten.
9994 .It Va mime-alternative-favour-rich
9995 \*(BO If this variable is set then rich MIME alternative parts (e.g.,
9996 HTML) will be preferred in favour of included plain text versions when
9997 displaying messages, provided that a handler exists which produces
9998 output that can be (re)integrated into \*(UA's normal visual display.
9999 (E.g., at the time of this writing some newsletters ship their full
10000 content only in the rich HTML part, whereas the plain text part only
10001 contains topic subjects.)
10004 .It Va mime-counter-evidence
10007 field is used to decide how to handle MIME parts.
10008 Some MUAs, however, do not use
10009 .Sx "The mime.types files"
10011 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" )
10012 or a similar mechanism to correctly classify content, but specify an
10013 unspecific MIME type
10014 .Pf ( Ql application/octet-stream )
10015 even for plain text attachments.
10016 If this variable is set then \*(UA will try to re-classify such MIME
10017 message parts, if possible, for example via a possibly existing
10018 attachment filename.
10019 A non-empty value may also be given, in which case a number is expected,
10020 actually a carrier of bits, best specified as a binary value, e.g.,
10023 .Bl -bullet -compact
10025 If bit two is set (counting from 1, decimal 2) then the detected
10027 will be carried along with the message and be used for deciding which
10028 MIME handler is to be used, for example;
10029 when displaying such a MIME part the part-info will indicate the
10030 overridden content-type by showing a plus sign
10033 If bit three is set (decimal 4) then the counter-evidence is always
10034 produced and a positive result will be used as the MIME type, even
10035 forcefully overriding the parts given MIME type.
10037 If bit four is set (decimal 8) as a last resort the actual content of
10038 .Ql application/octet-stream
10039 parts will be inspected, so that data which looks like plain text can be
10041 This mode is even more relaxed when data is to be displayed to the user
10042 or used as a message quote (data consumers which mangle data for display
10043 purposes, which includes masking of control characters, for example).
10047 .It Va mime-encoding
10049 .Ql Content-Transfer-Encoding
10050 to use in outgoing text messages and message parts, where applicable.
10051 (7-bit clean text messages are sent as-is, without a transfer encoding.)
10054 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql _%%_"
10056 .Pf (Or\0 Ql 8b . )
10057 8-bit transport effectively causes the raw data be passed through
10058 unchanged, but may cause problems when transferring mail messages over
10059 channels that are not ESMTP (RFC 1869) compliant.
10060 Also, several input data constructs are not allowed by the
10061 specifications and may cause a different transfer-encoding to be used.
10062 .It Ql quoted-printable
10063 .Pf (Or\0 Ql qp . )
10064 Quoted-printable encoding is 7-bit clean and has the property that ASCII
10065 characters are passed through unchanged, so that an english message can
10066 be read as-is; it is also acceptable for other single-byte locales that
10067 share many characters with ASCII, like, e.g., ISO-8859-1.
10068 The encoding will cause a large overhead for messages in other character
10069 sets: e.g., it will require up to twelve (12) bytes to encode a single
10070 UTF-8 character of four (4) bytes.
10071 It is the default encoding.
10073 .Pf (Or\0 Ql b64 . )
10074 This encoding is 7-bit clean and will always be used for binary data.
10075 This encoding has a constant input:output ratio of 3:4, regardless of
10076 the character set of the input data it will encode three bytes of input
10077 to four bytes of output.
10078 This transfer-encoding is not human readable without performing
10083 .It Va mimetypes-load-control
10084 Can be used to control which of
10085 .Sx "The mime.types files"
10086 are loaded: if the letter
10088 is part of the option value, then the user's personal
10090 file will be loaded (if it exists); likewise the letter
10092 controls loading of the system wide
10094 directives found in the user file take precedence, letter matching is
10096 If this variable is not set \*(UA will try to load both files.
10097 Incorporation of the \*(UA-built-in MIME types cannot be suppressed,
10098 but they will be matched last (the order can be listed via
10101 More sources can be specified by using a different syntax: if the
10102 value string contains an equals sign
10104 then it is instead parsed as a comma-separated list of the described
10107 pairs; the given filenames will be expanded and loaded, and their
10108 content may use the extended syntax that is described in the section
10109 .Sx "The mime.types files" .
10110 Directives found in such files always take precedence (are prepended to
10111 the MIME type cache).
10116 To choose an alternate Mail-Transfer-Agent, set this option to either
10117 the full pathname of an executable (optionally prefixed with the protocol
10119 or \*(OPally a SMTP a.k.a. SUBMISSION protocol URL, e.g., \*(IN
10121 .Dl smtps?://[user[:password]@]server[:port]
10124 .Ql [smtp://]server[:port] . )
10125 The default has been chosen at compile time.
10126 All supported data transfers are executed in child processes, which
10127 run asynchronously and without supervision unless either the
10132 If such a child receives a TERM signal, it will abort and
10139 For a file-based MTA it may be necessary to set
10141 in in order to choose the right target of a modern
10144 It will be passed command line arguments from several possible sources:
10147 if set, from the command line if given and the variable
10150 Argument processing of the MTA will be terminated with a
10155 The otherwise occurring implicit usage of the following MTA command
10156 line arguments can be disabled by setting the boolean variable
10157 .Va mta-no-default-arguments
10158 (which will also disable passing
10162 (for not treating a line with only a dot
10164 character as the end of input),
10166 (shall the variable
10172 variable is set); in conjunction with the
10174 command line option \*(UA will also (not) pass
10176 as well as possibly
10180 \*(OPally \*(UA can send mail over SMTP a.k.a. SUBMISSION network
10181 connections to a single defined smart host by setting this variable to
10182 a SMTP or SUBMISSION URL (see
10183 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" ) .
10184 An authentication scheme can be specified via the variable chain
10186 Encrypted network connections are \*(OPally available, the section
10187 .Sx "Encrypted network communication"
10188 should give an overview and provide links to more information on this.
10189 Note that with some mail providers it may be necessary to set the
10191 variable in order to use a specific combination of
10196 \*(UA also supports forwarding of all network traffic over a specified
10198 The following SMTP variants may be used:
10202 The plain SMTP protocol (RFC 5321) that normally lives on the
10203 server port 25 and requires setting the
10204 .Va smtp-use-starttls
10205 variable to enter a TLS encrypted session state.
10206 Assign a value like \*(IN
10207 .Ql smtp://[user[:password]@]server[:port]
10209 .Ql smtp://server[:port] )
10210 to choose this protocol.
10212 The so-called SMTPS which is supposed to live on server port 465
10213 and is automatically TLS secured.
10214 Unfortunately it never became a standardized protocol and may thus not
10215 be supported by your hosts network service database
10216 \(en in fact the port number has already been reassigned to other
10219 SMTPS is nonetheless a commonly offered protocol and thus can be
10220 chosen by assigning a value like \*(IN
10221 .Ql smtps://[user[:password]@]server[:port]
10223 .Ql smtps://server[:port] ) ;
10224 due to the mentioned problems it is usually necessary to explicitly
10225 specify the port as
10229 The SUBMISSION protocol (RFC 6409) lives on server port 587 and
10230 is identically to the SMTP protocol from \*(UA's point of view;
10231 it requires setting
10232 .Va smtp-use-starttls
10233 to enter a TLS secured session state; e.g., \*(IN
10234 .Ql submission://[user[:password]@]server[:port] .
10236 The SUBMISSIONS protocol (RFC 8314) that lives on server port 465 and is
10237 TLS secured by default.
10238 It can be chosen by assigning a value like \*(IN
10239 .Ql submissions://[user[:password]@]server[:port] .
10240 Due to the problems mentioned for SMTPS above and the fact that
10241 SUBMISSIONS is new and a successor that lives on the same port as the
10242 historical engineering mismanagement named SMTPS, it is usually
10243 necessary to explicitly specify the port as
10249 .It Va mta-arguments
10250 Arguments to pass through to a file-based
10252 can be given via this variable, which is parsed according to
10253 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting"
10254 into an array of arguments, and which will be joined onto MTA options
10255 from other sources, and then passed individually to the MTA:
10256 .Ql ? wysh set mta-arguments='-t -X \&"/tmp/my log\&"' .
10259 .It Va mta-no-default-arguments
10260 \*(BO Unless this variable is set \*(UA will pass some well known
10261 standard command line options to a file-based
10263 (Mail-Transfer-Agent), see there for more.
10266 .It Va mta-no-receiver-arguments
10267 \*(BO By default a file-based
10269 will be passed all receiver addresses on the command line.
10270 This variable can be set to suppress any such argument.
10274 Many systems use a so-called
10276 environment to ensure compatibility with
10278 This works by inspecting the name that was used to invoke the mail
10280 If this variable is set then the mailwrapper (the program that is
10281 actually executed when calling the file-based
10283 will treat its contents as that name.
10285 .Mx Va netrc-lookup
10286 .It Va netrc-lookup-USER@HOST , netrc-lookup-HOST , netrc-lookup
10287 \*(BO\*(IN\*(OP Used to control usage of the user's
10289 file for lookup of account credentials, as documented in the section
10290 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup"
10291 and for the command
10294 .Sx "The .netrc file"
10295 documents the file format.
10307 then \*(UA will read the output of a shell pipe instead of the user's
10309 file if this variable is set (to the desired shell command).
10310 This can be used to, e.g., store
10313 .Ql ? set netrc-pipe='gpg -qd ~/.netrc.pgp' .
10317 \*(OP If this variable has the value
10319 newly created local folders will be in Maildir instead of MBOX format.
10323 Checks for new mail in the current folder each time the prompt is shown.
10324 A Maildir folder must be re-scanned to determine if new mail has arrived.
10325 If this variable is set to the special value
10327 then a Maildir folder will not be rescanned completely, but only
10328 timestamp changes are detected.
10329 Maildir folders are \*(OPal.
10333 \*(BO Unless specified as absolute pathnames, causes the filename given
10337 and the sender-based filenames for the
10341 commands to be interpreted relative to the directory given in the
10343 variable rather than relative to the current directory.
10345 .Mx Va on-account-cleanup
10346 .It Va on-account-cleanup-ACCOUNT , Va on-account-cleanup
10347 Macro hook which will be called once an
10349 is left, as the very last step before unrolling per-account
10351 This hook is run even in case of fatal errors, and it is advisable to
10352 perform only absolutely necessary actions, like cleaning up
10355 The specialized form is used in favour of the generic one if found.
10358 .It Va on-compose-cleanup
10359 Macro hook which will be called after the message has been sent (or not,
10360 in case of failures), as the very last step before unrolling compose mode
10362 This hook is run even in case of fatal errors, and it is advisable to
10363 perform only absolutely necessary actions, like cleaning up
10367 For compose mode hooks that may affect the message content please see
10368 .Va on-compose-enter , on-compose-leave , on-compose-splice .
10369 \*(ID This hook exists because
10370 .Ic alias , alternates , commandalias , shortcut ,
10371 to name a few, are not covered by
10373 changes applied in compose mode will continue to be in effect thereafter.
10378 .It Va on-compose-enter , on-compose-leave
10379 Macro hooks which will be called once compose mode is entered,
10380 and after composing has been finished, but before a set
10381 .Va message-inject-tail
10382 has been injected etc., respectively.
10384 are enabled for these hooks, and changes on variables will be forgotten
10385 after the message has been sent.
10386 .Va on-compose-cleanup
10387 can be used to perform other necessary cleanup steps.
10389 The following (read-only) variables will be set temporarily during
10390 execution of the macros to represent respective message headers, to
10391 the empty string otherwise; most of them correspond to according virtual
10392 message headers that can be accessed via
10395 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
10397 .Va on-compose-splice
10401 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Va mailx_subject"
10402 .It Va mailx-command
10403 The command that generates the message.
10404 .It Va mailx-subject
10408 .It Va mailx-sender
10410 .It Va mailx-to , mailx-cc , mailx-bcc
10411 The list of receiver addresses as a space-separated list.
10412 .It Va mailx-raw-to , mailx-raw-cc , mailx-raw-bcc
10413 The list of receiver addresses before any mangling (due to, e.g.,
10416 .Va recipients-in-cc )
10417 as a space-separated list.
10418 .It Va mailx-orig-from
10419 When replying, forwarding or resending, this will be set to the
10421 of the given message.
10422 .It Va mailx-orig-to , mailx-orig-cc , mailx-orig-bcc
10423 When replying, forwarding or resending, this will be set to the
10424 receivers of the given message.
10428 Here is am example that injects a signature via
10429 .Va message-inject-tail ;
10431 .Va on-compose-splice
10432 to simply inject the file of desire via
10436 may be a better approach.
10438 .Bd -literal -offset indent
10440 vput ! i cat ~/.mysig
10442 vput vexpr message-inject-tail trim-end $i
10446 readctl create ~/.mysig
10450 vput vexpr message-inject-tail trim-end $i
10452 readctl remove ~/.mysig
10455 set on-compose-leave=t_ocl
10461 .It Va on-compose-splice , on-compose-splice-shell
10462 These hooks run once the normal compose mode is finished, but before the
10463 .Va on-compose-leave
10464 macro hook is called, the
10465 .Va message-inject-tail
10467 Both hooks will be executed in a subprocess, with their input and output
10468 connected to \*(UA such that they can act as if they would be an
10470 The difference in between them is that the latter is a
10472 command, whereas the former is a normal \*(UA macro, but which is
10473 restricted to a small set of commands (the
10477 will indicate said capability).
10479 are enabled for these hooks (in the parent process), causing any setting
10480 to be forgotten after the message has been sent;
10481 .Va on-compose-cleanup
10482 can be used to perform other cleanup as necessary.
10485 During execution of these hooks \*(UA will temporarily forget whether it
10486 has been started in interactive mode, (a restricted set of)
10487 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
10488 will always be available, and for guaranteed reproducibilities sake
10492 will be set to their defaults.
10493 The compose mode command
10495 has been especially designed for scriptability (via these hooks).
10496 The first line the hook will read on its standard input is the protocol
10497 version of said command escape, currently
10499 backward incompatible protocol changes have to be expected.
10502 Care must be taken to avoid deadlocks and other false control flow:
10503 if both involved processes wait for more input to happen at the
10504 same time, or one does not expect more input but the other is stuck
10505 waiting for consumption of its output, etc.
10506 There is no automatic synchronization of the hook: it will not be
10507 stopped automatically just because it, e.g., emits
10509 The hooks will however receive a termination signal if the parent enters
10510 an error condition.
10511 \*(ID Protection against and interaction with signals is not yet given;
10512 it is likely that in the future these scripts will be placed in an
10513 isolated session, which is signalled in its entirety as necessary.
10515 .Bd -literal -offset indent
10516 define ocs_signature {
10518 echo '~< ~/.mysig' # '~<! fortune pathtofortunefile'
10520 set on-compose-splice=ocs_signature
10522 wysh set on-compose-splice-shell=$'\e
10524 printf "hello $version! Headers: ";\e
10525 echo \e'~^header list\e';\e
10526 read status result;\e
10527 echo "status=$status result=$result";\e
10532 echo Splice protocol version is $version
10533 echo '~^h l'; read hl; vput vexpr es substring "${hl}" 0 1
10535 echoerr 'Cannot read header list'; echo '~x'; xit
10537 if [ "$hl" @i!% ' cc' ]
10538 echo '~^h i cc Diet is your <mirr.or>'; read es;\e
10539 vput vexpr es substring "${es}" 0 1
10541 echoerr 'Cannot insert Cc: header'; echo '~x'
10542 # (no xit, macro finishs anyway)
10546 set on-compose-splice=ocsm
10551 .It Va on-resend-cleanup
10553 .Va on-compose-cleanup ,
10554 but is only triggered by
10558 .It Va on-resend-enter
10560 .Va on-compose-enter ,
10561 but is only triggered by
10566 \*(BO If set, each message feed through the command given for
10568 is followed by a formfeed character
10572 .It Va password-USER@HOST , password-HOST , password
10573 \*(IN Variable chain that sets a password, which is used in case none has
10574 been given in the protocol and account-specific URL;
10575 as a last resort \*(UA will ask for a password on the user's terminal if
10576 the authentication method requires a password.
10577 Specifying passwords in a startup file is generally a security risk;
10578 the file should be readable by the invoking user only.
10580 .It Va password-USER@HOST
10581 \*(OU (see the chain above for \*(IN)
10582 Set the password for
10586 If no such variable is defined for a host,
10587 the user will be asked for a password on standard input.
10588 Specifying passwords in a startup file is generally a security risk;
10589 the file should be readable by the invoking user only.
10593 \*(BO Send messages to the
10595 command without performing MIME and character set conversions.
10599 .It Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE
10600 When a MIME message part of type
10602 (case-insensitive) is displayed or quoted,
10603 its text is filtered through the value of this variable interpreted as
10605 Note that only parts which can be displayed inline as plain text (see
10606 .Cd copiousoutput )
10607 are displayed unless otherwise noted, other MIME parts will only be
10608 considered by and for the command
10612 The special value commercial at
10614 forces interpretation of the message part as plain text, e.g.,
10615 .Ql set pipe-application/xml=@
10616 will henceforth display XML
10618 (The same could also be achieved by adding a MIME type marker with the
10621 And \*(OPally MIME type handlers may be defined via
10622 .Sx "The Mailcap files"
10623 \(em these directives,
10625 has already been used, should be referred to for further documentation.
10630 can in fact be used as a trigger character to adjust usage and behaviour
10631 of a following shell command specification more thoroughly by appending
10632 more special characters which refer to further mailcap directives, e.g.,
10633 the following hypothetical command specification could be used:
10635 .Bd -literal -offset indent
10636 ? set pipe-X/Y='@!++=@vim ${MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}'
10640 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql __"
10642 The command produces plain text to be integrated in \*(UAs output:
10643 .Cd copiousoutput .
10646 If set the handler will not be invoked when a message is to be quoted,
10647 but only when it will be displayed:
10648 .Cd x-mailx-noquote .
10651 Run the command asynchronously, i.e., without blocking \*(UA:
10652 .Cd x-mailx-async .
10655 The command must be run on an interactive terminal, \*(UA will
10656 temporarily release the terminal to it:
10657 .Cd needsterminal .
10660 Request creation of a zero-sized temporary file, the absolute pathname
10661 of which will be made accessible via the environment variable
10662 .Ev MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY :
10663 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile .
10664 If given twice then the file will be unlinked automatically by \*(UA
10665 when the command loop is entered again at latest:
10666 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink .
10669 Normally the MIME part content is passed to the handler via standard
10670 input; if this flag is set then the data will instead be written into
10671 .Ev MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY
10672 .Pf ( Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-fill ) ,
10673 the creation of which is implied; note however that in order to cause
10674 deletion of the temporary file you still have to use two plus signs
10679 To avoid ambiguities with normal shell command content you can use
10680 another commercial at to forcefully terminate interpretation of
10681 remaining characters.
10682 (Any character not in this list will have the same effect.)
10686 Some information about the MIME part to be displayed is embedded into
10687 the environment of the shell command:
10690 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ev _AIL__ILENAME__ENERATED"
10692 .It Ev MAILX_CONTENT
10693 The MIME content-type of the part, if known, the empty string otherwise.
10696 .It Ev MAILX_CONTENT_EVIDENCE
10698 .Va mime-counter-evidence
10699 includes the carry-around-bit (2), then this will be set to the detected
10700 MIME content-type; not only then identical to
10701 .Ev \&\&MAILX_CONTENT
10705 .It Ev MAILX_EXTERNAL_BODY_URL
10707 .Ql message/external-body access-type=url
10708 will store the access URL in this variable, it is empty otherwise.
10709 URL targets should not be activated automatically, without supervision.
10712 .It Ev MAILX_FILENAME
10713 The filename, if any is set, the empty string otherwise.
10716 .It Ev MAILX_FILENAME_GENERATED
10720 .It Ev MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY
10721 If temporary file creation has been requested through the command prefix
10722 this variable will be set and contain the absolute pathname of the
10728 .It Va pipe-EXTENSION
10729 This is identical to
10730 .Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE
10733 (normalized to lowercase using character mappings of the ASCII charset)
10734 names a file extension, e.g.,
10736 Handlers registered using this method take precedence.
10739 .It Va pop3-auth-USER@HOST , pop3-auth-HOST , pop3-auth
10740 \*(OP\*(IN Variable chain that sets the POP3 authentication method.
10741 The only possible value as of now is
10743 which is thus the default.
10745 .Mx Va pop3-bulk-load
10746 .It Va pop3-bulk-load-USER@HOST , pop3-bulk-load-HOST , pop3-bulk-load
10747 \*(BO\*(OP When accessing a POP3 server \*(UA loads the headers of
10748 the messages, and only requests the message bodies on user request.
10749 For the POP3 protocol this means that the message headers will be
10751 If this variable is set then \*(UA will download only complete messages
10752 from the given POP3 server(s) instead.
10754 .Mx Va pop3-keepalive
10755 .It Va pop3-keepalive-USER@HOST , pop3-keepalive-HOST , pop3-keepalive
10756 \*(OP POP3 servers close the connection after a period of inactivity;
10757 the standard requires this to be at least 10 minutes,
10758 but practical experience may vary.
10759 Setting this variable to a numeric value greater than
10763 command to be sent each value seconds if no other operation is performed.
10765 .Mx Va pop3-no-apop
10766 .It Va pop3-no-apop-USER@HOST , pop3-no-apop-HOST , pop3-no-apop
10767 \*(BO\*(OP Unless this variable is set the
10769 authentication method will be used when connecting to a POP3 server that
10770 advertises support.
10773 is that the password is not sent in clear text over the wire and that
10774 only a single packet is sent for the user/password tuple.
10776 .Va pop3-no-apop-HOST
10779 .Mx Va pop3-use-starttls
10780 .It Va pop3-use-starttls-USER@HOST , pop3-use-starttls-HOST , pop3-use-starttls
10781 \*(BO\*(OP Causes \*(UA to issue a
10783 command to make an unencrypted POP3 session TLS encrypted.
10784 This functionality is not supported by all servers,
10785 and is not used if the session is already encrypted by the POP3S method.
10787 .Va pop3-use-starttls-HOST
10793 \*(BO This flag enables POSIX mode, which changes behaviour of \*(UA
10794 where that deviates from standardized behaviour.
10795 It will be set implicitly before the
10796 .Sx "Resource files"
10797 are loaded if the environment variable
10798 .Ev POSIXLY_CORRECT
10799 is set, and adjusting any of those two will be reflected by the other
10801 The following behaviour is covered and enforced by this mechanism:
10804 .Bl -bullet -compact
10806 In non-interactive mode, any error encountered while loading resource
10807 files during program startup will cause a program exit, whereas in
10808 interactive mode such errors will stop loading of the currently loaded
10809 (stack of) file(s, i.e., recursively).
10810 These exits can be circumvented on a per-command base by using
10813 .Sx "Command modifiers" ,
10814 for each command which shall be allowed to fail.
10818 will replace the list of alternate addresses instead of appending to it.
10821 The variable inserting
10822 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
10828 will expand embedded character sequences
10830 horizontal tabulator and
10833 \*(ID For compatibility reasons this step will always be performed.
10836 Upon changing the active
10840 will be displayed even if
10847 implies the behaviour described by
10853 is extended to cover any empty mailbox, not only empty
10855 .Sx "primary system mailbox" Ns
10856 es: they will be removed when they are left in empty state otherwise.
10861 .It Va print-alternatives
10862 \*(BO When a MIME message part of type
10863 .Ql multipart/alternative
10864 is displayed and it contains a subpart of type
10866 other parts are normally discarded.
10867 Setting this variable causes all subparts to be displayed,
10868 just as if the surrounding part was of type
10869 .Ql multipart/mixed .
10873 The string used as a prompt in interactive mode.
10874 Whenever the variable is evaluated the value is treated as if specified
10875 within dollar-single-quotes (see
10876 .Sx "Shell-style argument quoting" ) .
10877 This (post-assignment, i.e., second) expansion can be used to embed
10878 status information, for example
10883 .Va mailbox-display .
10885 In order to embed characters which should not be counted when
10886 calculating the visual width of the resulting string, enclose the
10887 characters of interest in a pair of reverse solidus escaped brackets:
10889 a slot for coloured prompts is also available with the \*(OPal command
10891 Prompting may be prevented by setting this to the null string
10893 .Ql set noprompt ) .
10897 This string is used for secondary prompts, but is otherwise identical to
10904 \*(BO Suppresses the printing of the version when first invoked.
10910 message is started with the quoted original message,
10911 the lines of which are prefixed by the value of the variable
10913 taking into account
10917 If set to the empty value, the quoted message will be preceded and
10918 followed by the expansions of the values of
10919 .Va quote-inject-head
10921 .Va quote-inject-tail ,
10923 None of the headers of the quoted message is included in the quote if
10926 and only the headers selected by the
10929 selection are put above the message body for
10931 whereas all headers and all MIME parts are included for
10934 .Va quote-as-attachment
10938 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" .
10941 .It Va quote-as-attachment
10942 \*(BO Add the original message in its entirety as a
10944 MIME attachment when replying to a message.
10945 Note this works regardless of the setting of
10950 Can be set to a string consisting of non-whitespace ASCII characters
10951 which shall be treated as quotation leaders, the default being
10956 \*(OP Can be set in addition to
10958 and creates a more fancy quotation in that leading quotation characters
10959 .Pf ( Va quote-chars )
10960 are compressed and overlong lines are folded.
10962 can be set to either one, two or three (space separated) numeric values,
10963 which are interpreted as the maximum (goal) and the minimum line length,
10964 respectively, in a spirit rather equal to the
10966 program, but line- instead of paragraph-based.
10967 The third value is used as the maximum line length instead of the first
10968 if no better break point can be found; it is ignored unless it is larger
10969 than the minimum and smaller than the maximum.
10970 If not set explicitly the minimum will reflect the goal algorithmically.
10971 The goal cannot be smaller than the length of
10973 plus some additional pad; necessary adjustments take place silently.
10978 .It Va quote-inject-head , quote-inject-tail
10979 The strings to put before and after the text of a
10981 d message, respectively.
10982 The former defaults to
10983 .Ql %f wrote:\en\en .
10984 Special format directives will be expanded if possible, and if so
10985 configured the output will be folded according to
10987 Format specifiers in the given strings start with a percent sign
10989 and expand values of the original message, unless noted otherwise.
10990 Note that names and addresses are not subject to the setting of
10992 Valid format specifiers are:
10995 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ql _%%_"
10997 A plain percent sign.
10999 The address(es) of the sender(s).
11001 The date found in the
11003 header of the message when
11005 is set (the default), otherwise the date when the message was received.
11006 Formatting can be controlled by assigning a
11011 .Va datefield-markout-older ) .
11013 The full name(s) (name and address, as given) of the sender(s).
11018 The real name(s) of the sender(s) if there is one and
11020 allows usage, the address(es) otherwise.
11022 The senders real name(s) if there is one, the address(es) otherwise.
11027 .It Va r-option-implicit
11028 \*(BO Setting this option evaluates the contents of
11030 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
11032 and passes the results onto the used (file-based) MTA as described for the
11034 option (empty argument case).
11037 .It Va recipients-in-cc
11044 are by default merged into the new
11046 If this variable is set, only the original
11050 the rest is merged into
11055 Unless this variable is defined, no copies of outgoing mail will be saved.
11056 If defined it gives the pathname, subject to the usual
11057 .Sx "Filename transformations" ,
11058 of a folder where all new, replied-to or forwarded messages are saved:
11059 when saving to this folder fails the message is not sent, but instead
11063 The standard defines that relative (fully expanded) paths are to be
11064 interpreted relative to the current directory
11066 to force interpretation relative to
11069 needs to be set in addition.
11072 .It Va record-files
11073 \*(BO If this variable is set the meaning of
11075 will be extended to cover messages which target only file and pipe
11078 These address types will not appear in recipient lists unless
11079 .Va add-file-recipients
11083 .It Va record-resent
11084 \*(BO If this variable is set the meaning of
11086 will be extended to also cover the
11093 .It Va reply-in-same-charset
11094 \*(BO If this variable is set \*(UA first tries to use the same
11095 character set of the original message for replies.
11096 If this fails, the mechanism described in
11097 .Sx "Character sets"
11098 is evaluated as usual.
11101 .It Va reply-strings
11102 Can be set to a comma-separated list of (case-insensitive according to
11103 ASCII rules) strings which shall be recognized in addition to the
11104 built-in strings as
11106 reply message indicators \(en built-in are
11108 which is mandated by RFC 5322, as well as the german
11113 which often has been seen in the wild;
11114 I.e., the separating colon has to be specified explicitly.
11118 A list of addresses to put into the
11120 field of the message header.
11121 Members of this list are handled as if they were in the
11130 .It Va reply-to-honour
11133 header is honoured when replying to a message via
11137 This is a quadoption; if set without a value it defaults to
11141 .It Va rfc822-body-from_
11142 \*(BO This variable can be used to force displaying a so-called
11144 line for messages that are embedded into an envelope mail via the
11146 MIME mechanism, for more visual convenience.
11150 \*(BO Enable saving of (partial) messages in
11152 upon interrupt or delivery error.
11156 The number of lines that represents a
11165 line display and scrolling via
11167 If this variable is not set \*(UA falls back to a calculation based upon
11168 the detected terminal window size and the baud rate: the faster the
11169 terminal, the more will be shown.
11170 Overall screen dimensions and pager usage is influenced by the
11171 environment variables
11179 .It Va searchheaders
11180 \*(BO Expand message-list specifiers in the form
11182 to all messages containing the substring
11184 in the header field
11186 The string search is case insensitive.
11189 .It Va sendcharsets
11190 \*(OP A comma-separated list of character set names that can be used in
11191 outgoing internet mail.
11192 The value of the variable
11194 is automatically appended to this list of character sets.
11195 If no character set conversion capabilities are compiled into \*(UA then
11196 the only supported charset is
11199 .Va sendcharsets-else-ttycharset
11200 and refer to the section
11201 .Sx "Character sets"
11202 for the complete picture of character set conversion in \*(UA.
11205 .It Va sendcharsets-else-ttycharset
11206 \*(BO\*(OP If this variable is set, but
11208 is not, then \*(UA acts as if
11210 had been set to the value of the variable
11212 In effect this combination passes through the message data in the
11213 character set of the current locale encoding:
11214 therefore mail message text will be (assumed to be) in ISO-8859-1
11215 encoding when send from within a ISO-8859-1 locale, and in UTF-8
11216 encoding when send from within an UTF-8 locale.
11220 never comes into play as
11222 is implicitly assumed to be 8-bit and capable to represent all files the
11223 user may specify (as is the case when no character set conversion
11224 support is available in \*(UA and the only supported character set is
11226 .Sx "Character sets" ) .
11227 This might be a problem for scripts which use the suggested
11229 setting, since in this case the character set is US-ASCII by definition,
11230 so that it is better to also override
11236 An address that is put into the
11238 field of outgoing messages, quoting RFC 5322: the mailbox of the agent
11239 responsible for the actual transmission of the message.
11240 This field should normally not be used unless the
11242 field contains more than one address, on which case it is required.
11243 Dependent on the context this address is handled as if it were in
11248 .Va r-option-implicit .
11251 \*(OB Predecessor of
11254 .It Va sendmail-arguments
11255 \*(OB Predecessor of
11256 .Va mta-arguments .
11258 .It Va sendmail-no-default-arguments
11259 \*(OB\*(BO Predecessor of
11260 .Va mta-no-default-arguments .
11262 .It Va sendmail-progname
11263 \*(OB Predecessor of
11268 \*(BO When sending a message wait until the
11270 (including the built-in SMTP one) exits before accepting further commands.
11272 with this variable set errors reported by the MTA will be recognizable!
11273 If the MTA returns a non-zero exit status,
11274 the exit status of \*(UA will also be non-zero.
11278 \*(BO This setting causes \*(UA to start at the last message
11279 instead of the first one when opening a mail folder, as well as with
11286 \*(BO Causes \*(UA to use the sender's real name instead of the plain
11287 address in the header field summary and in message specifications.
11291 \*(BO Causes the recipient of the message to be shown in the header
11292 summary if the message was sent by the user.
11299 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" .
11301 .Va message-inject-tail ,
11302 .Va on-compose-leave
11304 .Va on-compose-splice .
11311 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" .
11313 .Va message-inject-tail ,
11314 .Va on-compose-leave
11316 .Va on-compose-splice .
11321 .Va on-compose-splice
11323 .Va on-compose-splice-shell
11325 .Va on-compose-leave
11327 .Va message-inject-tail
11331 .It Va skipemptybody
11332 \*(BO If an outgoing message does not contain any text in its first or
11333 only message part, do not send it but discard it silently (see also the
11334 command line option
11339 .It Va smime-ca-dir , smime-ca-file
11340 \*(OP Specify the location of trusted CA certificates in PEM (Privacy
11341 Enhanced Mail) for the purpose of verification of S/MIME signed messages.
11343 documents the necessary preparation steps to use the former.
11344 The set of CA certificates which are built into the TLS library can
11345 be explicitly turned off by setting
11346 .Va smime-ca-no-defaults ,
11347 and further fine-tuning is possible via
11348 .Va smime-ca-flags .
11351 .It Va smime-ca-flags
11352 \*(OP Can be used to fine-tune behaviour of the X509 CA certificate
11353 storage, and the certificate verification that is used.
11354 The actual values and their meanings are documented for
11358 .It Va smime-ca-no-defaults
11359 \*(BO\*(OP Do not load the default CA locations that are built into the
11360 used to TLS library to verify S/MIME signed messages.
11362 .Mx Va smime-cipher
11363 .It Va smime-cipher-USER@HOST , smime-cipher
11364 \*(OP Specifies the cipher to use when generating S/MIME encrypted
11365 messages (for the specified account).
11366 RFC 5751 mandates a default of
11369 Possible values are (case-insensitive and) in decreasing cipher strength:
11377 (DES EDE3 CBC, 168 bits; default if
11379 is not available) and
11381 (DES CBC, 56 bits).
11383 The actually available cipher algorithms depend on the cryptographic
11384 library that \*(UA uses.
11385 \*(OP Support for more cipher algorithms may be available through
11386 dynamic loading via, e.g.,
11387 .Xr EVP_get_cipherbyname 3
11388 (OpenSSL) if \*(UA has been compiled to support this.
11391 .It Va smime-crl-dir
11392 \*(OP Specifies a directory that contains files with CRLs in PEM format
11393 to use when verifying S/MIME messages.
11396 .It Va smime-crl-file
11397 \*(OP Specifies a file that contains a CRL in PEM format to use when
11398 verifying S/MIME messages.
11401 .It Va smime-encrypt-USER@HOST
11402 \*(OP If this variable is set, messages send to the given receiver are
11403 encrypted before sending.
11404 The value of the variable must be set to the name of a file that
11405 contains a certificate in PEM format.
11407 If a message is sent to multiple recipients,
11408 each of them for whom a corresponding variable is set will receive an
11409 individually encrypted message;
11410 other recipients will continue to receive the message in plain text
11412 .Va smime-force-encryption
11414 It is recommended to sign encrypted messages, i.e., to also set the
11419 .It Va smime-force-encryption
11420 \*(BO\*(OP Causes \*(UA to refuse sending unencrypted messages.
11424 \*(BO\*(OP S/MIME sign outgoing messages with the user's private key
11425 and include the user's certificate as a MIME attachment.
11426 Signing a message enables a recipient to verify that the sender used
11427 a valid certificate,
11428 that the email addresses in the certificate match those in the message
11429 header and that the message content has not been altered.
11430 It does not change the message text,
11431 and people will be able to read the message as usual.
11433 .Va smime-sign-cert , smime-sign-include-certs
11435 .Va smime-sign-digest .
11437 .Mx Va smime-sign-cert
11438 .It Va smime-sign-cert-USER@HOST , smime-sign-cert
11439 \*(OP Points to a file in PEM format.
11440 For the purpose of signing and decryption this file needs to contain the
11441 user's private key, followed by his certificate.
11443 For message signing
11445 is always derived from the value of
11447 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
11449 For the purpose of encryption the recipient's public encryption key
11450 (certificate) is expected; the command
11452 can be used to save certificates of signed messages (the section
11453 .Sx "Signed and encrypted messages with S/MIME"
11454 gives some details).
11455 This mode of operation is usually driven by the specialized form.
11457 When decrypting messages the account is derived from the recipient
11462 of the message, which are searched for addresses for which such
11464 \*(UA always uses the first address that matches,
11465 so if the same message is sent to more than one of the user's addresses
11466 using different encryption keys, decryption might fail.
11468 For signing and decryption purposes it is possible to use encrypted
11469 keys, and the pseudo-host(s)
11470 .Ql USER@HOST.smime-cert-key
11471 for the private key
11473 .Ql USER@HOST.smime-cert-cert
11474 for the certificate stored in the same file)
11475 will be used for performing any necessary password lookup,
11476 therefore the lookup can be automated via the mechanisms described in
11477 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" .
11478 For example, the hypothetical address
11480 could be driven with a private key / certificate pair path defined in
11481 .Va \&\&smime-sign-cert-bob@exam.ple ,
11482 and needed passwords would then be looked up via the pseudo hosts
11483 .Ql bob@exam.ple.smime-cert-key
11485 .Ql bob@exam.ple.smime-cert-cert ) .
11486 To include intermediate certificates, use
11487 .Va smime-sign-include-certs .
11489 .Mx Va smime-sign-digest
11490 .It Va smime-sign-digest-USER@HOST , smime-sign-digest
11491 \*(OP Specifies the message digestto use when signing S/MIME messages.
11492 Please remember that for this use case
11494 refers to the variable
11496 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
11498 The available algorithms depend on the used cryptographic library, but
11499 at least one usable builtin algorithm is ensured as a default.
11500 If possible the standard RFC 5751 will be violated by using
11502 instead of the mandated
11504 due to security concerns.
11506 \*(UA will try to add built-in support for the following message
11507 digests, names are case-insensitive:
11514 as well as the widely available
11519 and the proposed insecure
11523 More digests may \*(OPally be available through dynamic loading via,
11524 e.g., the OpenSSL function
11525 .Xr EVP_get_digestbyname 3 .
11527 .Mx Va smime-sign-include-certs
11528 .It Va smime-sign-include-certs-USER@HOST , smime-sign-include-certs
11529 \*(OP If used, this is supposed to a consist of a comma-separated list
11530 of files, each of which containing a single certificate in PEM format to
11531 be included in the S/MIME message in addition to the
11532 .Va smime-sign-cert
11534 This can be used to include intermediate certificates of the certificate
11535 authority, in order to allow the receiver's S/MIME implementation to
11536 perform a verification of the entire certificate chain, starting from
11537 a local root certificate, over the intermediate certificates, down to the
11538 .Va smime-sign-cert .
11539 Even though top level certificates may also be included in the chain,
11540 they won't be used for the verification on the receiver's side.
11542 For the purpose of the mechanisms involved here,
11544 refers to the content of the internal variable
11546 (or, if that contains multiple addresses,
11549 .Ql USER@HOST.smime-include-certs
11550 will be used for performing password lookups for these certificates,
11551 shall they have been given one, therefore the lookup can be automated
11552 via the mechanisms described in
11553 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" .
11555 .It Va smime-sign-message-digest-USER@HOST , smime-sign-message-digest
11556 \*(OB\*(OP Predecessor(s) of
11557 .Va smime-sign-digest .
11560 \*(OB\*(OP To use the built-in SMTP transport, specify a SMTP URL in
11562 \*(ID For compatibility reasons a set
11564 is used in preference of
11568 .It Va smtp-auth-USER@HOST , smtp-auth-HOST , smtp-auth
11569 \*(OP Variable chain that controls the SMTP
11571 authentication method, possible values are
11577 as well as the \*(OPal methods
11583 method does not need any user credentials,
11585 requires a user name and all other methods require a user name and
11593 .Va smtp-auth-password
11595 .Va smtp-auth-user ) .
11600 .Va smtp-auth-USER@HOST :
11601 may override dependent on sender address in the variable
11604 .It Va smtp-auth-password
11605 \*(OP\*(OU Sets the global fallback password for SMTP authentication.
11606 If the authentication method requires a password, but neither
11607 .Va smtp-auth-password
11609 .Va smtp-auth-password-USER@HOST
11611 \*(UA will ask for a password on the user's terminal.
11613 .It Va smtp-auth-password-USER@HOST
11615 .Va smtp-auth-password
11616 for specific values of sender addresses, dependent upon the variable
11619 .It Va smtp-auth-user
11620 \*(OP\*(OU Sets the global fallback user name for SMTP authentication.
11621 If the authentication method requires a user name, but neither
11624 .Va smtp-auth-user-USER@HOST
11626 \*(UA will ask for a user name on the user's terminal.
11628 .It Va smtp-auth-user-USER@HOST
11631 for specific values of sender addresses, dependent upon the variable
11635 .It Va smtp-hostname
11636 \*(OP\*(IN Normally \*(UA uses the variable
11638 to derive the necessary
11640 information in order to issue a
11647 can be used to use the
11649 from the SMTP account
11656 from the content of this variable (or, if that is the empty string,
11658 or the local hostname as a last resort).
11659 This often allows using an address that is itself valid but hosted by
11660 a provider other than which (in
11662 is about to send the message.
11663 Setting this variable also influences generated
11668 If the \*(OPal IDNA support is available (see
11670 variable assignment is aborted when a necessary conversion fails.
11672 .Mx Va smtp-use-starttls
11673 .It Va smtp-use-starttls-USER@HOST , smtp-use-starttls-HOST , smtp-use-starttls
11674 \*(BO\*(OP Causes \*(UA to issue a
11676 command to make an SMTP
11678 session TLS encrypted, i.e., to enable transport layer security.
11681 .It Va socks-proxy-USER@HOST , socks-proxy-HOST , socks-proxy
11682 \*(OP If this is set to the hostname (SOCKS URL) of a SOCKS5 server then
11683 \*(UA will proxy all of its network activities through it.
11684 This can be used to proxy SMTP, POP3 etc. network traffic through the
11685 Tor anonymizer, for example.
11686 The following would create a local SOCKS proxy on port 10000 that
11687 forwards to the machine
11689 and from which the network traffic is actually instantiated:
11690 .Bd -literal -offset indent
11691 # Create local proxy server in terminal 1 forwarding to HOST
11692 $ ssh -D 10000 USER@HOST
11693 # Then, start a client that uses it in terminal 2
11694 $ \*(uA -Ssocks-proxy-USER@HOST=localhost:10000
11698 .It Va spam-interface
11699 \*(OP In order to use any of the spam-related commands (like, e.g.,
11701 the desired spam interface must be defined by setting this variable.
11702 Please refer to the manual section
11703 .Sx "Handling spam"
11704 for the complete picture of spam handling in \*(UA.
11705 All or none of the following interfaces may be available:
11707 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ql _ilte_"
11713 .Pf ( Lk http://spamassassin.apache.org SpamAssassin )
11715 Different to the generic filter interface \*(UA will automatically add
11716 the correct arguments for a given command and has the necessary
11717 knowledge to parse the program's output.
11718 A default value for
11720 will have been compiled into the \*(UA binary if
11724 during compilation.
11725 Shall it be necessary to define a specific connection type (rather than
11726 using a configuration file for that), the variable
11727 .Va spamc-arguments
11728 can be used as in, e.g.,
11729 .Ql -d server.example.com -p 783 .
11730 It is also possible to specify a per-user configuration via
11732 Note that this interface does not inspect the
11734 flag of a message for the command
11738 generic spam filter support via freely configurable hooks.
11739 This interface is meant for programs like
11741 and requires according behaviour in respect to the hooks' exit
11742 status for at least the command
11745 meaning a message is spam,
11749 for unsure and any other return value indicating a hard error);
11750 since the hooks can include shell code snippets diverting behaviour
11751 can be intercepted as necessary.
11753 .Va spamfilter-ham , spamfilter-noham , spamfilter-nospam , \
11756 .Va spamfilter-spam ;
11758 .Sx "Handling spam"
11759 contains examples for some programs.
11760 The process environment of the hooks will have the variable
11761 .Ev MAILX_FILENAME_GENERATED
11763 Note that spam score support for
11765 is not supported unless the \*(OPtional regular expression support is
11767 .Va spamfilter-rate-scanscore
11773 .It Va spam-maxsize
11774 \*(OP Messages that exceed this size will not be passed through to the
11776 .Va spam-interface .
11777 If unset or 0, the default of 420000 bytes is used.
11780 .It Va spamc-command
11781 \*(OP The path to the
11785 .Va spam-interface .
11786 Note that the path is not expanded, but used
11788 A fallback path will have been compiled into the \*(UA binary if the
11789 executable had been found during compilation.
11792 .It Va spamc-arguments
11793 \*(OP Even though \*(UA deals with most arguments for the
11796 automatically, it may at least sometimes be desirable to specify
11797 connection-related ones via this variable, e.g.,
11798 .Ql -d server.example.com -p 783 .
11802 \*(OP Specify a username for per-user configuration files for the
11804 .Va spam-interface .
11805 If this is set to the empty string then \*(UA will use the name of the
11814 .It Va spamfilter-ham , spamfilter-noham , \
11815 spamfilter-nospam , spamfilter-rate , spamfilter-spam
11816 \*(OP Command and argument hooks for the
11818 .Va spam-interface .
11820 .Sx "Handling spam"
11821 contains examples for some programs.
11824 .It Va spamfilter-rate-scanscore
11825 \*(OP Because of the generic nature of the
11828 spam scores are not supported for it by default, but if the \*(OPnal
11829 regular expression support is available then setting this variable can
11830 be used to overcome this restriction.
11831 It is interpreted as follows: first a number (digits) is parsed that
11832 must be followed by a semicolon
11834 and an extended regular expression.
11835 Then the latter is used to parse the first output line of the
11836 .Va spamfilter-rate
11837 hook, and, in case the evaluation is successful, the group that has been
11838 specified via the number is interpreted as a floating point scan score.
11840 .It Va ssl-ca-dir-USER@HOST , ssl-ca-dir-HOST , ssl-ca-dir ,\
11841 ssl-ca-file-USER@HOST , ssl-ca-file-HOST , ssl-ca-file
11842 \*(OB\*(OP Predecessors of
11846 .It Va ssl-ca-flags-USER@HOST , ssl-ca-flags-HOST , ssl-ca-flags
11847 \*(OB\*(OP Predecessor of
11850 .It Va ssl-ca-no-defaults-USER@HOST , ssl-ca-no-defaults-HOST ,\
11852 \*(OB\*(BO\*(OP Predecessor of
11853 .Va tls-ca-no-defaults .
11855 .It Va ssl-cert-USER@HOST , ssl-cert-HOST , ssl-cert
11856 \*(OB\*(OP Please use the
11859 .Va tls-config-pairs .
11861 .It Va ssl-cipher-list-USER@HOST , ssl-cipher-list-HOST , ssl-cipher-list
11862 \*(OB\*(OP Please use the
11865 .Va tls-config-pairs .
11867 .It Va ssl-config-file
11868 \*(OB\*(OP Predecessor of
11869 .Va tls-config-file .
11871 .It Va ssl-config-module-USER@HOST , ssl-config-module-HOST ,\
11873 \*(OB\*(OP Predecessor of
11874 .Va tls-config-module .
11876 .It Va ssl-config-pairs-USER@HOST , ssl-config-pairs-HOST , ssl-config-pairs
11877 \*(OB\*(OP Predecessor of
11878 .Va tls-config-pairs .
11880 .It Va ssl-crl-dir , ssl-crl-file
11881 \*(OB\*(OP Predecessors of
11885 .It Va ssl-curves-USER@HOST , ssl-curves-HOST , ssl-curves
11886 \*(OB\*(OP Please use the
11889 .Va tls-config-pairs .
11891 .It Va ssl-features
11892 \*(OB\*(OP\*(RO Predecessor of
11895 .It Va ssl-key-USER@HOST , ssl-key-HOST , ssl-key
11896 \*(OB\*(OP Please use the
11899 .Va tls-config-pairs .
11901 .It Va ssl-method-USER@HOST , ssl-method-HOST , ssl-method
11902 \*(OB\*(OP Please use the
11905 .Va tls-config-pairs .
11907 .It Va ssl-protocol-USER@HOST , ssl-protocol-HOST , ssl-protocol
11908 \*(OB\*(OP Please use the
11911 .Va tls-config-pairs .
11913 .It Va ssl-rand-file
11914 \*(OB\*(OP Predecessor of
11915 .Va tls-rand-file .
11917 .It Va ssl-verify-USER@HOST , ssl-verify-HOST , ssl-verify
11918 \*(OB\*(OP Predecessor of
11923 If only set without an assigned value, then this setting inhibits the
11929 header fields that include obvious references to \*(UA.
11930 There are two pitfalls associated with this:
11931 First, the message id of outgoing messages is not known anymore.
11932 Second, an expert may still use the remaining information in the header
11933 to track down the originating mail user agent.
11934 If set to the value
11940 suppression does not occur.
11943 .It Va system-mailrc
11944 \*(RO The compiled in path of the system wide initialization file
11946 .Sx "Resource files" :
11952 (\*(OP) This specifies a comma-separated list of
11957 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" ,
11958 escape commas with reverse solidus) to be used to overwrite or define
11961 this variable will only be queried once at program startup and can
11962 thus only be specified in resource files or on the command line.
11965 String capabilities form
11967 pairs and are expected unless noted otherwise.
11968 Numerics have to be notated as
11970 where the number is expected in normal decimal notation.
11971 Finally, booleans do not have any value but indicate a true or false
11972 state simply by being defined or not; this indeed means that \*(UA
11973 does not support undefining an existing boolean.
11974 String capability values will undergo some expansions before use:
11975 for one notations like
11978 .Ql control-LETTER ,
11979 and for clarification purposes
11981 can be used to specify
11983 (the control notation
11985 could lead to misreadings when a left bracket follows, which it does for
11986 the standard CSI sequence);
11987 finally three letter octal sequences, as in
11990 To specify that a terminal supports 256-colours, and to define sequences
11991 that home the cursor and produce an audible bell, one might write:
11993 .Bd -literal -offset indent
11994 ? set termcap='Co#256,home=\eE[H,bel=^G'
11998 The following terminal capabilities are or may be meaningful for the
11999 operation of the built-in line editor or \*(UA in general:
12002 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Cd yay"
12004 .It Cd colors Ns \0or Cd Co
12006 numeric capability specifying the maximum number of colours.
12007 Note that \*(UA does not actually care about the terminal beside that,
12008 but always emits ANSI / ISO 6429 escape sequences.
12011 .It Cd rmcup Ns \0or Cd te Ns \0/ Cd smcup Ns \0or Cd ti
12014 .Cd enter_ca_mode ,
12015 respectively: exit and enter the alternative screen ca-mode,
12016 effectively turning \*(UA into a fullscreen application.
12017 This must be enabled explicitly by setting
12018 .Va termcap-ca-mode .
12020 .It Cd smkx Ns \0or Cd ks Ns \0/ Cd rmkx Ns \0or Cd ke
12024 respectively: enable and disable the keypad.
12025 This is always enabled if available, because it seems even keyboards
12026 without keypads generate other key codes for, e.g., cursor keys in that
12027 case, and only if enabled we see the codes that we are interested in.
12029 .It Cd ed Ns \0or Cd cd
12033 .It Cd clear Ns \0or Cd cl
12035 clear the screen and home cursor.
12036 (Will be simulated via
12041 .It Cd home Ns \0or Cd ho
12046 .It Cd el Ns \0or Cd ce
12048 clear to the end of line.
12049 (Will be simulated via
12051 plus repetitions of space characters.)
12053 .It Cd hpa Ns \0or Cd ch
12054 .Cd column_address :
12055 move the cursor (to the given column parameter) in the current row.
12056 (Will be simulated via
12062 .Cd carriage_return :
12063 move to the first column in the current row.
12064 The default built-in fallback is
12067 .It Cd cub1 Ns \0or Cd le
12069 move the cursor left one space (non-destructively).
12070 The default built-in fallback is
12073 .It Cd cuf1 Ns \0or Cd nd
12075 move the cursor right one space (non-destructively).
12076 The default built-in fallback is
12078 which is used by most terminals.
12086 Many more capabilities which describe key-sequences are documented for
12091 .It Va termcap-ca-mode
12092 \*(OP Allow usage of the
12096 terminal capabilities, see
12099 this variable will only be queried once at program startup and can
12100 thus only be specified in resource files or on the command line.
12103 .It Va termcap-disable
12104 \*(OP Disable any interaction with a terminal control library.
12105 If set only some generic fallback built-ins and possibly the content of
12107 describe the terminal to \*(UA.
12109 this variable will only be queried once at program startup and can
12110 thus only be specified in resource files or on the command line.
12114 .It Va tls-ca-dir-USER@HOST , tls-ca-dir-HOST , tls-ca-dir ,\
12115 tls-ca-file-USER@HOST , tls-ca-file-HOST , tls-ca-file
12116 \*(OP Directory and file, respectively, for pools of trusted CA
12117 certificates in PEM (Privacy Enhanced Mail) format, for the purpose of
12118 verification of TLS server certificates.
12119 Concurrent use is possible, the file is loaded once needed first, the
12120 directory lookup is performed anew as a last resort whenever necessary.
12121 The CA certificate pool built into the TLS library can be disabled via
12122 .Va tls-ca-no-defaults ,
12123 further fine-tuning is possible via
12125 Note the directory search variant requires the certificate files to
12126 adhere special filename conventions, please see
12127 .Xr SSL_CTX_load_verify_locations 3
12134 .Mx Va tls-ca-flags
12135 .It Va tls-ca-flags-USER@HOST , tls-ca-flags-HOST , tls-ca-flags
12136 \*(OP Can be used to fine-tune behaviour of the X509 CA certificate
12137 storage, and the certificate verification that is used (also see
12139 The value is expected to consist of a comma-separated list of
12140 configuration directives, with any intervening whitespace being ignored.
12141 The directives directly map to flags that can be passed to
12142 .Xr X509_STORE_set_flags 3 ,
12143 which are usually defined in a file
12144 .Pa openssl/x509_vfy.h ,
12145 and the availability of which depends on the used TLS library
12146 version: a directive without mapping is ignored (error log subject to
12148 Directives currently understood (case-insensitively) include:
12151 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Cd BaNg"
12152 .It Cd no-alt-chains
12153 If the initial chain is not trusted, do not attempt to build an
12155 Setting this flag will make OpenSSL certificate verification match that
12156 of older OpenSSL versions, before automatic building and checking of
12157 alternative chains has been implemented; also see
12158 .Cd trusted-first .
12159 .It Cd no-check-time
12160 Do not check certificate/CRL validity against current time.
12161 .It Cd partial-chain
12162 By default partial, incomplete chains which cannot be verified up to the
12163 chain top, a self-signed root certificate, will not verify.
12164 With this flag set, a chain succeeds to verify if at least one signing
12165 certificate of the chain is in any of the configured trusted stores of
12167 The OpenSSL manual page
12168 .Xr SSL_CTX_load_verify_locations 3
12169 gives some advise how to manage your own trusted store of CA certificates.
12171 Disable workarounds for broken certificates.
12172 .It Cd trusted-first
12173 Try building a chain using issuers in the trusted store first to avoid
12174 problems with server-sent legacy intermediate certificates.
12175 Newer versions of OpenSSL support alternative chain checking and enable
12176 it by default, resulting in the same behaviour; also see
12177 .Cd no-alt-chains .
12181 .Mx Va tls-ca-no-defaults
12182 .It Va tls-ca-no-defaults-USER@HOST , tls-ca-no-defaults-HOST ,\
12184 \*(BO\*(OP Do not load the default CA locations that are built into the
12185 used to TLS library to verify TLS server certificates.
12188 .It Va tls-config-file
12189 \*(OP If this variable is set
12190 .Xr CONF_modules_load_file 3
12192 .Ql +modules-load-file
12195 is used to allow resource file based configuration of the TLS library.
12196 This happens once the library is used first, which may also be early
12197 during startup (logged with
12199 If a non-empty value is given then the given file, after performing
12200 .Sx "Filename transformations" ,
12201 will be used instead of the TLS libraries global default, and it is an
12202 error if the file cannot be loaded.
12203 The application name will always be passed as
12205 Some TLS libraries support application-specific configuration via
12206 resource files loaded like this, please see
12207 .Va tls-config-module .
12209 .Mx Va tls-config-module
12210 .It Va tls-config-module-USER@HOST , tls-config-module-HOST ,\
12212 \*(OP If file based application-specific configuration via
12213 .Va tls-config-file
12214 is available, announced as
12218 indicating availability of
12219 .Xr SSL_CTX_config 3 ,
12220 then, it becomes possible to use a central TLS configuration file
12221 for all programs, including \*(uA, e.g.:
12222 .Bd -literal -offset indent
12223 # Register a configuration section for \*(uA
12224 \*(uA = mailx_master
12225 # The top configuration section creates a relation
12226 # in between dynamic SSL configuration and an actual
12227 # program specific configuration section
12229 ssl_conf = mailx_tls_config
12230 # Well that actual program specific configuration section
12231 # now can map individual tls-config-module names to sections,
12232 # e.g., tls-config-module=account_xy
12234 account_xy = mailx_account_xy
12235 account_yz = mailx_account_yz
12237 MinProtocol = TLSv1.2
12240 CipherString = TLSv1.2:!aNULL:!eNULL:
12241 MinProtocol = TLSv1.1
12246 .Mx Va tls-config-pairs
12247 .It Va tls-config-pairs-USER@HOST , tls-config-pairs-HOST , tls-config-pairs
12248 \*(OP The value of this variable chain will be interpreted as
12249 a comma-separated list of directive/value pairs.
12250 Directives and values need to be separated by equals signs
12252 any whitespace surrounding pair members is removed.
12253 Keys are (usually) case-insensitive.
12254 Different to when placing these pairs in a
12255 .Va tls-config-module
12257 .Va tls-config-file ,
12260 need to be escaped with a reverse solidus
12262 when included in pairs; also different: if the equals sign
12264 is preceded with an asterisk
12266 .Sx "Filename transformations"
12267 will be performed on the value; it is an error if these fail.
12268 Unless proper support is announced by
12270 .Pf ( Ql +conf-ctx )
12271 only the keys below are supported, otherwise the pairs will be used
12272 directly as arguments to the function
12273 .Xr SSL_CONF_cmd 3 .
12276 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Cd C_rtificate_"
12278 Filename of a TLS client certificate (chain) required by some servers.
12279 Fallback support via
12280 .Xr SSL_CTX_use_certificate_chain_file 3 .
12281 .Sx "Filename transformations"
12283 .\" v15compat: remove the next sentence
12285 if you use this you need to specify the private key via
12290 .It Cd CipherString
12291 A list of ciphers for TLS connections, see
12293 By default no list of ciphers is set, resulting in a
12294 .Cd Protocol Ns - Ns
12295 specific list of ciphers (the protocol standards define lists of
12296 acceptable ciphers; possibly cramped by the used TLS library).
12297 Fallback support via
12298 .Xr SSL_CTX_set_cipher_list 3 .
12300 .It Cd Ciphersuites
12301 A list of ciphers used for TLSv1.3 connections, see
12303 These will be joined onto the list of ciphers from
12308 .Ql +ctx-set-ciphersuites ,
12310 .Xr SSL_CTX_set_ciphersuites 3 .
12313 A list of supported elliptic curves, if applicable.
12314 By default no curves are set.
12315 Fallback support via
12316 .Xr SSL_CTX_set1_curves_list 3 ,
12319 .It Cd MaxProtocol , MinProtocol
12320 The maximum and minimum supported TLS versions, respectively.
12324 .Ql +ctx-set-maxmin-proto ,
12326 .Xr SSL_CTX_set_max_proto_version 3
12328 .Xr SSL_CTX_set_min_proto_version 3 ;
12329 these fallbacks use an internal parser which understands the strings
12335 and the special value
12337 which disables the given limit.
12340 Various flags to set.
12342 .Xr SSL_CTX_set_options 3 ,
12343 in which case any other value but (exactly)
12345 results in an error.
12348 Filename of the private key in PEM format of a TLS client certificate.
12349 If unset, the name of the certificate file is used.
12350 .Sx "Filename transformations"
12353 .Xr SSL_CTX_use_PrivateKey_file 3 .
12354 .\" v15compat: remove the next sentence
12356 if you use this you need to specify the certificate (chain) via
12362 The used TLS protocol.
12368 .Ql ctx-set-maxmin-proto
12375 .Xr SSL_CTX_set_options 3 ,
12376 driven via an internal parser which understands the strings
12382 and the special value
12384 Multiple protocols may be given as a comma-separated list, any
12385 whitespace is ignored, an optional plus sign
12387 prefix enables, a hyphen-minus
12389 prefix disables a protocol, so that
12391 enables only the TLSv1.2 protocol.
12397 .It Va tls-crl-dir , tls-crl-file
12398 \*(OP Specify a directory / a file, respectively, that contains a CRL in
12399 PEM format to use when verifying TLS server certificates.
12402 .It Va tls-features
12403 \*(OP\*(RO This expands to a comma separated list of the TLS library
12404 identity and optional SSL library features.
12405 Currently supported identities are
12409 (OpenSSL v1.1.x series)
12412 (elder OpenSSL series, other clones).
12413 Optional features are preceded with a plus sign
12415 when available, and with a hyphen-minus
12419 Currently known features are
12420 .Ql modules-load-file
12421 .Pf ( Va tls-config-file ) ,
12423 .Pf ( Va tls-config-pairs ) ,
12425 .Pf ( Va tls-config-module ) ,
12426 .Ql ctx-set-maxmin-proto
12427 .Pf ( Va tls-config-pairs ) ,
12428 .Ql ctx-set-ciphersuites
12432 .Va tls-config-pairs ) .
12434 .Mx Va tls-fingerprint
12435 .It Va tls-fingerprint-USER@HOST , tls-fingerprint-HOST , tls-fingerprint
12436 \*(OP It is possible to replace the verification of the connection
12437 peer certificate against the entire local pool of CAs (for more see
12438 .Sx "Encrypted network communication" )
12439 with the comparison against a precalculated certificate message digest,
12440 the so-called fingerprint, to be specified as the used
12441 .Va tls-fingerprint-digest .
12442 This fingerprint can be calculated with, e.g.,
12443 .Ql Ic tls Ns \:\0\:fingerprint HOST .
12445 .Mx Va tls-fingerprint-digest
12446 .It Va tls-fingerprint-digest-USER@HOST , tls-fingerprint-digest-HOST , \
12447 tls-fingerprint-digest
12448 \*(OP The message digest to be used when creating TLS certificate
12449 fingerprints, the defaults, if available, in test order, being
12452 For the complete list of digest algorithms refer to
12453 .Va smime-sign-digest .
12456 .It Va tls-rand-file
12457 \*(OP Gives the filename to a file with random entropy data, see
12458 .Xr RAND_load_file 3 .
12459 If this variable is not set, or set to the empty string, or if the
12460 .Sx "Filename transformations"
12462 .Xr RAND_file_name 3
12463 will be used to create the filename.
12464 If the SSL PRNG was seeded successfully
12465 The file will be updated
12466 .Pf ( Xr RAND_write_file 3 )
12467 if and only if seeding and buffer stirring succeeds.
12470 .It Va tls-verify-USER@HOST , tls-verify-HOST , tls-verify
12471 \*(OP Variable chain that sets the action to be performed if an error
12472 occurs during TLS server certificate validation against the
12473 specified or default trust stores
12476 or the TLS library built-in defaults (unless usage disallowed via
12477 .Va tls-ca-no-defaults ) ,
12478 and as fine-tuned via
12480 Valid (case-insensitive) values are
12482 (fail and close connection immediately),
12484 (ask whether to continue on standard input),
12486 (show a warning and continue),
12488 (do not perform validation).
12493 If defined, gives the number of lines of a message to be displayed
12496 if unset, the first five lines are printed, if set to 0 the variable
12499 If the value is negative then its absolute value will be used for
12500 unsigned right shifting (see
12508 \*(BO If set then the
12510 command series will strip adjacent empty lines and quotations.
12514 The character set of the terminal \*(UA operates on,
12515 and the one and only supported character set that \*(UA can use if no
12516 character set conversion capabilities have been compiled into it,
12517 in which case it defaults to ISO-8859-1.
12518 Otherwise it defaults to UTF-8.
12519 Sufficient locale support provided the default will be preferably
12520 deduced from the locale environment if that is set (e.g.,
12522 see there for more); runtime locale changes will be reflected by
12524 except during the program startup phase and if
12526 had been used to freeze the given value.
12527 Refer to the section
12528 .Sx "Character sets"
12529 for the complete picture about character sets.
12532 .It Va typescript-mode
12533 \*(BO A special multiplex variable that disables all variables and
12534 settings which result in behaviour that interferes with running \*(UA in
12537 .Va colour-disable ,
12538 .Va line-editor-disable
12539 and (before startup completed only)
12540 .Va termcap-disable .
12541 Unsetting it does not restore the former state of the covered settings.
12545 For a safe-by-default policy the process file mode creation mask
12549 on program startup by default.
12550 Child processes inherit the file mode creation mask of their parent, and
12551 by setting this variable to an empty value no change will be applied,
12552 and the inherited value will be used.
12553 Otherwise the given value will be made the new file mode creation mask.
12556 .It Va user-HOST , user
12557 \*(IN Variable chain that sets a global fallback user name, which is
12558 used in case none has been given in the protocol and account-specific
12560 This variable defaults to the name of the user who runs \*(UA.
12564 \*(BO Setting this enables upward compatibility with \*(UA
12565 version 15.0 in respect to which configuration options are available and
12566 how they are handled.
12567 This manual uses \*(IN and \*(OU to refer to the new and the old way of
12568 doing things, respectively.
12572 \*(BO This setting, also controllable via the command line option
12574 causes \*(UA to be more verbose, e.g., it will display obsoletion
12575 warnings and TLS certificate chains.
12576 Even though marked \*(BO this option may be set twice in order to
12577 increase the level of verbosity even more, in which case even details of
12578 the actual message delivery and protocol conversations are shown.
12581 is sufficient to disable verbosity as such.
12588 .It Va version , version-date , \
12589 version-hexnum , version-major , version-minor , version-update
12590 \*(RO \*(UA version information: the first variable is a string with
12591 the complete version identification, the second the release date in ISO
12592 8601 notation without time.
12593 The third is a 32-bit hexadecimal number with the upper 8 bits storing
12594 the major, followed by the minor and update version numbers which occupy
12596 The latter three variables contain only decimal digits: the major, minor
12597 and update version numbers.
12598 The output of the command
12600 will include this information.
12603 .It Va writebackedited
12604 If this variable is set messages modified using the
12608 commands are written back to the current folder when it is quit;
12609 it is only honoured for writable folders in MBOX format, though.
12610 Note that the editor will be pointed to the raw message content in that
12611 case, i.e., neither MIME decoding nor decryption will have been
12612 performed, and proper RFC 4155
12614 quoting of newly added or edited content is also left as an exercise to
12617 .\" }}} (Variables)
12619 .\" }}} (INTERNAL VARIABLES)
12622 .\" .Sh ENVIRONMENT {{{
12626 .Dq environment variable
12627 should be considered an indication that these variables are either
12628 standardized as vivid parts of process environments, or that they are
12629 commonly found in there.
12630 The process environment is inherited from the
12632 once \*(UA is started, and unless otherwise explicitly noted handling of
12633 the following variables transparently integrates into that of the
12634 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES"
12635 from \*(UA's point of view.
12636 This means that, e.g., they can be managed via
12640 causing automatic program environment updates (to be inherited by
12641 newly created child processes).
12644 In order to transparently integrate other environment variables equally
12645 they need to be imported (linked) with the command
12647 This command can also be used to set and unset non-integrated
12648 environment variables from scratch, sufficient system support provided.
12649 The following example, applicable to a POSIX shell, sets the
12651 environment variable for \*(UA only, and beforehand exports the
12653 in order to affect any further processing in the running shell:
12655 .Bd -literal -offset indent
12656 $ EDITOR="vim -u ${HOME}/.vimrc"
12658 $ COLUMNS=80 \*(uA -R
12661 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ev BaNg"
12664 The user's preferred width in column positions for the terminal screen
12666 Queried and used once on program startup, actively managed for child
12667 processes and the MLE (see
12668 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" )
12669 in interactive mode thereafter.
12670 Ignored in non-interactive mode, which always uses 80 columns, unless in
12676 The name of the (mailbox)
12678 to use for saving aborted messages if
12680 is set; this defaults to
12684 is set no output will be generated, otherwise the contents of the file
12689 Pathname of the text editor to use for the
12693 .Pf (see\0 Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" ) ;
12695 is used for a more display oriented editor.
12699 The user's home directory.
12700 This variable is only used when it resides in the process environment.
12701 The calling user's home directory will be used instead if this directory
12702 does not exist, is not accessible or cannot be read;
12703 it will always be used for the root user.
12704 (No test for being writable is performed to allow usage by
12705 non-privileged users within read-only jails, but dependent on the
12706 variable settings this directory is a default write target, e.g. for
12714 .It Ev LC_ALL , LC_CTYPE , LANG
12715 \*(OP The (names in lookup order of the)
12719 which indicates the used
12720 .Sx "Character sets" .
12721 Runtime changes trigger automatic updates of the entire locale system,
12722 which includes updating
12724 (except during startup if the variable has been frozen via
12729 The user's preferred number of lines on a page or the vertical screen
12730 or window size in lines.
12731 Queried and used once on program startup, actively managed for child
12732 processes in interactive mode thereafter.
12733 Ignored in non-interactive mode, which always uses 24 lines, unless in
12739 Pathname of the directory lister to use in the
12741 command when operating on local mailboxes.
12744 (path search through
12749 Upon startup \*(UA will actively ensure that this variable refers to the
12750 name of the user who runs \*(UA, in order to be able to pass a verified
12751 name to any newly created child process.
12755 Is used as the user's
12757 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
12761 This is assumed to be an absolute pathname.
12762 If this environmental fallback is also not set, a built-in compile-time
12767 \*(OP Overrides the default path search for
12768 .Sx "The Mailcap files" ,
12769 which is defined in the standard RFC 1524 as
12770 .Ql ~/.mailcap:\:/etc/mailcap:\:/usr/etc/mailcap:\:/usr/local/etc/mailcap .
12771 .\" TODO we should have a mailcaps-default virtual RDONLY option!
12772 (\*(UA makes it a configuration option, however.)
12773 Note this is not a search path, but a path search.
12777 Is used as a startup file instead of
12780 In order to avoid side-effects from configuration files scripts should
12781 either set this variable to
12785 command line option should be used.
12788 .It Ev MAILX_NO_SYSTEM_RC
12789 If this variable is set then reading of
12792 .Va system-mailrc )
12793 at startup is inhibited, i.e., the same effect is achieved as if \*(UA
12794 had been started up with the option
12796 (and according argument) or
12798 This variable is only used when it resides in the process environment.
12802 The name of the user's
12804 .Sx "secondary mailbox"
12806 A logical subset of the special
12807 .Sx "Filename transformations"
12813 Traditionally this MBOX is used as the file to save messages from the
12815 .Sx "primary system mailbox"
12816 that have been read.
12818 .Sx "Message states" .
12822 \*(IN\*(OP This variable overrides the default location of the user's
12828 Pathname of the program to use for backing the command
12832 variable enforces usage of a pager for output.
12833 The default paginator is
12835 (path search through
12838 \*(UA inspects the contents of this variable: if its contains the string
12840 then a non-existing environment variable
12847 will optionally be set to
12854 A colon-separated list of directories that is searched by the shell when
12855 looking for commands, e.g.,
12856 .Ql /bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin .
12859 .It Ev POSIXLY_CORRECT
12860 This variable is automatically looked for upon startup, see
12866 The shell to use for the commands
12871 .Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES"
12872 and when starting subprocesses.
12873 A default shell is used if this environment variable is not defined.
12876 .It Ev SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
12877 Specifies a time in seconds since the Unix epoch (1970-01-01) to be
12878 used in place of the current time.
12879 This variable is looked up upon program startup, and its existence will
12880 switch \*(UA to a reproducible mode
12881 .Pf ( Lk https://reproducible-builds.org )
12882 which uses deterministic random numbers, a special fixated pseudo
12885 This operation mode is used for development and by software packagers.
12886 \*(ID Currently an invalid setting is only ignored, rather than causing
12887 a program abortion.
12889 .Dl $ SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=`date +%s` \*(uA
12893 \*(OP The terminal type for which output is to be prepared.
12894 For extended colour and font control please refer to
12895 .Sx "Coloured display" ,
12896 and for terminal management in general to
12897 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor" .
12901 Except for the root user this variable defines the directory for
12902 temporary files to be used instead of
12904 (or the given compile-time constant) if set, existent, accessible as
12905 well as read- and writable.
12906 This variable is only used when it resides in the process environment,
12907 but \*(UA will ensure at startup that this environment variable is
12908 updated to contain a usable temporary directory.
12914 (see there), but this variable is not standardized, should therefore not
12915 be used, and is only corrected if already set.
12919 Pathname of the text editor to use for the
12923 .Pf (see\0 Sx "COMMAND ESCAPES" ) ;
12925 is used for a less display oriented editor.
12935 .Bl -tag -width ".It Pa BaNg"
12937 User-specific file giving initial commands, one of the
12938 .Sx "Resource files" .
12939 The actual value is read from
12943 System wide initialization file, one of the
12944 .Sx "Resource files" .
12945 The actual value is read from
12946 .Va system-mailrc .
12950 \*(OP Personal MIME type handler definition file, see
12951 .Sx "The Mailcap files" .
12952 This location is part of the RFC 1524 standard search path, which is
12953 a configuration option and can be overridden via
12957 .It Pa /etc/mailcap
12958 \*(OP System wide MIME type handler definition file, see
12959 .Sx "The Mailcap files" .
12960 This location is part of the RFC 1524 standard search path, which is
12961 a configuration option and can be overridden via
12965 The default value for
12970 Personal MIME types, see
12971 .Sx "The mime.types files" .
12975 System wide MIME types, see
12976 .Sx "The mime.types files" .
12980 \*(IN\*(OP The default location of the user's
12982 file \(en the section
12983 .Sx "The .netrc file"
12984 documents the file format.
12985 The actually used path can be overridden via
12995 .\" .Ss "Resource files" {{{
12996 .Ss "Resource files"
12998 Upon startup \*(UA reads in several resource files, in order:
13000 .Bl -tag -width ".It Pa BaNg"
13003 System wide initialization file
13004 .Pf ( Va system-mailrc ) .
13005 Reading of this file can be suppressed, either by using the
13007 (and according argument) or
13009 command line options, or by setting the
13012 .Ev MAILX_NO_SYSTEM_RC .
13016 File giving initial commands.
13017 A different file can be chosen by setting the
13021 Reading of this file can be suppressed with the
13023 command line option.
13025 .It Va mailx-extra-rc
13026 Defines a startup file to be read after all other resource files.
13027 It can be used to specify settings that are not understood by other
13029 implementations, for example.
13030 This variable is only honoured when defined in a resource file, e.g.,
13032 .Sx "INTERNAL VARIABLES" .
13036 The content of these files is interpreted as follows:
13039 .Bl -bullet -compact
13041 The whitespace characters space, tabulator and newline,
13042 as well as those defined by the variable
13044 are removed from the beginning and end of input lines.
13046 Empty lines are ignored.
13048 Any other line is interpreted as a command.
13049 It may be spread over multiple input lines if the newline character is
13051 by placing a reverse solidus character
13053 as the last character of the line; whereas any leading whitespace of
13054 follow lines is ignored, trailing whitespace before a escaped newline
13055 remains in the input.
13057 If the line (content) starts with the number sign
13059 then it is a comment-command and also ignored.
13060 (The comment-command is a real command, which does nothing, and
13061 therefore the usual follow lines mechanism applies!)
13065 Unless \*(UA is about to enter interactive mode syntax errors that occur
13066 while loading these files are treated as errors and cause program exit.
13067 More files with syntactically equal content can be
13069 The following, saved in a file, would be an examplary content:
13071 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13072 # This line is a comment command. And y\e
13073 es, it is really continued here.
13080 .\" .Ss "The mime.types files" {{{
13081 .Ss "The mime.types files"
13084 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments"
13085 \*(UA needs to learn about MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)
13086 media types in order to classify message and attachment content.
13087 One source for them are
13089 files, the loading of which can be controlled by setting the variable
13090 .Va mimetypes-load-control .
13091 Another is the command
13093 which also offers access to \*(UAs MIME type cache.
13095 files have the following syntax:
13097 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13098 type/subtype extension [extension ...]
13099 # E.g., text/html html htm
13105 define the MIME media type, as standardized in RFC 2046:
13107 is used to declare the general type of data, while the
13109 specifies a specific format for that type of data.
13110 One or multiple filename
13112 s, separated by whitespace, can be bound to the media type format.
13113 Comments may be introduced anywhere on a line with a number sign
13115 causing the remaining line to be discarded.
13117 \*(UA also supports an extended, non-portable syntax in especially
13118 crafted files, which can be loaded via the alternative value syntax of
13119 .Va mimetypes-load-control ,
13120 and prepends an optional
13124 .Dl [type-marker ]type/subtype extension [extension ...]
13127 The following type markers are supported:
13130 .Bl -tag -compact -width ".It Ar _n_u"
13132 Treat message parts with this content as plain text.
13137 Treat message parts with this content as HTML tagsoup.
13138 If the \*(OPal HTML-tagsoup-to-text converter is not available treat
13139 the content as plain text instead.
13143 but instead of falling back to plain text require an explicit content
13144 handler to be defined.
13146 If no handler can be found a text message is displayed which says so.
13147 This can be annoying, for example signatures serve a contextual purpose,
13148 their content is of no use by itself.
13149 This marker will avoid displaying the text message.
13154 for sending messages:
13156 .Va mime-allow-text-controls ,
13157 .Va mimetypes-load-control .
13158 For reading etc. messages:
13159 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" ,
13160 .Sx "The Mailcap files" ,
13162 .Va mime-counter-evidence ,
13163 .Va mimetypes-load-control ,
13164 .Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE ,
13165 .Va pipe-EXTENSION .
13168 .\" .Ss "The Mailcap files" {{{
13169 .Ss "The Mailcap files"
13171 .\" TODO MAILCAP DISABLED
13172 .Sy This feature is not available in v14.9.0, sorry!
13174 .Dq User Agent Configuration Mechanism
13175 which \*(UA \*(OPally supports (see
13176 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" ) .
13177 It defines a file format to be used to inform mail user agent programs
13178 about the locally-installed facilities for handling various data
13179 formats, i.e., about commands and how they can be used to display, edit
13180 et cetera MIME part contents, as well as a default path search that
13181 includes multiple possible locations of
13185 environment variable that can be used to overwrite that (repeating here
13186 that it is not a search path, but instead a path search specification).
13187 Any existing files will be loaded in sequence, appending any content to
13188 the list of MIME type handler directives.
13192 files consist of a set of newline separated entries.
13193 Comment lines start with a number sign
13195 (in the first column!) and are ignored.
13196 Empty lines are also ignored.
13197 All other lines form individual entries that must adhere to the syntax
13199 To extend a single entry (not comment) its line can be continued on
13200 follow lines if newline characters are
13202 by preceding them with the reverse solidus character
13204 The standard does not specify how leading whitespace of follow lines
13205 is to be treated, therefore \*(UA retains it.
13209 entries consist of a number of semicolon
13211 separated fields, and the reverse solidus
13213 character can be used to escape any following character including
13214 semicolon and itself.
13215 The first two fields are mandatory and must occur in the specified
13216 order, the remaining fields are optional and may appear in any order.
13217 Leading and trailing whitespace of content is ignored (removed).
13220 The first field defines the MIME
13222 the entry is about to handle (case-insensitively, and no reverse solidus
13223 escaping is possible in this field).
13224 If the subtype is specified as an asterisk
13226 the entry is meant to match all subtypes of the named type, e.g.,
13228 would match any audio type.
13229 The second field defines the shell command which shall be used to
13231 MIME parts of the given type; it is implicitly called the
13238 shell commands message (MIME part) data is passed via standard input
13239 unless the given shell command includes one or more instances of the
13242 in which case these instances will be replaced with a temporary filename
13243 and the data will have been stored in the file that is being pointed to.
13246 shell commands data is assumed to be generated on standard output unless
13247 the given command includes (one ore multiple)
13249 In any case any given
13251 format is replaced with a(n already) properly quoted filename.
13252 Note that when a command makes use of a temporary file via
13254 then \*(UA will remove it again, as if the
13255 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile ,
13256 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-fill
13258 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink
13259 flags had been set; see below for more.
13262 The optional fields either define a shell command or an attribute (flag)
13263 value, the latter being a single word and the former being a keyword
13264 naming the field followed by an equals sign
13266 succeeded by a shell command, and as usual for any
13268 content any whitespace surrounding the equals sign will be removed, too.
13269 Optional fields include the following:
13272 .Bl -tag -width ".It Cd BaNg"
13274 A program that can be used to compose a new body or body part in the
13276 (Currently unused.)
13278 .It Cd composetyped
13281 field, but is to be used when the composing program needs to specify the
13283 header field to be applied to the composed data.
13284 (Currently unused.)
13287 A program that can be used to edit a body or body part in the given
13289 (Currently unused.)
13292 A program that can be used to print a message or body part in the given
13294 (Currently unused.)
13297 Specifies a program to be run to test some condition, e.g., the machine
13298 architecture, or the window system in use, to determine whether or not
13299 this mailcap entry applies.
13300 If the test fails, a subsequent mailcap entry should be sought; also see
13301 .Cd x-mailx-test-once .
13304 .It Cd needsterminal
13305 This flag field indicates that the given shell command must be run on
13306 an interactive terminal.
13307 \*(UA will temporarily release the terminal to the given command in
13308 interactive mode, in non-interactive mode this entry will be entirely
13309 ignored; this flag implies
13310 .Cd x-mailx-noquote .
13313 .It Cd copiousoutput
13314 A flag field which indicates that the output of the
13316 command will be an extended stream of textual output that can be
13317 (re)integrated into \*(UA's normal visual display.
13318 It is mutually exclusive with
13319 .Cd needsterminal .
13321 .It Cd textualnewlines
13322 A flag field which indicates that this type of data is line-oriented and
13323 that, if encoded in
13325 all newlines should be converted to canonical form (CRLF) before
13326 encoding, and will be in that form after decoding.
13327 (Currently unused.)
13329 .It Cd nametemplate
13330 This field gives a filename format, in which
13332 will be replaced by a random string, the joined combination of which
13333 will be used as the filename denoted by
13334 .Ev MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY .
13335 One could specify that a GIF file being passed to an image viewer should
13336 have a name ending in
13339 .Ql nametemplate=%s.gif .
13340 Note that \*(UA ignores the name template unless that solely specifies
13341 a filename suffix that consists of (ASCII) alphabetic and numeric
13342 characters, the underscore and dot only.
13345 Names a file, in X11 bitmap (xbm) format, which points to an appropriate
13346 icon to be used to visually denote the presence of this kind of data.
13347 This field is not used by \*(UA.
13350 A textual description that describes this type of data.
13353 .It Cd x-mailx-even-if-not-interactive
13354 An extension flag test field \(em by default handlers without
13356 are entirely ignored in non-interactive mode, but if this flag is set
13357 then their use will be considered.
13358 It is an error if this flag is set for commands that use the flag
13359 .Cd needsterminal .
13362 .It Cd x-mailx-noquote
13363 An extension flag field that indicates that even a
13366 command shall not be used to generate message quotes
13367 (as it would be by default).
13370 .It Cd x-mailx-async
13371 Extension flag field that denotes that the given
13373 command shall be executed asynchronously, without blocking \*(UA.
13374 Cannot be used in conjunction with
13375 .Cd needsterminal .
13378 .It Cd x-mailx-test-once
13379 Extension flag which denotes whether the given
13381 command shall be evaluated once only and the (boolean) result be cached.
13382 This is handy if some global unchanging condition is to be queried, like
13383 .Dq running under the X Window System .
13386 .It Cd x-mailx-tmpfile
13387 Extension flag field that requests creation of a zero-sized temporary
13388 file, the name of which is to be placed in the environment variable
13389 .Ev MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY .
13390 It is an error to use this flag with commands that include a
13395 .It Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-fill
13396 Normally the MIME part content is passed to the handler via standard
13397 input; if this flag is set then the data will instead be written into
13399 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile .
13400 In order to cause deletion of the temporary file you will have to set
13401 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink
13403 It is an error to use this flag with commands that include a
13408 .It Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink
13409 Extension flag field that requests that the temporary file shall be
13410 deleted automatically when the command loop is entered again at latest.
13411 (Do not use this for asynchronous handlers.)
13412 It is an error to use this flag with commands that include a
13414 format, or in conjunction with
13415 .Cd x-mailx-async ,
13416 or without also setting
13417 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile
13419 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-fill .
13422 .It Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-keep
13425 implies the three tmpfile related flags above, but if you want, e.g.,
13427 and deal with the temporary file yourself, you can add in this flag to
13429 .Cd x-mailx-tmpfile-unlink .
13434 The standard includes the possibility to define any number of additional
13435 entry fields, prefixed by
13437 Flag fields apply to the entire
13439 entry \(em in some unusual cases, this may not be desirable, but
13440 differentiation can be accomplished via separate entries, taking
13441 advantage of the fact that subsequent entries are searched if an earlier
13442 one does not provide enough information.
13445 command needs to specify the
13449 command shall not, the following will help out the latter (with enabled
13453 level \*(UA will show information about handler evaluation):
13455 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13456 application/postscript; ps-to-terminal %s; needsterminal
13457 application/postscript; ps-to-terminal %s; compose=idraw %s
13461 In fields any occurrence of the format string
13463 will be replaced by the
13466 Named parameters from the
13468 field may be placed in the command execution line using
13470 followed by the parameter name and a closing
13473 The entire parameter should appear as a single command line argument,
13474 regardless of embedded spaces; thus:
13476 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13478 Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary=42
13481 multipart/*; /usr/local/bin/showmulti \e
13482 %t %{boundary} ; composetyped = /usr/local/bin/makemulti
13484 # Executed shell command
13485 /usr/local/bin/showmulti multipart/mixed 42
13489 .\" TODO v15: Mailcap: %n,%F
13490 Note that \*(UA does not support handlers for multipart MIME parts as
13491 shown in this example (as of today).
13492 \*(UA does not support the additional formats
13496 An example file, also showing how to properly deal with the expansion of
13498 which includes any quotes that are necessary to make it a valid shell
13499 argument by itself and thus will cause undesired behaviour when placed
13500 in additional user-provided quotes:
13502 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13504 text/richtext; richtext %s; copiousoutput
13506 text/x-perl; perl -cWT %s
13508 application/pdf; \e
13510 trap "rm -f ${infile}" EXIT\e; \e
13511 trap "exit 75" INT QUIT TERM\e; \e
13513 x-mailx-async; x-mailx-tmpfile-keep
13515 application/*; echo "This is \e"%t\e" but \e
13516 is 50 \e% Greek to me" \e; < %s head -c 1024 | cat -vet; \e
13517 copiousoutput; x-mailx-noquote
13522 .Sx "HTML mail and MIME attachments" ,
13523 .Sx "The mime.types files" ,
13526 .Va mime-counter-evidence ,
13527 .Va pipe-TYPE/SUBTYPE ,
13528 .Va pipe-EXTENSION .
13531 .\" .Ss "The .netrc file" {{{
13532 .Ss "The .netrc file"
13536 file contains user credentials for machine accounts.
13537 The default location
13539 may be overridden by the
13541 environment variable.
13542 It is possible to load encrypted
13544 files by using an appropriate value in
13548 The file consists of space, tabulator or newline separated tokens.
13549 \*(UA implements a parser that supports a superset of the original BSD
13550 syntax, but users should nonetheless be aware of portability glitches
13551 of that file format, shall their
13553 be usable across multiple programs and platforms:
13556 .Bl -bullet -compact
13558 BSD does not support single, but only double quotation marks, e.g.,
13559 .Ql password="pass with spaces" .
13561 BSD (only?) supports escaping of single characters via a reverse solidus
13562 (e.g., a space can be escaped via
13564 in- as well as outside of a quoted string.
13566 BSD does not require a final quotation mark of the last user input token.
13568 The original BSD (Berknet) parser also supported a format which allowed
13569 tokens to be separated with commas \(en whereas at least Hewlett-Packard
13570 still seems to support this syntax, \*(UA does not!
13572 As a non-portable extension some widely-used programs support
13573 shell-style comments: if an input line starts, after any amount of
13574 whitespace, with a number sign
13576 then the rest of the line is ignored.
13578 Whereas other programs may require that the
13580 file is accessible by only the user if it contains a
13582 token for any other
13586 \*(UA will always require these strict permissions.
13590 Of the following list of supported tokens \*(UA only uses (and caches)
13595 At runtime the command
13597 can be used to control \*(UA's
13601 .Bl -tag -width ".It Cd BaNg"
13602 .It Cd machine Ar name
13603 The hostname of the entries' machine, lowercase-normalized by \*(UA
13605 Any further file content, until either end-of-file or the occurrence
13610 first-class token is bound (only related) to the machine
13613 As an extension that should not be the cause of any worries
13614 \*(UA supports a single wildcard prefix for
13616 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13617 machine *.example.com login USER password PASS
13618 machine pop3.example.com login USER password PASS
13619 machine smtp.example.com login USER password PASS
13625 .Ql pop3.example.com ,
13629 .Ql local.smtp.example.com .
13630 Note that in the example neither
13631 .Ql pop3.example.com
13633 .Ql smtp.example.com
13634 will be matched by the wildcard, since the exact matches take
13635 precedence (it is however faster to specify it the other way around).
13638 This is the same as
13640 except that it is a fallback entry that is used shall none of the
13641 specified machines match; only one default token may be specified,
13642 and it must be the last first-class token.
13644 .It Cd login Ar name
13645 The user name on the remote machine.
13647 .It Cd password Ar string
13648 The user's password on the remote machine.
13650 .It Cd account Ar string
13651 Supply an additional account password.
13652 This is merely for FTP purposes.
13654 .It Cd macdef Ar name
13656 A macro is defined with the specified
13658 it is formed from all lines beginning with the next line and continuing
13659 until a blank line is (consecutive newline characters are) encountered.
13662 entries cannot be utilized by multiple machines, too, but must be
13663 defined following the
13665 they are intended to be used with.)
13668 exists, it is automatically run as the last step of the login process.
13669 This is merely for FTP purposes.
13676 .\" .Sh EXAMPLES {{{
13679 .\" .Ss "An example configuration" {{{
13680 .Ss "An example configuration"
13682 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13683 # This example assumes v15.0 compatibility mode
13686 # Request strict TLL transport layer security checks
13687 set tls-verify=strict
13689 # Where are the up-to-date TLS certificates?
13690 # (Since we manage up-to-date ones explicitly, do not use any,
13691 # possibly outdated, default certificates shipped with OpenSSL)
13692 #set tls-ca-dir=/etc/ssl/certs
13693 set tls-ca-file=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt
13694 set tls-ca-no-defaults
13695 #set tls-ca-flags=partial-chain
13696 wysh set smime-ca-file="${tls-ca-file}" \e
13697 smime-ca-no-defaults #smime-ca-flags="${tls-ca-flags}"
13699 # This could be outsourced to a central configuration file via
13700 # tls-config-file plus tls-config-module if the used library allows.
13701 # CipherString: explicitly define the list of ciphers, which may
13702 # improve security, especially with protocols older than TLS v1.2.
13703 # See ciphers(1). Possibly best to only use tls-config-pairs-HOST
13704 # (or -USER@HOST), as necessary, again..
13705 # Note that TLSv1.3 uses Ciphersuites= instead, which will join
13706 # with CipherString (if protocols older than v1.3 are allowed)
13707 # Curves: especially with TLSv1.3 curves selection may be desired.
13708 # MinProtocol,MaxProtocol: do not use protocols older than TLS v1.2.
13709 # Change this only when the remote server does not support it:
13710 # maybe use chain support via tls-config-pairs-HOST / -USER@HOST
13711 # to define such explicit exceptions, then, e.g.
13712 # MinProtocol=TLSv1.1
13713 if [ "$tls-features" =% +ctx-set-maxmin-proto ]
13714 wysh set tls-config-pairs='\e
13715 CipherString=TLSv1.2:!aNULL:!eNULL:@STRENGTH,\e
13716 Curves=P-521:P-384:P-256,\e
13717 MinProtocol=TLSv1.1'
13719 wysh set tls-config-pairs='\e
13720 CipherString=TLSv1.2:!aNULL:!eNULL:@STRENGTH,\e
13721 Curves=P-521:P-384:P-256,\e
13722 Protocol=-ALL\e,+TLSv1.1 \e, +TLSv1.2\e, +TLSv1.3'
13725 # Essential setting: select allowed character sets
13726 set sendcharsets=utf-8,iso-8859-1
13728 # A very kind option: when replying to a message, first try to
13729 # use the same encoding that the original poster used herself!
13730 set reply-in-same-charset
13732 # When replying, do not merge From: and To: of the original message
13733 # into To:. Instead old From: -> new To:, old To: -> merge Cc:.
13734 set recipients-in-cc
13736 # When sending messages, wait until the Mail-Transfer-Agent finishs.
13737 # Only like this you will be able to see errors reported through the
13738 # exit status of the MTA (including the built-in SMTP one)!
13741 # Only use built-in MIME types, no mime.types(5) files
13742 set mimetypes-load-control
13744 # Default directory where we act in (relative to $HOME)
13746 # A leading "+" (often) means: under *folder*
13747 # *record* is used to save copies of sent messages
13748 set MBOX=+mbox.mbox DEAD=+dead.txt \e
13749 record=+sent.mbox record-files record-resent
13751 # Make "file mymbox" and "file myrec" go to..
13752 shortcut mymbox %:+mbox.mbox myrec +sent.mbox
13754 # Not really optional, e.g., for S/MIME
13755 set from='Your Name <address@exam.ple>'
13757 # It may be necessary to set hostname and/or smtp-hostname
13758 # if the "SERVER" of mta and "domain" of from do not match.
13759 # The `urlencode' command can be used to encode USER and PASS
13760 set mta=(smtps?|submission)://[USER[:PASS]@]SERVER[:PORT] \e
13761 smtp-auth=login/plain... \e
13764 # Never refuse to start into interactive mode, and more
13766 colour-pager crt= \e
13767 followup-to followup-to-honour=ask-yes fullnames \e
13768 history-file=+.\*(uAhist history-size=-1 history-gabby \e
13769 mime-counter-evidence=0b1111 \e
13770 prompt='?\e$?!\e$!/\e$^ERRNAME[\e$account#\e$mailbox-display]? ' \e
13771 reply-to-honour=ask-yes \e
13774 # Only include the selected header fields when typing messages
13775 headerpick type retain from_ date from to cc subject \e
13776 message-id mail-followup-to reply-to
13777 # ...when forwarding messages
13778 headerpick forward retain subject date from to cc
13779 # ...when saving message, etc.
13780 #headerpick save ignore ^Original-.*$ ^X-.*$
13782 # Some mailing lists
13783 mlist '@xyz-editor\e.xyz$' '@xyzf\e.xyz$'
13784 mlsubscribe '^xfans@xfans\e.xyz$'
13786 # Handle a few file extensions (to store MBOX databases)
13787 filetype bz2 'bzip2 -dc' 'bzip2 -zc' \e
13788 gz 'gzip -dc' 'gzip -c' xz 'xz -dc' 'xz -zc' \e
13789 zst 'zstd -dc' 'zstd -19 -zc' \e
13790 zst.pgp 'gpg -d | zstd -dc' 'zstd -19 -zc | gpg -e'
13792 # A real life example of a very huge free mail provider
13793 # Instead of directly placing content inside `account',
13794 # we `define' a macro: like that we can switch "accounts"
13795 # from within *on-compose-splice*, for example!
13797 set folder=~/spool/XooglX inbox=+syste.mbox sent=+sent
13798 set from='Your Name <address@examp.ple>'
13800 set pop3-no-apop-pop.gmXil.com
13801 shortcut pop %:pop3s://pop.gmXil.com
13802 shortcut imap %:imaps://imap.gmXil.com
13803 # Or, entirely IMAP based setup
13804 #set folder=imaps://imap.gmail.com record="+[Gmail]/Sent Mail" \e
13805 # imap-cache=~/spool/cache
13807 set mta=smtp://USER:PASS@smtp.gmXil.com smtp-use-starttls
13809 set mta=smtps://USER:PASS@smtp.gmail.com:465
13815 # Here is a pretty large one which does not allow sending mails
13816 # if there is a domain name mismatch on the SMTP protocol level,
13817 # which would bite us if the value of from does not match, e.g.,
13818 # for people who have a sXXXXeforge project and want to speak
13819 # with the mailing list under their project account (in from),
13820 # still sending the message through their normal mail provider
13822 set folder=~/spool/XandeX inbox=+syste.mbox sent=+sent
13823 set from='Your Name <address@exam.ple>'
13825 shortcut pop %:pop3s://pop.yaXXex.com
13826 shortcut imap %:imaps://imap.yaXXex.com
13828 set mta=smtps://USER:PASS@smtp.yaXXex.com:465 \e
13829 hostname=yaXXex.com smtp-hostname=
13835 # Create some new commands so that, e.g., `ls /tmp' will..
13836 commandalias lls '!ls ${LS_COLOUR_FLAG} -aFlrS'
13837 commandalias llS '!ls ${LS_COLOUR_FLAG} -aFlS'
13839 set pipe-message/external-body='@* echo $MAILX_EXTERNAL_BODY_URL'
13841 # We do not support gpg(1) directly yet. But simple --clearsign'd
13842 # message parts can be dealt with as follows:
13845 wysh set pipe-text/plain=$'@*#++=@\e
13846 < "${MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}" awk \e
13847 -v TMPFILE="${MAILX_FILENAME_TEMPORARY}" \e'\e
13849 /^-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----/,/^$/ {\e
13852 print "--- GPG --verify ---";\e
13853 system("gpg --verify " TMPFILE " 2>&1");\e
13854 print "--- GPG --verify ---";\e
13858 /^-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----/,\e
13859 /^-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----/{\e
13866 commandalias V '\e'call V
13870 When storing passwords in
13872 appropriate permissions should be set on this file with
13873 .Ql $ chmod 0600 \*(ur .
13876 is available user credentials can be stored in the central
13878 file instead; e.g., here is a different version of the example account
13879 that sets up SMTP and POP3:
13881 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13883 set folder=~/spool/XandeX inbox=+syste.mbox sent=+sent
13884 set from='Your Name <address@exam.ple>'
13886 # Load an encrypted ~/.netrc by uncommenting the next line
13887 #set netrc-pipe='gpg -qd ~/.netrc.pgp'
13889 set mta=smtps://smtp.yXXXXx.ru:465 \e
13890 smtp-hostname= hostname=yXXXXx.com
13891 set pop3-keepalive=240 pop3-no-apop-pop.yXXXXx.ru
13892 commandalias xp fi pop3s://pop.yXXXXx.ru
13904 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13905 machine *.yXXXXx.ru login USER password PASS
13909 This configuration should now work just fine:
13912 .Dl $ echo text | \*(uA -dvv -AXandeX -s Subject user@exam.ple
13915 .\" .Ss "S/MIME step by step" {{{
13916 .Ss "S/MIME step by step"
13918 \*(OP The first thing that is needed for
13919 .Sx "Signed and encrypted messages with S/MIME"
13920 is a personal certificate, and a private key.
13921 The certificate contains public information, in particular a name and
13922 email address(es), and the public key that can be used by others to
13923 encrypt messages for the certificate holder (the owner of the private
13926 signed messages generated with that certificate('s private key).
13927 Whereas the certificate is included in each signed message, the private
13928 key must be kept secret.
13929 It is used to decrypt messages that were previously encrypted with the
13930 public key, and to sign messages.
13933 For personal use it is recommended that get a S/MIME certificate from
13934 one of the major CAs on the Internet.
13935 Many CAs offer such certificates for free.
13936 Usually offered is a combined certificate and private key in PKCS#12
13937 format which \*(UA does not accept directly.
13938 To convert it to PEM format, the following shell command can be used;
13939 please read on for how to use these PEM files.
13941 .Bd -literal -offset indent
13942 $ openssl pkcs12 -in cert.p12 -out certpem.pem -clcerts -nodes
13944 $ openssl pkcs12 -in cert.p12 -out cert.pem -clcerts -nokeys
13945 $ openssl pkcs12 -in cert.p12 -out key.pem -nocerts -nodes
13950 .Lk https://www.CAcert.org
13951 which issues client and server certificates to members of their
13952 community for free; their root certificate
13953 .Pf ( Lk https://\:www.cacert.org/\:certs/\:root.crt )
13954 is often not in the default set of trusted CA root certificates, though,
13955 which means their root certificate has to be downloaded separately,
13956 and needs to be part of the S/MIME certificate validation chain by
13959 or as a vivid member of the
13960 .Va smime-ca-file .
13961 But let us take a step-by-step tour on how to setup S/MIME with
13962 a certificate from CAcert.org despite this situation!
13965 First of all you will have to become a member of the CAcert.org
13966 community, simply by registrating yourself via the web interface.
13967 Once you are, create and verify all email addresses you want to be able
13968 to create signed and encrypted messages for/with using the corresponding
13969 entries of the web interface.
13970 Now ready to create S/MIME certificates, so let us create a new
13971 .Dq client certificate ,
13972 ensure to include all email addresses that should be covered by the
13973 certificate in the following web form, and also to use your name as the
13977 Create a private key and a certificate request on your local computer
13978 (please see the manual pages of the used commands for more in-depth
13979 knowledge on what the used arguments etc. do):
13982 .Dl $ openssl req -nodes -newkey rsa:4096 -keyout key.pem -out creq.pem
13985 Afterwards copy-and-paste the content of
13987 into the certificate-request (CSR) field of the web form on the
13988 CAcert.org website (you may need to unfold some
13989 .Dq advanced options
13990 to see the corresponding text field).
13991 This last step will ensure that your private key (which never left your
13992 box) and the certificate belong together (through the public key that
13993 will find its way into the certificate via the certificate-request).
13994 You are now ready and can create your CAcert certified certificate.
13995 Download and store or copy-and-paste it as
14000 In order to use your new S/MIME setup a combined private key/public key
14001 (certificate) file has to be created:
14004 .Dl $ cat key.pem pub.crt > ME@HERE.com.paired
14007 This is the file \*(UA will work with.
14008 If you have created your private key with a passphrase then \*(UA will
14009 ask you for it whenever a message is signed or decrypted, unless this
14010 operation has been automatized as described in
14011 .Sx "Signed and encrypted messages with S/MIME" .
14012 Set the following variables to henceforth use S/MIME (setting
14014 is of interest for verification only):
14016 .Bd -literal -offset indent
14017 ? set smime-ca-file=ALL-TRUSTED-ROOT-CERTS-HERE \e
14018 smime-sign-cert=ME@HERE.com.paired \e
14019 smime-sign-digest=SHA512 \e
14025 .\" .Ss "Using CRLs with S/MIME or TLS" {{{
14026 .Ss "Using CRLs with S/MIME or TLS"
14028 \*(OP Certification authorities (CAs) issue certificate revocation
14029 lists (CRLs) on a regular basis.
14030 These lists contain the serial numbers of certificates that have been
14031 declared invalid after they have been issued.
14032 Such usually happens because the private key for the certificate has
14034 because the owner of the certificate has left the organization that is
14035 mentioned in the certificate, etc.
14036 To seriously use S/MIME or TLS verification,
14037 an up-to-date CRL is required for each trusted CA.
14038 There is otherwise no method to distinguish between valid and
14039 invalidated certificates.
14040 \*(UA currently offers no mechanism to fetch CRLs, nor to access them on
14041 the Internet, so they have to be retrieved by some external mechanism.
14044 \*(UA accepts CRLs in PEM format only;
14045 CRLs in DER format must be converted, like, e.\|g.:
14048 .Dl $ openssl crl \-inform DER \-in crl.der \-out crl.pem
14051 To tell \*(UA about the CRLs, a directory that contains all CRL files
14052 (and no other files) must be created.
14057 variables, respectively, must then be set to point to that directory.
14058 After that, \*(UA requires a CRL to be present for each CA that is used
14059 to verify a certificate.
14068 In general it is a good idea to turn on
14074 twice) if something does not work well.
14075 Very often a diagnostic message can be produced that leads to the
14076 problems' solution.
14078 .\" .Ss "\*(UA shortly hangs on startup" {{{
14079 .Ss "\*(UA shortly hangs on startup"
14081 This can have two reasons, one is the necessity to wait for a file lock
14082 and cannot be helped, the other being that \*(UA calls the function
14084 in order to query the nodename of the box (sometimes the real one is
14085 needed instead of the one represented by the internal variable
14087 One may have varying success by ensuring that the real hostname and
14091 or, more generally, that the name service is properly setup \(en
14094 return the expected value?
14095 Does this local hostname have a domain suffix?
14096 RFC 6762 standardized the link-local top-level domain
14098 try again after adding an (additional) entry with this extension.
14101 .\" .Ss "I cannot login to Google mail aka GMail" {{{
14102 .Ss "I cannot login to Google mail aka GMail"
14104 Since 2014 some free service providers classify programs as
14106 unless they use a special authentication method (OAuth 2.0) which
14107 was not standardized for non-HTTP protocol authentication token query
14108 until August 2015 (RFC 7628).
14111 Different to Kerberos / GSSAPI, which is developed since the mid of the
14112 1980s, where a user can easily create a local authentication ticket for
14113 her- and himself with the locally installed
14115 program, that protocol has no such local part but instead requires
14116 a world-wide-web query to create or fetch a token; since there is no
14117 local cache this query would have to be performed whenever \*(UA is
14118 invoked (in interactive sessions situation may differ).
14121 \*(UA does not support OAuth.
14122 Because of this it is necessary to declare \*(UA a
14123 .Dq less secure app
14124 (on the providers account web page) in order to read and send mail.
14125 However, it also seems possible to take the following steps instead:
14130 give the provider the number of a mobile phone,
14133 .Dq 2-Step Verification ,
14135 create an application specific password (16 characters), and
14137 use that special password instead of the real Google account password in
14138 \*(UA (for more on that see the section
14139 .Sx "On URL syntax and credential lookup" ) .
14143 .\" .Ss "Not \(dqdefunctional\(dq, but the editor key does not work" {{{
14144 .Ss "Not \(dqdefunctional\(dq, but the editor key does not work"
14146 It can happen that the terminal library (see
14147 .Sx "On terminal control and line editor",
14150 reports different codes than the terminal really sends, in which case
14151 \*(UA will tell that a key binding is functional, but will not be able to
14152 recognize it because the received data does not match anything expected.
14153 Especially without the \*(OPal terminal capability library support one
14154 reason for this may be that the (possibly even non-existing) keypad
14155 is not turned on and the resulting layout reports the keypad control
14156 codes for the normal keyboard keys.
14161 ings will show the byte sequences that are expected.
14164 To overcome the situation, use, e.g., the program
14166 in conjunction with the command line option
14168 if available, to see the byte sequences which are actually produced
14169 by keypresses, and use the variable
14171 to make \*(UA aware of them.
14172 E.g., the terminal this is typed on produces some false sequences, here
14173 an example showing the shifted home key:
14175 .Bd -literal -offset indent
14178 # 1B 5B=[ 31=1 3B=; 32=2 48=H
14183 ? \*(uA -v -Stermcap='kHOM=\eE[H'
14190 .\" .Ss "Can \*(UA git-send-email?" {{{
14191 .Ss "Can \*(UA git-send-email?"
14194 Put (at least parts of) the following in your
14197 .Bd -literal -offset indent
14199 smtpserver = /usr/bin/s-mailx
14200 smtpserveroption = -t
14201 #smtpserveroption = -Sexpandaddr
14202 smtpserveroption = -Athe-account-you-need
14205 suppressfrom = false
14206 assume8bitEncoding = UTF-8
14209 chainreplyto = true
14220 .\" .Sh "IMAP CLIENT" {{{
14223 \*(OPally there is IMAP client support available.
14224 This part of the program is obsolete and will vanish in v15 with the
14225 large MIME and I/O layer rewrite, because it uses old-style blocking I/O
14226 and makes excessive use of signal based long code jumps.
14227 Support can hopefully be readded later based on a new-style I/O, with
14228 SysV signal handling.
14229 In fact the IMAP support had already been removed from the codebase, but
14230 was reinstantiated on user demand: in effect the IMAP code is at the
14231 level of \*(UA v14.8.16 (with
14233 being the sole exception), and should be treated with some care.
14240 protocol prefixes, and an IMAP-based
14243 IMAP URLs (paths) undergo inspections and possible transformations
14244 before use (and the command
14246 can be used to manually apply them to any given argument).
14247 Hierarchy delimiters are normalized, a step which is configurable via the
14249 variable chain, but defaults to the first seen delimiter otherwise.
14250 \*(UA supports internationalised IMAP names, and en- and decodes the
14251 names from and to the
14253 as necessary and possible.
14254 If a mailbox name is expanded (see
14255 .Sx "Filename transformations" )
14256 to an IMAP mailbox, all names that begin with `+' then refer to IMAP
14257 mailboxes below the
14259 target box, while folder names prefixed by `@' refer to folders below
14260 the hierarchy base, e.g., the following lists all folders below the
14261 current one when in an IMAP mailbox:
14265 Note: some IMAP servers do not accept the creation of mailboxes in
14266 the hierarchy base, but require that they are created as subfolders of
14267 `INBOX' \(en with such servers a folder name of the form
14269 .Dl imaps://mylogin@imap.myisp.example/INBOX.
14271 should be used (the last character is the server's hierarchy
14273 The following IMAP-specific commands exist:
14276 .Bl -tag -width ".It Ic BaNg"
14279 Only applicable to cached IMAP mailboxes;
14280 takes a message list and reads the specified messages into the IMAP
14285 If operating in disconnected mode on an IMAP mailbox,
14286 switch to online mode and connect to the mail server while retaining
14287 the mailbox status.
14288 See the description of the
14290 variable for more information.
14294 If operating in online mode on an IMAP mailbox,
14295 switch to disconnected mode while retaining the mailbox status.
14296 See the description of the
14299 A list of messages may optionally be given as argument;
14300 the respective messages are then read into the cache before the
14301 connection is closed, thus
14303 makes the entire mailbox available for disconnected use.
14307 Sends command strings directly to the current IMAP server.
14308 \*(UA operates always in IMAP `selected state' on the current mailbox;
14309 commands that change this will produce undesirable results and should be
14311 Useful IMAP commands are:
14312 .Bl -tag -offset indent -width ".Ic getquotearoot"
14314 Takes the name of an IMAP mailbox as an argument and creates it.
14316 (RFC 2087) Takes the name of an IMAP mailbox as an argument
14317 and prints the quotas that apply to the mailbox.
14318 Not all IMAP servers support this command.
14320 (RFC 2342) Takes no arguments and prints the Personal Namespaces,
14321 the Other User's Namespaces and the Shared Namespaces.
14322 Each namespace type is printed in parentheses;
14323 if there are multiple namespaces of the same type,
14324 inner parentheses separate them.
14325 For each namespace a prefix and a hierarchy separator is listed.
14326 Not all IMAP servers support this command.
14331 Perform IMAP path transformations.
14335 .Sx "Command modifiers" ) ,
14336 and manages the error number
14338 The first argument specifies the operation:
14340 normalizes hierarchy delimiters (see
14342 and converts the strings from the locale
14344 to the internationalized variant used by IMAP,
14346 performs the reverse operation.
14351 The following IMAP-specific internal variables exist:
14354 .Bl -tag -width ".It Va BaNg"
14356 .It Va disconnected
14357 \*(BO When an IMAP mailbox is selected and this variable is set,
14358 no connection to the server is initiated.
14359 Instead, data is obtained from the local cache (see
14362 Mailboxes that are not present in the cache
14363 and messages that have not yet entirely been fetched from the server
14365 to fetch all messages in a mailbox at once,
14367 .No ` Ns Li copy * /dev/null Ns '
14368 can be used while still in connected mode.
14369 Changes that are made to IMAP mailboxes in disconnected mode are queued
14370 and committed later when a connection to that server is made.
14371 This procedure is not completely reliable since it cannot be guaranteed
14372 that the IMAP unique identifiers (UIDs) on the server still match the
14373 ones in the cache at that time.
14376 when this problem occurs.
14378 .It Va disconnected-USER@HOST
14379 The specified account is handled as described for the
14382 but other accounts are not affected.
14385 .It Va imap-auth-USER@HOST , imap-auth
14386 Sets the IMAP authentication method.
14387 Valid values are `login' for the usual password-based authentication
14389 `cram-md5', which is a password-based authentication that does not send
14390 the password over the network in clear text,
14391 and `gssapi' for GSS-API based authentication.
14395 Enables caching of IMAP mailboxes.
14396 The value of this variable must point to a directory that is either
14397 existent or can be created by \*(UA.
14398 All contents of the cache can be deleted by \*(UA at any time;
14399 it is not safe to make assumptions about them.
14402 .It Va imap-delim-USER@HOST , imap-delim-HOST , imap-delim
14403 The hierarchy separator used by the IMAP server.
14404 Whenever an IMAP path is specified it will undergo normalization.
14405 One of the normalization steps is the squeezing and adjustment of
14406 hierarchy separators.
14407 If this variable is set, any occurrence of any character of the given
14408 value that exists in the path will be replaced by the first member of
14409 the value; an empty value will cause the default to be used, it is
14411 If not set, we will reuse the first hierarchy separator character that
14412 is discovered in a user-given mailbox name.
14414 .Mx Va imap-keepalive
14415 .It Va imap-keepalive-USER@HOST , imap-keepalive-HOST , imap-keepalive
14416 IMAP servers may close the connection after a period of
14417 inactivity; the standard requires this to be at least 30 minutes,
14418 but practical experience may vary.
14419 Setting this variable to a numeric `value' greater than 0 causes
14420 a `NOOP' command to be sent each `value' seconds if no other operation
14424 .It Va imap-list-depth
14425 When retrieving the list of folders on an IMAP server, the
14427 command stops after it has reached a certain depth to avoid possible
14429 The value of this variable sets the maximum depth allowed.
14431 If the folder separator on the current IMAP server is a slash `/',
14432 this variable has no effect and the
14434 command does not descend to subfolders.
14436 .Mx Va imap-use-starttls
14437 .It Va imap-use-starttls-USER@HOST , imap-use-starttls-HOST , imap-use-starttls
14438 Causes \*(UA to issue a `STARTTLS' command to make an unencrypted
14439 IMAP session TLS encrypted.
14440 This functionality is not supported by all servers,
14441 and is not used if the session is already encrypted by the IMAPS method.
14447 .\" .Sh "SEE ALSO" {{{
14457 .Xr spamassassin 1 ,
14466 .Xr mailwrapper 8 ,
14472 .\" .Sh HISTORY {{{
14475 M. Douglas McIlroy writes in his article
14476 .Dq A Research UNIX Reader: Annotated Excerpts \
14477 from the Programmer's Manual, 1971-1986
14480 command already appeared in First Edition
14484 .Bd -ragged -offset indent
14485 Electronic mail was there from the start.
14486 Never satisfied with its exact behavior, everybody touched it at one
14487 time or another: to assure the safety of simultaneous access, to improve
14488 privacy, to survive crashes, to exploit uucp, to screen out foreign
14489 freeloaders, or whatever.
14490 Not until v7 did the interface change (Thompson).
14491 Later, as mail became global in its reach, Dave Presotto took charge and
14492 brought order to communications with a grab-bag of external networks
14498 Mail was written in 1978 by Kurt Shoens and developed as part of the
14501 distribution until 1995.
14502 Mail has then seen further development in open source
14504 variants, noticeably by Christos Zoulas in
14506 Based upon this Nail, later Heirloom Mailx, was developed by Gunnar
14507 Ritter in the years 2000 until 2008.
14508 Since 2012 S-nail is maintained by Steffen (Daode) Nurpmeso.
14509 This man page is derived from
14510 .Dq The Mail Reference Manual
14511 that was originally written by Kurt Shoens.
14519 .An "Kurt Shoens" ,
14520 .An "Edward Wang" ,
14521 .An "Keith Bostic" ,
14522 .An "Christos Zoulas" ,
14523 .An "Gunnar Ritter" .
14524 \*(UA is developed by
14525 .An "Steffen Nurpmeso" Aq steffen@sdaoden.eu .
14528 .\" .Sh CAVEATS {{{
14531 \*(ID Interrupting an operation via
14535 from anywhere else but a command prompt is very problematic and likely
14536 to leave the program in an undefined state: many library functions
14537 cannot deal with the
14539 that this software (still) performs; even though efforts have been taken
14540 to address this, no sooner but in v15 it will have been worked out:
14541 interruptions have not been disabled in order to allow forceful breakage
14542 of hanging network connections, for example (all this is unrelated to
14546 The SMTP and POP3 protocol support of \*(UA is very basic.
14547 Also, if it fails to contact its upstream SMTP server, it will not make
14548 further attempts to transfer the message at a later time (setting
14553 If this is a concern, it might be better to set up a local SMTP server
14554 that is capable of message queuing.
14561 After deleting some message of a POP3 mailbox the header summary falsely
14562 claims that there are no messages to display, one needs to perform
14563 a scroll or dot movement to restore proper state.
14569 mode a power user may encounter crashes very occasionally (this is may
14574 in the source repository lists future directions.
14577 Please report bugs to the
14579 address, e.g., from within \*(uA:
14580 .\" v15-compat: drop eval as `mail' will expand variable?
14581 .Ql ? Ns \| Ic eval Ns \| Ic mail Ns \| $contact-mail .
14584 output of the command
14586 may be helpful, e.g.,
14588 .Bd -literal -offset indent
14589 ? wysh set escape=! verbose; vput version xy; unset verbose;\e
14590 eval mail $contact-mail
14597 Information on the web at
14598 .Ql $ \*(uA -X 'echo Ns \| $ Ns Va contact-web Ns ' -Xx .