mailsh - A command line mail user agent

Mailsh is a purely command-based MUA for the terminal, designed to be used on local maildirs (probably in combination with something like isync).

It is made to embrace the powerful unix command line workflow, which means you can pipe data in and out of it in various ways, use it in scripts, etc.

Installation

1. Install stack
2. git clone https://github.com/talanis85/mailsh.git
3. cd mailsh && stack install

Quick start

cd to the maildir you want to use.

To list all unread messages, simply type

mailsh

Note: Mailsh needs to build a cache the first time it is run. So this can take a while, depending on the size of your maildir.

You can manage as many maildirs as you want. Mailsh will always operate on the current working directory.

To read a specific message, do

mailsh read <message-number>

To read the oldest unread message, do

mailsh next

To see the built-in help, do

mailsh -h

To read more about a command, do

mailsh <command> -h

Command reference

• mailsh read [MESSAGE] [-r|--render RENDERER]

    Read a message.
  
  Available options:
    MESSAGE                  Either a message number (e.g. 123), a part reference
                             (e.g. 2#123) or '-' for stdin. Default is the last
                             accessed message.
    -r,--render RENDERER     Available renderers are: full, outline, preview,
                             noquote
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh cat [MESSAGE]

    Output raw message data.
  
  Available options:
    MESSAGE                  Either a message number (e.g. 123), a part reference
                             (e.g. 2#123) or '-' for stdin. Default is the last
                             accessed message.
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh view [MESSAGE]

    View a message or part with mailcap.
  
  Available options:
    MESSAGE                  Either a message number (e.g. 123), a part reference
                             (e.g. 2#123) or '-' for stdin. Default is the last
                             accessed message.
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh visual [MESSAGE]

    View a message in the browser
  
  Available options:
    MESSAGE                  Either a message number (e.g. 123), a part reference
                             (e.g. 2#123) or '-' for stdin. Default is the last
                             accessed message.
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh save [MESSAGE] -d DIR

    Save a part to disk using its given filename.
  
  Available options:
    MESSAGE                  Either a message number (e.g. 123), a part reference
                             (e.g. 2#123) or '-' for stdin. Default is the last
                             accessed message.
    -d DIR                   Where to save the attachment.
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh next [-r|--render RENDERER]

    Read the next unread message.
  
  Available options:
    -r,--render RENDERER     Available renderers are: full, outline, preview,
                             noquote
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh compose [--dry] [-a|--attachment FILE] RECIPIENT

    Compose a new message using your EDITOR
  
  Available options:
    --dry                    Dont actually send the message
    -a,--attachment FILE     Attach a file (can occur multiple times)
    RECIPIENT                The recipient's address
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh reply [--dry] [-g|--group] [-a|--attachment FILE] [MESSAGE]

    Reply to a message using your EDITOR.
  
  Available options:
    --dry                    Dont actually send the message
    -g,--group               Group reply
    -a,--attachment FILE     Attach a file (can occur multiple times)
    MESSAGE                  Either a message number (e.g. 123), a part reference
                             (e.g. 2#123) or '-' for stdin. Default is the last
                             accessed message.
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh forward [--dry] RECIPIENT [MESSAGE]

    Forward a message.
  
  Available options:
    --dry                    Dont actually send the message
    RECIPIENT                The recipient's address
    MESSAGE                  Either a message number (e.g. 123), a part reference
                             (e.g. 2#123) or '-' for stdin. Default is the last
                             accessed message.
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh headers [-l|--limit LIMIT] [FILTER]

    List all headers given a filter expression.
  
  Available options:
    -l,--limit LIMIT         How many headers to display
    FILTER                   A filter expression
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  
  Valid filter expressions are:
  
    /string/       'Subject' or 'From' contains 'string'
    a              Matches all messages
    d              Matches draft messages
    r              Matches replied messages
    s              Matches seen messages
    t              Matches trashed messages
    f              Matches flagged messages
    all            Equivalent to '~t' (all non-trashed messages)
    new            Equivalent to '~s' (all unseen messages)
  
  All of these expressions can be combined with the logical operators '&' (and), '|' (or) and '~' (not).
  
  Examples:
    f&~d                All flagged messages that are not a draft
    r&/hello/           All replied messages that contain the string 'hello'
    (t&/foo/)|(d&/bar/) All trashed messages containing 'foo' and all drafts containing 'bar'
  

• mailsh ls [FILTER]

    List all message numbers given a filter expression.
  
  Available options:
    -l,--limit LIMIT         How many headers to display
    FILTER                   A filter expression
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  
  Valid filter expressions are:
  
    /string/       'Subject' or 'From' contains 'string'
    a              Matches all messages
    d              Matches draft messages
    r              Matches replied messages
    s              Matches seen messages
    t              Matches trashed messages
    f              Matches flagged messages
    all            Equivalent to '~t' (all non-trashed messages)
    new            Equivalent to '~s' (all unseen messages)
  
  All of these expressions can be combined with the logical operators '&' (and), '|' (or) and '~' (not).
  
  Examples:
    f&~d                All flagged messages that are not a draft
    r&/hello/           All replied messages that contain the string 'hello'
    (t&/foo/)|(d&/bar/) All trashed messages containing 'foo' and all drafts containing 'bar'
  

• mailsh trash [MESSAGE]

    Trash a message.
  
  Available options:
    MESSAGE                  Message number. Default is the last accessed message.
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh recover [MESSAGE]

    Recover a trashed message.
  
  Available options:
    MESSAGE                  Message number. Default is the last accessed message.
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh purge

    Permanently delete trashed messages.
  
  Available options:
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh unread [MESSAGE]

    Mark a message as unread.
  
  Available options:
    MESSAGE                  Message number. Default is the last accessed message.
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh flag [MESSAGE]

    Mark a message as flagged.
  
  Available options:
    MESSAGE                  Message number. Default is the last accessed message.
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh unflag [MESSAGE]

    Mark a message as unflagged.
  
  Available options:
    MESSAGE                  Message number. Default is the last accessed message.
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh filename [MESSAGE]

    Get the filename of a message.
  
  Available options:
    MESSAGE                  Message number. Default is the last accessed message.
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh outline [MESSAGE]

    Display an outline of a message.
  
  Available options:
    MESSAGE                  Either a message number (e.g. 123), a part reference
                             (e.g. 2#123) or '-' for stdin. Default is the last
                             accessed message.
    -h,--help                Show this help text
  

• mailsh tar [MESSAGE]

    Output all attachments of a message to stdout as a tar archive.
  
  Available options:
    MESSAGE                  Either a message number (e.g. 123), a part reference
                             (e.g. 2#123) or '-' for stdin. Default is the last
                             accessed message.
    -h,--help                Show this help text