notmuch-search - search for messages matching the given search
terms
notmuch search [option ...]
<search-term> ...
Search for messages matching the given search terms, and display
as results the threads containing the matched messages.
The output consists of one line per thread, giving a thread ID,
the date of the newest (or oldest, depending on the sort option) matched
message in the thread, the number of matched messages and total messages in
the thread, the names of all participants in the thread, and the subject of
the newest (or oldest) message.
See notmuch-search-terms(7) for details of the supported
syntax for <search-terms>.
Supported options for search include
- --format=(json|sexp|text|text0)
- Presents the results in either JSON, S-Expressions, newline character
separated plain-text (default), or null character separated plain-text
(compatible with xargs(1) -0 option where available).
- --format-version=N
- Use the specified structured output format version. This is intended for
programs that invoke notmuch(1) internally. If omitted, the latest
supported version will be used.
- --output=(summary|threads|messages|files|tags)
- summary
- Output a summary of each thread with any message matching the search
terms. The summary includes the thread ID, date, the number of messages in
the thread (both the number matched and the total number), the authors of
the thread and the subject. In the case where a thread contains multiple
files for some messages, the total number of files is printed in
parentheses (see below for an example).
- threads
- Output the thread IDs of all threads with any message matching the search
terms, either one per line (--format=text), separated by null
characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array
(--format=json), or an S-Expression list
(--format=sexp).
- messages
- Output the message IDs of all messages matching the search terms, either
one per line (--format=text), separated by null characters
(--format=text0), as a JSON array (--format=json), or as an
S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
- files
- Output the filenames of all messages matching the search terms, either one
per line (--format=text), separated by null characters
(--format=text0), as a JSON array (--format=json), or as an
S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
Note that each message may have multiple filenames associated
with it. All of them are included in the output (unless limited with the
--duplicate=N option). This may be particularly confusing for
folder: or path: searches in a specified directory, as the
messages may have duplicates in other directories that are included in
the output, although these files alone would not match the search.
- tags
- Output all tags that appear on any message matching the search terms,
either one per line (--format=text), separated by null characters
(--format=text0), as a JSON array (--format=json), or as an
S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
- --sort=(newest-first|oldest-first)
- This option can be used to present results in either chronological order
(oldest-first) or reverse chronological order
(newest-first).
Note: The thread order will be distinct between these two
options (beyond being simply reversed). When sorting by
oldest-first the threads will be sorted by the oldest message in
each thread, but when sorting by newest-first the threads will be
sorted by the newest message in each thread.
By default, results will be displayed in reverse chronological
order, (that is, the newest results will be displayed first).
- --offset=[-]N
- Skip displaying the first N results. With the leading '-', start at the
Nth result from the end.
- --limit=N
- Limit the number of displayed results to N.
- --exclude=(true|false|all|flag)
- A message is called "excluded" if it matches at least one tag in
search.exclude_tags that does not appear explicitly in the search terms.
This option specifies whether to omit excluded messages in the search
process.
- true (default)
- Prevent excluded messages from matching the search terms.
- all
- Additionally prevent excluded messages from appearing in displayed
results, in effect behaving as though the excluded messages do not
exist.
- false
- Allow excluded messages to match search terms and appear in displayed
results. Excluded messages are still marked in the relevant outputs.
- flag
- Only has an effect when --output=summary. The output is almost
identical to false, but the "match count" is the number
of matching non-excluded messages in the thread, rather than the number of
matching messages.
- --duplicate=N
- For --output=files, output the Nth filename associated with each
message matching the query (N is 1-based). If N is greater than the number
of files associated with the message, don't print anything.
For --output=messages, only output message IDs of
messages matching the search terms that have at least N filenames
associated with them.
Note that this option is orthogonal with the folder:
search prefix. The prefix matches messages based on filenames. This
option filters filenames of the matching messages.
The following shows an example of the summary output format, with
one message having multiple filenames.
% notmuch search date:today.. and tag:bad-news
thread:0000000000063c10 Today [1/1] Some Persun; To the bone (bad-news inbox unread)
thread:0000000000063c25 Today [1/1(2)] Ann Other; Bears (bad-news inbox unread)
thread:0000000000063c00 Today [1/1] A Thurd; Bites, stings, sad feelings (bad-news unread)
This command supports the following special exit status codes
- 20
- The requested format version is too old.
- 21
- The requested format version is too new.
notmuch(1), notmuch-config(1),
notmuch-count(1), notmuch-dump(1), notmuch-hooks(5),
notmuch-insert(1), notmuch-new(1), notmuch-reply(1),
notmuch-restore(1), notmuch-search-terms(7),
notmuch-show(1), notmuch-tag(1) notmuch-address(1)
Carl Worth and many others
2009-2021, Carl Worth and many others