mu
Manage and search email messages
TLDR
Initialize the email database, optionally specifying the Maildir directory and email addresses
Index new emails
Find messages using a specific keyword (in message body, subject, sender, ...)
Find messages to Alice with subject jellyfish containing the words apples or oranges
Find unread messages about words starting with soc (the * only works at the end of the search term) in the Sent Items folder
Find messages from Sam with attached images, between 2 KiB and 2 MiB, written in 2021
List contacts with Bob in either name or email address
SYNOPSIS
mu command [ options ]
PARAMETERS
index
Indexes e-mail messages.
find
Finds e-mail messages matching certain criteria.
view
Shows the content of an e-mail message.
extract
Extracts attachments from e-mail messages.
cfind
Continues the search after first finding email
mkdir
Creates a Xapian database. Useful for creating new databases
compact
Compacts the database to save space and improve performance
--maildir=path
Specifies the mail directory to use.
--dbpath=path
Specifies the path to the Xapian database.
DESCRIPTION
mu is a tool for dealing with e-mail messages, primarily intended to help with quickly finding messages.
It indexes e-mail messages stored in maildirs (or other formats) and allows for quick searching based on various criteria like sender, subject, date, keywords, and content. mu aims to provide a fast, efficient, and powerful way to manage and search through large amounts of e-mail. It also provides tools for viewing and handling e-mail messages once they have been found. mu relies on xapian database for indexing of email messages and offers features for both command-line and graphical interface usage. For example it can be used by emacs to manage emails. It is designed to be a backend to other email tools.
QUERY LANGUAGE
mu uses a powerful query language to specify search criteria. Queries can include conditions based on sender, recipient, subject, date, keywords, message ID, flags, and more.
The query language supports boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) and fuzzy matching.
CONFIGURATION
mu's behavior can be customized through a configuration file located at ~/.mu/mu.conf. This file allows users to set default options, specify mail directories, and configure other parameters.
HISTORY
mu was created by Dirk-Jan C. Binnema. Development started with the aim of providing a fast and efficient email management solution, particularly for users with large email archives.
Over time, mu has evolved to include more features and improve performance. It has gained popularity amongst users who require powerful search capabilities and integration with other tools like Emacs.
SEE ALSO
xapian(1), mail(1)