mu

Initialize the email database, optionally specifying the Maildir directory and email addresses

$ mu init --maildir=[path/to/directory] --my-address=[name@example.com]

$ mu index

$ mu find [keyword]

$ mu find to:[alice] subject:[jellyfish] [apples] OR [oranges]

$ mu find 'subject:[soc]*' flag:[unread] maildir:'/[Sent Items]'

$ mu find 'mime:[image/*] size:[2k..2m] date:[20210101..20211231] from:[sam]

$ mu cfind [Bob]

mu command [ options ]

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

xapian(1), mail(1)