Provided by: meli_0.8.10+dfsg-4_amd64 
NAME
meli — terminal e-mail client μέλι is the Greek word for honey
SYNOPSIS
meli [--help | -h] [--version | -v] [--config path]
--help | -h
Show help message and exit.
--version | -v
Show version and exit.
--config path
Start meli with given configuration file.
create-config [path]
Create configuration file in path if given, or at $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/meli/config.toml. If
path is - the result is printed to the standard output stream.
test-config [path]
Test a configuration for syntax issues or missing options. The configuration is read
from path if given, or from $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/meli/config.toml. If path is - the
configuration is read from the standard input stream.
man [page]
Print documentation page and exit (Piping to a pager is recommended).
install-man [path]
Install manual pages to the first location provided by MANPATH or manpath(1), unless you
specify the directory as an argument.
compiled-with
Print compile time feature flags of this binary.
edit-config
Edit configuration files with EDITOR or VISUAL.
help Prints help information or the help of the given subcommand(s).
print-app-directories
Print all directories that meli creates and uses.
print-config-path
Print location of configuration file that will be loaded on normal app startup.
print-default-theme
Print default theme keys and values in TOML syntax, to be used as a blueprint.
print-loaded-themes
Print all loaded themes in TOML syntax.
print-log-path
Print log file location.
view View mail from input file.
DESCRIPTION
meli is a terminal mail client aiming for extensive and user-friendly configurability.
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STARTING WITH meli
When launched for the first time, meli will search for its configuration directory,
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/meli/. If it doesn't exist, you will be asked if you want to create one and presented
with a sample configuration file ($XDG_CONFIG_HOME/meli/config.toml) that includes the basic settings
required for setting up accounts allowing you to copy and edit right away. See meli.conf(5) for the
available configuration options.
At any time, you may press ⟨?⟩ (shortcuts.general.toggle_help) for a searchable list of all available
actions and shortcuts, along with every possible setting and command that your version supports.
The main visual navigation tool, the left-side sidebar may be toggled with ⟨`⟩
(shortcuts.listing.toggle_menu_visibility).
Each mailbox may be viewed in 4 modes:
- Plain views each mail individually,
- Threaded shows their thread relationship visually,
- Conversations collapses each thread of e-mails into a single entry,
- Compact shows one row per thread.
If you're using a light color palette in your terminal, you should set theme = light in the terminal
section of your configuration. See meli-themes(5) for complete documentation on user themes.
See meli(7) for a more detailed tutorial on using meli.
SHORTCUTS
See meli.conf(5) SHORTCUTS for shortcuts and their default values.
VIEWING MAIL
Open attachments by typing their index in the attachments list and then ⟨a⟩
(shortcuts.envelope_view.open_attachment). meli will attempt to open text inside its pager, and other
content via xdg-open. Press ⟨m⟩ (shortcuts.envelope_view.open_mailcap) instead to use the mailcap entry
for the MIME type of the attachment, if any. See “FILES” for the location of the mailcap files and
mailcap(5) for their syntax. You can save individual attachments with the following command:
save-attachment INDEX path-to-file
INDEX is the attachment's index in the listing.
If the path provided is a directory, the attachment is saved with its filename set to the filename in the
attachment, if any.
If the 0th index is provided, the entire message is saved.
If the path provided is a directory, the message is saved as an eml file with its filename set to the
messages message-id.
You can pipe individual attachments to binaries with the following command:
pipe-attachment INDEX binary ARGS
Example usage with the less(1) pager:
pipe-attachment 0 less
If the binary does not wait for your input before exiting, you will probably not see its output since you
will return back to the user interface immediately. You can write a wrapper script that pipes your
binary's output to
less
or
less -r
if you want to preserve the ANSI escape codes in the pager's output.
SEARCH
Each e-mail storage backend has a default search method assigned. IMAP uses the SEARCH command, notmuch
uses libnotmuch and Maildir/mbox performs a slow linear search. It is advised to use a search backend on
Maildir/mbox accounts. meli, if built with sqlite3, includes the ability to perform full text search on
the following fields: From, To, Cc, Bcc, In-Reply-To, References, Subject and Date. The message body (in
plain text human readable form) and the flags can also be queried. To enable sqlite3 indexing for an
account set search_backend to sqlite3 in the configuration file and to create the sqlite3 index issue
command:
reindex ACCOUNT_NAME
To search in the message body type your keywords without any special formatting. To search in specific
fields, prepend your search keyword with "field:" like so:
subject:helloooo or subject:"call for help" or "You remind me today of a small, Mexican chihuahua."
not ((from:unrealistic and (to:complex or not query )) or flags:seen,draft)
alladdresses:mailing@example.com and cc:me@example.com
Boolean operators are or, and and not (alias: !) String keywords with spaces must be quoted. Quotes
should always be escaped.
Important Notice about IMAP/JMAP
To prevent downloading all your messages from your IMAP/JMAP server, don't set search_backend to sqlite3.
meli will relay your queries to the IMAP server. Expect a delay between query and response. Sqlite3 on
the contrary at reasonable mailbox sizes should have a non noticeable delay.
QUERY ABNF SYNTAX
- query = "(" query ")" | from | to | cc | bcc | message_id | in_reply_to | references | header |
all_addresses | subject | flags | has_attachment | query "or" query | query "and" query | not query
- not = "not" | "!"
- has_attachment = "has:attachment" | "has:attachments"
- quoted = ALPHA / SP *(ALPHA / DIGIT / SP)
- term = ALPHA *(ALPHA / DIGIT) | DQUOTE quoted DQUOTE
- tagname = term
- flagval = "passed" | "replied" | "seen" | "read" | "junk" | "trash" | "trashed" | "draft" | "flagged"
| tagname
- flagterm = flagval | flagval "," flagterm
- flags = "flag:" flag | "flags:" flag | "tag:" flag | "tags:" flag | "is:" flag
- from = "from:" term
- to = "to:" term
- cc = "cc:" term
- bcc = "bcc:" term
- message_id = "message-id:" term | "msg-id:" term
- in_reply_to = "in-reply-to:" term
- references = "references:" term
- header = "header:" field_name "," field_value
- field_name = term
- field_value = term
- all_addresses = "all-addresses:" term
- subject = "subject:" term
FLAGS
meli supports the basic maildir flags: passed, replied, seen, trashed, draft and flagged. Flags can be
searched with the ‘flags:’ prefix in a search query, and can be modified by
flag set FLAG
and
flag unset FLAG
TAGS
meli supports tagging in notmuch and IMAP/JMAP backends. Tags can be searched with the ‘tags:’ or
‘flags:’ prefix in a search query, and can be modified by
tag add TAG
and
tag remove TAG
(see meli.conf(5) TAGS, settings colors and ignore_tags for how to set tag colors and tag visibility)
COMPOSING
Opening the message Composer tab
To create a new mail message, press ⟨m⟩ (shortcuts.listing.new_mail) while viewing a mailbox. To reply
to a mail, press ⟨R⟩ (shortcuts.envelope_view.reply). Both these actions open the mail composer view in
a new tab.
Editing text
- Edit the header fields by selecting with the arrow keys and pressing ⟨Enter⟩
(shortcuts.general.focus_in_text_field) to enter INSERT mode and Esc key to exit.
- At any time you may press ⟨e⟩ (shortcuts.composing.edit) to launch your editor (see meli.conf(5)
COMPOSING, setting editor_command for how to select which editor to launch).
- Your editor can be used in meli's embed terminal emulator by setting embed to true in your composing
settings (You can return to meli at any time by pressing ⟨Ctrl-Z⟩)
- When launched, your editor captures all input until it exits or stops.
- To stop your editor and return to meli press ⟨Ctrl-z⟩ and to resume editing press the edit command
again.
Attachments
Attachments may be handled with the add-attachment, remove-attachment commands (see below).
Sending
Finally, pressing ⟨s⟩ (shortcuts.composing.send_mail) will send your message according to your settings
(see meli.conf(5) COMPOSING, setting name send_mail). With no Draft or Sent mailbox, meli tries first
saving mail in your INBOX and then at any other mailbox. On complete failure to save your draft or sent
message it will be saved in your tmp directory instead and you will be notified of its location.
Drafts
To save your draft without sending it, issue COMMAND close and select 'save as draft'.
To open a draft for further editing, select your draft in the mail listing and press edit.
CONTACTS
meli supports three kinds of contact backends:
1. an internal format that gets saved under $XDG_DATA_HOME/meli/account_name/contacts.
2. vCard files (v3, v4) through the vcard_folder option in the account section. The path defined as
vcard_folder can hold multiple vCards per file. They are loaded read only.
3. a mutt(1) compatible alias file in the option mutt_alias_file
See meli.conf(5) ACCOUNTS for the complete account contact configuration values.
MODES
NORMAL is the default mode
COMMAND commands are issued in COMMAND mode, by default started with ⟨:⟩
(shortcuts.general.enter_command_mode) and exited with ⟨Esc⟩ key.
EMBED is the mode of the embed terminal emulator
INSERT captures all input as text input, and is exited with Esc key.
COMMAND
Mail listing commands
set plain | threaded | compact | conversations
set the way mailboxes are displayed
┌───────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ conversations │ shows one entry per thread │
├───────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ compact │ shows one row per thread │
├───────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ threaded │ shows threads as a tree structure │
├───────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ plain │ shows one row per mail, regardless of threading │
└───────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
sort [subject | date] asc | desc sort mail listing
subsort [subject | date] asc | desc sorts only the first level of replies.
go n where n is a mailbox prefixed with the n number in the side menu
for the current account
toggle thread_snooze don't issue notifications for thread under cursor in thread listing
search STRING search mailbox with STRING query. Escape exits search results.
select STRING select threads matching STRING query.
clear-selection Clear current selection.
set seen | unseen Set seen status of message.
import FILEPATH MAILBOX_PATH Import mail from file into given mailbox.
copyto, moveto MAILBOX_PATH Copy or move to other mailbox.
copyto, moveto ACCOUNT MAILBOX_PATH Copy or move to another account's mailbox.
delete Delete selected entries.
export-mbox FILEPATH Export selected threads to mboxcl2 file.
create-mailbox ACCOUNT MAILBOX_PATH create mailbox with given path. Be careful with backends and
separator sensitivity (eg IMAP)
subscribe-mailbox ACCOUNT MAILBOX_PATH
subscribe to mailbox with given path
unsubscribe-mailbox ACCOUNT MAILBOX_PATH
unsubscribe to mailbox with given path
rename-mailbox ACCOUNT MAILBOX_PATH_SRC MAILBOX_PATH_DEST
rename mailbox
delete-mailbox ACCOUNT MAILBOX_PATH deletes mailbox in the mail backend. This action is irreversible.
Mail view commands
pipe EXECUTABLE [ARGS] pipe pager contents to binary
filter EXECUTABLE [ARGS] filter and display pager contents through command
filter select a filter from pager.named_filters configuration value (See
meli.conf(5) PAGER for its syntax)
list-post post in list of viewed envelope
list-unsubscribe unsubscribe automatically from list of viewed envelope
list-archive open list archive with xdg-open
Composing mail commands
mailto MAILTO_ADDRESS Opens a composer tab with initial values parsed from the mailto:
address.
add-attachment PATH in composer, add PATH as an attachment
add-attachment < CMD ARGS in composer, pipe CMD ARGS output into an attachment
add-attachment-file-picker Launch command defined in the configuration value
file_picker_command in meli.conf(5) TERMINAL
add-attachment-file-picker < CMD ARGS
Launch command CMD ARGS. The command should print file paths in
stdout, separated by NUL bytes. Example usage with fzf(1):
add-attachment-file-picker < fzf --print0
remove-attachment INDEX remove attachment with given index
toggle sign toggle between signing and not signing this message. If the gpg
invocation fails then the mail won't be sent. See meli.conf(5) PGP
for PGP configuration.
save-draft saves a copy of the draft in the Draft folder
Generic commands
open-in-tab opens envelope view in new tab
close closes closeable tabs
setenv KEY=VALUE set environment variable KEY to VALUE
printenv KEY print environment variable KEY
quit Quits meli.
reload-config Reloads configuration but only if account configuration is
unchanged. Useful if you want to reload some settings without
restarting meli.
EXIT STATUS
meli exits with 0 on a successful run. Other exit statuses are:
1 catchall for general errors
101 process panic
ENVIRONMENT
EDITOR Specifies the editor to use
MELI_CONFIG Override the configuration file
NO_COLOR When defined (regardless of its value), prevents the addition of
ANSI color. The configuration value use_color overrides this.
FILES
meli uses the following parts of the XDG standard:
XDG_CONFIG_HOME defaults to ~/.config/
XDG_CACHE_HOME defaults to ~/.cache/
and appropriates the following locations:
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/meli/ User configuration directory
$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/meli/config.toml
User configuration file, see meli.conf(5) for its syntax and
values.
$XDG_CACHE_HOME/meli/* Internal cached data used by meli.
$XDG_DATA_HOME/meli/* Internal data used by meli.
$XDG_DATA_HOME/meli/meli.log Operation log.
/tmp/meli/* Temporary files generated by meli.
Mailcap entries are searched for in the following files, in this order:
1. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/meli/mailcap
2. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/.mailcap
3. $HOME/.mailcap
4. /etc/mailcap
5. /usr/etc/mailcap
6. /usr/local/etc/mailcap
STANDARDS
- Waldo Bastian, Allison Karlitskaya, Lennart Poettering, and Johannes Löthberg, XDG Base Directory
Specification, https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html, May 08,
2021, Version 0.8.
- Daniel J. Bernstein, maildir, https://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html, 1995.
- Dr. Nathaniel S. Borenstein, RFC1524 A User Agent Configuration Mechanism For Multimedia Mail Format
Information, Legacy, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc1524/, September 01, 1993, mailcap file.
- Keith Moore, RFC2047 MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part Three: Message Header
Extensions for Non-ASCII Text, IETF, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2047/, November 01, 1996.
- Rens Troost, Steve Dorner, and Keith Moore, RFC2183 Communicating Presentation Information in
Internet Messages: The Content-Disposition Header Field, Legacy,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2183/, August 01, 1997.
- Joshua D. Baer and Grant Neufeld, RFC2369 The Use of URLs as Meta-Syntax for Core Mail List Commands
and their Transport through Message Header Fields, Legacy, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2369/,
July 01, 1998.
- Frank Dawson and Tim Howes, RFC2426 vCard MIME Directory Profile, IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2426/, September 01, 1998, vCard Version 3.
- Tim Showalter, RFC2971 IMAP4 ID extension, IETF, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2971/, October
01, 2000.
- Thomas Roessler, Michael Elkins, Raph Levien, and Dave Del Torto, RFC3156 MIME Security with OpenPGP,
IETF, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3156/, August 01, 2001.
- Keith Moore, RFC3461 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) Service Extension for Delivery Status
Notifications (DSNs), IETF, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3461/, January 23, 2003.
- Mark Crispin, RFC3501 INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - VERSION 4rev1, IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3501/, March 18, 2003.
- Randall Gellens, RFC3676 The Text/Plain Format and DelSp Parameters, IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3676/, February 19, 2004.
- Alexey Melnikov, RFC3691 Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) UNSELECT command, IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3691/, February 20, 2004.
- Clive Feather, RFC3977 Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP), IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3977/, October 26, 2006.
- Kurt Zeilenga, RFC4505 Anonymous Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) Mechanism, IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc4505/, June 12, 2006.
- Alexey Melnikov, RFC4549 Synchronization Operations for Disconnected IMAP4 Clients, IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc4549/, June 16, 2006.
- Kurt Zeilenga, RFC4616 The PLAIN Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) Mechanism, IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc4616/, August 31, 2006.
- Rob Siemborski and Alexey Melnikov, RFC4954 SMTP Service Extension for Authentication, IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc4954/, July 23, 2007.
- Dr. John C. Klensin, RFC5321 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc5321/, October 01, 2008.
- Pete Resnick, RFC5322 Internet Message Format, IETF, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc5322/,
October 01, 2008.
- Julien ÉLIE, RFC6048 Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) Additions to LIST Command, IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6048/, November 22, 2010.
- Dave Crocker, Dr. John C. Klensin, Dr. Marshall T. Rose, and Ned Freed, RFC6152 SMTP Service
Extension for 8-bit MIME Transport, IETF, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6152/, March 07, 2011.
- Simon Perreault, RFC6350 vCard Format Specification, IETF, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6350/,
August 31, 2011, vCard Version 4.
- Abel Yang, Shawn Steele, and Ned Freed, RFC6532 Internationalized Email Headers, IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6532/, February 17, 2012.
- Cyrus Daboo, RFC6868 Parameter Value Encoding in iCalendar and vCard, IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6868/, February 14, 2013.
- Alexey Melnikov and Dave Cridland, RFC7162 IMAP Extensions: Quick Flag Changes Resynchronization
(CONDSTORE) and Quick Mailbox Resynchronization (QRESYNC), IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc7162/, May 23, 2014.
- Neil Jenkins and Chris Newman, RFC8620 The JSON Meta Application Protocol (JMAP), IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc8620/, July 18, 2019.
- Neil Jenkins and Chris Newman, RFC8621 The JSON Meta Application Protocol (JMAP) for Mail, IETF,
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc8621/, August 08, 2019.
SEE ALSO
meli.conf(5), meli-themes(5), meli(7), xdg-open(1), mailcap(5)
AUTHORS
Copyright 2017–2024 Manos Pitsidianakis <manos@pitsidianak.is>
Released under the GPL, version 3 or greater. This software carries no warranty of any kind. (See
COPYING for full copyright and warranty notices.)
Links
Website: https://meli-email.org
Main git repository and issue tracker: https://git.meli-email.org/meli/meli
Official read-only git mirror on codeberg.org: https://codeberg.org/meli/meli
Official read-only git mirror on github.com: https://github.com/meli/meli
meli crate on crates.io: https://crates.io/crates/meli
Debian March 10, 2024 MELI(1)