NAME

       mu-server - the mu backend for the mu4e e-mail client

SYNOPSIS

       mu [COMMON-OPTIONS] server

DESCRIPTION

       mu server starts a simple shell in which one can query and manipulate the mu database. The
       output uses s-expressions. mu server is not meant for use by humans, except for  debugging
       purposes. Instead, it is designed specifically for the mu4e e-mail client.

              (<command-name> :param1 value1 :param2 value2)

       For example, to view a certain message, the command would be:

              (view :docid 12345)

       Parameters  can  be  sent  in  any  order;  they  must be of the correct type though.  See
       lib/utils/mu-sexp-parser.hh  and  lib/utils/mu-sexp-parser.cc  in  source-tree   for   the
       details.

OUTPUT FORMAT

       mu server accepts a number of commands, and delivers its results in the form:

              \376<length>\377<s-expr>

       \376  (one  byte  0xfe),  followed  by  the  length  of  the  s-expression expressed as an
       hexadecimal number, followed by another \377 (one byte 0xff), followed by  the  actual  s-
       expression.

       By  prefixing  the  expression  with its length, it can be processed more efficiently. The
       \376 and \377 were chosen since  they  never  occur  in  valid  UTF-8  (in  which  the  s-
       expressions are encoded).

SERVER OPTIONS

   --commands
       List available commands (and try with --verbose).

   --eval expression
       Evaluate a mu4e server s-expression.

   --allow-temp-file
       If  set,  allow  for  the  output  of some commands to use temp-files rather than directly
       through the emacs process input/output. This is noticeably faster for commands with a  lot
       of output, esp. when the the temp-file uses a in-memory file-system.

PERFORMANCE

       As  an  indication  for  the relative performance, we can simulate something mu4e does; we
       take overall time of 50 such requests:

              time build/mu/mu server --allow-temp-file --eval '(find :query "

       (and --allow-temp-file for 1.11)

                                      ┌───────────────────────────┐
                                      │      release   time (sec) │
                                      ├───────────────────────────┤
                                      │          1.8   8.6s       │
                                      │         1.10   5.7s       │
                                      │1.11 (master)   2.8s       │
                                      └───────────────────────────┘

   --muhome
       Use a non-default directory to store and read the  database,  write  the  logs,  etc.   By
       default,  mu uses the XDG Base Directory Specification (e.g. on GNU/Linux this defaults to
       ~/.cache/mu and ~/.config/mu). Earlier versions  of  mu  defaulted  to  ~/.mu,  which  now
       requires --muhome=~/.mu.

       The  environment variable MUHOME can be used as an alternative to --muhome. The latter has
       precedence.

COMMON OPTIONS

   -d, --debug
       Makes mu generate extra debug information, useful for debugging the program itself.  Debug
       information goes to the standard logging location; see mu(1).

   -q, --quiet
       Causes  mu  not  to  output  informational  messages  and progress information to standard
       output, but only to the log file. Error messages will still be  sent  to  standard  error.
       Note  that  mu index is much faster with --quiet, so it is recommended you use this option
       when using mu from scripts etc.

   --log-stderr
       Causes mu to not output log messages to standard error, in addition to sending them to the
       standard logging location.

   --nocolor
       Do not use ANSI colors. The environment variable NO_COLOR can be used as an alternative to
       --nocolor.

   -V, --version
       Prints mu version and copyright information.

   -h, --help
       Lists the various command line options.

REPORTING BUGS

       Please report bugs at https://github.com/djcb/mu/issues.

AUTHOR

       Dirk-Jan C. Binnema <djcb@djcbsoftware.nl>

COPYRIGHT

       This manpage is part of mu 1.12.7.

       Copyright © 2008-2024 Dirk-Jan C. Binnema. License GPLv3+: GNU  GPL  version  3  or  later
       https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html.  This  is  free  software:  you  are free to change and
       redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO

       mu(1)

                                                                                     MU-SERVER(1)