MELI(1)

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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           ( `-=-=-=-(@)-=-=-` )      ^^
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    ^^     (`-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-`)  ^^
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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 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 .

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 . meli will attempt to open text inside its pager, and other content via xdg-open . Press 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: 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: 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: 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 and

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 and (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 while viewing a mailbox. To reply to a mail, press . 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 to enter INSERT mode and Esc key to exit.
-   At any time you may press 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 will send your message according to your settings ( see meli.conf(5) ACCOUNTS , 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 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 .

manage-jobs
    Inspect background jobs.

manage-mailboxes
    Inspect all mailboxes of an account, subscribed or not. Pressing the shortcut allows you to rename, move, toggle subscription and delete the mailbox under the cursor.

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
-   XDG Base Directory Specification, Version 0.8, Waldo Bastian, Allison Karlitskaya, Lennart Poettering, Johannes Löthberg, https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html, May 08, 2021.
-   maildir, Daniel J. Bernstein, https://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html, 1995.
-   RFC1524 A User Agent Configuration Mechanism For Multimedia Mail Format Information, mailcap file, Legacy, September 01, 1993, Dr. Nathaniel S. Borenstein, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc1524/.
-   RFC2047 MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part Three: Message Header Extensions for Non-ASCII Text, IETF, November 01, 1996, Keith Moore, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2047/.
-   RFC2183 Communicating Presentation Information in Internet Messages: The Content-Disposition Header Field, Legacy, August 01, 1997, Rens Troost, Steve Dorner, Keith Moore, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2183/.
-   RFC2369 The Use of URLs as Meta-Syntax for Core Mail List Commands and their Transport through Message Header Fields, Legacy, July 01, 1998, Joshua D. Baer, Grant Neufeld, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2369/.
-   RFC2426 vCard MIME Directory Profile, vCard Version 3, IETF, September 01, 1998, Frank Dawson, Tim Howes, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2426/.
-   RFC2971 IMAP4 ID extension, IETF, October 01, 2000, Tim Showalter, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc2971/.
-   RFC3156 MIME Security with OpenPGP, IETF, August 01, 2001, Thomas Roessler, Michael Elkins, Raph Levien, Dave Del Torto, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3156/.
-   RFC3461 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) Service Extension for Delivery Status Notifications (DSNs), IETF, January 23, 2003, Keith Moore, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3461/.
-   RFC3501 INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - VERSION 4rev1, IETF, March 18, 2003, Mark Crispin, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3501/.
-   RFC3676 The Text/Plain Format and DelSp Parameters, IETF, February 19, 2004, Randall Gellens, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3676/.
-   RFC3691 Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) UNSELECT command, IETF, February 20, 2004, Alexey Melnikov, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3691/.
-   RFC3977 Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP), IETF, October 26, 2006, Clive Feather, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc3977/.
-   RFC4505 Anonymous Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) Mechanism, IETF, June 12, 2006, Kurt Zeilenga, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc4505/.
-   RFC4549 Synchronization Operations for Disconnected IMAP4 Clients, IETF, June 16, 2006, Alexey Melnikov, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc4549/.
-   RFC4616 The PLAIN Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) Mechanism, IETF, August 31, 2006, Kurt Zeilenga, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc4616/.
-   RFC4954 SMTP Service Extension for Authentication, IETF, July 23, 2007, Rob Siemborski, Alexey Melnikov, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc4954/.
-   RFC5321 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, IETF, October 01, 2008, Dr. John C. Klensin, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc5321/.
-   RFC5322 Internet Message Format, IETF, October 01, 2008, Pete Resnick, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc5322/.
-   RFC6048 Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) Additions to LIST Command, IETF, November 22, 2010, Julien ÉLIE, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6048/.
-   RFC6152 SMTP Service Extension for 8-bit MIME Transport, IETF, March 07, 2011, Dave Crocker, Dr. John C. Klensin, Dr. Marshall T. Rose, Ned Freed, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6152/.
-   RFC6350 vCard Format Specification, vCard Version 4, IETF, August 31, 2011, Simon Perreault, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6350/.
-   RFC6532 Internationalized Email Headers, IETF, February 17, 2012, Abel Yang, Shawn Steele, Ned Freed, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6532/.
-   RFC6868 Parameter Value Encoding in iCalendar and vCard, IETF, February 14, 2013, Cyrus Daboo, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc6868/.
-   RFC7162 IMAP Extensions: Quick Flag Changes Resynchronization (CONDSTORE) and Quick Mailbox Resynchronization (QRESYNC), IETF, May 23, 2014, Alexey Melnikov, Dave Cridland, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc7162/.
-   RFC8620 The JSON Meta Application Protocol (JMAP), IETF, July 18, 2019, Neil Jenkins, Chris Newman, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc8620/.
-   RFC8621 The JSON Meta Application Protocol (JMAP) for Mail, IETF, August 08, 2019, Neil Jenkins, Chris Newman, https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/rfc8621/.

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