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NAME
muttrc - Configuration file for the Mutt Mail User Agent

DESCRIPTION
A mutt configuration file consists of a series of commands. Each
line of the file may contain one or more commands. When multiple com
mands are used, they must be separated by a semicolon (;).

The hash mark, or pound sign (#), is used as a comment character.
You can use it to annotate your initialization file. All text after the
comment character to the end of the line is ignored.

Single quotes () and double quotes (") can be used to quote
strings which contain spaces or other special characters. The differ
ence between the two types of quotes is similar to that of many popular
shell programs, namely that a single quote is used to specify a literal
string (one that is not interpreted for shell variables or quoting with
a backslash [see next paragraph]), while double quotes indicate a
string for which should be evaluated. For example, backtics are evalu
ated inside of double quotes, but not for single quotes.

\ quotes the next character, just as in shells such as bash and zsh.
For example, if want to put quotes (") inside of a string, you can
use \ to force the next character to be a literal instead of inter
preted character.

\\ means to insert a literal \ into the line. \n and \r have
their usual C meanings of linefeed and carriage-return, respectively.

A \ at the end of a line can be used to split commands over multiple
lines, provided that the split points dont appear in the middle of
command names.

It is also possible to substitute the output of a Unix command in an
initialization file. This is accomplished by enclosing the command in
backquotes (command).

UNIX environments can be accessed like the way it is done in shells
like sh and bash: Prepend the name of the environment by a dollar ()
sign.

COMMANDS
alias key address [, address [ ... ]]
unalias [ * | key ]

alias defines an alias key for the given addresses. unalias
removes the alias corresponding to the given key or all aliases
when * is used as an argument.

alternates regexp [ , regexp [ ... ]]
unalternates [ * | regexp [ , regexp [ ... ]] ]

alternates is used to inform mutt about alternate addresses
where you receive mail; you can use regular expressions to spec
ify alternate addresses. This affects mutts idea about mes
sages from you, and messages addressed to you. unalternates
removes a regular expression from the list of known alternates.

alternative_order type[/subtype] [ ... ]
unalternative_order [ * | type/subtype] [...]

alternative_order command permits you to define an order of
preference which is used by mutt to determine which part of a
multipart/alternative body to display. A subtype of * matches
any subtype, as does an empty subtype. unalternative_order
removes entries from the ordered list or deletes the entire list
when * is used as an argument.

auto_view type[/subtype] [ ... ]
unauto_view type[/subtype] [ ... ]

This commands permits you to specify that mutt should automati
cally convert the given MIME types to text/plain when displaying
messages. For this to work, there must be a mailcap(5) entry
for the given MIME type with the copiousoutput flag set. A sub
type of * matches any subtype, as does an empty subtype.

mime_lookup type[/subtype] [ ... ]
unmime_lookup type[/subtype] [ ... ]

This command permits you to define a list of "data" MIME content
types for which mutt will try to determine the actual file type
from the file name, and not use a mailcap(5) entry given for the
original MIME type. For instance, you may add the applica
tion/octet-stream MIME type to this list.

bind map1,map2,... key function
This command binds the given key for the given map or maps to
the given function. Multiple maps may be specified by separating
them with commas (no whitespace is allowed).

Valid maps are: generic, alias, attach, browser, editor, index,
compose, pager, pgp, postpone, mix.

For more information on keys and functions, please consult the
Mutt Manual.

account-hook [!]regexp command
This hook is executed whenever you access a remote mailbox. Use
ful to adjust configuration settings to different IMAP or POP
servers.

charset-hook alias charset
This command defines an alias for a character set. This is use
ful to properly display messages which are tagged with a charac
ter set name not known to mutt.

iconv-hook charset local-charset
This command defines a system-specific name for a character set.
This is useful when your systems iconv(3) implementation does
not understand MIME character set names (such as iso-8859-1),
but instead insists on being fed with implementation-specific
character set names (such as 8859-1). In this specific case,
youd put this into your configuration file:

iconv-hook iso-8859-1 8859-1

message-hook [!]pattern command
Before mutt displays (or formats for replying or forwarding) a
message which matches the given pattern (or, when it is preceded
by an exclamation mark, does not match the pattern), the given
command is executed. When multiple message-hooks match, they
are executed in the order in which they occur in the configu
ration file.

folder-hook [!]regexp command
When mutt enters a folder which matches regexp (or, when regexp
is preceded by an exclamation mark, does not match regexp), the
given command is executed.

When several folder-hooks match a given mail folder, they are
executed in the order given in the configuration file.

macro map key sequence [ description ]
This command binds the given sequence of keys to the given key
in the given map or maps. For valid maps, see bind. To specify
multipe maps, put only a comma between the maps.

color object foreground background [ regexp ]
color index foreground background [ pattern ]
uncolor index pattern [ pattern ... ]

If your terminal supports color, these commands can be used to
assign foreground/backgound combinations to certain objects.
Valid objects are: attachment, body, bold, header, hdrdefault,
index, indicator, markers, message, normal, quoted, quotedN,
search, signature, status, tilde, tree, underline. The body and
header objects allow you to restrict the colorization to a regu
lar expression. The index object permits you to select colored
messages by pattern.

Valid colors include: white, black, green, magenta, blue, cyan,
yellow, red, default, colorN.

mono object attribute [ regexp ]
mono index attribute [ pattern ]

For terminals which dont support color, you can still assign
attributes to objects. Valid attributes include: none, bold,
underline, reverse, and standout.

[un]ignore pattern [ pattern ... ]
The ignore command permits you to specify header fields which
you usually dont wish to see. Any header field whose tag
begins with an ignored pattern will be ignored.

The unignore command permits you to define exceptions from the
above mentioned list of ignored headers.

lists regexp [ regexp ... ]
unlists regexp [ regexp ... ]
subscribe regexp [ regexp ... ]
unsubscribe regexp [ regexp ... ]

Mutt maintains two lists of mailing list address patterns, a
list of subscribed mailing lists, and a list of known mailing
lists. All subscribed mailing lists are known. Patterns use
regular expressions.

The lists command adds a mailing list address to the list of
known mailing lists. The unlists command removes a mailing list
from the lists of known and subscribed mailing lists. The sub
scribe command adds a mailing list to the lists of known and
subscribed mailing lists. The unsubscribe command removes it
from the list of subscribed mailing lists.

mbox-hook [!]pattern mailbox
When mutt changes to a mail folder which matches pattern, mail
box will be used as the mbox folder, i.e., read messages will
be moved to that folder when the mail folder is left.

The first matching mbox-hook applies.

mailboxes filename [ filename ... ]
unmailboxes [ * | filename ... ]

The mailboxes specifies folders which can receive mail and which
will be checked for new messages. When changing folders, press
ing space will cycle through folders with new mail. The unmail
boxes command is used to remove a file name from the list of
folders which can receive mail. If "*" is specified as the file
name, the list is emptied.

my_hdr string
unmy_hdr field

Using my_hdr, you can define headers which will be added to the
messages you compose. unmy_hdr will remove the given user-
defined headers.

hdr_order header1 header2 [ ... ]
With this command, you can specify an order in which mutt will
attempt to present headers to you when viewing messages.

save-hook [!]pattern filename
When a message matches pattern, the default file name when sav
ing it will be the given filename.

fcc-hook [!]pattern filename
When an outgoing message matches pattern, the default file name
for storing a copy (fcc) will be the given filename.

fcc-save-hook [!]pattern filename
This command is an abbreviation for identical fcc-hook and save-
hook commands.

send-hook [!]pattern command
When composing a message matching pattern, command is executed.
When multiple send-hooks match, they are executed in the order
in which they occur in the configuration file.

send2-hook [!]pattern command
Whenever a message matching pattern is changed (either by edit
ing it or by using the compose menu), command is executed. When
multiple send2-hooks match, they are executed in the order in
which they occur in the configuration file. Possible applica
tions include setting the $sendmail variable when a messages
from header is changed.

send2-hook execution is not triggered by use of enter-command
from the compose menu.

reply-hook [!]pattern command
When replying to a message matching pattern, command is exe
cuted. When multiple reply-hooks match, they are executed in
the order in which they occur in the configuration file, but all
reply-hooks are matched and executed before send-hooks, regard
less of their order in the configuration file.

crypt-hook pattern key-id
The crypt-hook command provides a method by which you can spec
ify the ID of the public key to be used when encrypting messages
to a certain recipient. The meaning of "key ID" is to be taken
broadly: This can be a different e-mail address, a numerical key
ID, or even just an arbitrary search string.

open-hook regexp "command"
close-hook regexp "command"
append-hook regexp "command"

These commands provide a way to handle compressed folders. The
given regexp specifies which folders are taken as compressed
(e.g. "\\.gz$"). The commands tell Mutt how to uncompress a
folder (open-hook), compress a folder (close-hook) or append a
compressed mail to a compressed folder (append-hook). The com
mand string is the printf(3) like format string, and it should
accept two parameters: %f, which is replaced with the (com
pressed) folder name, and %t which is replaced with the name of
the temporary folder to which to write.

push string
This command adds the named string to the keyboard buffer.

set [no|inv|&|?]variable[=value] [ ... ]
toggle variable [ ... ]
unset variable [ ... ]
reset variable [ ... ]

These commands are used to set and manipulate configuration
varibles.

Mutt knows four basic types of variables: boolean, number,
string and quadoption. Boolean variables can be set (true),
unset (false), or toggled. Number variables can be assigned a
positive integer value.

String variables consist of any number of printable characters.
Strings must be enclosed in quotes if they contain spaces or
tabs. You may also use the C escape sequences \n and \t for
newline and tab, respectively.

Quadoption variables are used to control whether or not to be
prompted for certain actions, or to specify a default action. A
value of yes will cause the action to be carried out automati
cally as if you had answered yes to the question. Similarly, a
value of no will cause the the action to be carried out as if
you had answered no. A value of ask-yes will cause a prompt
with a default answer of yes and ask-no will provide a default
answer of no.

The reset command resets all given variables to the compile time
defaults. If you reset the special variable all, all variables
will reset to their compile time defaults.

source filename
The given file will be evaluated as a configuration file.

spam pattern format
nospam pattern
These commands define spam-detection patterns from external spam
filters, so that mutt can sort, limit, and search on spam
tags or spam attributes, or display them in the index. See
the Mutt manual for details.

unhook [ * | hook-type ]
This command will remove all hooks of a given type, or all hooks
when * is used as an argument. hook-type can be any of the
-hook commands documented above.

PATTERNS
In various places with mutt, including some of the abovementioned hook
commands, you can specify patterns to match messages.

Constructing Patterns
A simple pattern consists of an operator of the form ~character, pos
sibly followed by a parameter against which mutt is supposed to match
the object specified by this operator. (For a list of operators, see
below.)

With some of these operators, the object to be matched consists of sev
eral e-mail addresses. In these cases, the object is matched if at
least one of these e-mail addresses matches. You can prepend a hat
(^) character to such a pattern to indicate that all addresses must
match in order to match the object.

You can construct complex patterns by combining simple patterns with
logical operators. Logical AND is specified by simply concatenating
two simple patterns, for instance ~C mutt-dev ~s bug. Logical OR is
specified by inserting a vertical bar (|) between two patterns, for
instance ~C mutt-dev | ~s bug. Additionally, you can negate a pat
tern by prepending a bang (!) character. For logical grouping, use
braces (()). Example: !(~t mutt|~c mutt) ~f elkins.

Simple Patterns
Mutt understands the following simple patterns:

~A all messages
~b EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message body
~B EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the whole message
~c EXPR messages carbon-copied to EXPR
~C EXPR message is either to: or cc: EXPR
~d MIN-MAX messages with date-sent in a Date range
~D deleted messages
~e EXPR message which contains EXPR in the Sender field
~E expired messages
~f EXPR messages originating from EXPR
~F flagged messages
~g PGP signed messages
~G PGP encrypted messages
~h EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the message header
~H EXPR messages with spam tags matching EXPR
~i EXPR message which match EXPR in the Message-ID field
~k message contains PGP key material
~l message is addressed to a known mailing list
~L EXPR message is either originated or received by EXPR
~m MIN-MAX message in the range MIN to MAX
~n MIN-MAX messages with a score in the range MIN to MAX
~N new messages
~O old messages
~p message is addressed to you (consults $alternates)
~P message is from you (consults $alternates)
~Q messages which have been replied to
~r MIN-MAX messages with date-received in a Date range
~R read messages
~s EXPR messages having EXPR in the Subject field.
~S superseded messages
~t EXPR messages addressed to EXPR
~T tagged messages
~u message is addressed to a subscribed mailing list
~U unread messages
~v message is part of a collapsed thread.
~V cryptographically verified messages
~x EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the References field
~X MIN-MAX messages with MIN - MAX attachments
~y EXPR messages which contain EXPR in the X-Label field
~z MIN-MAX messages with a size in the range MIN to MAX
~= duplicated messages (see $duplicate_threads)
~$ unreferenced message (requries threaded view)

In the above, EXPR is a regular expression.

With the ~m, ~n, ~X, and ~z operators, you can also specify ranges in
the forms MIN, MIN-, and -MAX.

Matching dates
The ~d and ~r operators are used to match date ranges, which are inter
preted to be given in your local time zone.

A date is of the form DD[/MM[/[cc]YY]], that is, a two-digit date,
optionally followed by a two-digit month, optionally followed by a year
specifications. Omitted fields default to the current month and year.

Mutt understands either two or four digit year specifications. When
given a two-digit year, mutt will interpret values less than 70 as
lying in the 21st century (i.e., 38 means 2038 and not 1938, and 00
is interpreted as 2000), and values greater than or equal to 70 as
lying in the 20th century.

Note that this behaviour is Y2K compliant, but that mutt does have a
Y2.07K problem.

If a date range consists of a single date, the operator in question
will match that precise date. If the date range consists of a dash
(-), followed by a date, this range will match any date before and up
to the date given. Similarly, a date followed by a dash matches the
date given and any later point of time. Two dates, separated by a
dash, match any date which lies in the given range of time.

You can also modify any absolute date by giving an error range. An
error range consists of one of the characters +, -, *, followed by a
positive number, followed by one of the unit characters y, m, w, or d,
specifying a unit of years, months, weeks, or days. + increases the
maximum date matched by the given interval of time, - decreases the
minimum date matched by the given interval of time, and * increases the
maximum date and decreases the minimum date matched by the given inter
val of time. It is possible to give multiple error margins, which
cumulate. Example: 1/1/2001-1w+2w*3d

You can also specify offsets relative to the current date. An offset
is specified as one of the characters <, >, =, followed by a positive
number, followed by one of the unit characters y, m, w, or d. >
matches dates which are older than the specified amount of time, an
offset which begins with the character < matches dates which are more
recent than the specified amount of time, and an offset which begins
with the character = matches points of time which are precisely the
given amount of time ago.

CONFIGURATION VARIABLES
abort_nosubject
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

If set to yes, when composing messages and no subject is given
at the subject prompt, composition will be aborted. If set to
no, composing messages with no subject given at the subject
prompt will never be aborted.

abort_unmodified
Type: quadoption
Default: yes

If set to yes, composition will automatically abort after edit
ing the message body if no changes are made to the file (this
check only happens after the first edit of the file). When set
to no, composition will never be aborted.

alias_file
Type: path
Default: ~/.muttrc

The default file in which to save aliases created by the cre
ate-alias function.

Note: Mutt will not automatically source this file; you must
explicitly use the source command for it to be executed.

alias_format
Type: string
Default: %4n %2f %t %-10a %r

Specifies the format of the data displayed for the alias menu.
The following printf(3)-style sequences are available:

%a alias name

%f flags - currently, a d for an alias marked for deletion

%n index number

%r address which alias expands to

%t character which indicates if the alias is tagged for
inclusion

allow_8bit
Type: boolean
Default: yes

Controls whether 8-bit data is converted to 7-bit using either
Quoted- Printable or Base64 encoding when sending mail.

allow_ansi
Type: boolean
Default: no

Controls whether ANSI color codes in messages (and color tags in
rich text messages) are to be interpreted. Messages containing
these codes are rare, but if this option is set, their text will
be colored accordingly. Note that this may override your color
choices, and even present a security problem, since a message
could include a line like [-- PGP output follows ... and give
it the same color as your attachment color.

arrow_cursor
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, an arrow (->) will be used to indicate the current
entry in menus instead of highlighting the whole line. On slow
network or modem links this will make response faster because
there is less that has to be redrawn on the screen when moving
to the next or previous entries in the menu.

ascii_chars
Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, Mutt will use plain ASCII characters when displaying
thread and attachment trees, instead of the default ACS charac
ters.

askbcc
Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, Mutt will prompt you for blind-carbon-copy (Bcc) recipi
ents before editing an outgoing message.

askcc
Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, Mutt will prompt you for carbon-copy (Cc) recipients
before editing the body of an outgoing message.

assumed_charset
Type: string
Default: us-ascii

This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding
schemes for messages without character encoding indication.
Header field values and message body content without character
encoding indication would be assumed that they are written in
one of this list. By default, all the header fields and message
body without any charset indication are assumed to be in us-
ascii.

For example, Japanese users might prefer this:

set assumed_charset=iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8

However, only the first content is valid for the message body.
This variable is valid only if $strict_mime is unset.

attach_format
Type: string
Default: %u%D%I %t%4n %T%.40d%> [%.7m/%.10M, %.6e%?C?, %C?, %s]

This variable describes the format of the attachment menu.
The following printf-style sequences are understood:

%C charset

%c requires charset conversion (n or c)

%D deleted flag

%d description

%e MIME content-transfer-encoding

%f filename

%I disposition (I=inline, A=attachment)

%m major MIME type

%M MIME subtype

%n attachment number

%Q Q, if MIME part qualifies for attachment counting

%s size

%t tagged flag

%T graphic tree characters

%u unlink (=to delete) flag

%X number of qualifying MIME parts in this part and its
children (please see the attachments section for possi
ble speed effects)

%>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac
ter X

%|X pad to the end of the line with character X

attach_sep
Type: string
Default: \n

The separator to add between attachments when operating (saving,
printing, piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments.

attach_split
Type: boolean
Default: yes

If this variable is unset, when operating (saving, printing,
piping, etc) on a list of tagged attachments, Mutt will concate
nate the attachments and will operate on them as a single
attachment. The $attach_sep separator is added after each
attachment. When set, Mutt will operate on the attachments one
by one.

attribution
Type: string
Default: On %d, %n wrote:

This is the string that will precede a message which has been
included in a reply. For a full listing of defined
printf()-like sequences see the section on $index_format.

autoedit
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set along with $edit_headers, Mutt will skip the initial
send-menu and allow you to immediately begin editing the body of
your message. The send-menu may still be accessed once you have
finished editing the body of your message.

Also see $fast_reply.

auto_tag
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, functions in the index menu which affect a message
will be applied to all tagged messages (if there are any). When
unset, you must first use the tag-prefix function (default: ;)
to make the next function apply to all tagged messages.

beep
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When this variable is set, mutt will beep when an error occurs.

beep_new
Type: boolean
Default: no

When this variable is set, mutt will beep whenever it prints a
message notifying you of new mail. This is independent of the
setting of the $beep variable.

bounce
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

Controls whether you will be asked to confirm bouncing messages.
If set to yes you dont get asked if you want to bounce a mes
sage. Setting this variable to no is not generally useful, and
thus not recommended, because you are unable to bounce messages.

bounce_delivered
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When this variable is set, mutt will include Delivered-To head
ers when bouncing messages. Postfix users may wish to unset
this variable.

braille_friendly
Type: boolean
Default: no

When this variable is set, mutt will place the cursor at the
beginning of the current line in menus, even when the arrow_cur
sor variable is unset, making it easier for blind persons using
Braille displays to follow these menus. The option is disabled
by default because many visual terminals dont permit making the
cursor invisible.

charset
Type: string
Default:

Character set your terminal uses to display and enter textual
data.

check_new
Type: boolean
Default: yes

Note: this option only affects maildir and MH style mailboxes.

When set, Mutt will check for new mail delivered while the mail
box is open. Especially with MH mailboxes, this operation can
take quite some time since it involves scanning the directory
and checking each file to see if it has already been looked at.
If check_new is unset, no check for new mail is performed while
the mailbox is open.

collapse_unread
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When unset, Mutt will not collapse a thread if it contains any
unread messages.

uncollapse_jump
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, Mutt will jump to the next unread message, if any,
when the current thread is uncollapsed.

compose_format
Type: string
Default: -- Mutt: Compose [Approx. msg size: %l Atts: %a]%>-

Controls the format of the status line displayed in the Compose
menu. This string is similar to $status_format, but has its
own set of printf()-like sequences:

%a total number of attachments

%h local hostname

%l approximate size (in bytes) of the current message

%v Mutt version string

See the text describing the $status_format option for more
information on how to set $compose_format.

config_charset
Type: string
Default:

When defined, Mutt will recode commands in rc files from this
encoding.

confirmappend
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when appending mes
sages to an existing mailbox.

confirmcreate
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, Mutt will prompt for confirmation when saving messages
to a mailbox which does not yet exist before creating it.

connect_timeout
Type: number
Default: 30

Causes Mutt to timeout a network connection (for IMAP or POP)
after this many seconds if the connection is not able to be
established. A negative value causes Mutt to wait indefinitely
for the connection to succeed.

content_type
Type: string
Default: text/plain

Sets the default Content-Type for the body of newly composed
messages.

copy
Type: quadoption
Default: yes

This variable controls whether or not copies of your outgoing
messages will be saved for later references. Also see
$record, $save_name, $force_name and fcc-hook.

crypt_use_gpgme
Type: boolean
Default: no

This variable controls the use the GPGME enabled crypto back
ends. If it is set and Mutt was build with gpgme support, the
gpgme code for S/MIME and PGP will be used instead of the clas
sic code. Note, that you need to use this option in .muttrc as
it wont have any effect when used interactively.

crypt_autopgp
Type: boolean
Default: yes

This variable controls whether or not mutt may automatically
enable PGP encryption/signing for messages. See also
$crypt_autoencrypt, $crypt_replyencrypt, $crypt_autosign,
$crypt_replysign and $smime_is_default.

crypt_autosmime
Type: boolean
Default: yes

This variable controls whether or not mutt may automatically
enable S/MIME encryption/signing for messages. See also
$crypt_autoencrypt, $crypt_replyencrypt, $crypt_autosign,
$crypt_replysign and $smime_is_default.

date_format
Type: string
Default: !%a, %b %d, %Y at %I:%M:%S%p %Z

This variable controls the format of the date printed by the
%d sequence in $index_format. This is passed to the strf
time call to process the date. See the man page for strftime(3)
for the proper syntax.

Unless the first character in the string is a bang (!), the
month and week day names are expanded according to the locale
specified in the variable $locale. If the first character in
the string is a bang, the bang is discarded, and the month and
week day names in the rest of the string are expanded in the C
locale (that is in US English).

default_hook
Type: string
Default: ~f %s !~P | (~P ~C %s)

This variable controls how send-hooks, message-hooks, save-
hooks, and fcc-hooks will be interpreted if they are specified
with only a simple regexp, instead of a matching pattern. The
hooks are expanded when they are declared, so a hook will be
interpreted according to the value of this variable at the time
the hook is declared. The default value matches if the message
is either from a user matching the regular expression given, or
if it is from you (if the from address matches alternates) and
is to or cced to a user matching the given regular expression.

delete
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

Controls whether or not messages are really deleted when closing
or synchronizing a mailbox. If set to yes, messages marked for
deleting will automatically be purged without prompting. If set
to no, messages marked for deletion will be kept in the mailbox.

delete_untag
Type: boolean
Default: yes

If this option is set, mutt will untag messages when marking
them for deletion. This applies when you either explicitly
delete a message, or when you save it to another folder.

digest_collapse
Type: boolean
Default: yes

If this option is set, mutts received-attachments menu will not
show the subparts of individual messages in a multipart/digest.
To see these subparts, press v on that menu.

display_filter
Type: path
Default:

When set, specifies a command used to filter messages. When a
message is viewed it is passed as standard input to $dis
play_filter, and the filtered message is read from the standard
output.

dotlock_program
Type: path
Default: /usr/bin/mutt_dotlock

Contains the path of the mutt_dotlock (8) binary to be used by
mutt.

dsn_notify
Type: string
Default:

Note: you should not enable this unless you are using Sendmail
8.8.x or greater.

This variable sets the request for when notification is
returned. The string consists of a comma separated list (no
spaces!) of one or more of the following: never, to never
request notification, failure, to request notification on trans
mission failure, delay, to be notified of message delays, suc
cess, to be notified of successful transmission.

Example: set dsn_notify=failure,delay

dsn_return
Type: string
Default:

Note: you should not enable this unless you are using Sendmail
8.8.x or greater.

This variable controls how much of your message is returned in
DSN messages. It may be set to either hdrs to return just the
message header, or full to return the full message.

Example: set dsn_return=hdrs

duplicate_threads
Type: boolean
Default: yes

This variable controls whether mutt, when sorting by threads,
threads messages with the same message-id together. If it is
set, it will indicate that it thinks they are duplicates of each
other with an equals sign in the thread diagram.

edit_headers
Type: boolean
Default: no

This option allows you to edit the header of your outgoing mes
sages along with the body of your message.

editor
Type: path
Default:

This variable specifies which editor is used by mutt. It
defaults to the value of the VISUAL, or EDITOR, environment
variable, or to the string /usr/bin/editor if neither of those
are set.

encode_from
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, mutt will quoted-printable encode messages when they
contain the string From in the beginning of a line. Useful
to avoid the tampering certain mail delivery and transport
agents tend to do with messages.

envelope_from_address
Type: e-mail address
Default:

Manually sets the envelope sender for outgoing messages. This
value is ignored if $use_envelope_from is unset.

escape
Type: string
Default: ~

Escape character to use for functions in the builtin editor.

fast_reply
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, the initial prompt for recipients and subject are
skipped when replying to messages, and the initial prompt for
subject is skipped when forwarding messages.

Note: this variable has no effect when the $autoedit variable
is set.

fcc_attach
Type: boolean
Default: yes

This variable controls whether or not attachments on outgoing
messages are saved along with the main body of your message.

fcc_clear
Type: boolean
Default: no

When this variable is set, FCCs will be stored unencrypted and
unsigned, even when the actual message is encrypted and/or
signed. (PGP only)

file_charset
Type: string
Default:

This variable is a colon-separated list of character encoding
schemes for text file attatchments. If unset, $charset value
will be used instead. For example, the following configuration
would work for Japanese text handling:

set file_charset=iso-2022-jp:euc-jp:shift_jis:utf-8

Note: iso-2022-* must be put at the head of the value as shown
above if included.

folder
Type: path
Default: ~/Mail

Specifies the default location of your mailboxes. A + or =
at the beginning of a pathname will be expanded to the value of
this variable. Note that if you change this variable from the
default value you need to make sure that the assignment occurs
before you use + or = for any other variables since expan
sion takes place during the set command.

folder_format
Type: string
Default: %2C %t %N %F %2l %-8.8u %-8.8g %8s %d %f

This variable allows you to customize the file browser display
to your personal taste. This string is similar to $index_for
mat, but has its own set of printf()-like sequences:

%C current file number

%d date/time folder was last modified

%f filename

%F file permissions

%g group name (or numeric gid, if missing)

%l number of hard links

%N N if folder has new mail, blank otherwise

%s size in bytes

%t * if the file is tagged, blank otherwise

%u owner name (or numeric uid, if missing)

%>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac
ter X

%|X pad to the end of the line with character X

followup_to
Type: boolean
Default: yes

Controls whether or not the Mail-Followup-To header field is
generated when sending mail. When set, Mutt will generate this
field when you are replying to a known mailing list, specified
with the subscribe or lists commands.

This field has two purposes. First, preventing you from receiv
ing duplicate copies of replies to messages which you send to
mailing lists, and second, ensuring that you do get a reply sep
arately for any messages sent to known lists to which you are
not subscribed. The header will contain only the lists address
for subscribed lists, and both the list address and your own
email address for unsubscribed lists. Without this header, a
group reply to your message sent to a subscribed list will be
sent to both the list and your address, resulting in two copies
of the same email for you.

force_name
Type: boolean
Default: no

This variable is similar to $save_name, except that Mutt will
store a copy of your outgoing message by the username of the
address you are sending to even if that mailbox does not exist.

Also see the $record variable.

forward_decode
Type: boolean
Default: yes

Controls the decoding of complex MIME messages into text/plain
when forwarding a message. The message header is also RFC2047
decoded. This variable is only used, if $mime_forward is
unset, otherwise $mime_forward_decode is used instead.

forward_edit
Type: quadoption
Default: yes

This quadoption controls whether or not the user is automati
cally placed in the editor when forwarding messages. For those
who always want to forward with no modification, use a setting
of no.

forward_format
Type: string
Default: [%a: %s]

This variable controls the default subject when forwarding a
message. It uses the same format sequences as the $index_for
mat variable.

forward_quote
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set forwarded messages included in the main body of the
message (when $mime_forward is unset) will be quoted using
$indent_string.

from
Type: e-mail address
Default:

When set, this variable contains a default from address. It can
be overridden using my_hdr (including from send-hooks) and
$reverse_name. This variable is ignored if $use_from is
unset.

Defaults to the contents of the environment variable EMAIL.

gecos_mask
Type: regular expression
Default: ^[^,]*

A regular expression used by mutt to parse the GECOS field of a
password entry when expanding the alias. By default the regular
expression is set to ^[^,]* which will return the string up to
the first , encountered. If the GECOS field contains a string
like lastname, firstname then you should set the
gecos_mask=.*.

This can be useful if you see the following behavior: you
address a e-mail to user ID stevef whose full name is Steve
Franklin. If mutt expands stevef to Franklin stevef@foo.bar
then you should set the gecos_mask to a regular expression that
will match the whole name so mutt will expand Franklin to
Franklin, Steve.

hdrs
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When unset, the header fields normally added by the my_hdr
command are not created. This variable must be unset before
composing a new message or replying in order to take effect. If
set, the user defined header fields are added to every new mes
sage.

header
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, this variable causes Mutt to include the header of the
message you are replying to into the edit buffer. The $weed
setting applies.

help
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, help lines describing the bindings for the major func
tions provided by each menu are displayed on the first line of
the screen.

Note: The binding will not be displayed correctly if the func
tion is bound to a sequence rather than a single keystroke.
Also, the help line may not be updated if a binding is changed
while Mutt is running. Since this variable is primarily aimed
at new users, neither of these should present a major problem.

hidden_host
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, mutt will skip the host name part of $hostname vari
able when adding the domain part to addresses. This variable
does not affect the generation of Message-IDs, and it will not
lead to the cut-off of first-level domains.

hide_limited
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, mutt will not show the presence of messages that are
hidden by limiting, in the thread tree.

hide_missing
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages in
the thread tree.

hide_thread_subject
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, mutt will not show the subject of messages in the
thread tree that have the same subject as their parent or clos
est previously displayed sibling.

hide_top_limited
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, mutt will not show the presence of messages that are
hidden by limiting, at the top of threads in the thread tree.
Note that when $hide_limited is set, this option will have no
effect.

hide_top_missing
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, mutt will not show the presence of missing messages at
the top of threads in the thread tree. Note that when
$hide_missing is set, this option will have no effect.

history
Type: number
Default: 10

This variable controls the size (in number of strings remem
bered) of the string history buffer. The buffer is cleared each
time the variable is set.

honor_followup_to
Type: quadoption
Default: yes

This variable controls whether or not a Mail-Followup-To header
is honored when group-replying to a message.

hostname
Type: string
Default:

Specifies the hostname to use after the @ in local e-mail
addresses. This overrides the compile time definition obtained
from /etc/resolv.conf.

ignore_list_reply_to
Type: boolean
Default: no

Affects the behaviour of the reply function when replying to
messages from mailing lists. When set, if the Reply-To: field
is set to the same value as the To: field, Mutt assumes that
the Reply-To: field was set by the mailing list to automate
responses to the list, and will ignore this field. To direct a
response to the mailing list when this option is set, use the
list-reply function; group-reply will reply to both the sender
and the list.

imap_authenticators
Type: string
Default:

This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
may attempt to use to log in to an IMAP server, in the order
mutt should try them. Authentication methods are either login
or the right side of an IMAP AUTH=xxx capability string, eg
digest-md5, gssapi or cram-md5. This parameter is case-
insensitive. If this parameter is unset (the default) mutt will
try all available methods, in order from most-secure to least-
secure.

Example: set imap_authenticators=gssapi:cram-md5:login

Note: Mutt will only fall back to other authentication methods
if the previous methods are unavailable. If a method is avail
able but authentication fails, mutt will not connect to the IMAP
server.

imap_check_subscribed
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, mutt will fetch the set of subscribed folders from
your server on connection, and add them to the set of mailboxes
it polls for new mail. See also the mailboxes command.

imap_delim_chars
Type: string
Default: /.

This contains the list of characters which you would like to
treat as folder separators for displaying IMAP paths. In partic
ular it helps in using the = shortcut for your folder vari
able.

imap_headers
Type: string
Default:

Mutt requests these header fields in addition to the default
headers (DATE FROM SUBJECT TO CC MESSAGE-ID REFERENCES CONTENT-
TYPE CONTENT-DESCRIPTION IN-REPLY-TO REPLY-TO LINES X-LABEL)
from IMAP servers before displaying the index menu. You may want
to add more headers for spam detection. Note: This is a space
separated list.

imap_home_namespace
Type: string
Default:

You normally want to see your personal folders alongside your
INBOX in the IMAP browser. If you see something else, you may
set this variable to the IMAP path to your folders.

imap_idle
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, mutt will attempt to use the IMAP IDLE extension to
check for new mail in the current mailbox. Some servers (dovecot
was the inspiration for this option) react badly to mutts
implementation. If your connection seems to freeze up periodi
cally, try unsetting this.

imap_keepalive
Type: number
Default: 900

This variable specifies the maximum amount of time in seconds
that mutt will wait before polling open IMAP connections, to
prevent the server from closing them before mutt has finished
with them. The default is well within the RFC-specified minimum
amount of time (30 minutes) before a server is allowed to do
this, but in practice the RFC does get violated every now and
then. Reduce this number if you find yourself getting discon
nected from your IMAP server due to inactivity.

imap_list_subscribed
Type: boolean
Default: no

This variable configures whether IMAP folder browsing will look
for only subscribed folders or all folders. This can be toggled
in the IMAP browser with the toggle-subscribed function.

imap_login
Type: string
Default:

Your login name on the IMAP server.

This variable defaults to the value of imap_user.

imap_pass
Type: string
Default:

Specifies the password for your IMAP account. If unset, Mutt
will prompt you for your password when you invoke the fetch-mail
function. Warning: you should only use this option when you are
on a fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your
muttrc even if you are the only one who can read the file.

imap_passive
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, mutt will not open new IMAP connections to check for
new mail. Mutt will only check for new mail over existing IMAP
connections. This is useful if you dont want to be prompted to
user/password pairs on mutt invocation, or if opening the con
nection is slow.

imap_peek
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, mutt will avoid implicitly marking your mail as read
whenever you fetch a message from the server. This is generally
a good thing, but can make closing an IMAP folder somewhat
slower. This option exists to appease speed freaks.

imap_servernoise
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, mutt will display warning messages from the IMAP
server as error messages. Since these messages are often harm
less, or generated due to configuration problems on the server
which are out of the users hands, you may wish to suppress them
at some point.

imap_user
Type: string
Default:

The name of the user whose mail you intend to access on the IMAP
server.

This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.

implicit_autoview
Type: boolean
Default: no

If set to yes, mutt will look for a mailcap entry with the
copiousoutput flag set for every MIME attachment it doesnt have
an internal viewer defined for. If such an entry is found, mutt
will use the viewer defined in that entry to convert the body
part to text form.

include
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

Controls whether or not a copy of the message(s) you are reply
ing to is included in your reply.

include_onlyfirst
Type: boolean
Default: no

Controls whether or not Mutt includes only the first attachment
of the message you are replying.

indent_string
Type: string
Default: >

Specifies the string to prepend to each line of text quoted in a
message to which you are replying. You are strongly encouraged
not to change this value, as it tends to agitate the more fanat
ical netizens.

index_format
Type: string
Default: %4C %Z %{%b %d} %-15.15L (%?l?%4l&%4c?) %s

This variable allows you to customize the message index display
to your personal taste.

Format strings are similar to the strings used in the C
function printf to format output (see the man page for more
detail). The following sequences are defined in Mutt:

%a address of the author

%A reply-to address (if present; otherwise: address of
author)

%b filename of the original message folder (think mailBox)

%B the list to which the letter was sent, or else the folder
name (%b).

%c number of characters (bytes) in the message

%C current message number

%d date and time of the message in the format specified by
date_format converted to senders time zone

%D date and time of the message in the format specified by
date_format converted to the local time zone

%e current message number in thread

%E number of messages in current thread

%f entire From: line (address + real name)

%F author name, or recipient name if the message is from you

%H spam attribute(s) of this message

%i message-id of the current message

%l number of lines in the message (does not work with
maildir, mh, and possibly IMAP folders)

%L If an address in the To or CC header field matches an
address defined by the users subscribe command, this
displays To , otherwise the same as %F.

%m total number of message in the mailbox

%M number of hidden messages if the thread is collapsed.

%N message score

%n authors real name (or address if missing)

%O (_O_riginal save folder) Where mutt would formerly have
stashed the message: list name or recipient name if no
list

%s subject of the message

%S status of the message (N/D/d/!/r/*)

%t to: field (recipients)

%T the appropriate character from the $to_chars string

%u user (login) name of the author

%v first name of the author, or the recipient if the message
is from you

%X number of attachments (please see the attachments sec
tion for possible speed effects)

%y x-label: field, if present

%Y x-label field, if present, and (1) not at part of a
thread tree, (2) at the top of a thread, or (3) x-label
is different from preceding messages x-label.

%Z message status flags

%{fmt} the date and time of the message is converted to senders
time zone, and fmt is expanded by the library function
strftime; a leading bang disables locales

%[fmt] the date and time of the message is converted to the
local time zone, and fmt is expanded by the library
function strftime; a leading bang disables locales

%(fmt) the local date and time when the message was received.
fmt is expanded by the library function strftime; a
leading bang disables locales

% the current local time. fmt is expanded by the library
function strftime; a leading bang disables locales.

%>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with charac
ter X

%|X pad to the end of the line with character X

See also $read_inc and $write_inc.

pager
Type: path
Default: builtin

This variable specifies which pager you would like to use to
view messages. builtin means to use the builtin pager, other
wise this variable should specify the pathname of the external
pager you would like to use.

Using an external pager may have some disadvantages: Additional
keystrokes are necessary because you cant call mutt functions
directly from the pager, and screen resizes cause lines longer
than the screen width to be badly formatted in the help menu.

pager_context
Type: number
Default: 0

This variable controls the number of lines of context that are
given when displaying the next or previous page in the internal
pager. By default, Mutt will display the line after the last
one on the screen at the top of the next page (0 lines of con
text).

pager_format
Type: string
Default: -%Z- %C/%m: %-20.20n %s

This variable controls the format of the one-line message sta
tus displayed before each message in either the internal or an
external pager. The valid sequences are listed in the
$index_format section.

pager_index_lines
Type: number
Default: 0

Determines the number of lines of a mini-index which is shown
when in the pager. The current message, unless near the top or
bottom of the folder, will be roughly one third of the way down
this mini-index, giving the reader the context of a few messages
before and after the message. This is useful, for example, to
determine how many messages remain to be read in the current
thread. One of the lines is reserved for the status bar from
the index, so a pager_index_lines of 6 will only show 5 lines of
the actual index. A value of 0 results in no index being shown.
If the number of messages in the current folder is less than
pager_index_lines, then the index will only use as many lines as
it needs.

pager_stop
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, the internal-pager will not move to the next message
when you are at the end of a message and invoke the next-page
function.

crypt_autosign
Type: boolean
Default: no

Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to cryp
tographically sign outgoing messages. This can be overridden by
use of the pgp-menu, when signing is not required or encryption
is requested as well. If $smime_is_default is set, then
OpenSSL is used instead to create S/MIME messages and settings
can be overridden by use of the smime-menu. (Crypto only)

crypt_autoencrypt
Type: boolean
Default: no

Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to PGP
encrypt outgoing messages. This is probably only useful in con
nection to the send-hook command. It can be overridden by use
of the pgp-menu, when encryption is not required or signing is
requested as well. IF $smime_is_default is set, then OpenSSL
is used instead to create S/MIME messages and settings can be
overridden by use of the smime-menu. (Crypto only)

pgp_ignore_subkeys
Type: boolean
Default: yes

Setting this variable will cause Mutt to ignore OpenPGP subkeys.
Instead, the principal key will inherit the subkeys capabili
ties. Unset this if you want to play interesting key selection
games. (PGP only)

crypt_replyencrypt
Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL encrypt replies to messages
which are encrypted. (Crypto only)

crypt_replysign
Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL sign replies to messages
which are signed.

Note: this does not work on messages that are encrypted and
signed! (Crypto only)

crypt_replysignencrypted
Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, automatically PGP or OpenSSL sign replies to messages
which are encrypted. This makes sense in combination with
$crypt_replyencrypt, because it allows you to sign all mes
sages which are automatically encrypted. This works around the
problem noted in $crypt_replysign, that mutt is not able to
find out whether an encrypted message is also signed. (Crypto
only)

crypt_timestamp
Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, mutt will include a time stamp in the lines surrounding
PGP or S/MIME output, so spoofing such lines is more difficult.
If you are using colors to mark these lines, and rely on these,
you may unset this setting. (Crypto only)

pgp_use_gpg_agent
Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, mutt will use a possibly-running gpg-agent process.
(PGP only)

crypt_verify_sig
Type: quadoption
Default: yes

If yes, always attempt to verify PGP or S/MIME signatures. If
ask, ask whether or not to verify the signature. If no,
never attempt to verify cryptographic signatures. (Crypto only)

smime_is_default
Type: boolean
Default: no

The default behaviour of mutt is to use PGP on all auto-
sign/encryption operations. To override and to use OpenSSL
instead this must be set. However, this has no effect while
replying, since mutt will automatically select the same applica
tion that was used to sign/encrypt the original message. (Note
that this variable can be overridden by unsetting
$crypt_autosmime.) (S/MIME only)

smime_ask_cert_label
Type: boolean
Default: yes

This flag controls whether you want to be asked to enter a label
for a certificate about to be added to the database or not. It
is set by default. (S/MIME only)

smime_decrypt_use_default_key
Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set (default) this tells mutt to use the default key for
decryption. Otherwise, if manage multiple certificate-key-pairs,
mutt will try to use the mailbox-address to determine the key to
use. It will ask you to supply a key, if it cant find one.
(S/MIME only)

pgp_entry_format
Type: string
Default: %4n %t%f %4l/0x%k %-4a %2c %u

This variable allows you to customize the PGP key selection menu
to your personal taste. This string is similar to $index_for
mat, but has its own set of printf()-like sequences:

%n number

%k key id

%u user id

%a algorithm

%l key length

%f flags

%c capabilities

%t trust/validity of the key-uid association

%[] date of the key where is an strftime(3) expression

(PGP only)

pgp_good_sign
Type: regular expression
Default:

If you assign a text to this variable, then a PGP signature is
only considered verified if the output from $pgp_verify_command
contains the text. Use this variable if the exit code from the
command is 0 even for bad signatures. (PGP only)

pgp_check_exit
Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, mutt will check the exit code of the PGP subprocess when
signing or encrypting. A non-zero exit code means that the sub
process failed. (PGP only)

pgp_long_ids
Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, use 64 bit PGP key IDs. Unset uses the normal 32 bit Key
IDs. (PGP only)

pgp_retainable_sigs
Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, signed and encrypted messages will consist of nested
multipart/signed and multipart/encrypted body parts.

This is useful for applications like encrypted and signed mail
ing lists, where the outer layer (multipart/encrypted) can be
easily removed, while the inner multipart/signed part is
retained. (PGP only)

pgp_autoinline
Type: boolean
Default: no

This option controls whether Mutt generates old-style inline
(traditional) PGP encrypted or signed messages under certain
circumstances. This can be overridden by use of the pgp-menu,
when inline is not required.

Note that Mutt might automatically use PGP/MIME for messages
which consist of more than a single MIME part. Mutt can be con
figured to ask before sending PGP/MIME messages when inline
(traditional) would not work. See also: $pgp_mime_auto.

Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is
strongly deprecated. (PGP only)

pgp_replyinline
Type: boolean
Default: no

Setting this variable will cause Mutt to always attempt to cre
ate an inline (traditional) message when replying to a message
which is PGP encrypted/signed inline. This can be overridden by
use of the pgp-menu, when inline is not required. This option
does not automatically detect if the (replied-to) message is
inline; instead it relies on Mutt internals for previously
checked/flagged messages.

Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is
strongly deprecated. (PGP only)

pgp_show_unusable
Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, mutt will display non-usable keys on the PGP key selec
tion menu. This includes keys which have been revoked, have
expired, or have been marked as disabled by the user. (PGP
only)

pgp_sign_as
Type: string
Default:

If you have more than one key pair, this option allows you to
specify which of your private keys to use. It is recommended
that you use the keyid form to specify your key (e.g.,
0x00112233). (PGP only)

pgp_strict_enc
Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, Mutt will automatically encode PGP/MIME signed messages
as quoted-printable. Please note that unsetting this variable
may lead to problems with non-verifyable PGP signatures, so only
change this if you know what you are doing. (PGP only)

pgp_timeout
Type: number
Default: 300

The number of seconds after which a cached passphrase will
expire if not used. (PGP only)

pgp_sort_keys
Type: sort order
Default: address

Specifies how the entries in the pgp keys menu are sorted. The
following are legal values:

address
sort alphabetically by user id

keyid sort alphabetically by key id

date sort by key creation date

trust sort by the trust of the key

If you prefer reverse order of the above values, prefix it with
reverse-. (PGP only)

pgp_mime_auto
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

This option controls whether Mutt will prompt you for automati
cally sending a (signed/encrypted) message using PGP/MIME when
inline (traditional) fails (for any reason).

Also note that using the old-style PGP message format is
strongly deprecated. (PGP only)

pgp_auto_decode
Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, mutt will automatically attempt to decrypt traditional
PGP messages whenever the user performs an operation which ordi
narily would result in the contents of the message being oper
ated on. For example, if the user displays a pgp-traditional
message which has not been manually checked with the check-tra
ditional-pgp function, mutt will automatically check the message
for traditional pgp.

pgp_decode_command
Type: string
Default:

This format strings specifies a command which is used to decode
application/pgp attachments.

The PGP command formats have their own set of printf-like
sequences:

%p Expands to PGPPASSFD=0 when a pass phrase is needed, to
an empty string otherwise. Note: This may be used with a
%? construct.

%f Expands to the name of a file containing a message.

%s Expands to the name of a file containing the signature
part
of a multipart/signed attachment when verify
ing it.

%a The value of $pgp_sign_as.

%r One or more key IDs.

For examples on how to configure these formats for the various
versions of PGP which are floating around, see the pgp*.rc and
gpg.rc files in the samples/ subdirectory which has been
installed on your system alongside the documentation. (PGP
only)

pgp_getkeys_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is invoked whenever mutt will need public key
information. %r is the only printf-like sequence used with this
format. (PGP only)

pgp_verify_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to verify PGP signatures. (PGP only)

pgp_decrypt_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to decrypt a PGP encrypted message. (PGP
only)

pgp_clearsign_command
Type: string
Default:

This format is used to create a old-style clearsigned PGP mes
sage. Note that the use of this format is strongly deprecated.
(PGP only)

pgp_sign_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to create the detached PGP signature for a
multipart/signed PGP/MIME body part. (PGP only)

pgp_encrypt_sign_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to both sign and encrypt a body part. (PGP
only)

pgp_encrypt_only_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to encrypt a body part without signing it.
(PGP only)

pgp_import_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to import a key from a message into the
users public key ring. (PGP only)

pgp_export_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to export a public key from the users key
ring. (PGP only)

pgp_verify_key_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to verify key information from the key
selection menu. (PGP only)

pgp_list_secring_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to list the secret key rings contents.
The output format must be analogous to the one used by gpg
--list-keys --with-colons.

This format is also generated by the pgpring utility which comes
with mutt. (PGP only)

pgp_list_pubring_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to list the public key rings contents.
The output format must be analogous to the one used by gpg
--list-keys --with-colons.

This format is also generated by the pgpring utility which comes
with mutt. (PGP only)

forward_decrypt
Type: boolean
Default: yes

Controls the handling of encrypted messages when forwarding a
message. When set, the outer layer of encryption is stripped
off. This variable is only used if $mime_forward is set and
$mime_forward_decode is unset. (PGP only)

smime_timeout
Type: number
Default: 300

The number of seconds after which a cached passphrase will
expire if not used. (S/MIME only)

smime_encrypt_with
Type: string
Default:

This sets the algorithm that should be used for encryption.
Valid choices are des, des3, rc2-40, rc2-64, rc2-128.
If unset 3des (TripleDES) is used. (S/MIME only)

smime_keys
Type: path
Default:

Since there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, mutt has to han
dle storage ad retrieval of keys/certs by itself. This is very
basic right now, and stores keys and certificates in two differ
ent directories, both named as the hash-value retrieved from
OpenSSL. There is an index file which contains mailbox-address
keyid pair, and which can be manually edited. This one points to
the location of the private keys. (S/MIME only)

smime_ca_location
Type: path
Default:

This variable contains the name of either a directory, or a file
which contains trusted certificates for use with OpenSSL.
(S/MIME only)

smime_certificates
Type: path
Default:

Since there is no pubring/secring as with PGP, mutt has to han
dle storage and retrieval of keys by itself. This is very basic
right now, and keys and certificates are stored in two different
directories, both named as the hash-value retrieved from
OpenSSL. There is an index file which contains mailbox-address
keyid pairs, and which can be manually edited. This one points
to the location of the certificates. (S/MIME only)

smime_decrypt_command
Type: string
Default:

This format string specifies a command which is used to decrypt
application/x-pkcs7-mime attachments.

The OpenSSL command formats have their own set of printf-like
sequences similar to PGPs:

%f Expands to the name of a file containing a message.

%s Expands to the name of a file containing the signature
part
of a multipart/signed attachment when
verifying it.

%k The key-pair specified with $smime_default_key

%c One or more certificate IDs.

%a The algorithm used for encryption.

%C CA location: Depending on whether $smime_ca_location
points to a directory or file, this expands to
-CApath $smime_ca_location or -CAfile
$smime_ca_location.

For examples on how to configure these formats, see the smime.rc
in the samples/ subdirectory which has been installed on your
system alongside the documentation. (S/MIME only)

smime_verify_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type multi
part/signed. (S/MIME only)

smime_verify_opaque_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to verify S/MIME signatures of type appli
cation/x-pkcs7-mime. (S/MIME only)

smime_sign_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type multi
part/signed, which can be read by all mail clients. (S/MIME
only)

smime_sign_opaque_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to created S/MIME signatures of type appli
cation/x-pkcs7-signature, which can only be handled by mail
clients supporting the S/MIME extension. (S/MIME only)

smime_encrypt_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to create encrypted S/MIME messages.
(S/MIME only)

smime_pk7out_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to extract PKCS7 structures of S/MIME sig
natures, in order to extract the public X509 certificate(s).
(S/MIME only)

smime_get_cert_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to extract X509 certificates from a PKCS7
structure. (S/MIME only)

smime_get_signer_cert_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to extract only the signers X509 certifi
cate from a S/MIME signature, so that the certificates owner
may get compared to the emails From-field. (S/MIME only)

smime_import_cert_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to import a certificate via smime_keys.
(S/MIME only)

smime_get_cert_email_command
Type: string
Default:

This command is used to extract the mail address(es) used for
storing X509 certificates, and for verification purposes (to
check whether the certificate was issued for the senders mail
box). (S/MIME only)

smime_default_key
Type: string
Default:

This is the default key-pair to use for signing. This must be
set to the keyid (the hash-value that OpenSSL generates) to work
properly (S/MIME only)

ssl_force_tls
Type: boolean
Default: no

If this variable is set, Mutt will require that all connections
to remote servers be encrypted. Furthermore it will attempt to
negotiate TLS even if the server does not advertise the capabil
ity, since it would otherwise have to abort the connection any
way. This option supersedes $ssl_starttls.

ssl_starttls
Type: quadoption
Default: yes

If set (the default), mutt will attempt to use STARTTLS on
servers advertising the capability. When unset, mutt will not
attempt to use STARTTLS regardless of the servers capabilities.

certificate_file
Type: path
Default: ~/.mutt_certificates

This variable specifies the file where the certificates you
trust are saved. When an unknown certificate is encountered, you
are asked if you accept it or not. If you accept it, the cer
tificate can also be saved in this file and further connections
are automatically accepted.

You can also manually add CA certificates in this file. Any
server certificate that is signed with one of these CA certifi
cates are also automatically accepted.

Example: set certificate_file=~/.mutt/certificates

ssl_use_sslv3
Type: boolean
Default: yes

This variables specifies whether to attempt to use SSLv3 in the
SSL authentication process.

ssl_use_tlsv1
Type: boolean
Default: yes

This variables specifies whether to attempt to use TLSv1 in the
SSL authentication process.

ssl_min_dh_prime_bits
Type: number
Default: 0

This variable specifies the minimum acceptable prime size (in
bits) for use in any Diffie-Hellman key exchange. A value of 0
will use the default from the GNUTLS library.

ssl_ca_certificates_file
Type: path
Default:

This variable specifies a file containing trusted CA certifi
cates. Any server certificate that is signed with one of these
CA certificates are also automatically accepted.

Example: set ssl_ca_certificates_file=/etc/ssl/certs/ca-certifi
cates.crt

pipe_split
Type: boolean
Default: no

Used in connection with the pipe-message command and the tag-
prefix operator. If this variable is unset, when piping a list
of tagged messages Mutt will concatenate the messages and will
pipe them as a single folder. When set, Mutt will pipe the mes
sages one by one. In both cases the messages are piped in the
current sorted order, and the $pipe_sep separator is added
after each message.

pipe_decode
Type: boolean
Default: no

Used in connection with the pipe-message command. When unset,
Mutt will pipe the messages without any preprocessing. When set,
Mutt will weed headers and will attempt to PGP/MIME decode the
messages first.

pipe_sep
Type: string
Default: \n

The separator to add between messages when piping a list of
tagged messages to an external Unix command.

pop_authenticators
Type: string
Default:

This is a colon-delimited list of authentication methods mutt
may attempt to use to log in to an POP server, in the order mutt
should try them. Authentication methods are either user,
apop or any SASL mechanism, eg digest-md5, gssapi or
cram-md5. This parameter is case-insensitive. If this parame
ter is unset (the default) mutt will try all available methods,
in order from most-secure to least-secure.

Example: set pop_authenticators=digest-md5:apop:user

pop_auth_try_all
Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, Mutt will try all available methods. When unset, Mutt
will only fall back to other authentication methods if the pre
vious methods are unavailable. If a method is available but
authentication fails, Mutt will not connect to the POP server.

pop_checkinterval
Type: number
Default: 60

This variable configures how often (in seconds) mutt should look
for new mail in the currently selected mailbox if it is a POP
mailbox.

pop_delete
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-no

If set, Mutt will delete successfully downloaded messages from
the POP server when using the fetch-mail function. When unset,
Mutt will download messages but also leave them on the POP
server.

pop_host
Type: string
Default:

The name of your POP server for the fetch-mail function. You
can also specify an alternative port, username and password, ie:

[pop[s]://][username[:password]@]popserver[:port]

pop_last
Type: boolean
Default: no

If this variable is set, mutt will try to use the LAST POP
command for retrieving only unread messages from the POP server
when using the fetch-mail function.

pop_reconnect
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

Controls whether or not Mutt will try to reconnect to POP server
if the connection is lost.

pop_user
Type: string
Default:

Your login name on the POP server.

This variable defaults to your user name on the local machine.

pop_pass
Type: string
Default:

Specifies the password for your POP account. If unset, Mutt
will prompt you for your password when you open POP mailbox.
Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a
fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your mut
trc even if you are the only one who can read the file.

post_indent_string
Type: string
Default:

Similar to the $attribution variable, Mutt will append this
string after the inclusion of a message which is being replied
to.

postpone
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

Controls whether or not messages are saved in the $postponed
mailbox when you elect not to send immediately.

postponed
Type: path
Default: ~/postponed

Mutt allows you to indefinitely postpone sending a message
which you are editing. When you choose to postpone a message,
Mutt saves it in the mailbox specified by this variable. Also
see the $postpone variable.

preconnect
Type: string
Default:

If set, a shell command to be executed if mutt fails to estab
lish a connection to the server. This is useful for setting up
secure connections, e.g. with ssh(1). If the command returns a
nonzero status, mutt gives up opening the server. Example:

preconnect=ssh -f -q -L 1234:mailhost.net:143 mailhost.net
sleep 20 < /dev/null > /dev/null

Mailbox foo on mailhost.net can now be reached as {local
host:1234}foo.

NOTE: For this example to work, you must be able to log in to
the remote machine without having to enter a password.

print
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-no

Controls whether or not Mutt really prints messages. This is
set to ask-no by default, because some people accidentally hit
p often (like me).

print_command
Type: path
Default: lpr

This specifies the command pipe that should be used to print
messages.

print_decode
Type: boolean
Default: yes

Used in connection with the print-message command. If this
option is set, the message is decoded before it is passed to the
external command specified by $print_command. If this option is
unset, no processing will be applied to the message when print
ing it. The latter setting may be useful if you are using some
advanced printer filter which is able to properly format e-mail
messages for printing.

print_split
Type: boolean
Default: no

Used in connection with the print-message command. If this
option is set, the command specified by $print_command is exe
cuted once for each message which is to be printed. If this
option is unset, the command specified by $print_command is exe
cuted only once, and all the messages are concatenated, with a
form feed as the message separator.

Those who use the enscript(1) programs mail-printing mode will
most likely want to set this option.

prompt_after
Type: boolean
Default: yes

If you use an external $pager, setting this variable will
cause Mutt to prompt you for a command when the pager exits
rather than returning to the index menu. If unset, Mutt will
return to the index menu when the external pager exits.

query_command
Type: path
Default:

This specifies the command that mutt will use to make external
address queries. The string should contain a %s, which will be
substituted with the query string the user types. See query
for more information.

quit
Type: quadoption
Default: yes

This variable controls whether quit and exit actually quit
from mutt. If it set to yes, they do quit, if it is set to no,
they have no effect, and if it is set to ask-yes or ask-no, you
are prompted for confirmation when you try to quit.

quote_regexp
Type: regular expression
Default: ^([ \t]*[|>:}#])+

A regular expression used in the internal-pager to determine
quoted sections of text in the body of a message.

Note: In order to use the quotedx patterns in the internal
pager, you need to set this to a regular expression that matches
exactly the quote characters at the beginning of quoted lines.

read_inc
Type: number
Default: 10

If set to a value greater than 0, Mutt will display which mes
sage it is currently on when reading a mailbox. The message is
printed after read_inc messages have been read (e.g., if set to
25, Mutt will print a message when it reads message 25, and then
again when it gets to message 50). This variable is meant to
indicate progress when reading large mailboxes which may take
some time. When set to 0, only a single message will appear
before the reading the mailbox.

Also see the $write_inc variable.

read_only
Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, all folders are opened in read-only mode.

realname
Type: string
Default:

This variable specifies what real or personal name should be
used when sending messages.

By default, this is the GECOS field from /etc/passwd. Note that
this variable will not be used when the user has set a real name
in the $from variable.

recall
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

Controls whether or not Mutt recalls postponed messages when
composing a new message. Also see $postponed.

Setting this variable to yes is not generally useful, and thus
not recommended.

record
Type: path
Default: ~/sent

This specifies the file into which your outgoing messages should
be appended. (This is meant as the primary method for saving a
copy of your messages, but another way to do this is using the
my_hdr command to create a Bcc: field with your email address
in it.)

The value of $record is overridden by the $force_name and
$save_name variables, and the fcc-hook command.

reply_regexp
Type: regular expression
Default: ^(re([\[0-9\]+])*|aw):[ \t]*

A regular expression used to recognize reply messages when
threading and replying. The default value corresponds to the
English Re: and the German Aw:.

reply_self
Type: boolean
Default: no

If unset and you are replying to a message sent by you, Mutt
will assume that you want to reply to the recipients of that
message rather than to yourself.

reply_to
Type: quadoption
Default: ask-yes

If set, when replying to a message, Mutt will use the address
listed in the Reply-to: header as the recipient of the reply.
If unset, it will use the address in the From: header field
instead. This option is useful for reading a mailing list that
sets the Reply-To: header field to the list address and you want
to send a private message to the author of a message.

resolve
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, the cursor will be automatically advanced to the next
(possibly undeleted) message whenever a command that modifies
the current message is executed.

reverse_alias
Type: boolean
Default: no

This variable controls whether or not Mutt will display the
personal name from your aliases in the index menu if it finds
an alias that matches the messages sender. For example, if you
have the following alias:

alias juser abd30425@somewhere.net (Joe User)

and then you receive mail which contains the following header:

From: abd30425@somewhere.net

It would be displayed in the index menu as Joe User instead of
abd30425@somewhere.net. This is useful when the persons e-
mail address is not human friendly (like CompuServe addresses).

reverse_name
Type: boolean
Default: no

It may sometimes arrive that you receive mail to a certain
machine, move the messages to another machine, and reply to some
the messages from there. If this variable is set, the default
From: line of the reply messages is built using the address
where you received the messages you are replying to if that
address matches your alternates. If the variable is unset, or
the address that would be used doesnt match your alternates,
the From: line will use your address on the current machine.

reverse_realname
Type: boolean
Default: yes

This variable fine-tunes the behaviour of the reverse_name fea
ture. When it is set, mutt will use the address from incoming
messages as-is, possibly including eventual real names. When it
is unset, mutt will override any such real names with the set
ting of the realname variable.

rfc2047_parameters
Type: boolean
Default: no

When this variable is set, Mutt will decode RFC-2047-encoded
MIME parameters. You want to set this variable when mutt sug
gests you to save attachments to files named like this:
=?iso-8859-1?Q?file=5F=E4=5F991116=2Ezip?=

When this variable is set interactively, the change doesnt have
the desired effect before you have changed folders.

Note that this use of RFC 2047s encoding is explicitly, prohib
ited by the standard, but nevertheless encountered in the wild.
Also note that setting this parameter will not have the effect
that mutt generates this kind of encoding. Instead, mutt will
unconditionally use the encoding specified in RFC 2231.

save_address
Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, mutt will take the senders full address when choosing a
default folder for saving a mail. If $save_name or
$force_name is set too, the selection of the fcc folder will
be changed as well.

save_empty
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When unset, mailboxes which contain no saved messages will be
removed when closed (the exception is $spoolfile which is
never removed). If set, mailboxes are never removed.

Note: This only applies to mbox and MMDF folders, Mutt does not
delete MH and Maildir directories.

save_name
Type: boolean
Default: no

This variable controls how copies of outgoing messages are
saved. When set, a check is made to see if a mailbox specified
by the recipient address exists (this is done by searching for a
mailbox in the $folder directory with the username part of the
recipient address). If the mailbox exists, the outgoing message
will be saved to that mailbox, otherwise the message is saved to
the $record mailbox.

Also see the $force_name variable.

score
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When this variable is unset, scoring is turned off. This can be
useful to selectively disable scoring for certain folders when
the $score_threshold_delete variable and friends are used.

score_threshold_delete
Type: number
Default: -1

Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than
the value of this variable are automatically marked for deletion
by mutt. Since mutt scores are always greater than or equal to
zero, the default setting of this variable will never mark a
message for deletion.

score_threshold_flag
Type: number
Default: 9999

Messages which have been assigned a score greater than or equal
to this variables value are automatically marked flagged.

score_threshold_read
Type: number
Default: -1

Messages which have been assigned a score equal to or lower than
the value of this variable are automatically marked as read by
mutt. Since mutt scores are always greater than or equal to
zero, the default setting of this variable will never mark a
message read.

send_charset
Type: string
Default: us-ascii:iso-8859-1:utf-8

A list of character sets for outgoing messages. Mutt will use
the first character set into which the text can be converted
exactly. If your $charset is not iso-8859-1 and recipients
may not understand UTF-8, it is advisable to include in the list
an appropriate widely used standard character set (such as
iso-8859-2, koi8-r or iso-2022-jp) either instead of or after
iso-8859-1.

sendmail
Type: path
Default: /usr/sbin/sendmail -oem -oi

Specifies the program and arguments used to deliver mail sent by
Mutt. Mutt expects that the specified program interprets addi
tional arguments as recipient addresses.

sendmail_wait
Type: number
Default: 0

Specifies the number of seconds to wait for the $sendmail pro
cess to finish before giving up and putting delivery in the
background.

Mutt interprets the value of this variable as follows:

>0 number of seconds to wait for sendmail to finish before
continuing

0 wait forever for sendmail to finish

<0 always put sendmail in the background without waiting

Note that if you specify a value other than 0, the output of the
child process will be put in a temporary file. If there is some
error, you will be informed as to where to find the output.

shell
Type: path
Default:

Command to use when spawning a subshell. By default, the users
login shell from /etc/passwd is used.

sig_dashes
Type: boolean
Default: yes

If set, a line containing -- will be inserted before your
$signature. It is strongly recommended that you not unset
this variable unless your signature contains just your name.
The reason for this is because many software packages use --
\n to detect your signature. For example, Mutt has the ability
to highlight the signature in a different color in the builtin
pager.

sig_on_top
Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, the signature will be included before any quoted or for
warded text. It is strongly recommended that you do not set
this variable unless you really know what you are doing, and are
prepared to take some heat from netiquette guardians.

signature
Type: path
Default: ~/.signature

Specifies the filename of your signature, which is appended to
all outgoing messages. If the filename ends with a pipe (|),
it is assumed that filename is a shell command and input should
be read from its stdout.

simple_search
Type: string
Default: ~f %s | ~s %s

Specifies how Mutt should expand a simple search into a real
search pattern. A simple search is one that does not contain
any of the ~ operators. See patterns for more information on
search patterns.

For example, if you simply type joe at a search or limit prompt,
Mutt will automatically expand it to the value specified by this
variable. For the default value it would be:

~f joe | ~s joe

smart_wrap
Type: boolean
Default: yes

Controls the display of lines longer than the screen width in
the internal pager. If set, long lines are wrapped at a word
boundary. If unset, lines are simply wrapped at the screen
edge. Also see the $markers variable.

smileys
Type: regular expression
Default: (>From )|(:[-^]?[][)(><}{|/DP])

The pager uses this variable to catch some common false posi
tives of $quote_regexp, most notably smileys in the beginning
of a line

sleep_time
Type: number
Default: 1

Specifies time, in seconds, to pause while displaying certain
informational messages, while moving from folder to folder and
after expunging messages from the current folder. The default
is to pause one second, so a value of zero for this option sup
presses the pause.

sort
Type: sort order
Default: date

Specifies how to sort messages in the index menu. Valid values
are:

date or date-sent
date-received
from
mailbox-order (unsorted)
score
size
spam
subject
threads
to

You may optionally use the reverse- prefix to specify reverse
sorting order (example: set sort=reverse-date-sent).

sort_alias
Type: sort order
Default: alias

Specifies how the entries in the alias menu are sorted. The
following are legal values:

address (sort alphabetically by email address)
alias (sort alphabetically by alias name)
unsorted (leave in order specified in .muttrc)

sort_aux
Type: sort order
Default: date

When sorting by threads, this variable controls how threads are
sorted in relation to other threads, and how the branches of the
thread trees are sorted. This can be set to any value that
$sort can, except threads (in that case, mutt will just use
date-sent). You can also specify the last- prefix in addition
to the reverse- prefix, but last- must come after reverse-. The
last- prefix causes messages to be sorted against its siblings
by which has the last descendant, using the rest of sort_aux as
an ordering. For instance, set sort_aux=last- date-received
would mean that if a new message is received in a thread, that
thread becomes the last one displayed (or the first, if you have
set sort=reverse-threads.) Note: For reversed $sort order
$sort_aux is reversed again (which is not the right thing to do,
but kept to not break any existing configuration setting).

sort_browser
Type: sort order
Default: alpha

Specifies how to sort entries in the file browser. By default,
the entries are sorted alphabetically. Valid values:

alpha (alphabetically)
date
size
unsorted

You may optionally use the reverse- prefix to specify reverse
sorting order (example: set sort_browser=reverse-date).

sort_re
Type: boolean
Default: yes

This variable is only useful when sorting by threads with
$strict_threads unset. In that case, it changes the heuristic
mutt uses to thread messages by subject. With sort_re set, mutt
will only attach a message as the child of another message by
subject if the subject of the child message starts with a sub
string matching the setting of $reply_regexp. With sort_re
unset, mutt will attach the message whether or not this is the
case, as long as the non-$reply_regexp parts of both messages
are identical.

spam_separator
Type: string
Default: ,

spam_separator controls what happens when multiple spam head
ers are matched: if unset, each successive header will overwrite
any previous matches value for the spam label. If set, each suc
cessive match will append to the previous, using spam_separa
tor as a separator.

spoolfile
Type: path
Default:

If your spool mailbox is in a non-default place where Mutt can
not find it, you can specify its location with this variable.
Mutt will automatically set this variable to the value of the
environment variable $MAIL if it is not set.

status_chars
Type: string
Default: -*%A

Controls the characters used by the %r indicator in $sta
tus_format. The first character is used when the mailbox is
unchanged. The second is used when the mailbox has been changed,
and it needs to be resynchronized. The third is used if the
mailbox is in read-only mode, or if the mailbox will not be
written when exiting that mailbox (You can toggle whether to
write changes to a mailbox with the toggle-write operation,
bound by default to %). The fourth is used to indicate that
the current folder has been opened in attach- message mode (Cer
tain operations like composing a new mail, replying, forwarding,
etc. are not permitted in this mode).

status_format
Type: string
Default: -%r-Mutt: %f [Msgs:%?M?%M/?%m%?n? New:%n?%?o? Old:%o?%?d? Del:%d?%?F? Flag:%F?%?t? Tag:%t?%?p? Post:%p?%?b? Inc:%b?%?l? %l?]---(%s/%S)-%>-(%P)---

Controls the format of the status line displayed in the index
menu. This string is similar to $index_format, but has its
own set of printf()-like sequences:

%b number of mailboxes with new mail *

%d number of deleted messages *

%f the full pathname of the current mailbox

%F number of flagged messages *

%h local hostname

%l size (in bytes) of the current mailbox *

%L size (in bytes) of the messages shown (i.e., which match
the current limit) *

%m the number of messages in the mailbox *

%M the number of messages shown (i.e., which match the cur
rent limit) *

%n number of new messages in the mailbox *

%o number of old unread messages *

%p number of postponed messages *

%P percentage of the way through the index

%r modified/read-only/wont-write/attach-message indicator,
according to $status_chars

%s current sorting mode ($sort)

%S current aux sorting method ($sort_aux)

%t number of tagged messages *

%u number of unread messages *

%v Mutt version string

%V currently active limit pattern, if any *

%>X right justify the rest of the string and pad with X

%|X pad to the end of the line with X

* = can be optionally printed if nonzero

Some of the above sequences can be used to optionally print a
string if their value is nonzero. For example, you may only
want to see the number of flagged messages if such messages
exist, since zero is not particularly meaningful. To optionally
print a string based upon one of the above sequences, the fol
lowing construct is used

%???

where sequence_char is a character from the table above, and
optional_string is the string you would like printed if
sequence_char is nonzero. optional_string may contain other
sequences as well as normal text, but you may not nest optional
strings.

Here is an example illustrating how to optionally print the num
ber of new messages in a mailbox: %?n?%n new messages.?

Additionally you can switch between two strings, the first one,
if a value is zero, the second one, if the value is nonzero, by
using the following construct:
%??&?

You can additionally force the result of any printf-like
sequence to be lowercase by prefixing the sequence character
with an underscore (_) sign. For example, if you want to dis
play the local hostname in lowercase, you would use: %_h

If you prefix the sequence character with a colon (:) character,
mutt will replace any dots in the expansion by underscores. This
might be helpful with IMAP folders that dont like dots in
folder names.

status_on_top
Type: boolean
Default: no

Setting this variable causes the status bar to be displayed on
the first line of the screen rather than near the bottom.

strict_mime
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When unset, non MIME-compliant messages that doesnt have any
charset indication in Content-Type field can be displayed (non
MIME-compliant messages are often generated by old mailers or
buggy mailers like MS Outlook Express). See also
$assumed_charset.

This option also replaces linear-white-space between encoded-
word and *text to a single space to prevent the display of MIME-
encoded Subject field from being devided into multiple lines.

strict_threads
Type: boolean
Default: no

If set, threading will only make use of the In-Reply-To and
References fields when you $sort by message threads. By
default, messages with the same subject are grouped together in
pseudo threads.. This may not always be desirable, such as in
a personal mailbox where you might have several unrelated mes
sages with the subject hi which will get grouped together. See
also $sort_re for a less drastic way of controlling this
behaviour.

suspend
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When unset, mutt wont stop when the user presses the terminals
susp key, usually control-Z. This is useful if you run mutt
inside an xterm using a command like xterm -e mutt.

text_flowed
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, mutt will generate text/plain; format=flowed attach
ments. This format is easier to handle for some mailing soft
ware, and generally just looks like ordinary text. To actually
make use of this formats features, youll need support in your
editor.

Note that $indent_string is ignored when this option is set.

thread_received
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, mutt uses the date received rather than the date sent
to thread messages by subject.

thorough_search
Type: boolean
Default: no

Affects the ~b and ~h search operations described in section
patterns above. If set, the headers and attachments of mes
sages to be searched are decoded before searching. If unset,
messages are searched as they appear in the folder.

tilde
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, the internal-pager will pad blank lines to the bottom
of the screen with a tilde (~).

timeout
Type: number
Default: 600

This variable controls the number of seconds Mutt will wait for
a key to be pressed in the main menu before timing out and
checking for new mail. A value of zero or less will cause Mutt
to never time out.

tmpdir
Type: path
Default:

This variable allows you to specify where Mutt will place its
temporary files needed for displaying and composing messages.
If this variable is not set, the environment variable TMPDIR is
used. If TMPDIR is not set then /tmp is used.

to_chars
Type: string
Default: +TCFL

Controls the character used to indicate mail addressed to you.
The first character is the one used when the mail is NOT
addressed to your address (default: space). The second is used
when you are the only recipient of the message (default: +).
The third is when your address appears in the TO header field,
but you are not the only recipient of the message (default: T).
The fourth character is used when your address is specified in
the CC header field, but you are not the only recipient. The
fifth character is used to indicate mail that was sent by you.
The sixth character is used to indicate when a mail was sent to
a mailing-list you subscribe to (default: L).

tunnel
Type: string
Default:

Setting this variable will cause mutt to open a pipe to a com
mand instead of a raw socket. You may be able to use this to set
up preauthenticated connections to your IMAP/POP3 server. Exam
ple:

tunnel=ssh -q mailhost.net /usr/local/libexec/imapd

NOTE: For this example to work you must be able to log in to the
remote machine without having to enter a password.

use_8bitmime
Type: boolean
Default: no

Warning: do not set this variable unless you are using a version
of sendmail which supports the -B8BITMIME flag (such as sendmail
8.8.x) or you may not be able to send mail.

When set, Mutt will invoke $sendmail with the -B8BITMIME flag
when sending 8-bit messages to enable ESMTP negotiation.

use_domain
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, Mutt will qualify all local addresses (ones without
the @host portion) with the value of $hostname. If unset, no
addresses will be qualified.

use_envelope_from
Type: boolean
Default: no

When set, mutt will use $envelope_from_address as the envelope
sender if that is set, otherwise it will attempt to derive it
from the From: header. Note that this information is passed
to sendmail command using the -f command line switch, so dont
set this option if you are using that switch in $sendmail your
self, or if the sendmail on your machine doesnt support that
command line switch.

use_from
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, Mutt will generate the From: header field when send
ing messages. If unset, no From: header field will be gener
ated unless the user explicitly sets one using the my_hdr com
mand.

use_idn
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, Mutt will show you international domain names decoded.
Note: You can use IDNs for addresses even if this is unset.
This variable only affects decoding.

use_ipv6
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, Mutt will look for IPv6 addresses of hosts it tries to
contact. If this option is unset, Mutt will restrict itself to
IPv4 addresses. Normally, the default should work.

user_agent
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, mutt will add a User-Agent header to outgoing mes
sages, indicating which version of mutt was used for composing
them.

visual
Type: path
Default:

Specifies the visual editor to invoke when the ~v command is
given in the builtin editor.

wait_key
Type: boolean
Default: yes

Controls whether Mutt will ask you to press a key after shell-
escape, pipe-message, pipe-entry, print-message, and print-entry
commands.

It is also used when viewing attachments with auto_view, pro
vided that the corresponding mailcap entry has a needsterminal
flag, and the external program is interactive.

When set, Mutt will always ask for a key. When unset, Mutt will
wait for a key only if the external command returned a non-zero
status.

weed
Type: boolean
Default: yes

When set, mutt will weed headers when displaying, forwarding,
printing, or replying to messages.

wrap_search
Type: boolean
Default: yes

Controls whether searches wrap around the end of the mailbox.

When set, searches will wrap around the first (or last) message.
When unset, searches will not wrap.

wrapmargin
Type: number
Default: 0

Controls the size of the margin remaining at the right side of
the terminal when mutts pager does smart wrapping.

write_inc
Type: number
Default: 10

When writing a mailbox, a message will be printed every
write_inc messages to indicate progress. If set to 0, only a
single message will be displayed before writing a mailbox.

Also see the $read_inc variable.

write_bcc
Type: boolean
Default: yes

Controls whether mutt writes out the Bcc header when preparing
messages to be sent. Exim users may wish to unset this.

xterm_icon
Type: string
Default: M%?n?AIL&ail?

Controls the format of the icon title, as long as
xterm_set_titles is enabled. This string is identical in format
ting to the one used by $status_format.

xterm_set_titles
Type: boolean
Default: no

Controls whether mutt sets the xterm title bar and icon name (as
long as youre in an appropriate terminal). The default must be
off to force in the validity checking.

xterm_title
Type: string
Default: Mutt with %?m?%m messages&no messages?%?n? [%n NEW]?

Controls the format of the title bar of the xterm provided that
xterm_set_titles has been set. This string is identical in
formatting to the one used by $status_format.

SEE ALSO
iconv(1), iconv(3), mailcap(5), maildir(5), mbox(5), mutt(1),
printf(3), regex(7), strftime(3)

The Mutt Manual

The Mutt home page: http://www.mutt.org/

AUTHOR
Michael Elkins, and others. Use to contact the
developers.

Unix September 2002 muttrc(5)

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