1aerc(1) General Commands Manual aerc(1)
2
6 aerc - the world's best email client
7
9 aerc [-v] [mailto:...]
10 For a guided tutorial, use :help tutorial from aerc, or man aerc-tuto‐
12 rial from your terminal.
13
15 -v
16 Prints the installed version of aerc and exits.
17 mailto:...
19 Opens the composer with the address in the "to" field. If aerc is
20 already running, the composer is started in this instance, other‐
21 wise aerc will be started.
22
24 To execute a command, press ':' to bring up the command interface. Com‐
25 mands may also be bound to keys, see aerc-config(5) for details. In
26 some contexts, such as the terminal emulator, '<c-x>' is used to bring
27 up the command interface.
28 Different commands work in different contexts, depending on the kind of
30 tab you have selected.
31 Aerc stores a history of commands, which can be cycled through in com‐
33 mand mode. Pressing the up key cycles backwards in history, while
34 pressing down cycles forwards.
35 GLOBAL COMMANDS
37 These commands work in any context.
38 cd <directory>
40 Changes aerc's current working directory.
41 change-tab [+|-]<tab name or index>
43 Changes the focus to the tab with the given name. If a number is
44 given, it's treated as an index. If + or - is specified, the number
45 is interpreted as a delta from the selected tab.
46 exec <command...>
48 Executes an arbitrary command in the background. Aerc will set the
49 environment variables $account and $folder when the command is exe‐
50 cuted from an Account tab or an opened message.
51 Note: commands executed in this way are not executed with the
53 shell.
54 pwd
56 Displays aerc's current working directory in the status bar.
57 set <category>.<option> <value>
59 Changes the value of a configuration parameter at runtime. The cat‐
60 egory is the name of the [heading] for the config option you wish
61 to change, and the option is the name of the config option. For ex‐
62 ample, to change this option:
63 [ui]
65 index-format=before
66 Use :set ui.index-format after.
68 term [command...]
70 Opens a new terminal tab with a shell running in the current work‐
71 ing directory, or the specified command.
72 move-tab [+|-]<index>
74 Moves the selected tab to the given index. If + or - is specified,
75 the number is interpreted as a delta from the selected tab.
76 prev-tab [n], next-tab [n]
78 Cycles to the previous or next tab in the list, repeating n times
79 (default: 1).
80 pin-tab
82 Moves the current tab to the left of all non-pinned tabs and dis‐
83 plays the pinned-tab-marker (default: `) to the left of the tab ti‐
84 tle.
85 unpin-tab
87 Removes the pinned-tab-marker from the current tab and returns the
88 tab to its previous location.
89 prompt <prompt> <command...>
91 Displays the prompt on the status bar, waits for user input, then
92 appends that input as the last argument to the command and executes
93 it. The input is passed as one argument to the command, unless it
94 is empty, in which case no extra argument is added.
95 choose -o <key> <text> <command> [-o <key> <text> <command>]...
97 Prompts the user to choose from various options.
98 quit
100 Exits aerc.
101 MESSAGE COMMANDS
103 These commands are valid in any context that has a selected message
104 (e.g. the message list, the message in the message viewer, etc).
105 archive <scheme>
107 Moves the selected message to the archive. The available schemes
108 are:
109 flat: No special structure, all messages in the archive directory
111 year: Messages are stored in folders per year
113 month: Messages are stored in folders per year and subfolders per
115 month
116 copy <target>
118 Copies the selected message to the target folder.
119 delete
121 Deletes the selected message.
122 recall
124 Opens the selected message for re-editing. Messages can only be re‐
125 called from the postpone directory.
126 forward [-A] [address...]
128 Opens the composer to forward the selected message to another re‐
129 cipient.
130 -A: Forward the message as an RFC 2822 attachment.
132 move <target>
134 Moves the selected message to the target folder.
135 pipe [-bmp] <cmd>
137 Downloads and pipes the selected message into the given shell com‐
138 mand, and opens a new terminal tab to show the result. By default,
139 the selected message part is used in the message viewer and the
140 full message is used in the message list.
141 -b: Run the command in the background instead of opening a terminal
143 tab
144 -m: Pipe the full message
146 -p: Pipe just the selected message part, if applicable
148 reply [-aq] [-T <template-file>]
150 Opens the composer to reply to the selected message.
151 -a: Reply all
153 -q: Insert a quoted version of the selected message into the reply
155 editor
156 -T: Use the specified template file for creating the initial mes‐
158 sage body
159 read [-t]
161 Marks the marked or selected messages as read.
162 -t: Toggle the messages between read and unread.
164 unread [-t]
166 Marks the marked or selected messages as unread.
167 -t: Toggle the messages between read and unread.
169 flag [-t] [-a | -x <flag>]
171 Sets (enables) a certain flag on the marked or selected messages.
172 -t: Toggle the flag instead of setting (enabling) it.
174 -a: Mark message as answered/unanswered.
176 -x <flag>: Mark message with specific flag.
178 The available flags are (adapted from RFC 3501, section 2.3.2):
180 Seen
182 Message has been read
183 Answered
185 Message has been answered
186 Flagged
188 Message is flagged for urgent/special attention
189 unflag [-t] <flag>
191 Operates exactly like flag, defaulting to unsetting (disabling)
192 flags.
193 modify-labels <[+-]label>...
195 Modify message labels (e.g. notmuch tags). Labels prefixed with a
196 '+' are added, those prefixed with a '-' removed. As a convenience,
197 labels without either operand add the specified label.
198 Example: `modify-labels +inbox -spam unread` adds the labels inbox
200 and unread and removes spam
201 unsubscribe
203 Attempt to automatically unsubscribe the user from the mailing list
204 through use of the List-Unsubscribe header. If supported, aerc may
205 open a compose window pre-filled with the unsubscribe information
206 or open the unsubscribe URL in a web browser.
207 MESSAGE LIST COMMANDS
209 clear
210 Clears the current search or filter criteria.
211 cf <folder>
213 Change the folder shown in the message list.
214 compose [-H] [<body>]
216 Open the compose window to send a new email. The new email will be
217 sent with the current account's outgoing transport configuration.
218 For details on configuring outgoing mail delivery consult aerc-con‐
219 fig(5).
220 -H <header>
222 Add the specified header to the message, e.g. 'compose -H "X-
223 Custom: custom value"'
224 filter [options] <terms...>
226 Similar to search, but filters the displayed messages to only the
227 search results. See the documentation for search for more details.
228 mkdir <name>
230 Creates a new folder for this account and changes to that folder.
231 This is not supported on the 'notmuch' backend.
233 rmdir [-f]
235 Removes the current folder.
236 By default, it will fail if the directory is non-empty (see -f).
238 -f
240 Remove the directory even if it contains messages.
241 This is not supported on the 'notmuch' backend.
243 Some programs that sync maildirs may recover deleted directories
245 (e.g. offlineimap). These can either be specially configured to
246 properly handle directory deletion, or special commands need to be
247 run to delete directories (e.g. 'offlineimap --delete-folder').
248 It is possible, with a slow connection and the 'imap' backend, that
250 new messages arrive in the directory before they show up - using
251 'rmdir' at this moment would delete the directory and such new mes‐
252 sages before the user sees them.
253 next <n>[%], prev <n>[%]
255 Selects the next (or previous) message in the message list. If
256 specified as a percentage, the percentage is applied to the number
257 of messages shown on screen and the cursor advances that far.
258 next-folder <n>, prev-folder <n>
260 Cycles to the next (or previous) folder shown in the sidebar, re‐
261 peated n times (default: 1).
262 next-result, prev-result
264 Selects the next or previous search result.
265 search
267 Searches the current folder. The search syntax is dependent on the
268 underlying backend. Refer to aerc-search(1) for details
269 select <n>
271 Selects the nth message in the message list (and scrolls it into
272 view if necessary).
273 sort [[-r] <criterion>]...
275 Sorts the message list by the given criteria. -r sorts the immedi‐
276 ately following criterion in reverse order.
277 Available criteria:
279 ┌──────────┬───────────────────────────┐
281 │Criterion │ Description │
282 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
283 │arrival │ Date and time of the mes‐ │
284 │ │ sages arrival │
285 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
286 │cc │ Addresses in the "cc" │
287 │ │ field │
288 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
289 │date │ Date and time of the mes‐ │
290 │ │ sage │
291 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
292 │from │ Addresses in the "from" │
293 │ │ field │
294 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
295 │read │ Presence of the read flag │
296 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
297 │size │ Size of the message │
298 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
299 │subject │ Subject of the message │
300 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
301 │to │ Addresses in the "to" │
302 │ │ field │
303 └──────────┴───────────────────────────┘
304 view
305 Opens the message viewer to display the selected message.
306 MESSAGE VIEW COMMANDS
308 close
309 Closes the message viewer.
310 next <n>[%], prev <n>[%]
312 Selects the next (or previous) message in the message list. If
313 specified as a percentage, the percentage is applied to the number
314 of messages shown on screen and the cursor advances that far.
315 next-part, prev-part
317 Cycles between message parts being shown. The list of message parts
318 is shown at the bottom of the message viewer.
319 open [args...]
321 Saves the current message part in a temporary file and opens it
322 with the system handler. Any given args are forwarded to the open
323 handler
324 save [-fp] <path>
326 Saves the current message part to the given path. If the path is
327 not an absolute path, general.default-save-path will be prepended
328 to the path given. If path ends in a trailing slash or if a folder
329 exists on disc, aerc assumes it to be a directory. When passed a
330 directory :save infers the filename from the mail part if possible,
331 or if that fails, uses "aerc_$DATE".
332 -f: Overwrite the destination whether or not it exists
334 -p: Create any directories in the path that do not exist
336 mark [-atv]
338 Marks messages. Commands will execute on all marked messages in‐
339 stead of the highlighted one if applicable. The flags below can be
340 combined as needed.
341 -a: Apply to all messages in the current folder
343 -t: toggle the mark state instead of marking a message
345 -v: Enter / leave visual mark mode
347 unmark [-at]
349 Unmarks messages. The flags below can be combined as needed.
350 -a: Apply to all messages in the current folder
352 -t: toggle the mark state instead of unmarking a message
354 MESSAGE COMPOSE COMMANDS
356 abort
357 Close the composer without sending, discarding the message in
358 progress.
359 attach <path>
361 Attaches the file at the given path to the email.
362 detach [path]
364 Detaches the file with the given path from the composed email. If
365 no path is specified, detaches the first attachment instead.
366 cc [addresses], bcc [addresses]
368 Sets the Cc or Bcc header to the given addresses. If an editor for
369 the header is not currently visible in the compose window, a new
370 one will be added.
371 edit
373 (Re-) opens your text editor to edit the message in progress.
374 next-field, prev-field
376 Cycles between input fields in the compose window.
377 postpone
379 Saves the current state of the message to the postpone folder for
380 the current account.
381 save [-p] <path>
383 Saves the selected message part to the specified path. If -p is se‐
384 lected, aerc will create any missing directories in the specified
385 path. If the path specified is a directory or ends in /, aerc will
386 use the attachment filename if available or a generated name if
387 not.
388 send
390 Sends the message using this accounts default outgoing transport
391 configuration. For details on configuring outgoing mail delivery
392 consult aerc-config(5).
393 header [-f] <field> [value]
395 Add a new email header. If the header already exists, -f must be
396 specified to replace the given value.
397 toggle-headers
399 Toggles the visibility of the message headers.
400 TERMINAL COMMANDS
402 close
403 Closes the terminal.
404
406 Aerc does not log by default, but collecting log output can be useful
407 for troubleshooting and reporting issues. Redirecting stdout when in‐
408 voking aerc will write log messages to that file:
409 $ aerc > log
411
413 aerc-config(5) aerc-imap(5) aerc-smtp(5) aerc-maildir(5) aerc-send‐
414 mail(5) aerc-tutorial(7)
415
417 Maintained by Drew DeVault <sir@cmpwn.com>, who is assisted by other
418 open source contributors. For more information about aerc development,
419 see https://git.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/aerc.
420 2021-07-21 aerc(1)