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 [-f]
124 Opens the selected message for re-editing. Messages can only be re‐
125 called from the postpone directory. The original message is
126 deleted.
127 -f: Open the message for re-editing even if it is not in the post‐
129 pone directory. The original message will be deleted only if it is
130 in the postpone directory.
131 forward [-A] [-T <template-file>] [address...]
133 Opens the composer to forward the selected message to another re‐
134 cipient.
135 -A: Forward the message as an RFC 2822 attachment.
137 -T <template-file>
139 Use the specified template file for creating the initial mes‐
140 sage body. Unless -A is specified, this defaults to what is set
141 as forwards in the [templates] section of aerc.conf.
142 move <target>
144 Moves the selected message to the target folder.
145 pipe [-bmp] <cmd>
147 Downloads and pipes the selected message into the given shell com‐
148 mand, and opens a new terminal tab to show the result. By default,
149 the selected message part is used in the message viewer and the
150 full message is used in the message list.
151 Operates on multiple messages when they are marked. When piping
153 multiple messages, aerc will write them with mbox format separa‐
154 tors.
155 -b: Run the command in the background instead of opening a terminal
157 tab
158 -m: Pipe the full message
160 -p: Pipe just the selected message part, if applicable
162 reply [-aq] [-T <template-file>]
164 Opens the composer to reply to the selected message.
165 -a: Reply all
167 -q: Insert a quoted version of the selected message into the reply
169 editor
170 -T <template-file>
172 Use the specified template file for creating the initial mes‐
173 sage body. If -q is specified, defaults to what is set as
174 quoted-reply in the [templates] section of aerc.conf.
175 read [-t]
177 Marks the marked or selected messages as read.
178 -t: Toggle the messages between read and unread.
180 unread [-t]
182 Marks the marked or selected messages as unread.
183 -t: Toggle the messages between read and unread.
185 flag [-t] [-a | -x <flag>]
187 Sets (enables) a certain flag on the marked or selected messages.
188 -t: Toggle the flag instead of setting (enabling) it.
190 -a: Mark message as answered/unanswered.
192 -x <flag>: Mark message with specific flag.
194 The available flags are (adapted from RFC 3501, section 2.3.2):
196 Seen
198 Message has been read
199 Answered
201 Message has been answered
202 Flagged
204 Message is flagged for urgent/special attention
205 unflag [-t] <flag>
207 Operates exactly like flag, defaulting to unsetting (disabling)
208 flags.
209 modify-labels <[+-]label>...
211 Modify message labels (e.g. notmuch tags). Labels prefixed with a
212 '+' are added, those prefixed with a '-' removed. As a convenience,
213 labels without either operand add the specified label.
214 Example: `modify-labels +inbox -spam unread` adds the labels inbox
216 and unread and removes spam
217 unsubscribe
219 Attempt to automatically unsubscribe the user from the mailing list
220 through use of the List-Unsubscribe header. If supported, aerc may
221 open a compose window pre-filled with the unsubscribe information
222 or open the unsubscribe URL in a web browser.
223 MESSAGE LIST COMMANDS
225 clear [-s]
226 Clears the current search or filter criteria.
227 By default, the selected message will be kept. To clear the se‐
229 lected message and move cursor to the top of the message list, use
230 the -s flag.
231 -s
233 Selects the message at the top of the message list after clear‐
234 ing.
235 cf <folder>
237 Change the folder shown in the message list.
238 compose [-H] [<body>] [-T <template-file>]
240 Open the compose window to send a new email. The new email will be
241 sent with the current account's outgoing transport configuration.
242 For details on configuring outgoing mail delivery consult aerc-con‐
243 fig(5).
244 -H <header>
246 Add the specified header to the message, e.g. 'compose -H "X-
247 Custom: custom value"'
248 -T <template-file>
249 Use the specified template file for creating the initial mes‐
250 sage body.
251 filter [options] <terms...>
253 Similar to search, but filters the displayed messages to only the
254 search results. See the documentation for search for more details.
255 mkdir <name>
257 Creates a new folder for this account and changes to that folder.
258 This is not supported on the 'notmuch' backend.
260 rmdir [-f]
262 Removes the current folder.
263 By default, it will fail if the directory is non-empty (see -f).
265 -f
267 Remove the directory even if it contains messages.
268 This is not supported on the 'notmuch' backend.
270 Some programs that sync maildirs may recover deleted directories
272 (e.g. offlineimap). These can either be specially configured to
273 properly handle directory deletion, or special commands need to be
274 run to delete directories (e.g. 'offlineimap --delete-folder').
275 It is possible, with a slow connection and the 'imap' backend, that
277 new messages arrive in the directory before they show up - using
278 'rmdir' at this moment would delete the directory and such new mes‐
279 sages before the user sees them.
280 next <n>[%], prev <n>[%]
282 Selects the next (or previous) message in the message list. If
283 specified as a percentage, the percentage is applied to the number
284 of messages shown on screen and the cursor advances that far.
285 next-folder <n>, prev-folder <n>
287 Cycles to the next (or previous) folder shown in the sidebar, re‐
288 peated n times (default: 1).
289 expand-folder, collapse-folder
291 Expands or collapses the current folder when the directory tree is
292 enabled.
293 next-result, prev-result
295 Selects the next or previous search result.
296 search
298 Searches the current folder. The search syntax is dependent on the
299 underlying backend. Refer to aerc-search(1) for details
300 select <n>
302 Selects the nth message in the message list (and scrolls it into
303 view if necessary).
304 sort [[-r] <criterion>]...
306 Sorts the message list by the given criteria. -r sorts the immedi‐
307 ately following criterion in reverse order.
308 Available criteria:
310 ┌──────────┬───────────────────────────┐
312 │Criterion │ Description │
313 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
314 │arrival │ Date and time of the mes‐ │
315 │ │ sages arrival │
316 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
317 │cc │ Addresses in the "cc" │
318 │ │ field │
319 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
320 │date │ Date and time of the mes‐ │
321 │ │ sage │
322 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
323 │from │ Addresses in the "from" │
324 │ │ field │
325 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
326 │read │ Presence of the read flag │
327 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
328 │size │ Size of the message │
329 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
330 │subject │ Subject of the message │
331 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
332 │to │ Addresses in the "to" │
333 │ │ field │
334 └──────────┴───────────────────────────┘
335 toggle-threads
336 Toggles between message threading and the normal message list.
337 view
339 Opens the message viewer to display the selected message.
340 MESSAGE VIEW COMMANDS
342 close
343 Closes the message viewer.
344 next <n>[%], prev <n>[%]
346 Selects the next (or previous) message in the message list. If
347 specified as a percentage, the percentage is applied to the number
348 of messages shown on screen and the cursor advances that far.
349 next-part, prev-part
351 Cycles between message parts being shown. The list of message parts
352 is shown at the bottom of the message viewer.
353 open [args...]
355 Saves the current message part in a temporary file and opens it
356 with the system handler. Any given args are forwarded to the open
357 handler
358 save [-fpa] <path>
360 Saves the current message part to the given path. If the path is
361 not an absolute path, general.default-save-path will be prepended
362 to the path given. If path ends in a trailing slash or if a folder
363 exists on disc or if -a is specified, aerc assumes it to be a di‐
364 rectory. When passed a directory :save infers the filename from the
365 mail part if possible, or if that fails, uses "aerc_$DATE".
366 -f: Overwrite the destination whether or not it exists
368 -p: Create any directories in the path that do not exist
370 -a: Save all attachments. Individual filenames cannot be specified.
372 mark [-atv]
374 Marks messages. Commands will execute on all marked messages in‐
375 stead of the highlighted one if applicable. The flags below can be
376 combined as needed.
377 -a: Apply to all messages in the current folder
379 -t: toggle the mark state instead of marking a message
381 -v: Enter / leave visual mark mode
383 unmark [-at]
385 Unmarks messages. The flags below can be combined as needed.
386 -a: Apply to all messages in the current folder
388 -t: toggle the mark state instead of unmarking a message
390 MESSAGE COMPOSE COMMANDS
392 abort
393 Close the composer without sending, discarding the message in
394 progress.
395 attach <path>
397 Attaches the file at the given path to the email.
398 attach-key
400 Attaches the public key for the configured account to the email.
401 detach [path]
403 Detaches the file with the given path from the composed email. If
404 no path is specified, detaches the first attachment instead.
405 cc [addresses], bcc [addresses]
407 Sets the Cc or Bcc header to the given addresses. If an editor for
408 the header is not currently visible in the compose window, a new
409 one will be added.
410 edit
412 (Re-) opens your text editor to edit the message in progress.
413 next-field, prev-field
415 Cycles between input fields in the compose window.
416 postpone
418 Saves the current state of the message to the postpone folder for
419 the current account.
420 save [-p] <path>
422 Saves the selected message part to the specified path. If -p is se‐
423 lected, aerc will create any missing directories in the specified
424 path. If the path specified is a directory or ends in /, aerc will
425 use the attachment filename if available or a generated name if
426 not.
427 send
429 Sends the message using this accounts default outgoing transport
430 configuration. For details on configuring outgoing mail delivery
431 consult aerc-config(5).
432 header [-f] <field> [value]
434 Add a new email header. If the header already exists, -f must be
435 specified to replace the given value.
436 toggle-headers
438 Toggles the visibility of the message headers.
439 TERMINAL COMMANDS
441 close
442 Closes the terminal.
443
445 Aerc does not log by default, but collecting log output can be useful
446 for troubleshooting and reporting issues. Redirecting stdout when in‐
447 voking aerc will write log messages to that file:
448 $ aerc > log
450
452 aerc-config(5) aerc-imap(5) aerc-smtp(5) aerc-maildir(5) aerc-send‐
453 mail(5) aerc-tutorial(7)
454
456 Originally created by Drew DeVault <sir@cmpwn.com> and maintained by
457 Robin Jarry <robin@jarry.cc> who is assisted by other open source con‐
458 tributors. For more information about aerc development, see
459 https://sr.ht/~rjarry/aerc/.
460 2022-06-18 aerc(1)