1AERC(1) General Commands Manual AERC(1)
2
6 aerc - a pretty good email client.
7
9 aerc [-v] [-a <account>[,<account>]] [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 -a <account>[,<account>]
19 Load only the named accounts, as opposed to all configured ac‐
20 counts. List must be comma separated, with no spaces. The account
21 order will be preserved.
22 mailto:address[,address][?query[&query]]
24 Opens the composer with the address(es) in the To field. These ad‐
25 dresses must not be percent encoded. If aerc is already running,
26 the composer is started in this instance, otherwise aerc will be
27 started. The following (optional) query parameters are supported:
28 ┌──────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────┐
30 │Query │ Description │
31 ├──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
32 │subject=<text> │ Subject line will be com‐ │
33 │ │ pleted with the <text> │
34 ├──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
35 │body=<text> │ Message body will be com‐ │
36 │ │ pleted with the <text> │
37 ├──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
38 │cc=<address>[,<address>] │ Cc header will be com‐ │
39 │ │ pleted with the list of │
40 │ │ addresses │
41 ├──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
42 │bcc=<address>[,<address>] │ Bcc header will be com‐ │
43 │ │ pleted with the list of │
44 │ │ addresses │
45 ├──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
46 │in-reply-to=<message-id> │ In-reply-to header will be │
47 │ │ set to the message id │
48 ├──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
49 │account=<accountname> │ Specify the account (must │
50 │ │ be in accounts.conf; de‐ │
51 │ │ fault is the selected ac‐ │
52 │ │ count) │
53 ├──────────────────────────┼────────────────────────────┤
54 │template=<template-file> │ Template sets the template │
55 │ │ file for creating the mes‐ │
56 │ │ sage │
57 └──────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────┘
58 Note that reserved characters in the queries must be percent en‐
59 coded.
60 :command [...]
62 Run an aerc-internal command as you would in Ex-Mode. See RUNTIME
63 COMMANDS below.
64
66 To execute a command, press : to bring up the command interface. Com‐
67 mands may also be bound to keys, see aerc-binds(5) for details. In some
68 contexts, such as the terminal emulator, <c-x> is used to bring up the
69 command interface.
70 Different commands work in different contexts, depending on the kind of
72 tab you have selected.
73 Dynamic arguments are expanded following aerc-templates(7) depending on
75 the context. For example, if you have a message selected, the following
76 command:
77 :filter -f "{{index (.From | emails) 0}}"
79 Will filter all messages sent by the same sender.
81 Aerc stores a history of commands, which can be cycled through in com‐
83 mand mode. Pressing the up key cycles backwards in history, while
84 pressing down cycles forwards.
85 GLOBAL COMMANDS
87 These commands work in any context.
88 :cd <directory>
90 Changes aerc's current working directory.
91 :z <directory or zoxide query>
93 Changes aerc's current working directory using zoxide. If zoxide is
94 not on $PATH., the command will not be registered.
95 :change-tab [+|-]<tab name or index>
97 :ct [+|-]<tab name or index>
98 Changes the focus to the tab with the given name. If a number is
99 given, it's treated as an index. If the number is prepended with +
100 or -, the number is interpreted as a delta from the selected tab.
101 If only a - is given, changes the focus to the previously selected
102 tab.
103 :exec <command>
105 Executes an arbitrary command in the background. Aerc will set the
106 environment variables $account and $folder when the command is exe‐
107 cuted from an Account tab or an opened message.
108 Note: commands executed in this way are not executed with the
110 shell.
111 :eml [<path>]
113 :preview
114 Opens an eml file and displays the message in the message viewer.
115 Can also be used in the message viewer to open an rfc822 attachment
117 or in the composer to preview the message.
118 :pwd
120 Displays aerc's current working directory in the status bar.
121 :term [<command>...]
123 :terminal
124 Opens a new terminal tab with a shell running in the current work‐
125 ing directory, or the specified command.
126 :move-tab [+|-]<index>
128 Moves the selected tab to the given index. If + or - is specified,
129 the number is interpreted as a delta from the selected tab.
130 :prev-tab [<n>]
132 :next-tab [<n>]
133 Cycles to the previous or next tab in the list, repeating <n> times
134 (default: 1).
135 :pin-tab
137 Moves the current tab to the left of all non-pinned tabs and dis‐
138 plays the pinned-tab-marker (default: `) to the left of the tab ti‐
139 tle.
140 :unpin-tab
142 Removes the pinned-tab-marker from the current tab and returns the
143 tab to its previous location.
144 :prompt <prompt> <command>...
146 Displays the prompt on the status bar, waits for user input, then
147 appends that input as the last argument to the command and executes
148 it. The input is passed as one argument to the command, unless it
149 is empty, in which case no extra argument is added.
150 :choose -o <key> <text> <command> [-o <key> <text> <command>]...
152 Prompts the user to choose from various options.
153 :quit [-f]
155 :exit [-f]
156 Exits aerc. If a task is being performed that should not be inter‐
157 rupted (like sending a message), a normal quit call might fail. In
158 this case, closing aerc can be forced with the -f option.
159 MESSAGE COMMANDS
161 These commands are valid in any context that has a selected message
162 (e.g. the message list, the message in the message viewer, etc).
163 :archive <scheme>
165 Moves the selected message to the archive. The available schemes
166 are:
167 flat: No special structure, all messages in the archive directory
169 year: Messages are stored in folders per year
171 month: Messages are stored in folders per year and subfolders per
173 month
174 :accept
176 Accepts an iCalendar meeting invitation.
177 :accept-tentative
179 Accepts an iCalendar meeting invitation tentatively.
180 :copy <target>
182 :cp <target>
183 Copies the selected message to the target folder.
184 :decline
186 Declines an iCalendar meeting invitation.
187 :delete
189 :delete-message
190 Deletes the selected message.
191 :envelope [-h] [-s <format-specifier>]
193 Opens the message envelope in a dialog popup.
194 -h: Show all header fields
196 -s <format-specifier>
198 User-defined format specifier requiring two %s for the key and
199 value strings. Default format: %-20.20s: %s
200 :recall [-f]
202 Opens the selected message for re-editing. Messages can only be re‐
203 called from the postpone directory. The original message is
204 deleted.
205 -f: Open the message for re-editing even if it is not in the post‐
207 pone directory. The original message will be deleted only if it is
208 in the postpone directory.
209 :forward [-A|-F] [-T <template-file>] [<address>...]
211 Opens the composer to forward the selected message to another re‐
212 cipient.
213 -A: Forward the message and all attachments.
215 -F: Forward the full message as an RFC 2822 attachment.
217 -T <template-file>
219 Use the specified template file for creating the initial mes‐
220 sage body. Unless -F is specified, this defaults to what is set
221 as forwards in the [templates] section of aerc.conf.
222 :move <target>
224 :mv <target>
225 Moves the selected message to the target folder.
226 :pipe [-bmp] <cmd>
228 Downloads and pipes the selected message into the given shell com‐
229 mand, and opens a new terminal tab to show the result. By default,
230 the selected message part is used in the message viewer and the
231 full message is used in the message list.
232 Operates on multiple messages when they are marked. When piping
234 multiple messages, aerc will write them with mbox format separa‐
235 tors.
236 -b: Run the command in the background instead of opening a terminal
238 tab
239 -m: Pipe the full message
241 -p: Pipe just the selected message part, if applicable
243 This can be used to apply patch series with git:
245 :pipe -m git am -3
247 When at least one marked message subject matches a patch series
249 (e.g. [PATCH X/Y]), all marked messages will be sorted by subject
250 to ensure that the patches are applied in order.
251 :reply [-acq] [-T <template-file>]
253 Opens the composer to reply to the selected message.
254 -a: Reply all
256 -c: Close the view tab when replying. If the reply is not sent, re‐
258 open the view tab.
259 -q: Insert a quoted version of the selected message into the reply
261 editor
262 -T <template-file>
264 Use the specified template file for creating the initial mes‐
265 sage body. If -q is specified, defaults to what is set as
266 quoted-reply in the [templates] section of aerc.conf.
267 :read [-t]
269 Marks the marked or selected messages as read.
270 -t: Toggle the messages between read and unread.
272 :unread [-t]
274 Marks the marked or selected messages as unread.
275 -t: Toggle the messages between read and unread.
277 :flag [-t] [-a | -x <flag>]
279 Sets (enables) a certain flag on the marked or selected messages.
280 -t: Toggle the flag instead of setting (enabling) it.
282 -a: Mark message as answered/unanswered.
284 -x <flag>: Mark message with specific flag.
286 The available flags are (adapted from RFC 3501, section 2.3.2):
287 Seen
289 Message has been read
290 Answered
291 Message has been answered
292 Flagged
293 Message is flagged for urgent/special attention
294 :unflag [-t] <flag>
296 Operates exactly like :flag, defaulting to unsetting (disabling)
297 flags.
298 :modify-labels [+|-]<label>...
300 :tag [+|-]<label>...
301 Modify message labels (e.g. notmuch tags). Labels prefixed with a +
302 are added, those prefixed with a - removed. As a convenience, la‐
303 bels without either operand add the specified label.
304 Example: add inbox and unread labels, remove spam label.
306 :modify-labels +inbox -spam unread
308 :unsubscribe
310 Attempt to automatically unsubscribe the user from the mailing list
311 through use of the List-Unsubscribe header. If supported, aerc may
312 open a compose window pre-filled with the unsubscribe information
313 or open the unsubscribe URL in a web browser.
314 MESSAGE LIST COMMANDS
316 :clear [-s]
317 Clears the current search or filter criteria.
318 By default, the selected message will be kept. To clear the se‐
320 lected message and move cursor to the top of the message list, use
321 the -s flag.
322 -s: Selects the message at the top of the message list after clear‐
324 ing.
325 :cf <folder>
327 Change the folder shown in the message list.
328 :check-mail
330 Check for new mail on the selected account. Non-imap backends re‐
331 quire check-mail-cmd to be set in order for aerc to initiate a
332 check for new mail. Issuing a manual :check-mail command will reset
333 the timer for automatic checking.
334 :compose [-H "<header>: <value>"] [-T <template-file>] [<body>]
336 Open the compose window to send a new email. The new email will be
337 sent with the current account's outgoing transport configuration.
338 For details on configuring outgoing mail delivery consult aerc-ac‐
339 counts(5).
340 -H "<header>: <value>"
342 Add the specified header to the message, e.g:
343 :compose -H "X-Custom: custom value"
345 -T <template-file>
347 Use the specified template file for creating the initial mes‐
348 sage body.
349 <body>: The initial message body.
351 :filter [<options>] <terms>...
353 Similar to :search, but filters the displayed messages to only the
354 search results. The search syntax is dependent on the underlying
355 backend. Refer to aerc-search(1) for details
356 :mkdir <name>
358 Creates a new folder for this account and changes to that folder.
359 :rmdir [-f]
361 Removes the current folder.
362 By default, it will fail if the directory is non-empty (see -f).
364 -f
366 Remove the directory even if it contains messages.
367 Some programs that sync maildirs may recover deleted directories
369 (e.g. offlineimap). These can either be specially configured to
370 properly handle directory deletion, or special commands need to be
371 run to delete directories (e.g. offlineimap --delete-folder).
372 It is possible, with a slow connection and the imap backend, that
374 new messages arrive in the directory before they show up - using
375 :rmdir at this moment would delete the directory and such new mes‐
376 sages before the user sees them.
377 :next <n>[%]
379 :next-message <n>[%]
380 :prev <n>[%]
381 :prev-message <n>[%]
382 Selects the next (or previous) message in the message list. If
383 specified as a percentage, the percentage is applied to the number
384 of messages shown on screen and the cursor advances that far.
385 :next-folder <n>
387 :prev-folder <n>
388 Cycles to the next (or previous) folder shown in the sidebar, re‐
389 peated <n> times (default: 1).
390 :expand-folder
392 :collapse-folder
393 Expands or collapses the current folder when the directory tree is
394 enabled.
395 :export-mbox <file>
397 Exports all messages in the current folder to an mbox file.
398 :import-mbox <file>
400 Imports all messages from an mbox file to the current folder.
401 :next-result
403 :prev-result
404 Selects the next or previous search result.
405 :select <n>
407 :select-message <n>
408 Selects the <n>th message in the message list (and scrolls it into
409 view if necessary).
410 :split [[+|-]<n>]
412 Creates a horizontal split, showing <n> messages and a message view
413 below the message list. If a + or - is prepended, the message list
414 size will grow or shrink accordingly. The split can be cleared by
415 calling :split 0, or just :split. The split can be toggled by call‐
416 ing split with the same (absolute) size repeatedly. For example,
417 :split 10 will create a split. Calling :split 10 again will remove
418 the split. If not specified, <n> is set to an estimation based on
419 the user's terminal. Also see :vsplit.
420 :sort [[-r] <criterion>]...
422 Sorts the message list by the given criteria. -r sorts the immedi‐
423 ately following criterion in reverse order.
424 Available criteria:
426 ┌──────────┬───────────────────────────┐
428 │Criterion │ Description │
429 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
430 │arrival │ Date and time of the mes‐ │
431 │ │ sages arrival │
432 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
433 │cc │ Addresses in the Cc field │
434 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
435 │date │ Date and time of the mes‐ │
436 │ │ sage │
437 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
438 │from │ Addresses in the From │
439 │ │ field │
440 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
441 │read │ Presence of the read flag │
442 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
443 │size │ Size of the message │
444 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
445 │subject │ Subject of the message │
446 ├──────────┼───────────────────────────┤
447 │to │ Addresses in the To field │
448 └──────────┴───────────────────────────┘
449 :toggle-threads
450 Toggles between message threading and the normal message list.
451 :view [-p]
453 :view-message [-p]
454 Opens the message viewer to display the selected message. If the
455 peek flag -p is set, the message will not be marked as seen and ig‐
456 nores the auto-mark-read config.
457 :vsplit [[+|-]<n>]
459 Creates a vertical split of the message list. The message list will
460 be <n> columns wide, and a vertical message view will be shown to
461 the right of the message list. If a + or - is prepended, the mes‐
462 sage list size will grow or shrink accordingly. The split can be
463 cleared by calling :vsplit 0, or just :vsplit. The split can be
464 toggled by calling split with the same (absolute) size repeatedly.
465 For example, :vsplit 10 will create a split. Calling :vsplit 10
466 again will remove the split. If not specified, <n> is set to an es‐
467 timation based on the user's terminal. Also see :split.
468 MESSAGE VIEW COMMANDS
470 :close
471 Closes the message viewer.
472 :next <n>[%]
474 :prev <n>[%]
475 Selects the next (or previous) message in the message list. If
476 specified as a percentage, the percentage is applied to the number
477 of messages shown on screen and the cursor advances that far.
478 :next-part
480 :prev-part
481 Cycles between message parts being shown. The list of message parts
482 is shown at the bottom of the message viewer.
483 :open [<args...>]
485 Saves the current message part to a temporary file, then opens it.
486 If no arguments are provided, it will open the current MIME part
487 with the matching command in the [openers] section of aerc.conf.
488 When no match is found in [openers], it falls back to the default
489 system handler.
490 When arguments are provided:
492 • The first argument must be the program to open the message part
494 with. Subsequent args are passed to that program.
495 • {} will be expanded as the temporary filename to be opened. If
496 it is not encountered in the arguments, the temporary filename
497 will be appened to the end of the command.
498 :open-link <url> [<args...>]
501 Open the specified URL with an external program. The opening logic
502 is the same than for :open but the opener program will be looked up
503 according to the URL scheme MIME type: x-scheme-handler/<scheme>.
504 :save [-fpa] <path>
506 Saves the current message part to the given path. If the path is
507 not an absolute path, [general].default-save-path from aerc.conf
508 will be prepended to the path given. If path ends in a trailing
509 slash or if a folder exists on disc or if -a is specified, aerc as‐
510 sumes it to be a directory. When passed a directory :save infers
511 the filename from the mail part if possible, or if that fails, uses
512 aerc_$DATE.
513 -f: Overwrite the destination whether or not it exists
515 -p: Create any directories in the path that do not exist
517 -a: Save all attachments. Individual filenames cannot be specified.
519 :mark [-atvT]
521 Marks messages. Commands will execute on all marked messages in‐
522 stead of the highlighted one if applicable. The flags below can be
523 combined as needed.
524 -a: Apply to all messages in the current folder
526 -t: toggle the mark state instead of marking a message
528 -v: Enter / leave visual mark mode
530 -V: Same as -v but does not clear existing selection
532 -T: Marks the displayed message thread of the selected message.
534 :unmark [-at]
536 Unmarks messages. The flags below can be combined as needed.
537 -a: Apply to all messages in the current folder
539 -t: toggle the mark state instead of unmarking a message
541 :remark
543 Re-select the last set of marked messages. Can be used to chain
544 commands after a selection has been acted upon
545 MESSAGE COMPOSE COMMANDS
547 :abort
548 Close the composer without sending, discarding the message in
549 progress.
550 :attach <path>
552 :attach -m [<arg>]
553 Attaches the file at the given path to the email. The path can con‐
554 tain globbing syntax described at
555 https://godocs.io/path/filepath#Match.
556 -m [<arg>]
558 Runs the file-picker-cmd to select files to be attached. Re‐
559 quires an argument when file-picker-cmd contains the %s verb.
560 :attach-key
562 Attaches the public key for the configured account to the email.
563 :detach [<path>]
565 Detaches the file with the given path from the composed email. If
566 no path is specified, detaches the first attachment instead.
567 :cc <addresses>
569 :bcc <addresses>
570 Sets the Cc or Bcc header to the given addresses. If an editor for
571 the header is not currently visible in the compose window, a new
572 one will be added.
573 :edit
575 (Re-)opens your text editor to edit the message in progress.
576 :multipart [-d] <mime/type>
578 Makes the message to multipart/alternative and add the specified
579 <mime/type> part. Only the MIME types that are configured in the
580 [multipart-converters] section of aerc.conf are supported and their
581 related commands will be used to generate the alternate part.
582 -d:
584 Remove the specified alternative <mime/type> instead of adding
585 it. If no alternative parts are left, make the message
586 text/plain (i.e. not multipart/alternative).
587 :next-field
589 :prev-field
590 Cycles between input fields in the compose window.
591 :postpone
593 Saves the current state of the message to the postpone folder (from
594 accounts.conf) for the current account.
595 :save [-p] <path>
597 Saves the selected message part to the specified path. If -p is se‐
598 lected, aerc will create any missing directories in the specified
599 path. If the path specified is a directory or ends in /, aerc will
600 use the attachment filename if available or a generated name if
601 not.
602 :send [-a <scheme>]
604 Sends the message using this accounts default outgoing transport
605 configuration. For details on configuring outgoing mail delivery
606 consult aerc-accounts(5).
607 -a: Archive the message being replied to. See :archive for schemes.
609 :switch-account <account-name>
611 :switch-account -n
612 :switch-account -p
613 Switches the account. Can be used to switch to a specific account
614 from its name or to cycle through accounts using the -p and -n
615 flags.
616 -p: switch to previous account
618 -n: switch to next account
620 :header [-f] <name> [<value>]
622 Add a new email header. If the header already exists, -f must be
623 specified to replace the given value.
624 :toggle-headers
626 Toggles the visibility of the message headers.
627 :encrypt
629 Encrypt the message to all recipients. If a key for a recipient
630 cannot be found the message will not be encrypted.
631 :sign
633 Sign the message using the account's default key. If pgp-key-id is
634 set in accounts.conf (see aerc-accounts(5)), it will be used in
635 priority. Otherwise, the From header address will be used to look
636 for a matching private key in the pgp keyring.
637 TERMINAL COMMANDS
639 :close
640 Closes the terminal.
641
643 Aerc does not log by default, but collecting log output can be useful
644 for troubleshooting and reporting issues. Redirecting stdout when in‐
645 voking aerc will write log messages to that file:
646 $ aerc > aerc.log
648 Persistent logging can be configured via the log-file and log-level
650 settings in aerc.conf.
651
653 aerc-config(5) aerc-imap(5) aerc-notmuch(5) aerc-smtp(5) aerc-
654 maildir(5) aerc-sendmail(5) aerc-search(1) aerc-stylesets(7) aerc-tem‐
655 plates(7) aerc-accounts(5) aerc-binds(5) aerc-tutorial(7)
656
658 Originally created by Drew DeVault <sir@cmpwn.com> and maintained by
659 Robin Jarry <robin@jarry.cc> who is assisted by other open source con‐
660 tributors. For more information about aerc development, see
661 https://sr.ht/~rjarry/aerc/.
662 2023-07-16 AERC(1)