3.1. Configuration Options¶
The following lists all available config options with their type and default values. The type of an option is used to validate a given value. For instance, if the type says “boolean” you may only provide “True” or “False” as values in your config file, otherwise alot will complain on startup. Strings may be quoted but do not need to be.
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ask_subject
Type: boolean Default: True
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attachment_prefix
- directory prefix for downloading attachments
Type: string Default: “~”
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auto_remove_unread
- automatically remove ‘unread’ tag when focussing messages in thread mode
Type: boolean Default: True
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auto_replyto_mailinglist
- Automatically switch to list reply mode if appropriate
Type: boolean Default: False
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bounce_force_address
- Always use the accounts main address when constructing “Resent-From” headers for bounces. Set this to False to use the address string as received in the original message.
Type: boolean Default: False
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bounce_force_realname
- Always use the proper realname when constructing “Resent-From” headers for bounces. Set this to False to use the realname string as received in the original message.
Type: boolean Default: True
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bufferclose_focus_offset
- offset of next focused buffer if the current one gets closed
Type: integer Default: -1
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bufferlist_statusbar
Format of the status-bar in bufferlist mode. This is a pair of strings to be left and right aligned in the status-bar that may contain variables:
- {buffer_no}: index of this buffer in the global buffer list
- {total_messages}: total numer of messages indexed by notmuch
- {pending_writes}: number of pending write operations to the index
Type: mixed_list Default: [{buffer_no}: bufferlist], {input_queue} total messages: {total_messages}
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bug_on_exit
- confirm exit
Type: boolean Default: False
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colourmode
- number of colours to use on the terminal
Type: option, one of [‘1’, ‘16’, ‘256’] Default: 256
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complete_matching_abook_only
- in case more than one account has an address book: Set this to True to make tab completion for recipients during compose only look in the abook of the account matching the sender address
Type: boolean Default: False
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compose_ask_tags
- prompt for initial tags when compose
Type: boolean Default: False
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displayed_headers
- headers that get displayed by default
Type: string list Default: From, To, Cc, Bcc, Subject
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edit_headers_blacklist
Type: string list Default: Content-Type, MIME-Version, References, In-Reply-To
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edit_headers_whitelist
- Which header fields should be editable in your editor used are those that match the whitelist and don’t match the blacklist. in both cases ‘*’ may be used to indicate all fields.
Type: string list Default: *,
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editor_cmd
- editor command if unset, alot will first try the
EDITOR
env variable, then/usr/bin/editor
Type: string Default: None
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editor_in_thread
- call editor in separate thread. In case your editor doesn’t run in the same window as alot, setting true here will make alot non-blocking during edits
Type: boolean Default: False
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editor_spawn
- use terminal_cmd to spawn a new terminal for the editor? equivalent to always providing the –spawn=yes parameter to compose/edit commands
Type: boolean Default: False
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editor_writes_encoding
- file encoding used by your editor
Type: string Default: “UTF-8”
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envelope_edit_default_alternative
- always edit the given body text alternative when editing outgoing messages in envelope mode. alternative, and not the html source, even if that is currently displayed. If unset, html content will be edited unless the current envelope shows the plaintext alternative.
Type: option, one of [‘plaintext’, ‘html’] Default: None
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envelope_headers_blacklist
- headers that are hidden in envelope buffers by default
Type: string list Default: In-Reply-To, References
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envelope_html2txt
- Use this command to turn a html message body to plaintext in envelope mode. The command will receive the html on stdin and should produce text on stdout (as pandoc -f html -t markdown does for example).
Type: string Default: None
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envelope_statusbar
Format of the status-bar in envelope mode. This is a pair of strings to be left and right aligned in the status-bar. Apart from the global variables listed at bufferlist_statusbar these strings may contain variables:
- {to}: To-header of the envelope
- {displaypart}: which body part alternative is currently in view (can be ‘plaintext,’src’, or ‘html’)
Type: mixed_list Default: [{buffer_no}: envelope ({displaypart})], {input_queue} total messages: {total_messages}
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envelope_txt2html
- Use this command to construct a html alternative message body text in envelope mode. If unset, we send only the plaintext part, without html alternative. The command will receive the plaintex on stdin and should produce html on stdout. (as pandoc -t html does for example).
Type: string Default: None
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exclude_tags
- A list of tags that will be excluded from search results by default. Using an excluded tag in a query will override that exclusion. .. note:: when set, this config setting will overrule the ‘search.exclude_tags’ in the notmuch config.
Type: string list Default: None
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flush_retry_timeout
- timeout in seconds after a failed attempt to writeout the database is repeated. Set to 0 for no retry.
Type: integer Default: 5
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followup_to
- When one of the recipients of an email is a subscribed mailing list, set the “Mail-Followup-To” header to the list of recipients without yourself
Type: boolean Default: False
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forward_force_address
- Always use the accounts main address when constructing “From” headers for forwards. Set this to False to use the address string as received in the original message.
Type: boolean Default: False
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forward_force_realname
- Always use the proper realname when constructing “From” headers for forwards. Set this to False to use the realname string as received in the original message.
Type: boolean Default: True
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forward_subject_prefix
- String prepended to subject header on forward only if original subject doesn’t start with ‘Fwd:’ or this prefix
Type: string Default: “Fwd: “
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handle_mouse
enable mouse support - mouse tracking will be handled by urwid
Note
If this is set to True mouse events are passed from the terminal to urwid/alot. This means that normal text selection in alot will not be possible. Most terminal emulators will still allow you to select text when shift is pressed.
Type: boolean Default: False
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history_size
The number of command line history entries to save
Note
You can set this to -1 to save all entries to disk but the history file might get very long.
Type: integer Default: 50
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honor_followup_to
- When group-reply-ing to an email that has the “Mail-Followup-To” header set, use the content of this header as the new “To” header and leave the “Cc” header empty
Type: boolean Default: False
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hooksfile
- where to look up hooks
Type: string Default: “~/.config/alot/hooks.py”
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initial_command
- initial command when none is given as argument:
Type: string Default: “search tag:inbox AND NOT tag:killed”
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input_timeout
- timeout in (floating point) seconds until partial input is cleared
Type: float Default: 1.0
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interpret_ansi_background
- display background colors set by ANSI character escapes
Type: boolean Default: True
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mailinglists
- The list of addresses associated to the mailinglists you are subscribed to
Type: string list Default: ,
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msg_summary_hides_threadwide_tags
- In a thread buffer, hide from messages summaries tags that are commom to all messages in that thread.
Type: boolean Default: True
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namedqueries_statusbar
- Format of the status-bar in named query list mode. This is a pair of strings to be left and right aligned in the status-bar. These strings may contain variables listed at bufferlist_statusbar that will be substituted accordingly.
Type: mixed_list Default: [{buffer_no}: namedqueries], {query_count} named queries
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notify_timeout
- time in secs to display status messages
Type: integer Default: 2
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periodic_hook_frequency
- The number of seconds to wait between calls to the loop_hook
Type: integer Default: 300
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prefer_plaintext
- prefer plaintext alternatives over html content in multipart/alternative
Type: boolean Default: False
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print_cmd
- how to print messages: this specifies a shell command used for printing. threads/messages are piped to this command as plain text. muttprint/a2ps works nicely
Type: string Default: None
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prompt_suffix
- Suffix of the prompt used when waiting for user input
Type: string Default: “:”
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quit_on_last_bclose
- shut down when the last buffer gets closed
Type: boolean Default: False
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quote_prefix
- String prepended to line when quoting
Type: string Default: “> “
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reply_account_header_priority
- The list of headers to match to determine sending account for a reply. Headers are searched in the order in which they are specified here, and the first header containing a match is used. If multiple accounts match in that header, the one defined first in the account block is used.
Type: string list Default: From, To, Cc, Envelope-To, X-Envelope-To, Delivered-To
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reply_force_address
- Always use the accounts main address when constructing “From” headers for replies. Set this to False to use the address string as received in the original message.
Type: boolean Default: False
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reply_force_realname
- Always use the proper realname when constructing “From” headers for replies. Set this to False to use the realname string as received in the original message.
Type: boolean Default: True
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reply_subject_prefix
- String prepended to subject header on reply only if original subject doesn’t start with ‘Re:’ or this prefix
Type: string Default: “Re: “
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search_statusbar
Format of the status-bar in search mode. This is a pair of strings to be left and right aligned in the status-bar. Apart from the global variables listed at bufferlist_statusbar these strings may contain variables:
- {querystring}: search string
- {result_count}: number of matching messages
- {result_count_positive}: ‘s’ if result count is greater than 0.
Type: mixed_list Default: [{buffer_no}: search] for “{querystring}”, {input_queue} {result_count} of {total_messages} messages
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search_threads_move_last_limit
- Maximum number of results in a search buffer before ‘move last’ builds the thread list in reversed order as a heuristic. The resulting order will be different for threads with multiple matching messages. When set to 0, no limit is set (can be very slow in searches that yield thousands of results)
Type: integer Default: 200
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search_threads_rebuild_limit
- maximum amount of threads that will be consumed to try to restore the focus, upon triggering a search buffer rebuild when set to 0, no limit is set (can be very slow in searches that yield thousands of results)
Type: integer Default: 0
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search_threads_sort_order
- default sort order of results in a search
Type: option, one of [‘oldest_first’, ‘newest_first’, ‘message_id’, ‘unsorted’] Default: newest_first
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show_statusbar
- display status-bar at the bottom of the screen?
Type: boolean Default: True
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tabwidth
- number of spaces used to replace tab characters
Type: integer Default: 8
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taglist_statusbar
- Format of the status-bar in taglist mode. This is a pair of strings to be left and right aligned in the status-bar. These strings may contain variables listed at bufferlist_statusbar that will be substituted accordingly.
Type: mixed_list Default: [{buffer_no}: taglist], {input_queue} total messages: {total_messages}
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template_dir
- templates directory that contains your message templates. It will be used if you give compose –template a filename without a path prefix.
Type: string Default: “$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/alot/templates”
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terminal_cmd
- set terminal command used for spawning shell commands
Type: string Default: “x-terminal-emulator -e”
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theme
- name of the theme to use
Type: string Default: None
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themes_dir
- directory containing theme files.
Type: string Default: “$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/alot/themes”
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thread_authors_me
- Word to replace own addresses with. Works in combination with thread_authors_replace_me
Type: string Default: “Me”
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thread_authors_order_by
- When constructing the unique list of thread authors, order by date of author’s first or latest message in thread
Type: option, one of [‘first_message’, ‘latest_message’] Default: first_message
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thread_authors_replace_me
- Replace own email addresses with “me” in author lists Uses own addresses and aliases in all configured accounts.
Type: boolean Default: True
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thread_focus_linewise
- Split message body linewise and allows to (move) the focus to each individual line. Setting this to False will result in one potentially big text widget for the whole message body.
Type: boolean Default: True
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thread_indent_replies
- number of characters used to indent replies relative to original messages in thread mode
Type: integer Default: 2
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thread_statusbar
Format of the status-bar in thread mode. This is a pair of strings to be left and right aligned in the status-bar. Apart from the global variables listed at bufferlist_statusbar these strings may contain variables:
- {tid}: thread id
- {subject}: subject line of the thread
- {authors}: abbreviated authors string for this thread
- {message_count}: number of contained messages
- {thread_tags}: displays all tags present in the current thread.
- {intersection_tags}: displays tags common to all messages in the current thread.
- {mimetype}: content type of the mime part displayed in the focused message.
Type: mixed_list Default: [{buffer_no}: thread] {subject}, [{mimetype}] {input_queue} total messages: {total_messages}
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thread_subject
What should be considered to be “the thread subject”. Valid values are:
- ‘notmuch’ (the default), will use the thread subject from notmuch, which depends on the selected sorting method
- ‘oldest’ will always use the subject of the oldest message in the thread as the thread subject
Type: option, one of [‘oldest’, ‘notmuch’] Default: notmuch
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timestamp_format
- timestamp format in strftime format syntax
Type: string Default: None
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user_agent
- value of the User-Agent header used for outgoing mails. setting this to the empty string will cause alot to omit the header all together. The string ‘{version}’ will be replaced by the version string of the running instance.
Type: string Default: “alot/{version}”
3.1.1. Notmuch options¶
The following lists the notmuch options that alot reads.
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search.exclude_tags
- A list of tags that will be excluded from search results by default. Using an excluded tag in a query will override that exclusion.
Type: semicolon separated list Default: empty list