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.
-
ask_subject
- Type
boolean
- Default
True
-
attachment_prefix
directory prefix for downloading attachments
- Type
string
- Default
“~”
-
auto_remove_unread
automatically remove ‘unread’ tag when focussing messages in thread mode
- Type
boolean
- Default
True
-
auto_replyto_mailinglist
Automatically switch to list reply mode if appropriate
- Type
boolean
- Default
False
-
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
-
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
-
bufferclose_focus_offset
offset of next focused buffer if the current one gets closed
- Type
integer
- Default
-1
-
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}
-
bug_on_exit
confirm exit
- Type
boolean
- Default
False
-
colourmode
number of colours to use on the terminal
- Type
option, one of [‘1’, ‘16’, ‘256’]
- Default
256
-
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
-
compose_ask_tags
prompt for initial tags when compose
- Type
boolean
- Default
False
-
displayed_headers
headers that get displayed by default
- Type
string list
- Default
From, To, Cc, Bcc, Subject
-
edit_headers_blacklist
- Type
string list
- Default
Content-Type, MIME-Version, References, In-Reply-To
-
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
*,
-
editor_cmd
editor command if unset, alot will first try the
EDITOR
env variable, then/usr/bin/editor
- Type
string
- Default
None
-
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
-
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
-
editor_writes_encoding
file encoding used by your editor
- Type
string
- Default
“UTF-8”
-
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
-
envelope_headers_blacklist
headers that are hidden in envelope buffers by default
- Type
string list
- Default
In-Reply-To, References
-
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
-
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}
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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: “
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
hooksfile
where to look up hooks
- Type
string
- Default
“~/.config/alot/hooks.py”
-
initial_command
initial command when none is given as argument:
- Type
string
- Default
“search tag:inbox AND NOT tag:killed”
-
input_timeout
timeout in (floating point) seconds until partial input is cleared
- Type
float
- Default
1.0
-
interpret_ansi_background
display background colors set by ANSI character escapes
- Type
boolean
- Default
True
-
mailinglists
The list of addresses associated to the mailinglists you are subscribed to
- Type
string list
- Default
,
-
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
-
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
-
notify_timeout
time in secs to display status messages
- Type
integer
- Default
2
-
periodic_hook_frequency
The number of seconds to wait between calls to the loop_hook
- Type
integer
- Default
300
-
prefer_plaintext
prefer plaintext alternatives over html content in multipart/alternative
- Type
boolean
- Default
False
-
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
-
prompt_suffix
Suffix of the prompt used when waiting for user input
- Type
string
- Default
“:”
-
quit_on_last_bclose
shut down when the last buffer gets closed
- Type
boolean
- Default
False
-
quote_prefix
String prepended to line when quoting
- Type
string
- Default
“> “
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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: “
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
show_statusbar
display status-bar at the bottom of the screen?
- Type
boolean
- Default
True
-
tabwidth
number of spaces used to replace tab characters
- Type
integer
- Default
8
-
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}
-
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
“$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/alot/templates”
-
terminal_cmd
set terminal command used for spawning shell commands
- Type
string
- Default
“x-terminal-emulator -e”
-
theme
name of the theme to use
- Type
string
- Default
None
-
themes_dir
directory containing theme files.
- Type
string
- Default
“$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/alot/themes”
-
thread_authors_me
Word to replace own addresses with. Works in combination with thread_authors_replace_me
- Type
string
- Default
“Me”
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
thread_indent_replies
number of characters used to indent replies relative to original messages in thread mode
- Type
integer
- Default
2
-
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}
-
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
-
timestamp_format
timestamp format in strftime format syntax
- Type
string
- Default
None
-
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.
-
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