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

see edit_headers_whitelist

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