AERC-CONFIG(5) # NAME aerc-config - configuration file format for *aerc*(1) # SYNOPSIS There are three aerc config files: _aerc.conf_, _binds.conf_, and _accounts.conf_. The last one must be kept secret, as it may include your account credentials. We look for these files in your XDG config home plus _aerc_, which defaults to _~/.config/aerc_. Examples of these config files are typically included with your installation of aerc and are usually installed in _/usr/share/aerc_. Each file uses the ini format, and consists of sections with keys and values. A line beginning with _#_ is considered a comment and ignored, as are empty lines. New sections begin with _[section-name]_ on a single line, and keys and values are separated with _=_. This manual page focuses on _aerc.conf_. _binds.conf_ is detailed in *aerc-binds*(5) and _accounts.conf_ in *aerc-accounts*(5). _aerc.conf_ is used for configuring the general appearance and behavior of aerc. # GENERAL OPTIONS These options are configured in the *[general]* section of _aerc.conf_. *default-save-path* = __ Used as a default path for save operations if no other path is specified. *pgp-provider* = _auto_|_gpg_|_internal_ If set to _gpg_, aerc will use system gpg binary and keystore for all crypto operations. If set to _internal_, the internal openpgp keyring will be used. If set to _auto_, the system gpg will be preferred unless the internal keyring already exists, in which case the latter will be used. Default: _auto_ *unsafe-accounts-conf* = _true_|_false_ By default, the file permissions of _accounts.conf_ must be restrictive and only allow reading by the file owner (_0600_). Set this option to _true_ to ignore this permission check. Use this with care as it may expose your credentials. Default: _false_ *log-file* = __ Output log messages to specified file. A path starting with _~/_ is expanded to the user home dir. When redirecting aerc's output to a file using _>_ shell redirection, this setting is ignored and log messages are printed to stdout. *log-level* = _trace_|_debug_|_info_|_warn_|_error_ Only log messages above the specified level to *log-file*. Supported levels are: _trace_, _debug_, _info_, _warn_ and _error_. When redirecting aerc's output to a file using _>_ shell redirection, this setting is ignored and the log level is forced to _trace_. Default: _info_ *disable-ipc* = _true_|_false_ Disable the execution of commands over IPC. Default: _false_ # UI OPTIONS These options are configured in the *[ui]* section of _aerc.conf_. *index-columns* = __ Describes the format for each row in a mailbox view. This is a comma separated list of column names with an optional align and width suffix. After the column name, one of the _<_ (left), _:_ (center) or _>_ (right) alignment characters can be added (by default, left) followed by an optional width specifier. The width is either an integer representing a fixed number of characters, or a percentage between _1%_ and _99%_ representing a fraction of the terminal width. It can also be one of the _\*_ (auto) or _=_ (fit) special width specifiers. Auto width columns will be equally attributed the remaining terminal width. Fit width columns take the width of their contents. If no width specifier is set, _\*_ is used by default. Default: _date<20,name<17,flags>4,subject<\*_ *column-separator* = _""_ String separator inserted between columns. When a column width specifier is an exact number of characters, the separator is added to it (i.e. the exact width will be fully available for that column contents). Default: _" "_ *column-* = __ Each name in *index-columns* must have a corresponding *column-* setting. All *column-* settings accept golang text/template syntax. By default, these columns are defined: ``` column-date = {{.DateAutoFormat .Date.Local}} column-name = {{index (.From | names) 0}} column-flags = {{.Flags | join ""}} column-subject = {{.Subject}} ``` See *aerc-templates*(7) for all available symbols and functions. *timestamp-format* = __ See time.Time#Format at https://godoc.org/time#Time.Format Default: _2006-01-02 03:04 PM_ (ISO 8601 + 12 hour time) *this-day-time-format* = __ Index-only time format for messages that were received/sent today. If this is not specified, *timestamp-format* is used instead. *this-week-time-format* = __ Index-only time format for messages that were received/sent within the last 7 days. If this is not specified, *timestamp-format* is used instead. *this-year-time-format* = __ Index-only time format for messages that were received/sent this year. If this is not specified, *timestamp-format* is used instead. *message-view-timestamp-format* = __ If set, overrides *timestamp-format* for the message view. *message-view-this-day-time-format* = __ If set, overrides *timestamp-format* in the message view for messages that were received/sent today. *message-view-this-week-time-format* = __ If set, overrides *timestamp-format* in the message view for messages that were recieved/sent within the last 7 days. *message-view-this-year-time-format* = __ If set, overrides *timestamp-format* in the message view for messages that were received/sent this year. *sidebar-width* = __ Width of the sidebar, including the border. Set to zero to disable the sidebar. Default: _20_ *empty-message* = __ Message to display when viewing an empty folder. Default: _(no messages)_ *empty-dirlist* = __ Message to display when no folders exists or are all filtered. Default: _(no folders)_ *mouse-enabled* = _true_|_false_ Enable mouse events in the ui, e.g. clicking and scrolling with the mousewheel Default: _false_ *new-message-bell* = _true_|_false_ Ring the bell when a new message is received. Default: _true_ *tab-title-account* = __ The template to use for account tab titles. See *aerc-templates*(7) for available field names. To conditionally show the unread count next to the account name, set to: *tab-title-account* = {{.Account}} {{if .Unread}}({{.Unread}}){{end}} Default: _{{.Account}}_ *tab-title-composer* = __ The template to use for composer tab titles. See *aerc-templates*(7) for available field names. Default: _{{.Subject}}_ *pinned-tab-marker* = _""_ Marker to show before a pinned tab's name. Default: _`_ *spinner* = _""_ Animation shown while loading, split by *spinner-delimiter* (below) Examples: - *spinner* = _"\-\_-,\_-\_"_ - *spinner* = _'. , .'_ - *spinner* = _"\,|,/,-"_ Default: _"[..] , [..] , [..] , [..] , [..], [..] , [..] , [..] "_ *spinner-delimiter* = __ Spinner delimiter to split string into an animation Default: _,_ *spinner-interval* = __ The delay between each spinner frame Default: _200ms_ *sort* = __ List of space-separated criteria to sort the messages by, see *:sort* command in *aerc*(1) for reference. Prefixing a criterion with _-r_ reverses that criterion. Example: *sort* = _from -r date_ *dirlist-left* = __ Template for the left side of the directory list. See *aerc-templates*(7) for all available fields and functions. Default: _{{.Folder}}_ *dirlist-right* = __ Template for the right side of the directory list. See *aerc-templates*(7) for all available fields and functions. Default: _{{if .Unread}}{{humanReadable .Unread}}/{{end}}{{if .Exists}}{{humanReadable .Exists}}{{end}}_ *dirlist-delay* = __ Delay after which the messages are actually listed when entering a directory. This avoids loading messages when skipping over folders and makes the UI more responsive. If you do not want that, set it to _0s_. Default: _200ms_ *dirlist-tree* = _true_|_false_ Display the directory list as a foldable tree. Default: _false_ *dirlist-collapse* = __ If *dirlist-tree* is enabled, set level at which folders are collapsed by default. Set to _0_ to disable. Default: _0_ *next-message-on-delete* = _true_|_false_ Moves to next message when the current message is deleted, archived, or moved. Default: _true_ *auto-mark-read* = _true_|_false_ Set the _seen_ flag when a message is opened in the message viewer. Default: _true_ *completion-popovers* = _true_|_false_ Shows potential auto-completions for text inputs in popovers. Default: _true_ *completion-delay* = __ How long to wait after the last input before auto-completion is triggered. Default: _250ms_ *completion-min-chars* = __ The minimum required characters to allow auto-completion to be triggered after *completion-delay*. Default: _1_ *border-char-vertical* = _""_++ *border-char-horizontal* = _""_ Set stylable characters (via the *border* element) for vertical and horizontal borders. Default: _" "_ *stylesets-dirs* = __ The directories where the stylesets are stored. The config takes a colon-separated list of dirs. If this is unset or if a styleset cannot be found, the following paths will be used as a fallback in that order: ``` ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-~/.config}/aerc/stylesets ${XDG_DATA_HOME:-~/.local/share}/aerc/stylesets /usr/local/share/aerc/stylesets /usr/share/aerc/stylesets ``` *styleset-name* = __ The name of the styleset to be used to style the ui elements. The stylesets are stored in the _stylesets_ directory in the config directory. Default: _default_ Have a look at *aerc-stylesets*(7) as to how a styleset looks like. *icon-unencrypted* = __ The icon to display for unencrypted mails. The status indicator is only displayed if an icon is set. *icon-encrypted* = __ The icon to display for encrypted mails. Default: _[e]_ *icon-signed* = __ The icon to display for signed mails where the signature was successfully validated. Default: _[s]_ *icon-signed-encrypted* = __ The icon to display for signed and encrypted mails where the signature was successfully verified. The combined icon is only used if set, otherwise the signed and encrypted icons are displayed separately. *icon-unknown* = __ The icon to display for signed mails which could not be verified due to the key being unknown. Default: _[s?]_ *icon-invalid* = __ The icon to display for signed mails where verification failed. Default: _[s!]_ *icon-attachment* = __ The icon to display index-format when the message has an attachment. Default: _a_ *fuzzy-complete* = _true_|_false_ When typing a command or option, the popover will now show not only the items /starting/ with the string input by the user, but it will also show instances of items /containing/ the string, starting at any position and need not be consecutive characters in the command or option. *reverse-msglist-order* = _true_|_false_ Reverses the order of the message list. By default, the message list is ordered with the newest (highest UID) message on top. Reversing the order will put the oldest (lowest UID) message on top. This can be useful in cases where the backend does not support sorting. Default: _false_ *reverse-thread-order* = _true_|_false_ Reverse display of the message threads. By default, the thread root is displayed at the top of the tree with all replies below. The reverse option will put the thread root at the bottom with replies on top. Default: _false_ *sort-thread-siblings* = _true_|_false_ Sort the thread siblings according to the sort criteria for the messages. If sort-thread-siblings is false, the thread siblings will be sorted based on the message UID. This option is only applicable for client-side threading with a backend that enables sorting. Default: _false_ *threading-enabled* = _true_|_false_ Enable a threaded view of messages. If this is not supported by the backend (IMAP server or notmuch), threads will be built by the client. Default: _false_ *force-client-threads* = _true_|_false_ Force threads to be built client-side. Backends that don't support threading will always build threads client side. Default: _false_ ## CONTEXTUAL UI CONFIGURATION The UI configuration can be specialized for accounts, specific mail directories and message subjects. The specializations are added using contextual config sections based on the context. The contextual UI configuration is merged to the base UiConfig in the following order: *Base UIConfig > Account Context > Folder Context*. *[ui:account=*_AccountName_*]* Adds account specific configuration with the account name. *[ui:folder=*_FolderName_*]* Add folder specific configuration with the folder name. *[ui:folder~*_Regex_*]* Add folder specific configuration for folders whose names match the regular expression. Example: ``` [ui:account=Work] sidebar-width=... [ui:folder=Sent] index-format=... [ui:folder~Archive/\d+/.*] index-format=... ``` # STATUSLINE These options are configured in the *[statusline]* section of _aerc.conf_. *status-columns* = __ Describes the format for the statusline. This is a comma separated list of column names with an optional align and width suffix. See *[ui].index-columns* for more details. To completely mute the statusline (except for push notifications), explicitly set *status-columns* to an empty string: status-columns= Default: _left<\*,center>=,right>\*_ *column-separator* = _""_ String separator inserted between columns. See *[ui].column-separator* for more details. Default: _" "_ *column-* = __ Each name in *status-columns* must have a corresponding *column-* setting. All *column-* settings accept golang text/template syntax. By default, these columns are defined: ``` column-left = [{{.Account}}] {{.StatusInfo}} column-center = {{.PendingKeys}} column-right = {{.TrayInfo}} ``` See *aerc-templates*(7) for all available symbols and functions. *separator* = _""_ Specifies the separator between grouped statusline elements (e.g. for the _{{.ContentInfo}}_, _{{.TrayInfo}}_ and _{{.StatusInfo}}_ in *column-*). Default: _" | "_ *display-mode* = _text_|_icon_ Defines the mode for displaying the status elements. Default: _text_ # VIEWER These options are configured in the *[viewer]* section of _aerc.conf_. *pager* = __ Specifies the pager to use when displaying emails. Note that some filters may add ANSI escape sequences to add color to rendered emails, so you may want to use a pager which supports ANSI. Default: _less -R_ *alternatives* = __ If an email offers several versions (multipart), you can configure which mimetype to prefer. For example, this can be used to prefer plaintext over HTML emails. Default: _text/plain,text/html_ *header-layout* = __ Defines the default headers to display when viewing a message. To display multiple headers in the same row, separate them with a pipe, e.g. _From|To_. Rows will be hidden if none of their specified headers are present in the message. Notmuch tags can be displayed by adding Labels. Authentication information from the Authentication-Results header can be displayed by adding _DKIM_, _SPF_ or _DMARC_. To show more information than just the authentication result, append a plus sign (*+*) to the header name (e.g. _DKIM+_). Default: _From|To,Cc|Bcc,Date,Subject_ *show-headers* = _true_|_false_ Default setting to determine whether to show full headers or only parsed ones in message viewer. Default: _false_ *always-show-mime* = _true_|_false_ Whether to always show the mimetype of an email, even when it is just a single part. Default: _false_ *parse-http-links* = _true_|_false_ Parses and extracts http links when viewing a message. Links can then be accessed with the *open-link* command. Default: _true_ # COMPOSE These options are configured in the *[compose]* section of _aerc.conf_. *editor* = __ Specifies the command to run the editor with. It will be shown in an embedded terminal, though it may also launch a graphical window if the environment supports it. Defaults to *$EDITOR*, or *vi*(1). *header-layout* = __ Defines the default headers to display when composing a message. To display multiple headers in the same row, separate them with a pipe, e.g. _To|From_. Default: _To|From,Subject_ *address-book-cmd* = __ Specifies the command to be used to tab-complete email addresses. Any occurrence of _%s_ in the *address-book-cmd* will be replaced with anything the user has typed after the last comma. The command must output the completions to standard output, one completion per line. Each line must be tab-delimited, with an email address occurring as the first field. Only the email address field is required. The second field, if present, will be treated as the contact name. Additional fields are ignored. This parameter can also be set per account in _accounts.conf_. Example: *address-book-cmd* = _khard email --remove-first-line --parsable %s_ *file-picker-cmd* = __ Specifies the command to be used to select attachments. Any occurrence of _%s_ in the *file-picker-cmd* will be replaced with the argument __ to *:attach -m* __. The command must output the selected files to standard output, one file per line. Example: *file-picker-cmd* = _fzf --multi --query=%s_ *reply-to-self* = _true_|_false_ If set to _false_, do not mail yourself when replying (e.g., if replying to emails previously sent by yourself, address your replies to the original To and Cc). Default: _true_ *no-attachment-warning* = __ Specifies a regular expression against which an email's body should be tested before sending an email with no attachment. If the regexp matches, aerc will warn you before sending the message. Leave empty to disable this feature. Uses Go's regexp syntax, documented at https://golang.org/s/re2syntax. The _(?im)_ flags are set by default (case-insensitive and multi-line). Example: *no-attachment-warning* = _^[^>]\*attach(ed|ment)_ *format-flowed* = _true_|_false_ When set, aerc will generate _Format=Flowed_ bodies with a content type of _"text/plain; Format=Flowed"_ as described in RFC3676. This format is easier to handle for some mailing software, and generally just looks like ordinary text. To actually make use of this format's features, you'll need support in your editor. Default: _false_ # MULTIPART CONVERTERS Converters allow generating _multipart/alternative_ messages by converting the main _text/plain_ body into any other text MIME type with the *:multipart* command. Only exact MIME types are accepted. The commands are invoked with _sh -c_ and are expected to output valid UTF-8 text. Only _text/_ MIME parts can be generated. The _text/plain_ MIME type is reserved and cannot be generated. You still need to write your emails by hand in your favorite text editor. Converters are configured in the *[multipart-converters]* section of _aerc.conf_. Example: ``` [multipart-converters] text/html=pandoc -f markdown -t html --standalone ``` Obviously, this requires that you write your main _text/plain_ body using the markdown syntax. Also, mind that some mailing lists reject emails that contain _text/html_ alternative parts. Use this feature carefully and when possible, avoid using it at all. # FILTERS Filters are a flexible and powerful way of handling viewing parts of an opened message. When viewing messages aerc will show the list of available message parts and their MIME type at the bottom, but unless a filter is defined for a specific MIME type, it will only show a menu with a few options (allowing you to open the part in an external program, save it to disk or pipe it to a shell command). Configuring a filter will allow viewing the output of the filter in the configured *pager* in aerc's built-in terminal. Filters are configured in the *[filters]* section of *aerc.conf*. The first filter which matches the part's MIME type will be used, so order them from most to least specific. You can also match on non-MIME types, by prefixing with the header to match against (non-case-sensitive) and a comma, e.g. _subject,text_ will match a subject which contains _text_. Use _header,~regex_ to match against a _regex_. Note that aerc will pipe the content into the configured filter program, so filters need to be able to read from standard input. Many programs support reading from stdin by putting _-_ instead of a path to a file. You can also chain together multiple filters by piping with _|_. aerc ships with some default filters installed in the libexec directory (usually _/usr/libexec/aerc/filters_). Note that these may have additional dependencies that aerc does not have alone. The filter commands are invoked with _sh -c command_. The following folders are appended to the system *$PATH* to allow referencing filters from their name only. ``` ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-~/.config}/aerc/filters ~/.local/libexec/aerc/filters ${XDG_DATA_HOME:-~/.local/share}/aerc/filters $PREFIX/libexec/aerc/filters $PREFIX/share/aerc/filters /usr/libexec/aerc/filters /usr/share/aerc/filters ``` The following variables are defined in the filter command environment: *AERC_MIME_TYPE* the part MIME type/subtype *AERC_FORMAT* the part content type format= parameter (e.g. format=flowed) *AERC_FILENAME* the attachment filename (if any) *AERC_SUBJECT* the message Subject header value *AERC_FROM* the message From header value Note that said email body is converted into UTF-8 before being passed to filters. If *show-headers* is enabled, only the currently viewed part body is piped into the filter command. A special _.headers_ filter command can be defined to post process the full headers. ## EXAMPLES _text/plain_ Color some things, e.g. quotes, git diffs, links, etc.: ``` text/plain=colorize ``` The built-in _colorize_ filter can be configured in the *[viewer]* section of styleset files. See *aerc-stylesets*(7). Wrap long lines at 100 characters, while not messing up nested quotes. Handles format=flowed emails properly: ``` text/plain=wrap -w 100 | colorize ``` _from,_ Another example of hard wrapping lines of emails sent by a specific person. Explicitly reflow all paragraphs instead of only wrapping long lines. This may break manual formatting in some messages: ``` from,thatguywhoneverhardwrapshismessages=wrap -r -w 72 | colorize ``` _subject,~_ Use rainbow coloring with *lolcat*(1) for emails sent by software forges: ``` subject,~Git(hub|lab)=lolcat -f ``` _text/html_ Render html to a more human readable version and colorize: ``` text/html=html | colorize ``` Use pandoc to output plain text: ``` text/html=pandoc -f html -t plain ``` _text/calendar_ Parse calendar invites: ``` text/calendar=calendar ``` _text/\*_ Catch any other type of text that did not have a specific filter and use *bat*(1) to color these: ``` text/\*=bat -fP --file-name="$AERC_FILENAME" --style=plain ``` _.headers_ Colorize email headers when *show-headers* is _true_. ``` .headers=colorize ``` _message/delivery-status_ When not being able to deliver the provider might send such emails: ``` message/delivery-status=colorize ``` _message/rfc822_ When getting emails as attachments, e.g. on some mailing lists digest format is sending an email with all the digest emails as attachments. Requires *caeml*(1) to be on *PATH*: ``` message/rfc822=caeml | colorize ``` https://github.com/ferdinandyb/caeml _application/mbox_ Emails as attachments in the mbox format. For example aerc can also create an mbox from messages with the *:pipe* command. Requires *catbox*(1) and *caeml*(1) to be on *PATH*: ``` application/mbox=catbox -c caeml | colorize ``` https://github.com/konimarti/catbox _application/pdf_ Render pdf to text and rewrap at 100 character width. Requires *pdftotext*(1) to be on *PATH*: ``` application/pdf=pdftotext - -l 10 -nopgbrk -q - | fmt -w 100 ``` https://www.xpdfreader.com/pdftotext-man.html _image/\*_ This is a tricky topic. It's possible to display images in a terminal, but for high resolution images the terminal you are using either needs to support sixels or the kitty terminal graphics protocol. Unfortunately, aerc's built-in terminal supports neither, so only highly pixelated images can be shown natively. A workaround is possible by asking the terminal to draw on top of aerc and then remove the image when done viewing. The built-in terminal can show pixelated images with *catimg*(1): ``` image/\*=catimg -w$(tput cols) - ``` See the wiki at https://man.sr.ht/~rjarry/aerc/ for more examples and possible customizations of the built-in filters. # OPENERS Openers allow you to specify the command to use for the *:open* and *:open-link* actions on a per-MIME-type basis. The *:open-link* URL scheme is used to determine the MIME type as follows: _x-scheme-handler/_. They are configured in the *[openers]* section of _aerc.conf_. _{}_ is expanded as the temporary filename or URL to be opened. If it is not encountered in the command, the filename/URL will be appened to the end of the command. Environment variables are also expanded. Tilde is not expanded. Like *[filters]*, openers support basic shell globbing. The first opener which matches the part's MIME type (or URL scheme handler MIME type) will be used, so order them from most to least specific. Example: ``` [openers] x-scheme-handler/irc=hexchat x-scheme-handler/http\*=firefox text/html=surf -dfgms text/plain=gvim {} +125 message/rfc822=thunderbird ``` ## HOOKS Hooks are triggered whenever the associated event occurs. The commands are run in a shell environment with information added to environment variables. They are configured in the *[hooks]* section of aerc.conf. *aerc-startup* = __ Executed when aerc is started is received in the selected folder. If it is used to run certain commands at startup. The hook is executed as soon as the UI is initialized and does not wait for all accounts to be fully loaded. Variables: - *AERC_VERSION* - *AERC_BINARY* Example: *aerc-startup* = _aerc :terminal calcurse && aerc :next-tab_ *mail-received* = __ Executed when new mail is received in the selected folder. This will only work reliably with maildir and some imap servers. Variables: - *AERC_FROM_NAME* - *AERC_FROM_ADDRESS* - *AERC_SUBJECT* Example: *mail-received* = _notify-send "New mail from $AERC_FROM_NAME" "$AERC_SUBJECT"_ *aerc-shutdown* = __ Executed when aerc shuts down. Aerc will wait for the command to finish before exiting. Variables: - *AERC_LIFETIME* # TEMPLATES Template files are used to populate the body of an email. The *:compose*, *:reply* and *:forward* commands can be called with the *-T* flag with the name of the template name. The available symbols and functions are described in *aerc-templates*(7). aerc ships with some default templates installed in the share directory (usually _/usr/share/aerc/templates_). These options are configured in the *[templates]* section of _aerc.conf_. *template-dirs* = __ The directory where the templates are stored. The config takes a colon-separated list of dirs. If this is unset or if a template cannot be found, the following paths will be used as a fallback in that order: ``` ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-~/.config}/aerc/templates ${XDG_DATA_HOME:-~/.local/share}/aerc/templates /usr/local/share/aerc/templates /usr/share/aerc/templates ``` *new-message* = __ The default template to be used for new messages. Default: _new_message_ *quoted-reply* = __ The default template to be used for quoted replies. Default: _quoted_reply_ *forwards* = __ The default template to be used for forward as body. Default: _forward_as_body_ # SEE ALSO *aerc*(1) *aerc-accounts*(5) *aerc-binds*(5) *aerc-imap*(5) *aerc-maildir*(5) *aerc-notmuch*(5) *aerc-templates*(7) *aerc-sendmail*(5) *aerc-smtp*(5) *aerc-stylesets*(7) # AUTHORS Originally created by Drew DeVault and maintained by Robin Jarry who is assisted by other open source contributors. For more information about aerc development, see https://sr.ht/~rjarry/aerc/.