Integrate External Tools

Prerequisites

1. Install the external tool you want to use.

2. Confirm NeoMutt is working with a basic configuration.

Extracting URLs with urlview / urlscan

1. Install urlview or urlscan.

2. Add a macro to pipe the current message to the tool:

macro index \cb "<pipe-message>urlview<Enter>" "Open URLs with urlview"
macro pager \cb "<pipe-message>urlview<Enter>" "Open URLs with urlview"

3. Open a message with URLs and press Ctrl-B.

Expected result: a list of URLs appears and you can open one in your browser.

References: urlview man page and urlscan documentation.

Contact Management with abook or khard

1. Configure your address source.

2. Set query_command to the external tool:

set query_command = "abook --mutt-query %s"

3. Use Q in the index menu or Ctrl-T at an address prompt to query.

Expected result: the query menu shows matches from your address book.

See How to Set Up Address Book Integration.

Sending Mail with msmtp

1. Install and configure msmtp.

2. Tell NeoMutt to use it as the sendmail backend:

set sendmail = "msmtp"

3. Send a test message.

Expected result: mail is delivered by msmtp using its own configuration.

References: msmtp documentation.

Offline IMAP with offlineimap / mbsync

1. Configure offlineimap or mbsync (isync) to sync your IMAP account to a local Maildir.

2. Point NeoMutt at the local folder:

set folder = "~/Mail"
set spoolfile = "+INBOX"

3. Run your sync tool, then open the mailbox in NeoMutt.

Expected result: NeoMutt reads from the local Maildir while your sync tool keeps it updated.

References: offlineimap and isync documentation.

Full-Text Search with notmuch

1. Install and configure notmuch.

2. Follow the Notmuch setup steps in NeoMutt.

See How to Use Notmuch.

Rendering HTML Email with w3m / lynx / elinks

1. Install a text-mode browser.

2. Add a mailcap entry to render HTML:

text/html; lynx -dump %s; copiousoutput

3. View an HTML message in NeoMutt.

Expected result: HTML is rendered as readable text in the pager.

References: mailcap documentation and the w3m, lynx, and elinks projects.

Calendar Integration (khal, calcurse)

1. Save a calendar invite (ICS file) from the attachment menu.

2. Open or import it with your calendar tool:

• khal: https://khal.readthedocs.io/

• calcurse: https://calcurse.org/

Expected result: the invite appears in your calendar tool.

Custom Processing with pipe-message

1. Create a script or command to process messages.

2. Bind a key to pipe the current message:

macro index,pager ,p "<pipe-message>~/bin/mail-filter<Enter>" "Pipe message to filter"

3. Press ,p while viewing a message.

Expected result: the message is passed to your command for processing.