Edit and Navigate Threads#
Editing Threads#
NeoMutt has the ability to dynamically restructure threads that are broken either by misconfigured software or bad behavior from some correspondents. This allows you to clean your mailboxes from these annoyances which make it hard to follow a discussion.
Linking Threads#
Some mailers tend to “forget” to correctly set the In-Reply-To: and References: headers when replying to a message.
This results in broken discussions because NeoMutt has not enough information to guess the correct threading.
Tag a number of replies that belong to the same thread.
Move to the parent message.
Use the
<link-threads>function (bound to&by default).
The replies will then be connected to this parent message.
Breaking Threads#
On mailing lists, some people are in the bad habit of starting a new discussion by hitting “reply” to any message from the list and changing the subject to a totally unrelated one.
Navigate to the message where the off-topic subthread begins.
Use the
<break-thread>function (bound to#by default).
This will turn the subthread starting from the current message into a whole different thread.
📷 Screenshot Needed
Subject: Linked and broken threads in the index
Description: NeoMutt index view showing a thread that has been repaired with <link-threads> — several replies are now correctly nested under a parent message with tree-drawing characters (|->, `->) connecting them.
Highlights: The tree structure showing parent-child relationships between messages, with the thread connector characters visible in the index.
Use Threads Feature#
Since: NeoMutt 2021-08-01
Introduction#
The “Use Threads” feature adds a new config option to allow more precise control of how threads are displayed in the index. Whether threads are in use is now orthogonal from how messages are sorted.
Functions#
The “Use Threads” feature adds no new functions to NeoMutt.
The existing functions <sort-mailbox> and <sort-reverse> are updated to toggle the state of $use_threads once it has been set, while preserving backwards-compatible behavior on $sort if this feature is not used.
Variables#
The “Use Threads” feature adds one new config option, $use_threads, which is an enumeration of possible thread views.
The variable defaults to unset for the original behavior of overloading $sort=threads to enable sorting.
It can be set to flat (or no) for an unthreaded view based on $sort, to threads (or yes) for a threaded view where roots appear above children, or to reverse for a threaded view where children appear above roots.
When sorting by threads, the value of $sort determines which thread floats to the top.
If $sort does not contain reverse-, the latest thread goes to the bottom for use_threads=threads and to the top for use_threads=reverse; the direction of float is swapped if $sort also uses reverse-.
If $sort includes last-, the overall thread is sorted by its descendant at any depth which would sort last in a flat view; otherwise, the overall thread is sorted solely by the thread root.
The last- prefix is ignored when use_threads=flat.
Within a single thread, the value of $sort_aux determines how siblings are sorted.
The same prefixes apply as for $sort, although it is less common to use the last- prefix.
The “Use Threads” feature also modifies the existing config option $status_format, adding the %T expando which shows the current threading method.
Use Threads Variable#
Name |
Type |
Default |
|---|---|---|
|
enum |
|
neomuttrc#
Flat View
12:01 Anne cover letter for thread 1 12:02 Anne part 1 of thread 1 12:03 Anne part 2 of thread 1 12:04 Anne part 3 of thread 1 12:05 Barbara thread 2 12:06 Claire thread 3 12:07 Diane re: part 2 of thread 1 12:08 Erica re: thread 2
# Default configuration: flat view sorted by date
# selecting threads with <sort-mailbox> changes $sort
# set use_threads=unset sort=date sort_aux=date
# Modern configuration: explicit flat view sorted by date
# selecting threads with <sort-mailbox> changes $use_threads
set use_threads=no sort=date sort_aux=date
Threaded View
12:01 Anne cover letter for thread 1 12:02 Anne ├─>part 1 of thread 1 12:03 Anne ├─>part 2 of thread 1 12:07 Diane │ └─> 12:04 Anne └─>part 3 of thread 1 12:05 Barbara thread 2 12:08 Erica └─> 12:06 Claire thread 3
# Legacy configuration: sorting threads by date started
# set sort=threads sort_aux=date
# Modern configuration for the same
# Latest root message sorts last
set use_threads=yes sort=date sort_aux=date
Reverse Threaded View
12:06 Claire thread 3 12:08 Erica ┌─> 12:05 Barbara thread 2 12:04 Anne ┌─>part 3 of thread 1 12:07 Diane │ ┌─> 12:03 Anne ├─>part 2 of thread 1 12:02 Anne ├─>part 1 of thread 1 12:01 Anne cover letter for thread 1
# Legacy configuration: display threads upside-down
# set sort=reverse-threads sort_aux=date
# Modern configuration for the same
# Latest root message sorts first
set use_threads=reverse sort=date sort_aux=date
Recently Active First
12:05 Barbara thread 2 12:08 Erica └─> 12:01 Anne cover letter for thread 1 12:03 Anne ├─>part 2 of thread 1 12:07 Diane │ └─> 12:04 Anne ├─>part 3 of thread 1 12:02 Anne └─>part 1 of thread 1 12:06 Claire thread 3
# Legacy configuration: recently active thread/subthread first
# set sort=threads sort_aux=reverse-last-date
# Modern configuration for the same
# Note that subthreads are also rearranged
set use_threads=threads sort=reverse-last-date sort_aux=reverse-last-date
Recently Active Last
12:06 Claire thread 3 12:01 Anne cover letter for thread 1 12:02 Anne ├─>part 1 of thread 1 12:03 Anne ├─>part 2 of thread 1 12:07 Diane │ └─> 12:04 Anne └─>part 3 of thread 1 12:05 Barbara thread 2 12:08 Erica └─>
# Modern configuration: threads keep date order, recently active thread last
# (not possible with legacy configuration)
set use_threads=threads sort=last-date sort_aux=date
Known Bugs#
Even though use_threads accepts the values yes and no, it does not behave like a boolean or quad-option variable.
A bare set use_threads performs a query rather than setting it to yes, and the variable is not usable with toggle.