Under Development
stars

Using the Address Book

Using the Address Book#

This tutorial walks you through creating a simple address book, adding a contact, and using it to send an email. By the end you will have a working alias file that NeoMutt loads automatically.

If you haven’t configured NeoMutt yet, start with Writing Your First Configuration.

Choose Where to Store Aliases#

  1. Add these lines to your neomuttrc:

set alias_file = "~/.config/neomutt/aliases"
source ~/.config/neomutt/aliases

alias_file tells NeoMutt where to save new aliases created interactively. The source line loads existing aliases when NeoMutt starts.

  1. Create the file so NeoMutt can source it without error:

touch ~/.config/neomutt/aliases

Add Your First Contact#

  1. Open ~/.config/neomutt/aliases in your editor and add a line:

alias alice Alice Example <alice@example.com>

The format is: alias shortname Real Name <email@address>.

  1. Save the file.

Load the Alias File#

  1. Start NeoMutt (or, if already running, reload with :source ~/.config/neomutt/aliases).

Expected result: NeoMutt loads without errors.

Open the Address Book#

  1. At any address prompt (e.g. after pressing m to compose), press <Tab> with an empty field.

Expected result: the alias menu appears showing your alice entry.

  1. Select the alias and press <Enter>.

Expected result: NeoMutt inserts Alice Example <alice@example.com> into the address field.

Send a Message Using an Alias#

  1. Press m to compose a new message.

  2. At the To: prompt, type alice and press <Tab>.

Expected result: NeoMutt expands the alias to the full address.

  1. Enter a subject, write a message, and send.

Expected result: the message is addressed to alice@example.com.

Save a Contact from a Received Message#

  1. Open a message in the index or pager.

  2. Press a (the default binding for <create-alias>).

  3. NeoMutt prompts you to confirm or edit the alias name.

Expected result: a new alias line is appended to $alias_file.

  1. Reload the file so the new alias is available immediately:

:source ~/.config/neomutt/aliases

Add More Contacts#

  1. Open your alias file and add more entries:

alias bob    Bob Builder <bob@example.com>
alias team   alice, bob

The last line creates a group alias that expands to multiple addresses.

  1. Reload with :source or restart NeoMutt.

Expected result: typing team at an address prompt expands to both Alice and Bob.

Next Steps#