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Organising Email with Tags

Organising Email with Tags#

This tutorial uses Notmuch tags to build a simple, repeatable workflow. If Notmuch is not set up yet, start with How to Use Notmuch.

What Are Tags?#

Tags are labels attached to messages. One message can have many tags, and tags can drive virtual mailboxes.

Set Up Notmuch for Tagging#

  1. Install and initialize notmuch.

  2. Configure NeoMutt with a notmuch URL:

set nm_default_url = "notmuch:///path/to/your/maildir"

  1. Add a virtual mailbox for your inbox tag:

named-mailboxes "Inbox" "notmuch://?query=tag:inbox"

Expected result: you can open the Inbox virtual mailbox from NeoMutt.

Add and Remove Tags#

  1. Bind a key for tagging if you do not already have one:

bind index,pager \eT modify-tags

  1. Open a message and press Alt-T.

  2. Add or remove tags as prompted.

Expected result: the message tags change in the notmuch database.

Search by Tags#

  1. Use a notmuch query to open a tagged view:

named-mailboxes "Action" "notmuch://?query=tag:action"

  1. Open the mailbox.

Expected result: you see only messages with the action tag.

Create Virtual Mailboxes from Tags#

  1. Add more tag-based mailboxes:

named-mailboxes "Waiting" "notmuch://?query=tag:waiting"
named-mailboxes "Reference" "notmuch://?query=tag:reference"

  1. Open each mailbox and confirm the filters.

Expected result: virtual mailboxes map directly to tag queries.

Build a Tag-Based Workflow#

  1. Triage your inbox and tag items as action, waiting, or reference.

  2. Remove the inbox tag from items once they are triaged.

Expected result: the Inbox mailbox becomes a short list of untriaged items.

Display Tags in the Index#

  1. Update your index format to show tags:

set index_format = "%4C %Z %{%b %d} %-15.15F %g %s"

Expected result: tags appear next to messages in the index.

See How to Use Notmuch for full configuration details.

Next Steps#