8 **notmuch** **search** [*option* ...] <*search-term*> ...
13 Search for messages matching the given search terms, and display as
14 results the threads containing the matched messages.
16 The output consists of one line per thread, giving a thread ID, the date
17 of the newest (or oldest, depending on the sort option) matched message
18 in the thread, the number of matched messages and total messages in the
19 thread, the names of all participants in the thread, and the subject of
20 the newest (or oldest) message.
22 See **notmuch-search-terms(7)** for details of the supported syntax for
25 Supported options for **search** include
27 ``--format=``\ (**json**\ \|\ **sexp**\ \|\ **text**\ \|\ **text0**)
28 Presents the results in either JSON, S-Expressions, newline
29 character separated plain-text (default), or null character
30 separated plain-text (compatible with **xargs(1)** -0 option
33 ``--format-version=N``
34 Use the specified structured output format version. This is
35 intended for programs that invoke **notmuch(1)** internally. If
36 omitted, the latest supported version will be used.
38 ``--output=(summary|threads|messages|files|tags|sender|recipients|addresses)``
41 Output a summary of each thread with any message matching
42 the search terms. The summary includes the thread ID, date,
43 the number of messages in the thread (both the number
44 matched and the total number), the authors of the thread and
48 Output the thread IDs of all threads with any message
49 matching the search terms, either one per line
50 (--format=text), separated by null characters
51 (--format=text0), as a JSON array (--format=json), or an
52 S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
55 Output the message IDs of all messages matching the search
56 terms, either one per line (--format=text), separated by
57 null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array
58 (--format=json), or as an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
61 Output the filenames of all messages matching the search
62 terms, either one per line (--format=text), separated by
63 null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array
64 (--format=json), or as an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
66 Note that each message may have multiple filenames
67 associated with it. All of them are included in the output
68 (unless limited with the --duplicate=N option). This may
69 be particularly confusing for **folder:** or **path:**
70 searches in a specified directory, as the messages may
71 have duplicates in other directories that are included in
72 the output, although these files alone would not match the
76 Output all tags that appear on any message matching the
77 search terms, either one per line (--format=text), separated
78 by null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array
79 (--format=json), or as an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
82 Output all addresses from the *From* header that appear on
83 any message matching the search terms, either one per line
84 (--format=text), separated by null characters
85 (--format=text0), as a JSON array (--format=json), or as
86 an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).
88 Handling of duplicate addresses and/or names can be
89 controlled with the --unique option.
91 Note: Searching for **sender** should much be faster than
92 searching for **recipients** or **addresses**, because
93 sender addresses are cached directly in the database
94 whereas other addresses need to be fetched from the
95 message file by parsing it.
98 Like **sender** but for addresses from *To*, *Cc* and
102 Like **sender** and **recipients** together.
104 ``--sort=``\ (**newest-first**\ \|\ **oldest-first**)
105 This option can be used to present results in either
106 chronological order (**oldest-first**) or reverse chronological
107 order (**newest-first**).
109 Note: The thread order will be distinct between these two
110 options (beyond being simply reversed). When sorting by
111 **oldest-first** the threads will be sorted by the oldest
112 message in each thread, but when sorting by **newest-first** the
113 threads will be sorted by the newest message in each thread.
115 By default, results will be displayed in reverse chronological
116 order, (that is, the newest results will be displayed first).
119 Skip displaying the first N results. With the leading '-', start
120 at the Nth result from the end.
123 Limit the number of displayed results to N.
125 ``--exclude=(true|false|all|flag)``
126 A message is called "excluded" if it matches at least one tag in
127 search.tag\_exclude that does not appear explicitly in the
128 search terms. This option specifies whether to omit excluded
129 messages in the search process.
131 The default value, **true**, prevents excluded messages from
132 matching the search terms.
134 **all** additionally prevents excluded messages from appearing
135 in displayed results, in effect behaving as though the excluded
136 messages do not exist.
138 **false** allows excluded messages to match search terms and
139 appear in displayed results. Excluded messages are still marked
140 in the relevant outputs.
142 **flag** only has an effect when ``--output=summary``. The
143 output is almost identical to **false**, but the "match count"
144 is the number of matching non-excluded messages in the thread,
145 rather than the number of matching messages.
148 Effective with ``--output=files``, output the Nth filename
149 associated with each message matching the query (N is 1-based).
150 If N is greater than the number of files associated with the
151 message, don't print anything.
153 Note that this option is orthogonal with the **folder:** search
154 prefix. The prefix matches messages based on filenames. This
155 option filters filenames of the matching messages.
157 ``--unique=``\ (**none**\ \|\ **addr**\ \|\ **addrfold**\ \|\ **name**)[,\ ...]
159 Can be used with ``--output=addresses``, ``--output=sender``
160 or ``--output=recipients`` to control the address
161 deduplication algorithm.
163 **none** means that no deduplication is performed. The same
164 address can appear multiple times in the output.
166 **addr** means that case-sensitive deduplication is performed
167 on the address part. For example, given the addresses "John
168 Doe <john@example.com>" and "Dr. John Doe <john@example.com>",
169 only one will be printed.
171 **addrfold** means that case-insensitive deduplication is
172 performed on the address part. For example, given the
173 addresses "John Doe <john@example.com>" and "John Doe
174 <JOHN@EXAMPLE.COM>", only one will be printed. This is the
177 **name** means that case-sensitive deduplication is performed
178 on the name part. For example, given the addresses "John Doe
179 <john@example.com>" and "John Doe <john@doe.name>", only one
182 It is possible to combine the above flags (except **none**) by
183 separating them with comma. For example,
184 ``--unique=name,addr`` will print unique case-sensitive
185 combinations of name and address.
190 This command supports the following special exit status codes
193 The requested format version is too old.
196 The requested format version is too new.
201 **notmuch(1)**, **notmuch-config(1)**, **notmuch-count(1)**,
202 **notmuch-dump(1)**, **notmuch-hooks(5)**, **notmuch-insert(1)**,
203 **notmuch-new(1)**, **notmuch-reply(1)**, **notmuch-restore(1)**,
204 **notmuch-search-terms(7)**, **notmuch-show(1)**, **notmuch-tag(1)**