MB(1) User Manuals MB(1)
NAME
mb - a simple mailbox utility
SYNOPSIS
mb --help
mb --list
mb [--maildir dir]
mb [--maildir dir] --uid uid
mb [--maildir dir] --uid uid [--toggle flags] [--set flags] [--unset
flags]
DESCRIPTION
mb is a simple utility for basic operations on mail stored in the
maildir format. It is intended to be used in scripts, but it should be
useable by itself.
The program has five main modes of operation, corresponding to the five
lines in the SYNOPSIS above:
* Show help message and exit
* List directories which may contain mail
* Tabulate mail from the specified directory
* Print the path of an message
* Modify the flags of an message and print the new path
OPTIONS
-h, --help Show help message and exit.
-l, --list List sub-directories (recursive) of the MAIL ROOT
that follow the MAILDIR STRUCTURE.
-d dir, --maildir dir
Look for mail in dir. If not specified, defaults to
INBOX. Can be either: an absolute path, a path rel‐
ative to the current directory, or a path relative
to the MAIL ROOT.
-u uid, --uid uid Look for an message with the following uid. See
also: FILENAMES.
-t flags, --toggle flags
Toggle the following flags on the specified mes‐
sage. See also: FLAGS.
-f flags, --set flags
Set the following flags on the specified message.
See also: FLAGS.
-F flags, --unset flags
Unset the following flags on the specified message.
See also: FLAGS.
DIRECTORY STRUCTURE
mb assumes the following directory structure:
MAIL ROOT
Directories may be specified as relative to the MAIL ROOT. To find the
MAIL ROOT, mb tries the following:
* ~/.local/share/mail/
* ~/mail/
* ~/Mail/
MAILDIR STRUCTURE
Directories containing mail are expected to contain the following sub-
directories. Each message is stored in a separate file in one of these
sub-directories.
tmp/ Contains email as it is being downloaded. Ignored but still re‐
quired.
new/ Contains email that has not yet been seen. None of these should
have the S flag.
cur/ Contains email that has been seen. All of these should have the
S flag.
FILENAMES
Files are expected to be named according to the following format
unique-name,U=uid:2,flags
Where unique-name is ignored, uid is a positive integer that is unique
to each message in the MAILDIR, and flags is a (possibly empty) string
where each character specifies a flag. (see below)
Although the MAILDIR spec allows for a wider variety of filenames, I
have chosen to expect a format like that used by mbsync in order to
simplify refering to specific messages.
FLAGS
The table below lists the recognised flags. Any flags not on this list
are ignored and may be deleted. As flags are stored as part of the
filename, changing the flags for a message also changes the filename.
D Draft
F Flagged
R Replied
S Seen
T Trash
SEE ALSO
mbsync(1), maildir(5)
Source code available at https://github.com/Benjamin-Davies/mb.
AUTHOR
mb was written by Benjamin Davies <bentendavies@gmail.com> and is li‐
censed under GPLv3.0.
mb 0.1 2020-08-29 MB(1)