NOTMUCH-SEARCH(1)

NAME
notmuch-search - search for messages matching the given search terms

SYNOPSIS

notmuch search [option ...] <search-term> ...

DESCRIPTION

Search for messages matching the given search terms, and display as results the threads containing the matched messages.

The output consists of one line per thread, giving a thread ID, the date of the newest (or oldest, depending on the sort option) matched message in the thread, the number of matched messages and total messages in the thread, the names of all participants in the thread, and the subject of the newest (or oldest) message.

See notmuch-search-terms <#notmuch-search-terms-7> for details of the supported syntax for <search-terms>.

Supported options for search include

--format=(json|sexp|text|text0)
    Presents the results in either JSON, S-Expressions, newline character separated plain-text (default), or null character separated plain-text (compatible with xargs(1) <https://manpages.debian.org/xargs.1.html> -0 option where available).

--format-version=N
    Use the specified structured output format version. This is intended for programs that invoke notmuch <#notmuch-1> internally. If omitted, the latest supported version will be used.

--output=(summary|threads|messages|files|tags)

summary (default)
    Output a summary of each thread with any message matching the search terms. The summary includes the thread ID, date, the number of messages in the thread (both the number matched and the total number), the authors of the thread and the subject. In the case where a thread contains multiple files for some messages, the total number of files is printed in parentheses (see below for an example).

threads
    Output the thread IDs of all threads with any message matching the search terms, either one per line (--format=text), separated by null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array (--format=json), or an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).

messages
    Output the message IDs of all messages matching the search terms, either one per line (--format=text), separated by null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array (--format=json), or as an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).

files
    Output the filenames of all messages matching the search terms, either one per line (--format=text), separated by null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array (--format=json), or as an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).

    Note that each message may have multiple filenames associated with it. All of them are included in the output (unless limited with the --duplicate=N option). This may be particularly confusing for folder: or path: searches in a specified directory, as the messages may have duplicates in other directories that are included in the output, although these files alone would not match the search.

tags
    Output all tags that appear on any message matching the search terms, either one per line (--format=text), separated by null characters (--format=text0), as a JSON array (--format=json), or as an S-Expression list (--format=sexp).

--sort=(newest-first|oldest-first)
    This option can be used to present results in either chronological order (oldest-first) or reverse chronological order (newest-first).

    Note: The thread order will be distinct between these two options (beyond being simply reversed). When sorting by oldest-first the threads will be sorted by the oldest message in each thread, but when sorting by newest-first the threads will be sorted by the newest message in each thread.

    By default, results will be displayed in reverse chronological order, (that is, the newest results will be displayed first).

--offset=[-]N
    Skip displaying the first N results. With the leading '-', start at the Nth result from the end.

--limit=N
    Limit the number of displayed results to N.

--exclude=(true|false|all|flag)
    A message is called "excluded" if it matches at least one tag in search.exclude_tags that does not appear explicitly in the search terms. This option specifies whether to omit excluded messages in the search process.

true (default)
    Prevent excluded messages from matching the search terms.

all Additionally prevent excluded messages from appearing in displayed results, in effect behaving as though the excluded messages do not exist.

false
    Allow excluded messages to match search terms and appear in displayed results. Excluded messages are still marked in the relevant outputs.

flag
    Only has an effect when --output=summary. The output is almost identical to false, but the "match count" is the number of matching non-excluded messages in the thread, rather than the number of matching messages.

--duplicate=N
    For --output=files, output the Nth filename associated with each message matching the query (N is 1-based). If N is greater than the number of files associated with the message, don't print anything.

    For --output=messages, only output message IDs of messages matching the search terms that have at least N filenames associated with them.

    Note that this option is orthogonal with the folder: search prefix. The prefix matches messages based on filenames. This option filters filenames of the matching messages.

EXAMPLE

The following shows an example of the summary output format, with one message having multiple filenames.

    % notmuch search date:today.. and tag:bad-news
    thread:0000000000063c10 Today [1/1] Some Persun; To the bone (bad-news inbox unread)
    thread:0000000000063c25 Today [1/1(2)] Ann Other; Bears (bad-news inbox unread)
    thread:0000000000063c00 Today [1/1] A Thurd; Bites, stings, sad feelings (bad-news unread)

EXIT STATUS

This command supports the following special exit status codes

20  The requested format version is too old.

21  The requested format version is too new.

SEE ALSO

notmuch <#notmuch-1>, notmuch-address <#notmuch-address-1> notmuch-config <#notmuch-config-1>, notmuch-count <#notmuch-count-1>, notmuch-dump <#notmuch-dump-1>, notmuch-hooks <#notmuch-hooks-5>, notmuch-insert <#notmuch-insert-1>, notmuch-new <#notmuch-new-1>, notmuch-reply <#notmuch-reply-1>, notmuch-restore <#notmuch-restore-1>, notmuch-search-terms <#notmuch-search-terms-7>, notmuch-show <#notmuch-show-1>, notmuch-tag <#notmuch-tag-1>

Author
Carl Worth and many others

Copyright
2009-2026, Carl Worth and many others