Notmuch

Search local email and inspect message threads with notmuch.

notmuch search --format=json --limit=20 'tag:unread'

Search Threads

Preferred command (machine-readable JSON):

notmuch search --format=json --limit=20 'from:alice subject:"design review" date:2026-02-01..'

Common query terms:

• from:<email-or-name>
• to:<email-or-name>
• subject:<term>
• tag:<tag-name>
• date:YYYY-MM-DD..YYYY-MM-DD
• thread:<thread-id>

Read Messages

Headers-only summary for a thread/query:

notmuch show --format=json --body=false 'thread:0000000000000123'

Full text output:

notmuch show --format=text 'thread:0000000000000123'

Structured output with bodies:

notmuch show --format=json 'thread:0000000000000123'

List Tags

notmuch search --output=tags '*'

Guardrails

Prefer read-only commands in this skill:

• notmuch search ...
• notmuch show ...

Avoid mutating commands unless the user explicitly requests them (for example notmuch new, notmuch tag, notmuch insert).