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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 <[email protected]> and is li‐
       censed under GPLv3.0.

mb 0.1                            2020-08-29                             MB(1)