Migrating from NeoMutt (or Weremutt)

Antiphon has no config importer by design: a muttrc encodes years of workarounds for problems Antiphon does not have. This guide maps the concepts so the move is an afternoon, not a project.

The mental model shift

NeoMutt talks to your IMAP server (or reads a Maildir someone else syncs) and does everything in one process. Antiphon splits that: antiphond owns the network and syncs every account into one local store, indexed by notmuch, sealed in an encrypted vault at rest; the antiphon client only ever reads the local store, so nothing in the UI waits on a server.

Practical consequences:

• No $folder, $spoolfile or mailboxes list: every folder of every account is synced and appears in the sidebar; the unified view merges accounts.
• No $imap_user/$imap_pass: accounts live one-per-file in accounts/*.toml, and passwords come from password_cmd (the same pass show ... command your muttrc probably already calls).
• Search is notmuch query syntax everywhere, always scoped to the accounts in view; virtual folders map to [[saved_searches]].

Concept map

NeoMutt	Antiphon
~/.muttrc / neomuttrc	config.toml + accounts/*.toml
account hooks (folder-hook)	one file per account
$imap_pass / $smtp_pass	password_cmd per account
mbsync/offlineimap + notmuch	antiphond (built in)
$sendmail / msmtp	[smtp] per account; daemon sends from a durable outbox
$record (Sent copy)	automatic sent-copy filing
$editor	$EDITOR in an embedded pane
send-hook/reply-hook identity tricks	[[identity]] with match patterns
$pgp_default_key, crypt hooks	pgp_sign + pgp_key per identity
sidebar patch	built in
color commands	a theme (vespers default, gallery available)
macro/bind	[keys] table, vim-flavoured defaults
virtual-mailboxes (notmuch)	[[saved_searches]]

The move, step by step

1. Build and check the ground: antiphon doctor names every missing piece (notmuch, gpg, $EDITOR, config).
2. Write one accounts/<name>.toml per account: host, user, password_cmd, identities with match patterns for your aliases. Strict parsing means a typo fails loudly with the file and line, so iterate with antiphon doctor.
3. Set up the vault (recommended; see the vault): configure [vault] passphrase_cmd, then antiphon vault create and antiphon doctor --init-store.
4. Start antiphon: it launches the daemon, which performs the initial sync. A large mailbox takes a while on the first pass; the client is usable as mail lands.
5. Port your PGP trust: export the correspondents you verify into the keyring directory (see OpenPGP): gpg --armor --export alice@example.com > ~/.config/antiphon/pgp/alice.asc.
6. Recreate your virtual folders as [[saved_searches]] and any list filing as [[rules]] entries.
7. Run both clients side by side for a week; the store is yours (plain Maildir + notmuch under the mount), so nothing locks you in. Then delete the muttrc.

What does not carry over

• HTML composing: Antiphon is plaintext-first, permanently.
• Local folders outside the synced accounts: import them into a folder of an account (copy the Maildir files in while the vault is mounted, then let the daemon index and upload).
• Scoring, limit-pattern muscle memory: use notmuch queries and saved searches instead.