Using the interface

Fifteen keystrokes cover a normal mail day. This page walks one first session, doing each thing once; the quick reference holds the full map for later.

Read something

The list opens on your inbox, newest first. Move down and up with J and K; the pane below previews whatever is selected. Press Enter to open a message properly, scroll it with the same J / K (or the mouse wheel), and come back with Q.

The list's left column earns its keep: ◆ unread, ⚑ flagged, R you replied, A it has attachments, T more of its thread is in view.

Answer it

With a message open (or selected), press R. You land in structured header fields — To is already filled. Press Ctrl+E and your own $EDITOR opens on the body, quoted text ready. Write, save-and-quit (:wq in vim terms), and you land on the review screen: recipients, subject and body laid out. Press Y and it is queued and sent; the daemon retries for you if the network is down.

Reply-all is Shift+R, forward is F, and a fresh message is N — in a fresh compose, start typing a name in To and Antiphon suggests addresses from your own mail history; Tab completes.

File it

Read something you're done with? A archives it: the row leaves at once and the daemon moves it on the server too. C opens a picker to move it anywhere else; D deletes; M flips read/unread; Shift+M marks the whole folder read.

Nothing you do here needs the network to feel done. Offline changes queue durably and replay when the connection returns.

Find anything

Press / and type what you remember:

from:alba invoice
date:2026-06.. attachment:pdf

That's notmuch underneath: full-text, instant at six figures of mail, always scoped to what's in view. The sidebar (Ctrl+N / Ctrl+P to move, Ctrl+O to open) holds your folders and saved searches; folders with unread mail show a count.

Make it yours

Type :theme and cycle through seventeen palettes live; your choice persists. That's the door to customisation — step through it properly in the next page.

Next: more accounts and settings.