# Install notmuch with Homebrew, apk, apt, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, zypper Thread-based email index, search, and tagging. Version 0.40 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-22. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:notmuch ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install notmuch ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install notmuch ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: mail/notmuch/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add notmuch ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: notmuch from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install elpa-notmuch ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: elpa-notmuch from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - dnf (92%): ```sh sudo dnf install emacs-notmuch ``` Evidence: Fedora Rawhide package metadata: emacs-notmuch from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/development/rawhide/Everything/x86_64/os/repodata/e5ca8ce900cd68f5419e1c39ae517343100b306336cbaeb70a3c153121d95094-primary.xml.zst - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#notmuch ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: notmuch from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/master/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix - pacman (92%): ```sh sudo pacman -S notmuch ``` Evidence: Arch Linux sync databases: notmuch from https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra/os/x86_64/extra.db.tar.gz - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install libnotmuch5 ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: libnotmuch5 from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:notmuch - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 0.40 - **Source summary:** Thread-based email index, search, and tagging - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-3.0-or-later - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-22T14:05:38-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - notmuch (cli) - notmuch-emacs-mua (cli) - notmuch-git (cli) - notmuch (alias) - notmuch-emacs-mua (alias) - notmuch-git (alias) ## Dependencies - cffi - gettext - glib - gmime - python@3.14 - sfsexp - talloc - xapian ## Build dependencies - doxygen - emacs - gnupg - libgpg-error - pkgconf - sphinx-doc ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 0.40 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-22 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://notmuchmail.org/ - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage Notmuch is a thread-based email index, search, and tagging system built around local mail stores and Xapian search. It deliberately does not receive or send mail; instead it provides the database, CLI, library, tags, and frontends that let other tools build a mail workflow. The project began as an answer to Sup. The Notmuch homepage says it started as an effort to rewrite Sup's performance-critical pieces in C rather than Ruby, then grew into a separate project with a clean separation between search/indexing and user interface. ### Project history Notmuch's first public source tarball in the official release directory is notmuch-0.1.tar.gz, dated 2010-04-05. The project had many 0.x releases through the 2010s and reached version 0.40 on 2026-01-31. The architecture choice that mattered was treating mail as a local searchable database with arbitrary tags. Xapian handles the heavy search work, while Notmuch exposes command-line tools, a C library, language bindings, an Emacs client, Vim support, Mutt integration, and scripts such as notmuch-git. ### Adoption history Notmuch has long-running Unix email adoption rather than mass-market adoption. Its homepage lists packages for Arch Linux, Debian, Fedora, FreeBSD, Gentoo, NetBSD, openSUSE, macOS Homebrew/MacPorts/pkgsrc, and Slackware, and the av.db package record also maps it across Homebrew, apk, Debian/Ubuntu, dnf, MacPorts, Nix, pacman, and zypper. Homebrew's formula API reported 2,580 install-on-request events and 6,314 installs for notmuch in its 365-day analytics window. That is meaningful for a local-mail power-user tool, especially because many Notmuch users install from Linux distribution packages rather than Homebrew. ### How it is used Users point Notmuch at an existing Maildir-style mail store, run the initial setup/indexing flow, then use queries and tags to triage mail. Practical setups commonly pair it with offlineimap/isync or another mail synchronizer, an editor or terminal MUA, and tagging rules for inbox, lists, patches, and saved searches. Package nerds use Notmuch as infrastructure: notmuch search for shell scripts, notmuch show for extracting messages or patches, Emacs notmuch for a full mail UI, notmuch-mutt for Mutt workflows, and language bindings or libnotmuch for custom tools. ### Why package nerds care Notmuch is one of the canonical examples of Unix-style personal information tooling: it does one hard local thing, makes it fast, keeps data out of hosted search, and lets frontends compete on workflow. Its long release history and packaging breadth make it much more significant than its mainstream visibility suggests. ### Timeline - 2010-04-05: notmuch-0.1 tarball appears in the official release directory. - 2011-12-26: Notmuch frontend wiki page created, later documenting shipped and external clients. - 2025-03-15: Notmuch 0.39 released. - 2026-01-31: Notmuch 0.40 released. ### Related projects - Sup - Xapian - notmuch-emacs - notmuch-mutt - notmuch-vim - NeoMutt - aerc - alot - astroid ### Sources - - - - - - ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: $NOTMUCH_CONFIG, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/notmuch//config, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/notmuch/default/config, ~/.notmuch-config., ~/.notmuch-config ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** notmuch - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 1 - **Head Version:** HEAD - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** head, stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - elpa-notmuch - 0.39-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: elpa-notmuch from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | thread-based email index, search and tagging (emacs interface) | https://notmuchmail.org/ - Debian apt - libnotmuch-dev - 0.39-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libnotmuch-dev from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | thread-based email index, search and tagging (development) | https://notmuchmail.org/ - Debian apt - libnotmuch5t64 - 0.39-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: libnotmuch5t64 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | thread-based email index, search and tagging (runtime) | https://notmuchmail.org/ - Debian apt - notmuch - 0.39-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: notmuch from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | thread-based email index, search and tagging | https://notmuchmail.org/ - Debian apt - notmuch-doc - 0.39-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: notmuch-doc from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | thread-based email index, search and tagging | https://notmuchmail.org/ - Debian apt - notmuch-git - 0.39-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: notmuch-git from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | thread-based email index, search and tagging | https://notmuchmail.org/ - Debian apt - notmuch-mutt - 0.39-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: notmuch-mutt from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | thread-based email index, search and tagging (Mutt interface) | https://notmuchmail.org/ - Debian apt - notmuch-vim - 0.39-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: notmuch-vim from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | thread-based email index, search and tagging (vim interface) | https://notmuchmail.org/ - Debian apt - python3-notmuch2 - 0.39-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: python3-notmuch2 from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Python 3 interface to the notmuch mail search and index library | https://notmuchmail.org/ - Debian apt - ruby-notmuch - 0.39-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: ruby-notmuch from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Ruby interface to the notmuch mail search and index library | https://notmuchmail.org/ - Nix - notmuch: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: notmuch from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/master/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix - Ubuntu apt - elpa-notmuch - 0.38.3-1ubuntu2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: elpa-notmuch from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | thread-based email index, search and tagging (emacs interface) | https://notmuchmail.org/ - Ubuntu apt - libnotmuch-dev - 0.38.3-1ubuntu2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libnotmuch-dev from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | thread-based email index, search and tagging (development) | https://notmuchmail.org/ - Ubuntu apt - libnotmuch5t64 - 0.38.3-1ubuntu2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: libnotmuch5t64 from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | thread-based email index, search and tagging (runtime) | https://notmuchmail.org/ - Ubuntu apt - notmuch - 0.38.3-1ubuntu2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: notmuch from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | thread-based email index, search and tagging | https://notmuchmail.org/ - Ubuntu apt - notmuch-doc - 0.38.3-1ubuntu2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: notmuch-doc from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | thread-based email index, search and tagging | https://notmuchmail.org/ ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Developer build packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [cffi](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cffi/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [gettext](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gettext/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [glib](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/glib/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [python@3.14](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/python-3-14/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [xapian](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/xapian/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [doxygen](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/doxygen/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [emacs](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/emacs/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [gnupg](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gnupg/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [libgpg-error](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libgpg-error/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [aerc](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/aerc/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [alot](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/alot/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [neomutt](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/neomutt/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [notmuch-mutt](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/notmuch-mutt/) - Popular package that depends on this formula. - [mailsy](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mailsy/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, email. - [mailpit](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/mailpit/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, email. - [ack](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ack/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, search. - [algolia](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/algolia/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, search. - [b4](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/b4/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, email. - [chainhook](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/chainhook/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, indexing. - [ddgr](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ddgr/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, search. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/notmuch.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/notmuch.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph