neomutt Offline email setup

Mutt is one of the most rewarding programs one can use, but can be a pain in the ass to configure. Since my job is making power-user tools available for the masses I want to create a tool that automates most of mutt configuration so that users can simply give their email address and get a /comfy/ setup. At that, I don’t just want a mutt wizard, but an offlineIMAP wizard, so users can easily access their mail offline as well, and a wizard that makes it easy to store passwords securely using gpg.

Dependencies

dialog, neomutt and offlineimap installed. The contents of this repo should go directly in ~/.config/mutt/ and run from there.

Progress

• The main scripts mutt_install.sh can create or add an account from a domain in domain.csv to ~/.offlineimaprc without a problem.
• It also creates a email-specific settings for your muttrc, which are outputed in the accounts/ directory in your mutt directory.
  • The script will automatically handle multiple accounts. Each will be assigned a number 1-9, and you can jump from one to another in mutt by pressing i and then that number. You can change the numbers by manually editing the macros in personal.muttrc.
  • For most accounts, you can jump to sent mail with gs, drafts with gd and the inbox with gi. I haven’t worked this out for every domain.
• It uses your gpg encryption to store your encrypted password in credentials/, where there are also two scripts that allow mutt and offlineIMAP to decrypt the passwords when needed.

YOU CAN HELP

If you use mutt with a particular host or domain, put your server information in domains.csv! This will make everyone else who uses your email provider’s life much easier!

Or you can help monetarily via Patreon or Paypal!

Notes

Mail is stored in ~/.mail. mutt configs and caches for each account are in ~/.config/mutt/accounts/. Encypted passwords are in ~/.config/mutt/credentials. A “personal” muttrc, with the macros for switching accounts and the default config is in ~/.config/mutt/personal.muttrc.

Todo

• Expand the list of server information in domains.csv, including adding spoolfiles/records/postponed folders for each account.
• Write scripts that do the following:
  • Stat ~/.offlineimaprc and the the mutt configs to see what accounts are currently available. (Done, currently in removeaccount.sh; needs integration.)
  • Delete a profile from above if requested. (Done, currently in removeaccount.sh; needs integration.)
  • Add a profile above if requested, including:
    • An automatic search of domains.csv for server information. (Done)
    • An ncurses menu for inputing server settings if not available in domains.csv. (Soon, see manual.sh)
    • Differential actions for Gmail accounts since these are distinct in offlineIMAP. (Done)
  • Configure notmuch with all accounts.
  • A prompt for adding encypted passwords for each account available.
    • Or directions for adding plain text passwords if desired.