AERC-TEMPLATES(7)

# NAME

aerc-templates - template file specification for *aerc*(1)

# SYNOPSIS

aerc uses the go text/template package for the template parsing.
Refer to the go text/template documentation for the general syntax.
The template syntax described below can be used for message template files and
for dynamic formatting of some UI app.

Template files are composed of headers, followed by a newline, followed by the
body text.

Example:

```
X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett

Hello,

Greetings,
Chuck
```

If you have a template that doesn't add any header, it *must* be preceded by a
newline, to avoid parsing parts of the body as header text.

All headers defined in the template will have precedence over any headers that
are initialized by aerc (e.g. Subject, To, From, Cc) when composing a new
message, forwarding or replying.

# MESSAGE DATA

The following data can be used in templates. Though they are not all
available always.

*Addresses*
	An array of mail.Address. That can be used to add sender or recipient
	names to the template.

	- _{{.From}}_: List of senders.
	- _{{.Peer}}_: List of senders or To recipients if the message is from
	  you.
	- _{{.To}}_: List of To recipients. Not always Available.
	- _{{.ReplyTo}}_: List of ReplyTo recipients. Not always Available.
	- _{{.Cc}}_: List of Cc recipients. Not always Available.
	- _{{.Bcc}}_: List of Cc recipients. Not always Available.
	- _{{.OriginalFrom}}_: List of senders of the original message.
	  Available for quoted reply and forward.

	Example:

	Get the name of the first sender.
	```
	{{(index .From 0).Name}}
	{{index (.From | names) 0}}
	```

	Get the email address of the first sender.
	```
	{{(index .From 0).Address}}
	```

*Date and Time*
	The date and time information is always available and can be easily
	formatted.

	- _{{.Date}}_: Date and time information when the compose window is opened.
	- _{{.OriginalDate}}_: Date and time when the original message was received.
	  Available for quoted reply and forward.

	To format the date fields, _dateFormat_ and _.Local_ are provided.
	Refer to the *TEMPLATE FUNCTIONS* section for details.

*Subject*
	The subject of the email (_ThreadPrefix_ will be empty unless threading
	is enabled).

	```
	{{.ThreadPrefix}}{{if .ThreadFolded}}{{printf "{%d}" .ThreadCount}}{{end}}{{.Subject}}
	```

	The subject of the email stripped of any _Re:_ and _Fwd:_ prefixes.

	```
	{{.SubjectBase}}
	```
*Threading*
	When threading is enabled, these attributes are available in the message
	list:

	_ThreadPrefix_
		If the message is part of a thread, this will contain arrows
		that represent the message tree based on _In-Reply-To_ and
		_References_ headers.

	_ThreadFolded_
		Will be _true_ if the message has thread children which are
		hidden by *:fold*.

	_ThreadCount_
		The number of messages in the thread.

	_ThreadUnread_
		The number of unread messages in the thread.

*Flags*
	List of message flags, not available when composing, replying nor
	forwarding. This is a list of strings that may be converted to a single
	string with *join*.

	```
	{{.Flags | join ""}}
	```

*IsReplied*, *IsForwarded*, *HasAttachment*, *IsFlagged*, *IsRecent*, *IsUnread*,
*IsMarked*, *IsDraft*
	Individual boolean flags. not available when composing, replying nor
	forwarding.

	```
	{{if .IsFlagged}}★{{end}}
	```

*Labels*
	Message labels (for example notmuch tags). Not available when composing,
	replying nor forwarding. This is a list of strings that may be converted
	to a single string with *join*.

	```
	{{.Labels | join " "}}
	```

*Size*
	The size of the message in bytes. Not available when composing, replying
	nor forwarding. It can be formatted with *humanReadable*.

	```
	{{.Size | humanReadable}}
	```

*Filename*
	The full path of the message file. Not available when composing,
	replying nor forwarding. For the notmuch backend, it returns a random
	filename if there are multiple files associated with the message.

*Filenames*
	A list of the full paths of the files associated with the message. For
	maildir this is always a list with a single element.  Not available when
	composing, replying nor forwarding.

*Any header value*
	Any header value of the email.

	```
	{{.Header "x-foo-bar"}}
	```

	Any header values of the original forwarded or replied message:

	```
	{{.OriginalHeader "x-foo-bar"}}
	```
*Message-ID*
	The message-ID of the message.

	```
	:term b4 am {{.MessageId}}
	```

*MIME Type*
	MIME type is available for quoted reply and forward.

	- _{{.OriginalMIMEType}}_: MIME type info of quoted mail part. Usually
	  _text/plain_ or _text/html_.

*Original Message*
	When using quoted reply or forward, the original message is available in a
	field called _OriginalText_.

	```
	{{.OriginalText}}
	```

*Signature*
	The signature of the currently selected account obtained from
	*signature-file* or *signature-cmd*.

	```
	{{.Signature}}
	```

*Account info*
	The current account name:

	```
	{{.Account}}
	```

	The current account's backend:

	```
	{{.AccountBackend}}
	```

	The current account's from address:

	```
	{{.AccountFrom}}
	{{.AccountFrom.Address}}
	```

	Currently selected mailbox folder:

	```
	{{.Folder}}
	```

	Current message counts for all folders:

	```
	{{.Recent}} {{.Unread}} {{.Exists}}
	{{.RUE}}
	```

	The new message status for the account. New messages are such that have
	arrived since the account tab last had focus. The flag is currently only
	set when aerc is running at the time of the arrival, i. e. message that
	have arrived while aerc was not running will not be indicated.

	```
	{{.HasNew}}
	```

	IANA role of the mailbox, converted to lowercase:

	```
	{{.Role}}
	```

	*aerc* implements two additional custom roles: A 'query' role is given
	to folders from a notmuch query-map
	and 'virtual' indicates a virtual node in the directory tree listing:

	```
	{{if eq .Role "query"}}{{...}}{{else}}{{...}}{{end}}
	```

	Current message counts for specific folders:

	```
	{{.Recent "inbox"}}
	{{.Unread "inbox" "aerc/pending"}}
	{{.Exists "archive" "spam" "foo/baz" "foo/bar"}}
	{{.RUE "inbox"}}
	```

*Status line*

	The following data will only be available in the status line templates:

	Connection state.

	```
	{{.Connected}}
	{{.ConnectionInfo}}
	```

	General status information (e.g. filter, search) separated with
	*[statusline].separator*.

	```
	{{.ContentInfo}}
	```

	Combination of *{{.ConnectionInfo}}* and *{{.StatusInfo}}* separated
	with *[statusline].separator*.

	```
	{{.StatusInfo}}
	```

	General on/off information (e.g. passthrough, threading, sorting, visual
	mode), separated with *[statusline].separator*.

	```
	{{.TrayInfo}}
	```

	Currently pressed key sequence that does not match any key binding
	and/or is incomplete.

	```
	{{.PendingKeys}}
	```

*Terminal*

	The following can only be used in the terminal tab title template:

	Bell state indicating whether the bell was rung since the terminal tab
	last had focus.

	```
	{{.Bell}}
	```

	Title of the terminal. This is typically what the program running in the
	terminal requests it to be or the name of the command.

	```
	{{.Title}}
	```

# TEMPLATE FUNCTIONS

Besides the standard functions described in go's text/template documentation,
aerc provides the following additional functions:

*wrap*
	Wrap the original text to the specified number of characters per line.

	```
	{{wrap 72 .OriginalText}}
	```

*quote*
	Prepends each line with _"> "_.

	```
	{{quote .OriginalText}}
	```

*trimSignature*
	Removes the signature froma passed in mail. Quoted signatures are kept
	as they are.

	```
	{{trimSignature .OriginalText}}
	```

*join*
	Join the provided list of strings with a separator:

	```
	{{.To | names | join ", "}}
	```

*split*
	Split a string into a string slice with a separator:

	```
	{{.To | names | join ", " | split ", "}}
	```

*names*
	Extracts the names part from a mail.Address list. If there is no name
	available, the mbox (email address without @domain) is returned instead.

	```
	{{.To | names | join ", "}}
	{{index (.To | names) 0}}
	```

*firstnames*
	Extracts the first names part from a mail.Address list. If there is no
	name available, the short mbox (start of email address without @domain)
	is returned instead.

	```
	{{.To | firstnames | join ", "}}
	{{index (.To | firstnames) 0}}
	```

*initials*
	Extracts the initials from the names part from a mail.Address list. If
	there is no name available, the first letter of the email address is
	returned instead.

	```
	{{.To | initials | join ", "}}
	{{index (.To | initials) 0}}
	```

*emails*
	Extracts the addresses part from a mail.Address list.

	```
	{{.To | emails | join ", "}}
	{{index (.To | emails) 0}}
	```

*mboxes*
	Extracts the mbox part from a mail.Address list (i.e. _smith_ from
	_smith@example.com_).

	```
	{{.To | mboxes | join ", "}}
	{{index (.To | mboxes) 0}}
	```

*shortmboxes*
	Extracts the short mbox part from a mail.Address list (i.e. _smith_ from
	_smith.and.wesson@example.com_).

	```
	{{.To | shortmboxes | join ", "}}
	{{index (.To | shortmboxes) 0}}
	```

*persons*
	Formats a list of mail.Address into a list of strings containing the
	human readable form of RFC5322 (e.g. _Firstname Lastname
	<email@address.tld>_).

	```
	{{.To | persons | join ", "}}
	{{index (.To | persons) 0}}
	```

*.Attach*
	Attaches a file to the message being composed.

	```
	{{.Attach '/usr/libexec/aerc/filters/html'}}
	```

*exec*
	Execute external command, provide the second argument to its stdin.
	The command is executed with the same search *$PATH* than aerc filters
	(see *aerc-config*(5) in the *FILTERS* section for more details).

	```
	{{exec `html` .OriginalText}}
	```

*.Local*
	Convert the date to the local timezone as specified by the locale.

	```
	{{.Date.Local}}
	```

*dateFormat*
	Format date and time according to the format passed as the second argument.
	The format must be specified according to go's time package format.

	```
	{{dateFormat .Date "Mon Jan 2 15:04:05 -0700 MST 2006"}}
	```

	You can also use the _.DateAutoFormat_ method to format the date
	according to *\*-time\*format* settings:

	```
	{{.DateAutoFormat .OriginalDate.Local}}
	```

*now*
	Return the current date as a golang time.Time object that can be
	formatted with *dateFormat*.

	```
	{{dateFormat now "Mon Jan 2 15:04:05 -0700 MST 2006"}}
	```

*humanReadable*
	Return the human readable form of an integer value.

	```
	{{humanReadable 3217653721}}
	```

*cwd*
	Return the current working directory with the user home dir replaced by
	_~_.

	```
	{{cwd}}
	```

*compactDir*
	Reduce a directory path into a compact form. The directory name will be
	split with _/_ and each part will be reduced to the first letter in its
	name: _INBOX/01_WORK/PROJECT_ will become _I/W/PROJECT_.

	```
	{{compactDir .Folder}}
	```

*contains*
	Checks if a string contains a substring.

	```
	{{contains "<!DOCTYPE html>" .OriginalText}}
	```

*hasPrefix*
	Checks if a string has a prefix.

	```
	{{hasPrefix "Business" .Folder}}
	```

*toLower*
	Convert a string to lowercase.

	```
	{{toLower "SPECIAL OFFER!"}}
	```

*toUpper*
	Convert a string to uppercase.

	```
	{{toUpper "important"}}
	```

*replace*
	Perform a regular expression substitution on the passed string.

	```
	{{replace `(.+) - .+ at .+\..+` `$1` ((index .OriginalFrom 0).Name)}}
	```

*head*
	Return first n characters from string.

	```
	{{"hello" | head 2}}
	```

*tail*
	Return last n characters from string.

	```
	{{"hello" | tail 2}}
	```

*.Style*
	Apply a user-defined style (see *aerc-stylesets*(7)) to a string.

	```
	{{.Style .Account "red"}}
	{{.Style .ThreadPrefix "thread"}}{{.Subject}}
	```

*.StyleSwitch*
	Apply a user-defined style (see *aerc-stylesets*(7)) to a string if it
	matches one of the associated regular expressions. If the string does
	not match any of the expressions, leave it unstyled.

	```
	{{.StyleSwitch .Subject (`^(\[[\w-]+\]\s*)?\[(RFC )?PATCH` "cyan")}}
	{{.StyleSwitch (.From | names | join ", ") (case `Tim` "cyan") (case `Robin` "pink-blink") (default "blue")}}
	```

*.StyleMap*
	Apply user-defined styles (see *aerc-stylesets*(7)) to elements of
	a string list. The logic is the same than *.StyleSwitch* but works on
	a list of elements. An additional *exclude* option is available to
	remove the matching elements from the list.

	```
	{{.StyleMap .Labels (exclude .Folder) (exclude `^spam$`) (case `^inbox$` "red") (case `^Archive/.*` "green") (default "blue") | join " "}}
	```

*version*
	Returns the version of aerc, which can be useful for things like X-Mailer.

	```
	X-Mailer: aerc {{version}}
	```

*match*
	Check if a string matches a regular expression. This is intended for
	use in conditional control flow:

	```
	{{if match .Folder `.*/Archive-[0-9]+`}}{{humanReadable .Unread}}{{end}}
	```

*switch*
	Do switch/case/default control flows. The switch value is compared with
	regular expressions. If none of the case/default arms match, an empty
	string is returned.

	```
	{{switch .Folder (case `^INBOX$` "📥") (case `^Archive/.*` "🗃") (default "📁")}}
	```

*map*
	Transform a string list into another one. The logic is the same than
	*switch* but works on a list of elements. An additional *exclude* option
	is available to remove the matching elements from the list.

	```
	{{map .Labels (exclude .Folder) (exclude `^spam$`) (case `^inbox$` "📥") (case `^Archive/.*` "🗃") | join " "}}
	```

*Function chaining*
	All of the template functions can be chained together if needed.

	Example: Automatic HTML parsing for text/html mime type messages

	```
	{{if eq .OriginalMIMEType "text/html"}}
	{{exec `/usr/libexec/aerc/filters/html` .OriginalText | wrap 72 | quote}}
	{{else}}
	{{wrap 72 .OriginalText | trimSignature | quote}}
	{{end}}
	```

# SEE ALSO

*aerc*(1) *aerc-config*(5)

# AUTHORS

Originally created by Drew DeVault and maintained by Robin Jarry who is assisted
by other open source contributors. For more information about aerc development,
see _https://sr.ht/~rjarry/aerc/_.