Mutt User Configuration

This guide describes steps to configure a mutt user. It only shows how to work with barroit’s config setup. It never talks about mutt’s own usage or configs.

You must read configs. This document never explains what a config contains, and it’s not here to hold your hand. It just tells you how to name them and makes sure you don’t fuck up hierarchy.

This document assumes you map config via ./<consumer>/setup.sh filemap in this repo. See Use Setup Script.

Configuration Hierarchy

This setup structures configs into a hierarchy. All configs exist in $HOME/.mutt, from root to leaf:

provider

Defines mailboxes and auth method to use. Filename starts with @.

consumer

Defines user info and provider to use. Filename is your email.

client

Defines auth info. Filename is client.your_email.

auth provider

Reads auth info from client in a method-specific way.

Mutt reads $HOME/.muttrc. Muttrc sources consumer, consumer sources provider, provider sources auth provider, auth provider reads client. This chain makes it easy to extend or reuse any specific role.

Provider

Each provider maps to a real-world email provider. This setup supports the following providers:

• @gmail.com

• @naver.com

• @outlook.com

• @sunjiamu@outlook.com

@sunjiamu@outlook.com is a special provider. It wraps @outlook.com and serves both sunjiamu@outlook.com and vanity email barroit@linux.com.

Client

Client defines fields in key-value pairs:

id

Azure application ID.

user

Your email.

secret

Filename of secret file, relative to $HOME/.mutt.

Auth Methods

This setup supports two auth methods:

• oauth2

• password

Each auth method requires client to define specific fields. Table below describes required fields for each method:

provider	method	id	user	secret
Outlook	oauth2	+	+
Gmail	oauth2	+	+	+
NAVER	password			+

Fill Authentication Information

This section assumes you’ve already configured a user. If you don’t know how to do that, you’re dumb and this setup isn’t for you.

Password Authentication

Just put your SMTP/IMAP password in your_email.secret.

OAuth 2.0 Authentication

Fill client info with necessary fields. Check out mutt_oauth2.py docs, and configure app registration. Also define a valid GnuPG key. Its “Email address” must match user in client.

Once you set up these, run:

$ cd $HOME/.mutt
$ ./oauth2.py --authorize your_email.token

Follow instructions. For “Preferred OAuth2 flow”, mutt_oauth2.py docs author suggests trying all methods it provides. In practice, localhostauthcode works well.

Switch Users

Switch Mutt Users documents this.