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pimalaya / neverest

CLI to synchronize, backup and restore emails
https://pimalaya.org
MIT License
194 stars 7 forks source link

Intended purpose of notmuch backend? #10

Closed eterps closed 1 month ago

eterps commented 1 month ago

What is the intended purpose of the notmuch backend?

Is the idea that you can sync from imap to a notmuch backend directly? (so that notmuch does not need to be installed/configured on your system?)

An email client like aerc can use a notmuch backend directly, it seems you would not need a Maildir at all in that case. But neverest does not seem to create a notmuch DB, and notmuch itself still depends on a Maildir being present.

Sorry if this is rather obvious, but I have trouble seeing the big picture.

soywod commented 1 month ago

Initially the notmuch backend comes from Himalaya, and like aerc it makes sense. For Neverest it's a bit less obvious. The only advantage of using notmuch over maildir is that you do not need to re-index messages. If you manipulate directly the maildir, notmuch is not aware of changes and the db needs to be update manually. If you use the notmuch backend, then it manipulates the maildir and takes care of updating the database.

eterps commented 1 month ago

Thanks, I think I understand now. You will usually sync to Maildir+notmuch, and in that case it removes the need to do notmuch new.

soywod commented 1 month ago

Yes. If Neverest was alone, it would not make sense to specifically develop the notmuch backend. But since notmuch support is already there in the Pimalaya core email-lib, it does not cost that much to propose it.