HACKTUX notes from the trenches

Need an address book program for Mutt? Look no further than abook. Use your distribution's package manager to install abook.

yum install abook

The Config

Edit your ~/.muttrc file to include a macro for abook

set alias_file=~/.mutt-alias
source ~/.mutt-alias
set query_command= "abook --mutt-query '%s'" macro index,pager A "<pipe-message>abook --add-email-quiet<return>" "add the sender address to abook"

If you have no ~/.mutt-alias, be sure to create one before running mutt.

touch ~/.mutt-alias
mutt

Walkthrough of Usage

To use the addressbook, hit 'a'. Accept the given alias, or replace with your own.

Confirm the address.

Give the contact a name. The name can contain spaces.

Accept the entry.

Finally, confirm the alias file.

After doing this a few times, it will become second nature to hit <Enter> through most of the steps.

Accessing Contacts

To access the mutt addressbook, hit <Tab> at the to, cc or bcc line. You will be presented with a list of aliases from your ~/.mutt-alias file.

See the abook SourceForge.net page for more information.