chute

A terminal mail client for IMAP and SMTP. Three panes — folders, message list, reader — with threaded conversations, compose/reply/forward, drafts, attachments and flag triage. One binary, one TOML file, no daemon.

Requirements

• Go 1.26.3 or newer to build from source.
• A terminal at least 60x20; the layout is tested at that size.
• An IMAP server and an SMTP server. Password or password_command only: chute does not do OAuth.

Install

go install github.com/renderorange/chute@latest

Release builds are produced by the pipeline; chute -version prints the build's version.

Quick start

mkdir -p ~/.config/chute
cp config.example.toml ~/.config/chute/config.toml
chmod 600 ~/.config/chute/config.toml
$EDITOR ~/.config/chute/config.toml     # host, username, credential
chute -check                            # IMAP and SMTP preflight, print the TLS modes
chute

chute -check is the fast way to find a wrong host, port or credential: it connects to every account over IMAP (listing folders) and over SMTP (EHLO, AUTH, QUIT, sending no mail), prints tls=implicit or tls=starttls for each half, and exits non-zero when either fails.

Configuration

The default path is $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/chute/config.toml, which is normally ~/.config/chute/config.toml. Override it with -config.

The file holds credentials, so chute refuses any mode other than 0600. Set general.unsafe_config = true only if the password lives elsewhere and you mean to skip that check. A complete, loadable example ships as config.example.toml; a test loads it, so the sample cannot drift into an illegal value.

[general]

Key	Default	Meaning
poll_interval	60	Seconds between incremental new-mail checks. 0 means the default.
download_dir	~/Downloads	Where attachments are saved. A leading ~ is expanded.
reply_position	"top"	"top" writes above the quoted original, "bottom" below it.
unsafe_config	false	Skips the 0600 permission check.

[layout]

Pane widths. 0 means automatic. An explicit width wins over the percentage for its pane, and a width too small for the terminal is clamped rather than rejected, because one config is used at every terminal size.

Key	Meaning
folders_percent	Folder pane as a share of the content width, 0..90.
messages_percent	Message list as a share, 0..90.
folders_width	Folder pane in columns.
messages_width	Message list in columns.

[list]

Key	Default	Meaning
columns	["from", "subject", "date"]	Draw order. Accepted names: from, subject, size, date. subject is required; it takes the leftover width.
date_format	"Jan 02"	Go reference layout, at most 16 cells.

size renders a right-aligned byte count in six cells, binary units: 999B, 1.5K, 2.0M, 1.2G. Adding it narrows the subject; the date keeps its three-cell gap.

[[accounts]]

One table per account. More than one is supported: a opens the account dialog to switch, and ] / [ cycle without it.

Key	Meaning
name	Required, unique. The name shown in the account dialog and saved in the state file.
default	The account selected at startup. At most one account may set it.
from	The From: header. Use it when you send as an address different from the login.
start_folder	Opened automatically after the folder load. Unset means INBOX; "" disables it.

[accounts.imap]

Key	Default	Meaning
host	required	Server hostname.
port	993, or 143 with use_tls = false	Server port.
username	required	Login name.
password	—	Literal password. Mutually exclusive with password_command.
password_command	—	Command whose first line is the password. One of these two is required.
use_tls	true	true/unset dials implicit TLS. false dials plaintext and requires STARTTLS before login; a server that cannot upgrade is refused rather than sent the password.
sent, drafts, trash, archive, junk	detected	Mailbox names overriding IMAP special-use detection.
hide_folders	—	Mailbox names to leave out of the list. Their subfolders are hidden too; matching is case-insensitive.

[accounts.smtp]

Key	Default	Meaning
host	the IMAP host	Server hostname. The fallback is reported as host=inherited by -check.
port	465	Server port.
username	the IMAP username	Login name.
password, password_command	the IMAP values	Credential source.
use_tls	true	true/unset connects with implicit TLS. false uses plaintext with an opportunistic STARTTLS upgrade.

[keys]

Overrides the shipped keymap per action. The names are the first column of the key table below, for example:

[keys]
move = ["ctrl+m"]
delete = ["x", "d"]

An override replaces the shipped keys rather than adding to them. A key may belong to only one action, an action needs at least one key, and an unknown name is a load error. ? in the app shows the effective map, so a typo is visible immediately.

State

chute remembers the last account, the folder each account had open, and which folders each account had expanded in the folder tree, in $XDG_STATE_HOME/chute/state.toml or ~/.local/state/chute/state.toml when XDG_STATE_HOME is unset. It holds names only — no credentials, no addresses, no message data — is written 0600, and deleting it is safe: the config remains the authority and a name that no longer exists is ignored. A folder absent from the expanded set is folded, so a new state file opens the tree showing only its top level.

Flags

Flag	Meaning
-config	Path to the config file. Defaults to $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/chute/config.toml.
-check	Connect to every account over IMAP (list folders) and SMTP (authenticate, send nothing), print both TLS modes, exit non-zero on any failure.
-debug	Write the IMAP protocol log to this file. The credential is masked in it.
-version	Print the version and exit.

Keys

? opens the same list in the app, resolved against [keys].

Composer keys are fixed, not part of [keys]:

• tab / shift+tab — next / previous field (To, Cc, Bcc, Subject, body)
• ctrl+s — save to Drafts
• ctrl+d — send
• esc — cancel; asks before discarding a changed message

Global

Action	Default	Does
quit	q	Quit. Types as text while composing.
force_quit	ctrl+c	Quit from anywhere, including the composer and modals.
next_panel	tab	Move focus to the next pane.
prev_panel	shift+tab	Move focus to the previous pane.
reload	ctrl+r	Reconnect and reload folders and the open folder.
account	a	Open the account dialog.
account_next	]	Switch to the next account and open its start folder.
account_prev	[	Switch to the previous account.
folders_overlay	\	Open the folder picker over the content.
help	?	Show this keymap.
settings	,	Read-only report of the effective account, roles, layout, list, keys and paths.

List

Action	Default	Does
up	up	Move up one message.
down	down	Move down one message.
top	home, g	First message.
bottom	end, G	Last message.
open	enter	Open the message, or load the folder under the cursor. In the folder pane, a collapsed folder expands first (right expands without opening); the next enter loads it.
filter	/	Fuzzy, case-insensitive filter over the loaded list's sender, subject and recipients.
search	S	Server-side search of the open folder; free text plus from:, subject:, text:, body: and since:YYYY-MM-DD. esc returns to the folder.
visual_range	v	Anchor a selection range for the actions below.
delete	d	Move to Trash; inside Trash, delete permanently after a confirmation.
archive	A	Move to the archive mailbox.
junk	!	Move to the junk mailbox.
move	m	Move to a mailbox chosen from a picker; type to filter the folder list.
empty_trash	X	Delete everything in Trash, after a confirmation. Only works inside Trash.
collapse	z	Fold or unfold the conversation under the cursor.
expand_folder	right	In the folder pane, expand the folder under the cursor.
collapse_folder	left	In the folder pane, fold the folder under the cursor.
toggle_flag	f	Flag or unflag.
toggle_read	u	Mark read or unread.
attachments	s	List attachments and save them to download_dir.

Reader

Action	Default	Does
up	up	Scroll up.
down	down	Scroll down.
delete	d	Move to Trash; inside Trash, delete permanently after a confirmation.
archive	A	Move to the archive mailbox.
junk	!	Move to the junk mailbox.
move	m	Move to a mailbox chosen from a picker; type to filter the folder list.
toggle_flag	f	Flag or unflag.
toggle_read	u	Mark read or unread.
next_thread_message	n	Next message in the same conversation.
prev_thread_message	p	Previous message in the same conversation.
attachments	s	List attachments and save them to download_dir.
compose	c	Write a new message.
reply	r	Reply to the sender.
reply_all	R	Reply to the sender and every recipient.
forward	F	Forward the message's text.
back	esc	Close the reader and return to the list.

Modals

Action	Default	Does
up	up	Move the picker cursor up.
down	down	Move the picker cursor down.
open	enter	Accept the choice, or answer the confirmation.
back	esc	Cancel and close.

What chute does not do

• No outbound attachments. Replies and forwards drop them, and forwarding a message with attachments says forwarding without N attachments so the loss is not silent. A reopened draft says so too. Downloading attachments (s) and reading them in the reader work normally.
• No HTML. Messages are shown as their text/plain part; an HTML-only message shows the stripped text, not a rendered page.
• No OAuth. Password or password_command only.
• No blind copy in the Sent copy. Bcc recipients are delivered and kept in drafts, but the copy filed in Sent has the header removed, so Sent does not record who was blind copied.
• No encryption or signing. No PGP, no S/MIME.
• No all-folder search. S runs a server search in the open folder only; there is no cross-folder or all-mailbox search. / still filters the loaded list locally, with no network.
• No cross-folder threads. A conversation is grouped within one folder.
• One window. There is no detached viewer or second account pane.

Development

gofmt -l .          # must print nothing
go vet ./...
go test ./...
go test -race ./...

License

MIT licensed, copyright 2026 Blaine Motsinger. The full text is in LICENSE.