# Install mailcheck with Homebrew, apt, Nix

Check multiple mailboxes/maildirs for mail. Version 1.91.2 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install mailcheck.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:mailcheck
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install mailcheck
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install mailcheck
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: mailcheck from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#mailcheck
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ma/mailcheck/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:mailcheck
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 1.91.2
- **Source summary:** Check multiple mailboxes/maildirs for mail
- **Homepage:** <https://mailcheck.sourceforge.net/>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- mailcheck (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 1.91.2
## Project history and usage

mailcheck is a small command-line utility for checking multiple mailboxes for new mail. The official homepage and upstream manpage document support for mbox, Maildir, POP3, and IMAP.

### Project history

The upstream manpage says mailcheck was written for Debian GNU/Linux by Jefferson E. Noxon, with copyright years spanning 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2001. POP3 and IMAP support is credited to Rob Funk.

The official 1.91.2 SourceForge release contains a compact C program, manpage, sample `mailcheckrc`, and Makefile. Its install target places the command under `/usr/bin` and the default config under `/etc`.

### Adoption history

mailcheck's adoption is traditional distribution packaging rather than a large upstream community. The input package-manager facts list Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, and Nix, and the official homepage links Debian package information.

### How it is used

The manpage recommends invoking `mailcheck` from `/etc/profile` or a user-specific login script, with `-l` login mode respecting `~/.hushlogin`. It reads `~/.mailcheckrc` first and falls back to `/etc/mailcheckrc` when no user file exists.

Configuration is line-oriented: local mailbox paths or Maildir directories, plus `pop3:` and `imap:` URLs for remote mailboxes. Passwords are not stored in `mailcheckrc`; for POP3 and IMAP, the manpage says credentials come from `~/.netrc`.

### Why package nerds care

mailcheck is package-nerd archaeology in useful form: a tiny C utility from the login-shell mail-notification era, still packaged because it has few moving parts and interoperates with old mailbox formats and `.netrc` credentials.

### Timeline

- 1996: Earliest upstream copyright year in the manpage.
- 1998: Additional copyright year and mailbox/network support lineage appear in the manpage.
- 2001: Later copyright notice appears in the manpage.
- 2007: SourceForge published the mailcheck 1.91.2 release tarball.

### Related projects

- The manpage points users to biff, mail, fetchmail, netrc, and ftp as related Unix mail and credential tools.

### Sources

- <https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/mailcheck/mailcheck/1.91.2/mailcheck_1.91.2.tar.gz>
- <https://mailcheck.sourceforge.net/>
- source_facts.package-manager


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals


## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: /etc/mailcheckrc, ~/.mailcheckrc

## Credential files

- Unix: ~/.netrc
## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - mailcheck - 1.91.2-6: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: mailcheck from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | check multiple mailboxes/maildirs for mail | http://mailcheck.sourceforge.net
- Nix - mailcheck: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ma/mailcheck/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - mailcheck - 1.91.2-5: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: mailcheck from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | check multiple mailboxes/maildirs for mail | http://mailcheck.sourceforge.net


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/mailcheck.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/mailcheck.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph