macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install nmhprovider-native install command
brew / rank 9486
Install nmh with Homebrew
New version of the MH mail handler. Version 1.8 via Homebrew; verified from local package data.
install
Additional install commands
overview
Package summary
New version of the MH mail handler
Project links
Commands and aliases
- anno
- burst
- comp
- flist
- flists
- fmttest
- fnext
- folder
- folders
- forw
- fprev
- inc
- install-mh
- mhbuild
- mhfixmsg
- mhical
- mhlist
- mhlogin
- mhmail
- mhn
- mhparam
- mhpath
- mhshow
- mhstore
- msgchk
- new
- next
- packf
- pick
- prev
- prompter
- refile
history
Project history and usage
nmh is the maintained 'new MH' implementation of the MH message handling system: a Unix mail environment made from many small commands rather than one monolithic mail client.
Project history
MH predates nmh by decades. RAND's 1979 user's manual describes MH as a UNIX shell-driven mail system where each mail activity is a separate command and each message is stored as a separate file in a folder directory. nmh continued that model as a mostly compatible replacement for MH, based on MH 6.8.3 from RAND and the University of California.
The nmh FAQ describes the fork as a response to the languishing state of MH: Richard Coleman created nmh from MH 6.8.3, added GNU autoconf, and fixed bugs and inconsistencies. Later maintainers moved the project infrastructure to Savannah, which remains the official source location.
Adoption history
nmh is niche by modern mail-client standards but important to Unix mail traditionalists because it preserves the MH composition model: commands such as inc, scan, show, repl, forw, refile, pick, sortm, and rmm compose naturally with shell scripts. The project page also points to front ends such as exmh and mh-e, showing that nmh is both an end-user toolkit and a substrate for other mail interfaces.
Package-manager coverage across Homebrew, Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora, Alpine, Nix, and openSUSE reflects long-tail adoption rather than hype adoption. Its value is continuity: scripts, habits, and mail stores built around MH semantics can keep working on contemporary Unix-like systems.
How it is used
Package nerds use nmh when they want mail to be shell-native. Typical workflows initialize a profile, incorporate messages into MH folders, scan folders, show or reply to individual messages, refile mail by shell command, and use pick/sortm/mhpath/mhparam in scripts. The practical appeal is that the mailbox is regular files plus small commands, so grep, find, cron, editors, and shell aliases remain first-class tools.
The tradeoff is intentional: nmh is not a turnkey GUI mail app. It rewards users who want explicit control over message storage, composition drafts, aliases, profile settings, and MIME handling.
Why package nerds care
nmh matters because it is a living bridge from early Unix mail design to present package ecosystems. It is a good example of a package whose significance is architectural and historical rather than measured by broad consumer adoption.
Timeline
- {'event': "RAND published The MH Message Handling System: User's Manual, documenting the shell-command and per-message-file model that nmh inherits.", 'year': '1979'}
- {'event': 'Richard Coleman created nmh from MH 6.8.3 after MH development slowed, adding GNU autoconf and cleanup work according to the MH/nmh FAQ.', 'year': '1990s'}
- {'event': 'nmh development infrastructure moved to Savannah and continued through the nmh-workers community.', 'year': '2000s'}
Related projects
- RAND MH
- exmh
- mh-e
- mmh
Sources
security posture
Risk level: yellow
generalized runtime or code generation signal.
Risk classifier
yellow risk · medium confidence · runtime
Why
- generalized runtime or code generation signal
Signals
- text:repl
Install behavior
- No Homebrew bottle metadata was recorded.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
local files
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
Config paths the tool may read or write during local use.
- Unix
~/.mh_profile
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
anno | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
burst | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
comp | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
flist | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
flists | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
fmttest | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
fnext | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
folder | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
folders | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
forw | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
fprev | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
inc | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
install-mh | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mhbuild | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mhfixmsg | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mhical | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mhlist | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mhlogin | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mhmail | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mhn | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mhparam | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mhpath | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mhshow | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
mhstore | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
msgchk | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
new | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
next | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
packf | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
pick | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
prev | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
prompter | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
refile | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
repl | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
rmf | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
rmm | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
scan | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
send | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
sendfiles | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
show | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
sortm | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
unseen | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
whatnow | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
whom | executable | indexed executable | Discovered from the local executable index. |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-08-03
manager version1.8
manager updated
local dataunknown
upstreamnot available
latest detectednot detected
- okNo freshness warnings were generated.
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:nmh |
|---|---|
| Version | 1.8 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Homepage | https://www.nongnu.org/nmh/ |
| Bottle | not recorded |
| Service | none declared |
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation