---
name: "lei-index"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "lei"
version: "2.1.0-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/lei-index"
---

# lei-index(1)

index messages without importing them into lei/store

## NAME

lei-index - index messages without importing them into lei/store

## SYNOPSIS

lei index \[OPTIONS\] FOLDER

## DESCRIPTION

Similar to [**lei-import**(1)](/lei-import/1.md), but does not store a copy of messages into `"lei/store"`.

This command only makes sense for messages stored in Maildir folders.  Other folder types may be supported in the future (they can all be indexed, but the message isn't automatically retrieved by [**lei-q**(1)](/lei-q/1.md) or [**lei-lcat**(1)](/lei-lcat/1.md)).

Combined with [**lei-q**(1)](/lei-q/1.md), `"lei index"` allows Maildir users to have similar functionality to [**mairix**(1)](/mairix/1.md) by not duplicating messages into `"lei/store"`.

Occasional invocations of `"lei-refresh-mail-sync --all=local"` are recommended to keep indexed messages retrievable.

## OPTIONS

- \-F MAIL\_FORMAT

  - \--in-format=MAIL\_FORMAT

  There is currently no need for this option.  It will support `"mh"`, eventually.  For now, the default (and only supported) format is `"maildir"`.  When IMAP and NNTP support are fleshed out, those formats will be inferred from their URLs.

  Default: `"maildir"`

- \-q

  - \--quiet

  Suppress feedback messages.

## CONTACT

Feedback welcome via plain-text mail to \<mailto:meta@public-inbox.org\>

The mail archives are hosted at \<https://public-inbox.org/meta/\> and \<http://4uok3hntl7oi7b4uf4rtfwefqeexfzil2w6kgk2jn5z2f764irre7byd.onion/meta/\>

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright all contributors \<mailto:meta@public-inbox.org\>

License: AGPL-3.0+ \<https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.txt\>

## SEE ALSO

[**lei-refresh-mail-sync**(1)](/lei-refresh-mail-sync/1.md), [**lei-store-format**(5)](/lei-store-format/5.md), [**lei-import**(1)](/lei-import/1.md)