---
name: "postcat"
section: "1"
platform: "macos"
package: "postfix"
version: "1636"
release: "macOS 26.5"
platforms: ["linux", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/postcat"
---

# postcat(1)

show Postfix queue file contents

## NAME

postcat - show Postfix queue file contents

## SYNOPSIS

```
postcat [-bdehnoqv] [-c config_dir] [files...]
```

## DESCRIPTION

The [**postcat**(1)](/postcat/1.md) command prints the contents of the named *files* in human-readable form. The files are expected to be in Postfix queue file format. If no *files* are specified on the command line, the program reads from standard input.

By default, [**postcat**(1)](/postcat/1.md) shows the envelope and message content, as if the options **-beh** were specified. To view message content only, specify **-bh** (Postfix 2.7 and later).

Options:

- **-b**

  Show body content.  The **-b** option starts producing output at the first non-header line, and stops when the end of the message is reached.

  This feature is available in Postfix 2.7 and later.

- **-c** *config\_dir*

  The **main.cf** configuration file is in the named directory instead of the default configuration directory.

- **-d**

  Print the decimal type of each record.

- **-e**

  Show message envelope content.

  This feature is available in Postfix 2.7 and later.

- **-h**

  Show message header content.  The **-h** option produces output from the beginning of the message up to, but not including, the first non-header line.

  This feature is available in Postfix 2.7 and later.

- **-o**

  Print the queue file offset of each record.

- **-q**

  Search the Postfix queue for the named *files* instead of taking the names literally.

  This feature is available in Postfix 2.0 and later.

- **-v**

  Enable verbose logging for debugging purposes. Multiple **-v** options make the software increasingly verbose.

## DIAGNOSTICS

Problems are reported to the standard error stream.

## ENVIRONMENT

```

```

- **MAIL\_CONFIG**

  Directory with Postfix configuration files.

## CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS

```

```

The following **main.cf** parameters are especially relevant to this program.

The text below provides only a parameter summary. See [**postconf**(5)](/postconf/5.md) for more details including examples.

- **config\_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)**

  The default location of the Postfix main.cf and master.cf configuration files.

- **import\_environment (see 'postconf -d' output)**

  The list of environment parameters that a privileged Postfix process will import from a non-Postfix parent process, or name=value environment overrides.

- **queue\_directory (see 'postconf -d' output)**

  The location of the Postfix top-level queue directory.

## FILES

```
/var/spool/postfix, Postfix queue directory
```

## SEE ALSO

```
postconf(5), Postfix configuration
```

## LICENSE

```

```

The Secure Mailer license must be distributed with this software.

## AUTHOR(S)

```
Wietse Venema
IBM T.J. Watson Research
P.O. Box 704
Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
Wietse Venema
Google, Inc.
111 8th Avenue
New York, NY 10011, USA
```