How can I set mutt as the default mail client when I click on a 'mailto' in a webpage?
Solution 1:
First you need to ensure that there's a .desktop
file which is required by
the XDG specification. For GUI programs the chance is good that there already
is a suitable .desktop
file, for terminal applications usually you have to
create your own one. Check out the directory /usr/share/applications
for
existing files. Maybe there is already a mutt.desktop
file. If there isn't,
create one.
Then edit the file ~/.local/share/applications/mimeapps.list
and add the
following line
[Default Applications]
x-scheme-handler/mailto=mutt.desktop;
This registers mutt with the mailto
handler. You can confirm a successful registration with
xdg-mime query default 'x-scheme-handler/mailto'
which should output mutt.desktop
. Now you can click on “mailto” in chromium
and a terminal should pop up with a mutt instance. No need to even
restart the desktop session or the browser.
Solution 2:
You need to write a script that's specifies the terminal that you want mutt
to open in. Then, in Firefox, you can associate this script with mailto links. For example, if you are using terminator, you can create the following script.
#!/usr/bin/env bash
terminator -x "mutt '$@'"
In my case, I have a persistent drop-down terminator, so I want it in a new tab. I also need a 256 colour palette, so I use
#!/usr/bin/env bash
terminator --new-tab -x "TERM=xterm-256color; mutt '$@'"
FWIW this is my full script, which also unhides terminator (if hidden), using the shortcut Ctrl+Space, and brings it to the front.
#!/usr/bin/env bash
terminator --new-tab -x "TERM=xterm-256color; mutt '$@'"
# If necessary, unhide and focus terminator window.
windowlist=$(xprop -root | sed -rn 's/_NET_CLIENT_LIST_STACKING\(WINDOW\): window id # (.*)/\1/p' | tr -d ',')
terminator_visible=false
for i in $windowlist; do
[[ $(xprop -id $i | grep WM_CLASS\(STRING\)) == 'WM_CLASS(STRING) = "terminator", "Terminator"' ]] && terminator_visible=true && term_id=$i
done
if [[ $terminator_visible == false ]]; then # it's hidden
xdotool key --clearmodifiers ctrl+space
elif [[ $(xprop -id $(xdotool getactivewindow) | grep WM_CLASS\(STRING\)) != 'WM_CLASS(STRING) = "terminator", "Terminator"' ]]; then # it's visible, but not active
xdotool windowactivate $term_id 2> /dev/null # Gives error; not sure why. XGetWindowProperty[_NET_WM_DESKTOP] failed (code=1)
fi