Threaded Conversation View

Matcha can group related emails into conversations using the JWZ threading algorithm (the same approach used by mutt and other classic mail clients). Replies, forwards, and quoted threads collapse under their root message so an inbox of 200 individual messages can render as 30 conversations.

Enabling threaded view

There are three ways to control threading:

1. Settings menu (global default)

• Press Esc from the inbox to open the main menu.
• Open Settings → General.
• Toggle Threaded Conversation View to ON.

This sets the default for every folder. New folders without an explicit override inherit this default immediately.

2. Configuration file

Edit ~/.config/matcha/config.json and add:

{
  "enable_threaded": true
}

3. Keybind (per-folder override)

Press T (configurable as inbox.toggle_threaded in keybinds.json) from any inbox view to toggle threading for the current folder only. The override is persisted in the folder cache and survives restarts.

A per-folder override always wins over the global default. To return a folder to the default, toggle it back to match the default value.

Using threaded view

When threading is enabled the email list shows the root message of each conversation with a count of replies. The default state is collapsed.

Key	Action
T	Toggle threaded view for the folder
enter	Open the focused message
space	Expand or collapse the focused thread
j/k	Navigate threads or messages within

Visual mode (v), delete (d), archive (a), and the other inbox keybinds behave the same as in flat view — operations applied to a collapsed thread target the root message; expand the thread first to act on a single reply.

How threading works

Matcha threads emails entirely on the client. Threading uses:

1. Message-ID, In-Reply-To, and References headers (RFC 5322).
2. A subject-based fallback that strips Re:, Fwd:, and locale-specific prefixes when reply headers are missing.

Threading is recomputed whenever the email cache changes for a folder, so new mail slots into existing conversations without a manual refresh.

Per-folder overrides

The setting is split into two layers:

• Global default — Config.EnableThreaded in config.json.
• Per-folder override — stored in folder_cache.json under threaded_folders. Only folders the user has explicitly toggled appear here.

If you change the global default in settings, every folder without an override flips to the new default on the next render. Folders with an override keep their explicit value until toggled again.