Mail checking a bit slow

[David Woodfall]

I've been experimenting with the sidebar today and it works well.

One problem though is that the mailboxes new mail count seems a bit
slow to update (maildir).

I've tried a few settings and I currently have:

unset mail_check_recent
set timeout=1
set mail_check=1
set mail_check_stats
set sidebar_new_mail_only = no
set sidebar_format = '%B%?F? [%F]?%* %?N?%N/?%S '

After I receive new mail it seems to take upwards of 30 secs to
actually put the new mail count in the sidebar listing.

Is there a way of speeding this up? I'm not using IMAP or anything,
just plain maildir.

[David Woodfall]

Post by David Woodfall
I've been experimenting with the sidebar today and it works well.
One problem though is that the mailboxes new mail count seems a bit
slow to update (maildir).
unset mail_check_recent
set timeout=1
set mail_check=1
set mail_check_stats
set sidebar_new_mail_only = no
set sidebar_format = '%B%?F? [%F]?%* %?N?%N/?%S '
After I receive new mail it seems to take upwards of 30 secs to
actually put the new mail count in the sidebar listing.
Is there a way of speeding this up? I'm not using IMAP or anything,
just plain maildir.

I should that this is with mailboxes with only 2 or 3 messages.

[Jens John]

Post by David Woodfall
Is there a way of speeding this up? I'm not using IMAP or anything,
just plain maildir.

You should try `header_cache`. It worked wonders when I was still using a HDD and Maildir, reducing mailbox load times from ~4s to .5s for large maildirs. Not sure how much of a difference this would make on a system that already has SSD, but even then it's worth a try.

header_cache
Type: path
Default: “”

This variable points to the header cache database. If pointing to a directory Mutt will contain a header cache database file per folder, if pointing to a file that file
will be a single global header cache. By default it is unset so no header caching will be used.

Header caching can greatly improve speed when opening POP, IMAP MH or Maildir folders, see “caching” for details.

[David Woodfall]

Post by Jens John

Post by David Woodfall
Is there a way of speeding this up? I'm not using IMAP or anything,
just plain maildir.

You should try `header_cache`. It worked wonders when I was still using a HDD and Maildir, reducing mailbox load times from ~4s to .5s for large maildirs. Not sure how much of a difference this would make on a system that already has SSD, but even then it's worth a try.
header_cache
Type: path
Default: “”
This variable points to the header cache database. If pointing to a directory Mutt will contain a header cache database file per folder, if pointing to a file that file
will be a single global header cache. By default it is unset so no header caching will be used.
Header caching can greatly improve speed when opening POP, IMAP MH or Maildir folders, see “caching” for details.

I used to use cache when I used IMAP. I turned it off when I started
using local mailboxes. I'll turn it on again and see.

[David Woodfall]

Post by David Woodfall

Post by Jens John

Post by David Woodfall
Is there a way of speeding this up? I'm not using IMAP or anything,
just plain maildir.

You should try `header_cache`. It worked wonders when I was still using a HDD and Maildir, reducing mailbox load times from ~4s to .5s for large maildirs. Not sure how much of a difference this would make on a system that already has SSD, but even then it's worth a try.
header_cache
Type: path
Default: “”
This variable points to the header cache database. If pointing to a directory Mutt will contain a header cache database file per folder, if pointing to a file that file
will be a single global header cache. By default it is unset so no header caching will be used.
Header caching can greatly improve speed when opening POP, IMAP MH or Maildir folders, see “caching” for details.

I used to use cache when I used IMAP. I turned it off when I started
using local mailboxes. I'll turn it on again and see.

Finally, I found $mail_check_stats_interval. This is what controls
the stats checking for the sidebar. It's set to 30 secs by default.
I've lowered it to a few seconds and it helps a lot.