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| -rw-r--r-- | docs/mu4e-org-msg-compose-buffer-cleanup.org | 63 |
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diff --git a/docs/mu4e-org-msg-compose-buffer-cleanup.org b/docs/mu4e-org-msg-compose-buffer-cleanup.org new file mode 100644 index 00000000..a6ea361f --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/mu4e-org-msg-compose-buffer-cleanup.org @@ -0,0 +1,63 @@ +#+TITLE: Closing mu4e / org-msg Compose Buffers on Exit +#+AUTHOR: Craig Jennings +#+DATE: 2026-05-23 + +* What this controls + +Whether a mail compose buffer is killed when the message is sent or +the compose is aborted, versus left behind for you to deal with. The +single knob is the built-in message-mode variable: + +: message-kill-buffer-on-exit + +- =t= — kill the compose buffer on send / abort (no leftover buffers). +- =nil= — keep the compose buffer after exit. + +* The one place to set it + +Set it once, in the =mu4e= =:config= block in =modules/mail-config.el=: + +#+begin_src emacs-lisp +(setq message-kill-buffer-on-exit t) +#+end_src + +That single setting governs *both* plain mu4e compose buffers and +org-msg (HTML) compose buffers. There is no need to set it anywhere +else. + +* Why org-msg doesn't need its own setting + +org-msg-mode is the active composer in every compose buffer (the config +runs =(org-msg-mode +1)=), so it's natural to assume org-msg needs its +own copy of the policy. It does not. + +org-msg only *reads* =message-kill-buffer-on-exit= — it never sets it. +The single read is in =org-msg--widen-and-undo= (org-msg.el): when the +value is =nil= (buffer will survive), org-msg widens and undoes its edits +so the leftover buffer is clean; when the value is =t= (buffer will be +killed), it skips that work because the buffer is about to go away. + +So whatever value the mu4e =:config= leaves in place is the value org-msg +honors. + +* The trap to avoid + +A =(setq message-kill-buffer-on-exit ...)= inside the *org-msg* =:config= +block silently wins over the mu4e one, because org-msg's =use-package= +form loads after mu4e's and its =:config= runs later. An older version +of this config set =t= in mu4e and =nil= in org-msg, so compose buffers +were always kept — the mu4e setting looked authoritative but was dead. + +Keep this policy in a single place (mu4e) so the effective value is +obvious. If you ever want to keep compose buffers again, flip the one +setting to =nil=; don't reintroduce a second setter in org-msg. + +* Quick reference + +| Goal | Setting | +|-------------------------------+-----------------------------------------| +| Kill compose buffers on exit | =(setq message-kill-buffer-on-exit t)= | +| Keep compose buffers on exit | =(setq message-kill-buffer-on-exit nil)= | + +Set it in the mu4e =:config= block of =modules/mail-config.el=, and +nowhere else. |