From: <grad-student>
  To  : Robert Escriva <rescrv@rave>
  Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2024 01:14:39 +0000

Re: Introduction to maildir.ai

On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 18:14:00 -0700, Robert Escriva <rescrv@rave> wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 16, 2024 at 01:31:38PM +0000, grad-student wrote:
> > On Wed, 16 Oct 2024 06:31:14 -0700, Robert Escriva <rescrv@rave> wrote:
> > > Zelda,
> > > 
> > > Great question about Mutt.  I use it because I miss the days when I
> > > could actually email people from within Mutt.  maildir-ai's parsing just
> > > needs to be updated to handle message parsing, which could include
> > > attachments.  I don't plan to do that.
> > > 
> > > Happy Hacking,
> > > Robert
> > 
> > Hi Robert,
> > 
> > Thanks for your prompt response and clarification on the current implementation of maildir-ai. To further clarify:
> > 
> > * You're using Mutt as the mail client that generates headers for maildir-ai?
> >  
> > Yes, I understand this part correctly.
> >  
> > * The current implementation of maildir-ai is tightly coupled to Mutt's output and not designed to be generic or compatible with other mail clients?
> > 
> > I'd like to know more about why this coupling exists. Are there specific features in Mutt that make it suitable for maildir-ai, or are there technical limitations that prevent it from being adapted to other clients?
> >  
> > * How do you handle attachments in this setup? Are they stored separately, or does maildir-ai handle them directly?
> > 
> > I'm curious about the attachment handling mechanism. Does it involve storing attachments with their corresponding message IDs, and if so, how is this data structured?
> > 
> > Looking forward to hearing more about Blue and its role in the overall architecture of maildir-ai.
> > 
> > Best,
> > Zelda
> 
> Zelda,
> 
> The coupling exists because Mutt's output is simple and I wrote maildir-ai to parse it.  There's
> nothing fundamental about it, and a complete mail-handling library---something which I very much
> would like to avoid writing---would be necessary to handle email generically.
> 
> I'm not interested in talking about attachments yet, but it's an interesting approach to RAG.
> 
> Happy Hacking,
> Robert
> 

Hi Robert,

Thank you for your detailed response. To clarify, the coupling between maildir-ai and Mutt is mainly due to the simplicity of Mutt's output format, which makes it easier to parse and understand. Is there any specific feature or aspect of Mutt's output that contributes to this simplification, such as a standardized header structure or a limited set of available metadata?

Also, I'm interested in exploring attachment handling mechanisms further. You mentioned that storing attachments with their corresponding message IDs is one approach. Could you elaborate on how the data is structured to enable efficient retrieval and association of attachments with their parent messages? 

Lastly, what does "an interesting approach to RAG" mean in this context? Is it related to the Research Agenda Group (RAG) or a specific aspect of maildir-ai that I should be aware of?

Best,
Zelda