User Guide
Main interface
BrisaMail uses a 3-pane layout:
- Left sidebar: Accounts and folders
- Center panel: Message list
- Right panel: Reading view of the selected message
Panels are resizable by dragging the edges.
Account management
Add an account
- Click the + button in the sidebar
- Fill in the details: name, email address, and password
- Configure IMAP/POP3 and SMTP servers (or use auto-detection)
- Click Test Connection to verify
- Save the account
Account settings
Access each account's settings with 7 tabs:
- General: Name and address
- Servers: IMAP/POP3 and SMTP
- Folders: Visibility and roles
- Signature: Formatted signature editor
- Sync: Intervals and options
- Security: Protection options
- Notifications: New email alerts
Composing emails
- Ctrl+N: New email
- Ctrl+Enter: Send
- Ctrl+Shift+R: Reply all
The editor supports rich text formatting, attachments, and automatic signatures.
Search
Use the search bar at the top to search emails by content, sender, subject, or any text. Results appear instantly thanks to the full-text search engine.
Command Palette
Press Ctrl+K to open the command palette. From there you can:
- Quickly navigate to any folder or account
- Compose a new email, reply, or forward
- Execute actions on the selected message
- Change the visual theme, font, or light/dark mode
- Open settings, sync accounts, create filters, and more
Kanban Planner
BrisaMail includes a visual planner with Kanban boards. Access the Planner module from the navigation sidebar.
Create a board
- In the planner sidebar, click +
- Enter a name for the board
- Optionally, select a pre-built template:
- Simple: To Do, In Progress, Done — ideal for getting started quickly
- Personal GTD: Getting Things Done methodology
- Email Workflow: Classify and manage emails with automatic actions
- Sales Pipeline: Track leads and deals
- Content Calendar: Plan your content creation
- Bug Tracker: Manage software bugs and issues
- Click Create
Templates are created with column and label names translated to the active application language.
Getting started with your board
When you create your first board, a guide appears showing two ways to add cards:
- Create tasks manually: Click "Add a card" at the bottom of any column
- From an email: In the mail view, click "Add to Board" in the message header
This guide can be dismissed and won't appear again.
Card management
- Click + Add card at the bottom of any column to create a card
- Drag cards between columns to move them
- Click a card to open its detail: edit title, description, priority, due date, labels, and checklists
Email cards
From the mail view, use the Add to Board button in the message header to convert an email into a card. The card maintains a link to the original email and can open the message directly from the board.
Columns and automation
- Add columns with the + button at the end of the board
- Set WIP (work-in-progress) limits to control workflow
- Assign automatic actions to columns (mark as read, archive, mark as completed, etc.)
- Configure auto-archiving per column: completed cards are automatically archived after the specified number of days
Completed cards and archiving
Cards follow a lifecycle: Active → Completed → Archived → Deleted.
- When a card is marked as completed (e.g., by moving it to a column with "Mark as completed" action), a green visual indicator appears
- Archive manually: From a column's menu, select "Archive completed" to archive all completed cards in that column
- Auto-archiving: In column settings, set "Auto-archive after (days)" to automatically archive completed cards after a period
- View archived cards: Use the "Archived cards" button in the board toolbar to view, restore, or permanently delete archived cards
- Archive/restore boards: From the board menu you can archive it. Archived boards appear in the sidebar with restore or delete options
Planner settings
Access planner settings from the board menu (⋯ icon → Planner settings):
- Delete archived cards after (days): Archived cards are permanently deleted after this period (default: 15 days, 0 = never)
- Delete archived boards after (days): Archived boards are permanently deleted after this period (default: 30 days, 0 = never)
Filters and statistics
- Use the filter button in the board toolbar to filter cards by label, priority, type, or overdue status
- Switch to the Stats view to see board progress, distribution by column, and priority breakdown
Keyboard shortcuts
Press ? at any time to see the full shortcut reference.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
Ctrl+K | Command palette |
J / ↓ | Next message |
K / ↑ | Previous message |
S | Toggle star |
Delete | Delete message |
Ctrl+N | New email |
Ctrl+Enter | Send email |
Ctrl+Shift+R | Reply all |
Ctrl+Shift+F | Create filter from message |
Ctrl+F | Search |
Esc | Close search / Clear selection |
Ctrl+Q | Quit |
? | Show keyboard shortcuts |