6.9.11 Agent Variables

gnus-agent

Is the agent enabled? The default is t. When first enabled, the agent will use gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods to automatically mark some back ends as agentized. You may change which back ends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.

To enter the server buffer, use the ^ (gnus-group-enter-server-mode) command in the group buffer.

gnus-agent-directory

Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is ~/News/agent/.

gnus-agent-handle-level

Groups on levels (see Group Levels) higher than this variable will be ignored by the Agent. The default is gnus-level-subscribed, which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent by default.

gnus-agent-plugged-hook

Hook run when connecting to the network.

gnus-agent-unplugged-hook

Hook run when disconnecting from the network.

gnus-agent-fetched-hook

Hook run when finished fetching articles.

gnus-agent-cache

Variable to control whether use the locally stored NOV and articles when plugged, e.g., essentially using the Agent as a cache. The default is non-nil, which means to use the Agent as a cache.

gnus-agent-go-online

If gnus-agent-go-online is nil, the Agent will never automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is ask, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into online status.

gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded

If gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded is non-nil, mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been read. The default is t.

gnus-agent-synchronize-flags

If gnus-agent-synchronize-flags is nil, the Agent will never automatically synchronize flags. If it is ask, which is the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.

gnus-agent-consider-all-articles

If gnus-agent-consider-all-articles is non-nil, the agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be downloaded or not, for all articles. When nil, the default, the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look into the agent expiry settings (see Category Variables), so that the agent doesn’t download articles which the agent will later expire, over and over again.

gnus-agent-max-fetch-size

The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size, the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles have been fetched. gnus-agent-max-fetch-size provides a size limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run gnus-agent-regenerate-group to update the group’s state. However, all articles parsed prior to losing the connection will be available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to see any cycling.

gnus-server-unopen-status

Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the Agent is enabled, the default, nil, makes Gnus ask the user whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices for this variable include denied and offline the latter is only valid if the Agent is used.

gnus-auto-goto-ignores

Another variable that isn’t an Agent variable, yet so closely related that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.

The valid values are nil (maneuver to any article), undownloaded (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that have not been fetched), always-undownloaded (maneuvering always ignores articles that have not been fetched), unfetched (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).

gnus-agent-queue-mail

When gnus-agent-queue-mail is always, Gnus will always queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When t, Gnus will queue mail when unplugged only. When nil, never queue mail. The default is t.

gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue

When gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue is non-nil Gnus will prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit J S while unplugged. The default is nil.

gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods

If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if ~/News/agent/lib/servers does not exist), Gnus will automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control which back ends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful to agentize remote back ends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect as running J a on the servers (see Server Agent Commands). If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you start Gnus. The default is ‘nil’.