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Frederick Zhang edited this page Nov 26, 2025 · 16 revisions

Installation

Note: If you use any containerisation / sandboxing technology, such as flatpak, firejail, snap, bubblewrap, etc., please search in / post to Discussions instead of filing an issue!

Arch Linux: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/external-editor-revived. Restart Thunderbird and jump to Configuration.

Others: Please read the instructions below. (You can also try your luck in Discussions.)

Please post to Discussions if you've created a package! Thank you!

Installing the MailExtension

External Editor Revived is available from https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-GB/thunderbird/addon/external-editor-revived/.

Alternatively you can find the latest releases at Releases.

Download the external-editor-revived-vX.Y.Z.xpi file and in Thunderbird, navigate to Add-ons and Themes -> Extensions, click on the gear icon in the top-right corner, then choose Install Add-on From File.

Installing the Native Messaging Host

Download ubuntu-latest-gnu-native-messaging-host-vX.Y.Z.zip (alternatively ubuntu-latest-musl-native-messaging-host-vX.Y.Z.zip if the GNU one doesn't work for you) from Releases, then

$ unzip ./ubuntu-latest-gnu-native-messaging-host-vX.Y.Z.zip
$ chmod +x ./external-editor-revived
$ mv ./external-editor-revived ~/.local/bin/  # or /usr/local/bin/

The binary will create its own manifest file. You can set it up with the commands below:

$ mkdir -p "$HOME/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts"
$ external-editor-revived | tee "$HOME/.mozilla/native-messaging-hosts/external_editor_revived.json"
Please create 'external_editor_revived.json' manifest file with the JSON below.
Consult https://wiki.mozilla.org/WebExtensions/Native_Messaging for its location.

{
  "name": "external_editor_revived",
  "description": "Edit emails in external editors such as Vim",
  "path": "/path/to/external-editor-revived",
  "type": "stdio",
  "allowed_extensions": [
    "external-editor-revived@tsundere.moe"
  ]
}

Configuration

External Editor Revived must be configured first, even if you'd like to use the default settings.

In Thunderbird, navigate to Add-ons and Themes -> Extensions, click on the wrench button of External Editor Revived, select your favourite editor and terminal then click on Apply.

Alternatively you can also select Custom in the Editor drop-down menu and configure everything yourself. Note /path/to/temp.eml in the template will be directly replaced by actual temporary file paths so you must keep it intact.

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