Using TextMate to edit emails in Mail.app

The text editor TextMate comes bundled with an “Edit in TextMate” input manager which allows you to call Textmate as an external editor in Cocoa apps.

If you select the Install “Edit in TextMate”… action located in your TextMate bundle (using the gear menu in the status bar), you will get a full explanation and a button that creates the required symbolic link for you.

Then, when you want to write a reply or compose a new message in Mail.app, just hit the keyboard shortcut and get to work:

When you are done, Command-S saves your work and inserts it in the message:

I have also found this useful when working in other apps. For example, if you are editing a 37Signals Writeboard , Command-Shift-S offers you a quick way to save your work off as a text file on your hard drive.

UPDATE: The TextMate people picked up this post on their own blog and offer some extra nifty tips on how to get the most out of TextMate as an external editor in Mail.

[From the TextMate mailing list and Manual ]

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Tags: Apple Mail, Apple Mail Tips, cocoa, external editor, mail.app, textmate, writeboard

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 26th, 2006 at 10:19 pm and is filed under Apple Mail. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to “Using TextMate to edit emails in Mail.app”

1. Allan Moult says:

   27 April 2006, 3:26 pm at 3:26 pm

   I followed the instructions and got it installed okay. I can see the ‘edit in textmate’ menu item and nothing happens.

   Anyone got an idea about what’s not working?
2. sjk says:

   28 April 2006, 10:56 am at 10:56 am

   Works for me with Safari… I’m typing this text in a TextMate window right now, in fact. I don’t use Mail on this system so I can’t check it there.

   This could certainly influence my decision to buy TM.
3. Wlad says:

   11 October 2006, 1:19 pm at 1:19 pm

   Is there a way to do this from other editors (e.g. emacs?)
4. sjk says:

   11 October 2006, 2:09 pm at 2:09 pm

   If you meant with other editors, TextMate is the only one I’m aware of that can be launched from most Cocoa apps for external editing. And some apps let you select from a limited choice of supported external editors.
5. Tim says:

   11 October 2006, 2:09 pm at 2:09 pm

   Not that I know of. The people I know using emacs tend to be hooked into mutt (or other examples of that kind of thing). But I could be wrong.
6. puts Blog.new(”nonsense”) » Blog Archive » Manning up: TextMate Meets Man Pages says:

   15 March 2008, 12:18 pm at 12:18 pm

   [...] be it for coding, blogging, editing wiki pages (and other Safari-based content), or sometimes even writing e-mail. So, if I can use TextMate to find my way around a man page, that’s an all-around [...]
7. TextMate als Editor im Webbrowser nutzen - admartinator.de says:

   22 March 2008, 6:07 pm at 6:07 pm

   [...] in TextMate” einfügt. Damit kann man nun in Safari sowie in anderen Anwendungen, wie zum Beispiel auch in Mail, TextMate als Editor-“Ersatz” nutzen. Ein Ctrl+⌘E zum Editieren und ein ⌘S und [...]
8. VOIP News » Blog Archive » Crux immissa - edit External says:

   1 July 2008, 2:35 am at 2:35 am

   [...] Hawk Wings » Blog Archive » Using TextMate to edit emails in Mail.app The text editor TextMate comes bundled with an “Edit in TextMate” input manager which allows you to call Textmate as an external editor in Cocoa apps. [...]