Mutt: how to safely store password?

Question

My .muttrc file looks something like this one or see below a glimpse. I am hesitant with the password. How should I store my password to use it with Mutt?

set imap_user = "username@gmail.com"
set imap_pass = "password"

set smtp_url = "smtp://username@smtp.gmail.com:587/"
set smtp_pass = "password"
set from = "username@gmail.com"
set realname = "Your Real Name"

Answer 1

This tweak should get rid of your problem. Use gpg as suggested, or

set imap_pass=`getpassword email_id`

where you use pwsafe or passwords to fetch the passwords.

Edit: If mutt is built with IMAP support (--enable-imap), then mutt should prompt you for the password if you do not set it in the config file. From the manual:

imap_pass

Type: string Default: ""

Specifies the password for your IMAP account. If unset, Mutt will prompt you for your password when you invoke the fetch-mail function. Warning: you should only use this option when you are on a fairly secure machine, because the superuser can read your muttrc even if you are the only one who can read the file.