diff --git a/notmuch/src/lib.rs b/notmuch/src/lib.rs
index cd461e5..7ec60e4 100644
--- a/notmuch/src/lib.rs
+++ b/notmuch/src/lib.rs
@@ -208,9 +208,9 @@
 
 use std::{
     ffi::OsStr,
-    io::{self, BufRead, BufReader, Lines},
+    io::{self},
     path::{Path, PathBuf},
-    process::{Child, ChildStdout, Command, Stdio},
+    process::Command,
 };
 
 use log::info;
@@ -556,14 +556,14 @@ impl Notmuch {
         Ok(res)
     }
 
-    pub fn message_ids(&self, query: &str) -> Result<Lines<BufReader<ChildStdout>>, NotmuchError> {
-        let mut child = self.run_notmuch_pipe(["search", "--output=messages", query])?;
-        Ok(BufReader::new(child.stdout.take().unwrap()).lines())
+    pub fn message_ids(&self, query: &str) -> Result<Vec<String>, NotmuchError> {
+        let res = self.run_notmuch(["search", "--output=messages", "--format=json", query])?;
+        Ok(serde_json::from_slice(&res)?)
     }
 
-    pub fn files(&self, query: &str) -> Result<Lines<BufReader<ChildStdout>>, NotmuchError> {
-        let mut child = self.run_notmuch_pipe(["search", "--output=files", query])?;
-        Ok(BufReader::new(child.stdout.take().unwrap()).lines())
+    pub fn files(&self, query: &str) -> Result<Vec<String>, NotmuchError> {
+        let res = self.run_notmuch(["search", "--output=files", "--format=json", query])?;
+        Ok(serde_json::from_slice(&res)?)
     }
 
     fn run_notmuch<I, S>(&self, args: I) -> Result<Vec<u8>, NotmuchError>
@@ -580,21 +580,6 @@ impl Notmuch {
         let out = cmd.output()?;
         Ok(out.stdout)
     }
-
-    fn run_notmuch_pipe<I, S>(&self, args: I) -> Result<Child, NotmuchError>
-    where
-        I: IntoIterator<Item = S>,
-        S: AsRef<OsStr>,
-    {
-        let mut cmd = Command::new("notmuch");
-        if let Some(config_path) = &self.config_path {
-            cmd.arg("--config").arg(config_path);
-        }
-        cmd.args(args);
-        info!("{:?}", &cmd);
-        let child = cmd.stdout(Stdio::piped()).spawn()?;
-        Ok(child)
-    }
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
diff --git a/server/src/graphql.rs b/server/src/graphql.rs
index cc51cb9..6b7dc9e 100644
--- a/server/src/graphql.rs
+++ b/server/src/graphql.rs
@@ -313,8 +313,6 @@ impl QueryRoot {
             .exists();
         let mut messages = Vec::new();
         for (path, id) in std::iter::zip(nm.files(&thread_id)?, nm.message_ids(&thread_id)?) {
-            let path = path?;
-            let id = id?;
             info!("{id}\nfile: {path}");
             let file = File::open(&path)?;
             let mmap = unsafe { MmapOptions::new().map(&file)? };
@@ -481,6 +479,9 @@ fn extract_related(m: &ParsedMail) -> Result<Body, Error> {
     Err("extract_related".into())
 }
 
+// TODO(wathiede): make this walk_attachments that takes a closure.
+// Then implement one closure for building `Attachment` and imlement another that can be used to
+// get the bytes for serving attachments of HTTP
 fn extract_attachments(m: &ParsedMail) -> Result<Vec<Attachment>, Error> {
     let mut attachements = Vec::new();
     for sp in &m.subparts {