Mailsweep

A command-line tool for cleaning up your Outlook/Microsoft 365 inbox using customizable rules.

Features

• Authenticate with Microsoft Graph API using device code flow
• Define rules to process emails based on sender and/or subject patterns
• Actions include: archiving, deleting, or marking as read
• Interactive confirmation before applying changes
• Batch processing for better performance
• Cross-platform: works on Windows, macOS, and Linux

Installation

Download pre-built binaries

The easiest way to install Mailsweep is to download the pre-built binaries from the latest release page.

Choose the appropriate binary for your platform:

• Windows: mailsweep-windows-amd64.exe
• macOS (Intel): mailsweep-macos-amd64
• macOS (Apple Silicon): mailsweep-macos-arm64
• Linux: mailsweep-linux-amd64

After downloading, you may need to make the binary executable on macOS/Linux:

chmod +x mailsweep-macos-arm64

Build from source

If you prefer to build from source, you'll need Rust installed:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/mortenscheel/mailsweep.git
cd mailsweep

# Build and install
cargo install --path .

Quick Start

1. Authenticate with your Microsoft account:

   mailsweep auth login

   Follow the instructions to complete the authentication flow.

2. Create your first rule:

   # Add a rule to archive newsletters
   mailsweep rules add --name "Archive newsletters" --action archive --sender "newsletter" --sender "updates"

3. Process your inbox:

   mailsweep clean

   Review the matches and confirm to apply the actions.

Configuration

Mailsweep stores rules and tokens in your user configuration directory:

• Linux/macOS: ~/.config/mailsweep/
• Windows: %APPDATA%\mailsweep\

The rules file is stored as YAML in rules.yaml.

Example Rules File

# Archive emails from newsletters
- name: Archive newsletters
  sender_contains:
    - newsletter
    - updates
  action: archive

# Delete promotional emails
- name: Delete promotions
  subject_contains:
    - discount
    - sale
    - offer
  action: delete

# Archive tech updates from company domain (requires both to match)
- name: Archive tech updates
  sender_contains:
    - @company.com
  subject_contains:
    - tech update
    - technology news
  action: archive

Rules Behavior

• Each rule must have at least one pattern for sender or subject (or both)
• Patterns are matched case-insensitively using a "contains" strategy
• If both sender_contains and subject_contains are specified, a message must match at least one pattern from each for the rule to apply
• The first matching rule determines the action to take on a message
• Rules are processed in the order they appear in the file

Command Reference

Authentication Commands

# Start authentication flow with Microsoft Graph
mailsweep auth login

# Check if you're authenticated and view account info
mailsweep auth status

# Log out and remove stored tokens
mailsweep auth logout

Rules Management

# Display all current rules
mailsweep rules show

# Open rules in your default editor
mailsweep rules edit

# Get the path to your rules file
mailsweep rules path

# Validate your rules for errors
mailsweep rules check

# Reset rules to default (with confirmation)
mailsweep rules reset

# Reset without confirmation prompt
mailsweep rules reset --force

Adding Rules via Command Line

The rules add command lets you create rules without editing the YAML file directly:

# Basic usage
mailsweep rules add --name "Rule name" --action <action> [--sender <pattern>...] [--subject <pattern>...]

# Available actions
# - archive
# - delete
# - mark_read (or markread)

# Examples:
# Archive newsletters
mailsweep rules add --name "Archive newsletters" --action archive --sender "newsletter" --sender "updates"

# Delete promotions
mailsweep rules add --name "Delete promotions" --action delete --subject "discount" --subject "sale"

# Mark as read (with both sender and subject patterns)
mailsweep rules add --name "Mark company announcements" --action mark_read --sender "@company.com" --subject "announcement"

You can specify multiple --sender and --subject patterns. Each parameter adds one pattern to the list.

Processing Inbox

# Process inbox with interactive confirmation
mailsweep clean

# Process inbox with a specific number of messages per page
# (Pagination still applies to fetch all messages)
mailsweep clean --max-messages 50

# Process inbox without confirmation prompt (for automation)
mailsweep clean --yes

Typical Workflow

1. Setup (first time only):

   mailsweep auth login

2. Create Rules (either using the editor or command line):

   # Edit rules in your editor
   mailsweep rules edit
   
   # Or add rules via command line
   mailsweep rules add --name "Archive newsletters" --action archive --sender "newsletter"

3. Validate Rules:

   mailsweep rules check

4. Process Inbox:

   mailsweep clean

5. Review and Confirm:

   • Mailsweep will display matching messages with their actions
   • Confirm to proceed or cancel to make changes

Editor Integration

The rules file includes a YAML header with a schema reference for enhanced editing features:

# yaml-language-server: $schema=/path/to/your/config/dir/rules.schema.json

For VS Code users:

• Install the "YAML" extension by Red Hat
• Open your rules file (mailsweep rules edit)
• The editor will provide auto-completion, validation, and documentation

Troubleshooting

Authentication Issues

• If you encounter authentication errors, try mailsweep auth logout followed by mailsweep auth login
• Check your account permissions for mail access

No Messages Processed

• Verify your rules with mailsweep rules check
• Ensure that your rules match the expected email patterns
• Check that you have messages matching your rule criteria

Command Not Found

• Ensure that the binary is in your PATH
• For Windows users, you may need to use mailsweep.exe instead of mailsweep

License

MIT