How to Create and Manage Inbox Rules

Set up rules to automatically sort, mark, or filter incoming emails based on sender, subject, or other conditions.

List Existing Rules

“Show me my inbox rules”

tool: manage-rules
params:
  action: "list"

For full details on conditions and actions:

tool: manage-rules
params:
  action: "list"
  includeDetails: true

Create a Rule to Sort by Sender

“Create a rule to move GitHub notifications to a GitHub folder”

tool: manage-rules
params:
  action: "create"
  name: "GitHub Notifications"
  fromAddresses: "noreply@github.com"
  moveToFolder: "GitHub"

Create a Rule Based on Subject

“Move emails with ‘invoice’ in the subject to Finance”

tool: manage-rules
params:
  action: "create"
  name: "Invoices"
  containsSubject: "invoice"
  moveToFolder: "Finance"
  markAsRead: true

Create a Rule for Emails with Attachments

tool: manage-rules
params:
  action: "create"
  name: "Attachments to Review"
  hasAttachments: true
  fromAddresses: "reports@company.com"
  moveToFolder: "Reports"

Reorder Rule Priority

Rules execute in sequence order — lower numbers run first. If two rules conflict, the first one wins.

“Make the GitHub rule run first”

tool: manage-rules
params:
  action: "reorder"
  ruleName: "GitHub Notifications"
  sequence: 1

Delete a Rule

“Delete the GitHub Notifications rule”

tool: manage-rules
params:
  action: "delete"
  ruleName: "GitHub Notifications"

You can also delete by ID:

tool: manage-rules
params:
  action: "delete"
  ruleId: "rule-id..."

Parameter Reference

Parameter	What it does	Used with
action	list, create, reorder, or delete	All
includeDetails	Show full conditions/actions	list
name	Rule name	create
fromAddresses	Sender email addresses (comma-separated)	create
containsSubject	Subject must contain this text	create
hasAttachments	Match emails with attachments	create
moveToFolder	Move matching emails to this folder	create
markAsRead	Auto-mark as read	create
isEnabled	Enable rule after creation (default: true)	create
sequence	Execution order — lower runs first (default: 100)	create, reorder
ruleName	Rule name	reorder, delete
ruleId	Rule ID	delete

Tips

• Create the destination folder first with the folders tool before creating a rule that targets it
• Use markAsRead: true for high-volume automated notifications (CI/CD, alerts)
• Rules run server-side — they work even when Outlook isn’t open

Related

• Organise with Folders — create folders for your rules to target
• Manage Focused Inbox — another way to sort important vs unimportant mail
• Tools Reference — manage-rules