Mail rules

Rules are per-mailbox governance: they file mail into folders, tag it, bundle low-signal senders, and — on agent desks — hold outbound replies for a guardian's signature. You write them in plain English; Cohort compiles them to an explicit policy you can read before saving.

Create a rule

1. Open Rules on the right desk

   Rules are scoped to one mailbox. Pick the account in the Inbox rail, then open its Rules entry.

2. Press New rule

   Name it, then describe what you want in plain English — for example "file invoices and receipts into Finance" or "hold any reply that quotes a price".

3. Check the compiled policy

   The dialog shows a live preview of the policy your sentence compiles to. What you read there is exactly what will run — the server recompiles the same way on save.

4. Save

   The rule appears as a card with its description, a mono action chip, and an on/off switch. New mail is evaluated against enabled rules in creation order.

Rule-based folders

New rule-based folder creates the folder and its filing rule in one step — the folder appears in the rail, and threads it files carry a FILED BY chip naming the rule. Renaming the folder later doesn't break the rule.

What rules can do

| Effect | Where you see it | | --- | --- | | File into a folder | The thread moves; its row shows FILED BY the rule | | Tag | Auto tags appear in the rail's tag group | | Bundle | Low-signal mail is folded into a digest bundle — bundled threads never light badges or ping | | Hold outbound | Agent-desk sends stop in Approvals for a guardian signature (see Shared mailboxes & agent mail) |

Audit what a rule did

The rules page ends with the rule activity feed — each entry names the rule and what it did, including holds ("Held an outbound draft — …" with the policy line it cited). Manual triage uses the same verbs rules use, so you can always correct a rule's priority, category, or tags directly on the thread.