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Create Your First Rule

A rule is a simple instruction: when an email matches your conditions, do the actions you chose. Let's build one together.

We'll make a classic: automatically label and archive newsletters.

Step 1 — Open the rule builder​

Go to Rules → Create Rule, then choose Rule builder. (Create Rule opens on the AI drafter — handy later, but this walkthrough builds the rule by hand.) You'll see two areas:

  • Conditions — when should this rule run?
  • Actions — what should happen when it does?
Prefer a head start?

Open the Rule Library instead and pick a ready-made template, then tweak it. See Rule Library.

Step 2 — Name it​

Give the rule a clear name like “Archive newsletters.” Good names make a long rule list easy to scan later. A description is optional but helpful.

Step 3 — Add a condition​

Add one condition to start:

From · contains · newsletter

This matches mail from any address containing the word newsletter. You can add more conditions later and combine them with AND / OR / NOT.

→ Every field and operator: Conditions reference

Step 4 — Add actions​

Add two actions, which run in order:

  1. Apply label → Newsletters
  2. Archive

Now matching mail is tagged and moved out of your inbox — but kept and searchable.

→ Every action: Actions reference

Step 5 — Save and enable​

Save the rule and make sure its toggle is on. From now on, when a matching email is processed, MailPrism labels and archives it for you. How often that happens depends on your processing frequency (real-time, hourly, or daily) — see How rules work.

Step 6 — Watch it work​

Open Analytics (or Rule Logs) to see what your rule has done: how many emails it matched and which actions ran. This is your audit trail.

If something isn't matching the way you expect, you can edit the rule, narrow or widen its conditions, or pause it — nothing is permanent.

Helpful next moves​

  • Be specific to start. One condition, one or two actions. Add complexity once it behaves the way you want.
  • Use priority and "stop processing" when you have several rules that could touch the same email. See How rules work.
  • Bring in AI for things keywords can't catch — “is this urgent?”, “is this a cold sales pitch?”. See AI features.
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Want patterns that hold up over time? Read Best practices.