Feature Request: Rule-based email archiving, folder structure and backups #59

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MrUnknownDE · 2026-04-05T16:16:19+02:00

MrUnknownDE commented

2026-04-05 16:16:19 +02:00

Originally created by @crammaster on 1/17/2026

OpenArchiver is a great idea to archive emails while keeping full data ownership, without the need to run a full mail server.
However, at the moment there is no way to control which emails are archived and which are not.

All emails are treated equally, although in practice some emails are far more important than others (e.g. invoices vs. spam or notifications).
Additionally, archived emails cannot be organized in a meaningful folder structure, and there is no integrated way to back up archived data and configuration.

This limits OpenArchiver’s usefulness as a long-term email archive.

Describe the solution you'd like

1. Rule-based archiving

Introduce a dedicated Rules section, separate from Mail Accounts.

Mail Accounts -> Used to configure IMAP access and load the folder structure of the mailbox.
Rules -> Define which emails should be archived.

When creating a rule, OpenArchiver could load the folder structure of the selected mailbox to allow easy selection.

Example:
A mail account called “Private Mails” contains the folders:

Inbox
Sent
Spam
Trash
Amazon (automatically sorted emails from @amazon.com)

A rule could specify that only emails from the folder “Amazon” should be archived.

Additional rule options could include:

Archive timing: immediately after receiving the mail or delayed (e.g. 1 hour, 12 hours, 24 hours, 7 days)
Optional deletion of the email from the mailbox after successful archiving

2. Folder structure inside OpenArchiver

It would be very useful if OpenArchiver supported an internal folder structure for archived emails.

Based on the example above:

All emails from the mailbox folder “Amazon” are archived
Emails from rechnung@amazon.com or with subject containing “Rechnung” are stored in:
Amazon/Rechnung inside OpenArchiver

This would allow better organization of archived emails and make retrieval easier.
As with the rules above, an optional setting to delete the email from the mailbox after archiving would be useful here as well.

3. Integrated backup functionality

OpenArchiver acts as a long-term archive and implicitly also as a backup of emails.
Therefore, an integrated backup function would be very helpful.

The backup could run at configurable intervals and include:

archived emails
archiving rules
mail accounts (optionally without passwords)
users and roles

The backup could:

be stored locally or on a cloud storage
be compressed (e.g. ZIP)
be encrypted with a user-defined password

Describe alternatives you've considered

Archiving all emails without rules and organizing them manually
Using mailbox-side filters only
Using external backup tools on the OpenArchiver data directory

These approaches either lack flexibility, are error-prone, or do not cover application-level configuration such as rules and users.

Additional context

The goal of these features is to make OpenArchiver more flexible as a long-term email archive while keeping full data ownership and minimizing manual effort.

*Originally created by @crammaster on 1/17/2026* ### **Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.** OpenArchiver is a great idea to archive emails while keeping full data ownership, without the need to run a full mail server. However, at the moment there is no way to control which emails are archived and which are not. All emails are treated equally, although in practice some emails are far more important than others (e.g. invoices vs. spam or notifications). Additionally, archived emails cannot be organized in a meaningful folder structure, and there is no integrated way to back up archived data and configuration. This limits OpenArchiver’s usefulness as a long-term email archive. ### **Describe the solution you'd like** **1. Rule-based archiving** Introduce a dedicated Rules section, separate from Mail Accounts. Mail Accounts -> Used to configure IMAP access and load the folder structure of the mailbox. Rules -> Define which emails should be archived. When creating a rule, OpenArchiver could load the folder structure of the selected mailbox to allow easy selection. Example: A mail account called “Private Mails” contains the folders: - Inbox - Sent - Spam - Trash - Amazon (automatically sorted emails from @amazon.com) A rule could specify that only emails from the folder “Amazon” should be archived. Additional rule options could include: - Archive timing: immediately after receiving the mail or delayed (e.g. 1 hour, 12 hours, 24 hours, 7 days) - Optional deletion of the email from the mailbox after successful archiving **2. Folder structure inside OpenArchiver** It would be very useful if OpenArchiver supported an internal folder structure for archived emails. Based on the example above: - All emails from the mailbox folder “Amazon” are archived - Emails from rechnung@amazon.com or with subject containing “Rechnung” are stored in: - Amazon/Rechnung inside OpenArchiver This would allow better organization of archived emails and make retrieval easier. As with the rules above, an optional setting to delete the email from the mailbox after archiving would be useful here as well. **3. Integrated backup functionality** OpenArchiver acts as a long-term archive and implicitly also as a backup of emails. Therefore, an integrated backup function would be very helpful. The backup could run at configurable intervals and include: - archived emails - archiving rules - mail accounts (optionally without passwords) - users and roles The backup could: - be stored locally or on a cloud storage - be compressed (e.g. ZIP) - be encrypted with a user-defined password ### **Describe alternatives you've considered** - Archiving all emails without rules and organizing them manually - Using mailbox-side filters only - Using external backup tools on the OpenArchiver data directory These approaches either lack flexibility, are error-prone, or do not cover application-level configuration such as rules and users. ### **Additional context** The goal of these features is to make OpenArchiver more flexible as a long-term email archive while keeping full data ownership and minimizing manual effort.

MrUnknownDE added the enhancement enhancement enhancement enhancement enhancement enhancement enhancement enhancement enhancement enhancement enhancement enhancement labels 2026-04-05 16:16:20 +02:00

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Reference: github/OpenArchiver#59