SIEVE-FILTER(1) Dovecot SIEVE-FILTER(1)
NAME
sieve-filter - Pigeonhole's Sieve mailbox filter tool
This tool is still experimental. Read this manual carefully, and backup
any important mail before using this tool. Also note that some of the
features documented here are not actually implemented yet; this is
clearly indicated where applicable.
SYNOPSIS
sieve-filter [options] script-file source-mailbox [discard-action]
DESCRIPTION
The sieve-filter command is part of Pigeonhole (pigeonhole(7)), which
adds Sieve (RFC 5228) and ManageSieve (RFC 5804) support to Dovecot
(dovecot(1)).
The Sieve language was originally meant for filtering messages upon
delivery. However, there are occasions when it is desirable to filter
messages that are already stored in a mailbox, for instance when a bug
in a Sieve script caused many messages to be delivered incorrectly.
Using the sieve-filter tool it is possible to apply a Sieve script on
all messages in a particular source-mailbox, making it possible to
delete messages, to store them in a different mailbox, to change their
content, and to change the assigned IMAP flags and keywords. Attempts
to send messages to the outside world are ignored by default for obvi-
ous reasons, but, using the proper command line options, it is possible
to capture and handle outgoing mail as well.
If no options are specified, the sieve-filter command runs in a simula-
tion mode in which it only prints what would be performed, without
actually doing anything. Use the -e option to activate true script exe-
cution. Also, the source-mailbox is opened read-only by default, mean-
ing that it normally always remains unchanged. Use the -W option to
allow changes in the source-mailbox.
Even with the -W option enabled, messages in the source-mailbox are
only potentially modified or moved to a different folder. Messages are
never lost unless a discard-action argument other than keep (the
default) is specified. If the Sieve filter decides to store the message
in the source-mailbox, where it obviously already exists, it is never
duplicated there. In that case, the IMAP flags of the original message
can be modified by the Sieve interpreter using the imap4flags exten-
sion, provided that -W is specified. If the message itself is modified
by the Sieve interpreter (e.g. using the editheader extension), a new
message is stored and the old one is expunged. However, if -W is omit-
ted, the original message is left untouched and the modifications are
discarded.
CAUTION
Although this is a very useful tool, it can also be very destructive
when used improperly. A small bug in your Sieve script in combination
with the wrong command line options could cause it to discard the wrong
e-mails. And, even if the source-mailbox is opened in read-only mode to
prevent such mishaps, it can still litter other mailboxes with spurious
copies of your e-mails if your Sieve script decides to do so. There-
fore, users are advised to read this manual carefully and to use the
simulation mode first to check what the script will do. And, of course:
MAKING A BACKUP IS IMPERATIVE FOR ANY IMPORTANT MAIL!
OPTIONS
-c config-file
Alternative Dovecot configuration file path.
-C
Force compilation. By default, the compiled binary is stored on
disk. When this binary is found during the next execution of sieve-
filter and its modification time is more recent than the script
file, it is used and the script is not compiled again. This option
forces the script to be compiled, thus ignoring any present binary.
Refer to sievec(1) for more information about Sieve compilation.
-d dump-file
Causes a dump of the generated code to be written to the specified
file. This is identical to the dump produced by sieve-dump(1).
Using '-' as filename causes the dump to be written to stdout.
-D
Enable Sieve debugging.
-e
Turns on execution mode. By default, the sieve-filter command runs
in simulation mode in which it changes nothing, meaning that no
mailbox is altered in any way and no actions are performed. It only
prints what would be done. Using this option, the sieve-filter com-
mand becomes active and performs the requested actions.
-m default-mailbox
The mailbox where the (implicit) keep Sieve action stores messages.
This is equal to the source-mailbox by default. Specifying a dif-
ferent folder will have the effect of moving (or copying if -W is
omitted) all kept messages to the indicated folder, instead of just
leaving them in the source-mailbox. Refer to the explanation of the
source-mailbox argument for more information on mailbox naming.
-o setting=value
Overrides the configuration setting from /etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
and from the userdb with the given value. In order to override mul-
tiple settings, the -o option may be specified multiple times.
-q output-mailbox [not implemented yet]
Store outgoing e-mail into the indicated output-mailbox. By
default, the sieve-filter command ignores Sieve actions such as re-
direct, reject, vacation and notify, but using this option outgoing
messages can be appended to the indicated mailbox. This option has
no effect in simulation mode. Flags of redirected messages are not
preserved.
-Q mail-command [not implemented yet]
Send outgoing e-mail (e.g. as produced by redirect, reject and
vacation) through the specified program. By default, the sieve-fil-
ter command ignores Sieve actions such as redirect, reject, vaca-
tion and notify, but using this option outgoing messages can be fed
to the stdin of an external shell command. This option has no
effect in simulation mode. Unless you really know what you are
doing, DO NOT USE THIS TO FEED MAIL TO SENDMAIL!.
-s script-file [not implemented yet]
Specify additional scripts to be executed before the main script.
Multiple -s arguments are allowed and the specified scripts are
executed sequentially in the order specified at the command line.
-u user/mask
Run the command only for the given user. It's also possible to use
'*' and '?' wildcards (e.g. -u *@example.org).
-v
Produce verbose output during filtering.
-W
Enables write access to the source-mailbox. This allows (re)moving
the messages from the source-mailbox, changing their contents, and
changing the assigned IMAP flags and keywords.
-x auth_info
auth_info specifies additional conditions for the user command. The
auth_info option string has to be given as name = value pair. For
multiple conditions the -x option could be supplied multiple times.
Possible names for the auth_info are:
service
The service for which the userdb lookup should be tested. The
value may be the name of a service, commonly used with Dovecot.
For example: imap, pop3 or smtp.
session
Session identifier.
lip
The local IP address (server) for the test.
rip
The remote IP address (client) for the test.
lport
The local port, e.g. 143
rport
The remote port, e.g. 24567
real_lip
The local IP to which the client connected on this host.
real_rip
The remote IP where client connected from to this host.
real_lport
The local port to which client connected to to this host.
real_rport
The remote port from where the client connected from to this host.
forward_<field>
Field to forward as %{forward:field} to auth process.
ARGUMENTS
script-file
Specifies the Sieve script to (compile and) execute.
Note that this tool looks for a pre-compiled binary file with a
.svbin extension and with basename and path identical to the speci-
fied script. Use the -C option to disable this behavior by forcing
the script to be compiled into a new binary.
source-mailbox
Specifies the source mailbox containing the messages that the Sieve
filter will act upon.
This is the name of a mailbox, as visible to IMAP clients, except
in UTF-8 format. The hierarchy separator between a parent and child
mailbox is commonly '/' or '.', but this depends on your selected
mailbox storage format and namespace configuration. The mailbox
names may also require a namespace prefix.
This mailbox is not modified unless the -W option is specified.
discard-action
Specifies what is done with messages in the source-mailbox that
where not kept or otherwise stored by the Sieve script; i.e. those
messages that would normally be discarded if the Sieve script were
executed at delivery. The discard-action parameter accepts one of
the following values:
keep (default) : Keep discarded messages in source mailbox.
move mailbox : Move discarded messages to the indicated mailbox.
This is for instance useful to move messages to a Trash mailbox.
Refer to the explanation of the source-mailbox argument for more
information on mailbox naming.
delete : Flag discarded messages as \DELETED.
expunge : Expunge discarded messages, meaning that these are
removed irreversibly when the tool finishes filtering.
When the -W option is not specified, the source-mailbox is immutable
and the specified discard-action has no effect. This means that mes-
sages are at most copied to a new location. In contrast, when the -W is
specified, messages that are successfully stored somewhere else by the
Sieve script are always expunged from the source-mailbox, with the
effect that these are thus moved to the new location. This happens
irrespective of the specified discard-action. Remember: only discarded
messages are affected by the specified discard-action.
EXIT STATUS
sieve-filter will exit with one of the following values:
0
Sieve filter applied successfully. (EX_OK, EXIT_SUCCESS)
64
Command line usage error.
65
Data format error or operation is not possible.
67
User does not exist.
68
Input file, address or other resource does not exist.
73
Cannot create output file.
75
There was some temporary error, check logs.
76
Protocol error during remote host connection.
77
Permission error.
78
Configuration error.
127
Unknown error.
FILES
/etc/dovecot/dovecot.conf
Dovecot's main configuration file.
/etc/dovecot/conf.d/90-sieve.conf
Sieve interpreter settings (included from Dovecot's main configura-
tion file)
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs, including doveconf -n output, to the Dovecot Mailing List
<dovecot AT dovecot.org>. Information about reporting bugs is available
at: https://dovecot.org/bugreport.html
SEE ALSO
dovecot(1), dovecot-lda(1), sieve-dump(1), sieve-test(1), sievec(1),
pigeonhole(7)
2b97ab9 March 2026 SIEVE-FILTER(1)
Linux-Distributionen
Huschi als Linux-Admin