Patterns

Patterns trigger automatic actions when emails match certain criteria. Great for handling recurring noise.

Pattern Structure

{
  "id": "billing-receipts",
  "name": "Billing Receipts",
  "match_sender": "(stripe|paypal|aws)@",
  "match_subject": "(receipt|payment|invoice)",
  "match_body": null,
  "account_id": null,
  "suggested_action": "move:billing",
  "suggested_cc": null,
  "priority": "low",
  "auto_apply": true,
  "tags": ["billing", "noise"]
}

Field Reference

Field	Required	Description
`id`	Yes	Unique identifier for the pattern
`name`	Yes	Human-readable description
`match_sender`	No	Regex pattern for From address
`match_subject`	No	Regex pattern for Subject line
`match_body`	No	Regex pattern for email body
`match_all`	No	If true, ALL conditions must match. If false, ANY triggers. Default: false
`account_id`	No	Limit to specific account (null = all)
`suggested_action`	Yes	What to do when matched
`suggested_cc`	No	Email addresses to CC
`priority`	No	Priority level: high, normal, low
`auto_apply`	Yes	Apply automatically or suggest only
`tags`	No	Tags for categorization

Matching Rules

Patterns use regex. All matches are case-insensitive by default. At least one match field (match_sender, match_subject, or match_body) should be specified.

Available Actions

Action	Description
`move:folder`	Move to specified folder
`archive`	Archive the email
`use_template:name`	Suggest a template response
`delegate:email`	CC someone
`priority:high`	Mark as high priority

Auto Apply

When auto_apply is true, the action happens automatically in Phase 3. When false, the AI suggests the action but waits for approval.

Be Careful

Only set auto_apply: true for patterns you're confident about. Start with false and move to true after the pattern proves reliable.

Example Patterns

Billing Noise

{
  "id": "billing-receipts",
  "name": "Billing Receipts",
  "match_sender": "(stripe|paypal|aws|runware|digitalocean)@",
  "suggested_action": "move:billing",
  "auto_apply": true,
  "tags": ["billing", "noise"]
}

Newsletter Archive

{
  "id": "newsletters",
  "name": "Newsletters",
  "match_sender": "(newsletter|digest|noreply)@",
  "match_subject": "(weekly|digest|update)",
  "suggested_action": "archive",
  "auto_apply": true,
  "tags": ["newsletter", "noise"]
}

Card Failure Alert

{
  "id": "card-failure",
  "name": "Card Failure",
  "match_subject": "(failed|declined|expired|update.*card)",
  "suggested_action": "priority:high",
  "priority": "high",
  "auto_apply": false,
  "tags": ["urgent", "billing"]
}

Support Ticket Template

{
  "id": "techdeals-ticket",
  "name": "TechDeals Ticket",
  "match_sender": "[email protected]",
  "suggested_action": "use_template:techdeals-need-info",
  "suggested_cc": ["[email protected]"],
  "auto_apply": false,
  "tags": ["support", "techdeals"]
}

File Location

~/.config/pontius/knowledge/patterns/patterns.json