Some inbox rules are sometimes ignored

[realpixelcode]

• This is not a feature request (existing functionality does not work, not missing functionality).
  I will request features on forum or via support.
• I've searched and did not find a similar issue.

Describe the bug

Some inbox rules that are supposed to automatically move certain e-mails into certain folders don't work sometimes.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Create an inbox rule.
2. Receive various e-mails that match the inbox rule.
3. Think that you forgot to add an inbox rule and create the inbox rule again.
4. Be told by Tuta that the new inbox rule already exists.

Sometimes, matching e-mails are kept in the inbox and are not moved into any folder. This has happened with many inbox rules, not just one single rule. This behaviour has been occurring increasingly often in February 2025.

For example, I had already created an inbox rule for e-mails from my domain registrar inwx.de, which is supposed to move all e-mails from inwx.de into the INWX folder. Recently, however, I received an e-mail from no-reply@inwx.de which Tuta kept in the inbox and didn't move into the INWX folder. When I attempted to re-create that rule, Tuta told me that it already exists.

However, it is not the case that those dysfunctional inbox rules always fail – instead, they only fail sometimes. Many other inbox rules always work fine.

Expected behavior

All e-mails that match the inbox rule should always be moved into the correct folder.

Screenshots

Bildschirmaufzeichnung.vom.2025-02-16.11-46-59.webm

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: Zorin 17.2 Core
• Desktop Environment: Gnome 43
• Tuta version: v267.250206.0 (and previous ones)

Additional context

none

[hrb-hub]

Hey @realpixelcode , Could you please check if you have any other inbox rules that might be conflicting with the one in question.

Inbox rules are applied in order and if a mail matches a rule the rest would not apply. Say for example I were to create two inbox rules:

1. All mails from noreply@example.com are kept in inbox.
2. All mails from example.com are moved to archive.

This would translate to all mails from example.com being moved to archive but mails from noreply@example.com would stay in inbox. Note that this only happens because the noreply@example.com is on top.

[realpixelcode]

INWX inbox rule

• There is no other other inbox rule for the domain inwx.de or for the e-mail address no-reply@inwx.de (neither as the sender nor as the recipient).
• None of the “header contains” rules matches the e-mail.
• There is no rule with the inbox as the destination folder.

Today, I received another e-mail from no-reply@inwx.de, and this time, the inbox rule worked fine.

Nextcloud inbox rule

Here's another example for a rule that doesn't work reliably:

Field	Value	Target folder
Header contains	Example Cloud webmaster@example.com	Nextcloud

It is supposed to automatically move e-mails sent from my Nextcloud to the Nextcloud folder. It had worked fine with countless e-mails until 25 February, but it suddenly did not work with the most recent e-mail on 26 February which contains the following string in its headers:

From: Example Cloud <webmaster@example.com>

• I did not create any new inbox rules in the meantime.
• There is no other other inbox rule for the domain example.com or for the e-mail address webmaster@example.com (neither as the sender nor as the recipient).
• None of the “header contains” rules matches the e-mail.

Messenger inbox rule

For a certain messenger that sends e-mail notifications when I'm AFK, there's the rule:

Field	Value	Target folder
From/Sender	notifications@messenger.example	Messenger

It had worked fine with more than 100 e-mails but yesterday, it failed to move an e-mail from notifications@messenger.example to the Messenger folder. That inbox rule is the 8th from the top, and none of the ones above it match the e-mail.

Other inbox rules

There are many other inbox rules that sometimes work and sometimes not; it's a systematic issue and not limited to just certain rules.

Speculations

• Maybe having too many inbox rules is a problem? Currently, I have 203.
• Maybe a specific rule cannot be parsed/applied, and then Tuta doesn't consider the remaining rules?
• Maybe different Tuta clients handle inbox rules differently? For example, I wouldn't be completely surprised if the inbox-rule mechanism worked fine in the desktop app and in the browser but not in the Android app. The inconsistency regarding the fact that the same inbox rule sometimes works and sometimes not would then be caused by the fact that different e-mails may be first received by different devices.

[hrb-hub]

Thank you for clarifying. Yeah this does sound like a bug, though we'll need to investigate to know more.

[realpixelcode]

By the way, I find it kinda counterproductive that new inbox rules are always appended (instead of prepended) to the list of inbox rules, which means new rules always get the lowest priority. Considering myself a representative example, I would argue that more inbox rules are added in order to override existing ones than to serve as a fallback for existing ones.

Also, I believe it should be communicated to the user directly within the UI that inbox rules at the top have a higher priority than at the bottom. (Few users will actively consult the FAQ to find this out.)

[hrb-hub]

Whether new rules should be placed at the top or bottom is a question of preference imo. One could argue that the new rule should by default move mails that weren't moved by the previously added rules.
But you make a valid point when it comes to communicating rule priority though.

[charlag]

The only case for me when inbox rules did not work is when I open the email from notification and it's marked as read too early which is something we should definitely address but also generally inbox rules need some rework.

[realpixelcode]

when I open the email from notification and it's marked as read too early

On a specific operating system only or on all?

[charlag]

In mobile apps

[starlingfire]

The only case for me when inbox rules did not work is when I open the email from notification and it's marked as read too early which is something we should definitely address but also generally inbox rules need some rework.

This has been my experience as well on Android. If I clear notifications and then open the app, I can see the messages move out of the inbox in realtime (which is a bit annoying, as I wish it happened when the email was received), but they do move. If I open the email from the notification, it doesn't get processed by the rules.