Brief overview of Sieve language elements

For convenience, Sieve language elements provides a tabular overview of Sieve language elements, grouped into:

• Control structures,
• Actions,
• Tests,
• Functions,
• Values,
• ADDRESS-PARTS,
• BODY-TRANSFORMS,
• COMPARATORS,
• DATE-PARTS,
• ENVELOPE-PARTS,
• ENVIRONMENT-ITEMS,
• MATCH-TYPES, and
• MIMEOPTS.

Sieve language elements summarizes the basic Sieve language elements (but not the subelements that are standard under an element), plus any supported extension elements and extension subelements. For full descriptions of Sieve language elements, see the referenced RFCs and drafts. In Table of Sieve language elements, arguments/values are shown in italics, optional elements are enclosed in square brackets ([]), choices are enclosed in angle brackets (<>) with the distinct choices separated by the forward slash character (/), default choices are shown in bold type, and optional repetition of an element is indicated with the asterisk character (*).

Sieve language elements

Element syntax
Modifier			Source	Restrictions	Main capability	Description
Modifier					Additional capability
Control structures
{...}			RFC 5228			Block of commands
error string			RFC 5463		require "ihave";	Terminate Sieve script with runtime error
foreverypart [:name string] command-block
			RFC 5703		require "foreverypart";	(New in MS 8.0) Loop through the MIME parts of a message
:name			RFC 5703			Specify a name for this foreverypart loop for reference in enclosed break or continue statements
break [:name string]			RFC 5703			(New in MS 8.0) Break out of a foreverypart loop
:name			RFC 5703			Terminate closest enclosing loop having specified name
continue [:name string]			Private			(New in MS 8.0) Pass control to the bottom of the foreverypart loop
:name			RFC 5703			(New in MS 8.0) Pass control to the bottom of the closest enclosing foreverypart loop having specified name
loop [exitif expression]* [nextif expression]* command-block
			Private	system-level		General loop
exitif			Private	system-level		Exit a loop structure
exitif			Private	system-level		(New in 8.0.1.3) Proceed to the next iteration of the loop structure
if  test  command-block [elsif  test  command-block]* [else  command-block]
			RFC 5228			Branch-on-condition control structure
elsif  test  command-block			RFC 5228			Next case of branch-on-condition structure
else  test  command-⁠block			RFC 5228			Final case of branch-on-condition structure
require  capability-list			RFC 5228	strict_require MTA option		Declare that a Sieve script may use the named extension(s)
stop			RFC 5228			End processing
sub  name[(variables-list)] {...}
			Private	system-level		(New in MS 8.0) Define a subroutine
my  var-name [:= value]			Private			(New in MS 8.0) Declare a variable is local
return  value			Private			(New in MS 8.0) Exit subroutine, returning value
Actions
addconversiontag  string-or-list
			Private	system-level		System-level Sieve action to add the specified conversion tag(s) to the message
addflag [variable-name] list-of-flags
			RFC 5232	(max_variables MTA option, if using optional variable argument)	require "imap4flags"; (or require ["imap4flags", "variables"]; if using optional variable argument)	Add the specified IMAP flag(s) to the message
addheader [:last] header-field-name value-string
			RFC 5293	max_addheaders MTA option		Add the specified header line (by default, at the beginning of the existing message header)
:last			RFC 5293			Add the specified header line at the end of the existing message header
:replace			Private			Add the specified header line, removing any previously present such header line(s)
addprefix  string
			Private			Add prefix text to the beginning of the first plain text part of the message
addsuffix  string
			Private			Add suffix text to the end of the first plain text part of the message
addtag  string
			Private			Add a tag (prefix text) to the Subject: header line
adjustcounter [:channel  channel-name] [:duplicate] counter-name [value]
			Private	system-level		(New in MS 8.0) System-level Sieve action to adjust value of a system Sieve accessible MTA counter
:channel			Private	system-level		Name of channel, one of whose counters is to be adjusted; the current source channel is assumed if no channel is explicitly specified
:duplicate			Private	system-level		By default, "adjustcounter" is suppressed if the Sieve script is reevaluated (as when a Sieve script that uses an envelope "To" test applies to a message addressed to multiple recipients); specifying the " :duplicate" modifier means that the " adjustcounter" action will be performed even upon reevaluation
capture [:dsn / :message / :journal] [:header] repository-address
			Private	system-level+		Capture a message copy for legal intercept, archival, message replay, or similar purposes
:dsn			Private	system-level		Generate an encapsulated (DSN format) capture message; ":dsn" is the default
:header			Private	system-level		Capture message contains only the header of the original message, not the body; cannot be combined with ":message"
:journal			Private	system-level		Generate a MS Exchange "journal" format capture message
:message			Private	system-level		Generate a capture message as a pure, unencapsulated message
debug  list-or-string
			Private	mm_debug MTA option		Output the specified debug string; when mm_debug is 2 or more, the string is output to a debug log file, or with imsimta test -expression -mm -debug=2 the specified string is output to the terminal
deleteheader [:index  value [:last]] [MATCH-TYPE] [COMPARATOR] header-field-name-string [value-patterns-list]
			RFC 5293		require "editheader";	Delete the specified header line; (note that per RFC 5293, attempts to delete Received: or Auto-submitted: header lines will be ignored)
:index			RFC 5293			Separate though equivalent to the RFC 5260 ":index" MATCH-TYPE: attempt to match (and hence potentially delete) only exactly the specified occurrence of the specified header line, by default starting counting from the beginning of the message header
:last			RFC 5293			For the ":index" modifier, count backwards from the end of the message header
discard [log-string]
			RFC 5228, plus private logging argument	filter_discard and log_filter MTA options, logging channel option		Discard message (do not deliver, just delete); a log-string may be specified to be included in the log_filter field in MTA message transaction log entries
ereject  reason-string
			RFC 5429	enable_sieve_ereject MTA option	require "ereject";	Refuse message during SMTP transaction (or generate DSN if SMTP level rejection is not possible); note that use of non-US-ASCII characters in the reason-string prevents the SMTP level rejection
extracttext [MODIFIER] [:first  number] variable-name
			RFC 5703	max_variables MTA option	require ["extracttext", "foreverypart", "variables"];	(New in MS 8.0) Store extracted message text into a variable
:first			RFC 5703			Extract only the first N characters of the current MIME body part into a variable
:encodeurl			RFC 5435			In a variablesset command or an extracttext command, perform percent-encoding (as per RFC 3986) of the string value
:length			RFC 5229			Decimal number of characters in the extracted string, converted to a string
:lower			RFC 5229			Convert upper case characters to lower case
:lowerfirst			RFC 5229			Convert first character to lower case if it is a letter and upper case; rest of extracted string left unchanged
:quoteregex			Private			In a variablesset command or extracttext command, backslash quote any characters requiring quoting for regex, namely asterisk, question mark, or backslash (*, ?, \)
:quotewild			Private			Prefix "*", "?", "\" characters with "\"
:quotewildcard			RFC 5229			Prefix "*", "?", "\" characters with "\"
:upper			RFC 5229			Convert lower case characters to upper case
:upperfirst			RFC 5229			Convert first character to upper case if it is a letter and lower case; rest of extracted string left unchanged
fileinto  folder-name
			RFC 5228	max_fileintos MTA option, fileinto and flagtransfer channel options	require "fileinto";	Deliver into specified folder
:copy			RFC 3894		require "copy";	Modifies the fileinto and redirect actions so that the action is performed without affecting Sieve's "implicit keep"
:flags			RFC 5232		require "imap4flags";	Used with keep or fileinto to deliver the message with exactly the specified IMAP flag(s)
:owner			Private			Do the "fileinto" to the Sieve owner's address, rather than to the user's address; cases where the Sieve owner is different than the user on whose behalf the Sieve is being applied (hence cases where this argument would be relevant) might be "head of household" Sieves or system Sieves, when one might want to perform a "fileinto" to a folder belonging to the "head of household" or postmaster, respectively, rather than to a folder belonging to the original message recipient
hold			Private	system-level+		When specified in a system-level Sieve script, sideline a message as a .HELD file in the MTA queue area; ignored (no error) in user-level Sieve scripts
importanceadjust  value-string
			Private			Set or adjust a message's importance
jettison [log-string]
			Private	filter_jettison and log_filter MTA options, logging channel option	require "jettison";	Non-overridable discard; a log-string may be specified to be included in the log_filter field in MTA message transaction log entries
keep			RFC 5228			Deliver message "normally"
:flags			RFC 5232		require "imap4flags";	Used with keep or fileinto to deliver the message with exactly the specified IMAP flag(s)
memcache			Private	memcache_host, enable_sieve_memcache MTA options		(New in MS 8.0) Used as an action to manipulate data via the memcache protocol; used as a test to access data via the memcache protocol
:add [:host  host-string] [:tableprefix  prefix-string] [:duplicate] [:timeout  timeout-number] key-string value-string
			Private			Add a new entry with the specified key, value, and timeout. The operation only succeeds if the entry does not already exist. The operation returns TRUE if the entry is added successfully, FALSE if it is not.
:adjustdown  value [:host  host-str] [:tableprefix  prefix-str] [:duplicate] [:quotatimeout  quotatimeout-num [:penalize]] [:timeout  timeout-num] key-str
			Private			Decrement the entry with the specified key by the specified adjustment value.
:adjustup  value [:host  host-str] [:tableprefix  prefix-str] [:duplicate] [:quotatimeout  quotatimeout-num [:penalize]] [:timeout  timeout-num] key-str
			Private			Increment the entry with the specified key by the specified adjustment value.
:append [:host  host-string] [:tableprefix  prefix-string] [:duplicate] key-string value
			Private			Append the specified value to the entry with the specified key. (Returns TRUE if the operation is successful, FALSE if it is not.)
:fetch [:host  host-string] [:tableprefix  prefix-string] key-string
			Private			Fetches the value of the entry with the specified key, or return an empty string if the entry doesn't exist.
:prepend [:host  host-string] [:tableprefix  prefix-string] [:duplicate] key-string value-string
			Private			Prepend the specified value to the entry with the specified key. (Returns TRUE if the operation is successful, FALSE if it is not.)
:remove [:host  host-string] [:tableprefix  prefix-string] [:duplicate] [:lockout  lockout-numeric] key-string
			Private			Remove the entry with the specified key. (Returns TRUE if the operation is successful, FALSE if it is not.)
:replace [:host  host-string] [:tableprefix  prefix-string] [:timeout  timeout-value] key-string value-string
			Private			Update the value and timeout of an (existing) entry. (Returns TRUE if the operation is successful, FALSE if it is not.)
:store [:host  host-string] [:tableprefix  prefix-string] [:timeout  timeout-value] key-string value-string
			Private			Creates a new entry or updates an existing entry with the specified key, setting the entry to have the specified value and timeout. (Returns TRUE if the operation is successful, FALSE if it is not.)
metermaid			Private	enable_sieve_metermaid MTA option		(New in MS 8.0) Used as an action to manipulate data stored in MeterMaid; used as a test to access data stored in MeterMaid
nonotify			Private	system-level		System-level Sieve action to suppress all applications of either form of notify action
notify :method "email" [:id  string] :options  recipient-addr [subject-str] [< :days / :hours / :seconds > num] [:low / :normal / :high] [:mime] [:message  message-str]
			draft-martin-sieve-notify-01	max_notifys MTA option	require "notify";	Generate a new message, typically some form of notification message
:high			draft-...-01			Urgent priority
:id			draft-...-01
:low			draft-...-01			Non-urgent priority
:method			draft-...-01			The type of notification to generate: only "email" is supported
:normal			draft-...-01			Normal priority
:options			draft-...-01			:method-specific options; for the "email" method, the option value is the recipient email address to which to send the generated notification
:echo			Private
:mime			Private			The specified message body is a MIME entity, including MIME headers as well as content
:days			Private	notify_minimum_timeout, notify_maximum_timeout, and notify_timeout_default MTA options		Specify duplicate notification timeout in units of days
:hours			Private	notify_minimum_timeout, notify_maximum_timeout, and notify_timeout_default MTA options		Specify duplicate notification timeout in units of hours
:seconds			Private	notify_minimum_timeout, notify_maximum_timeout, and notify_timeout_default MTA options		Specify duplicate notification timeout in units of seconds
notify [:from  string] [:importance < "1" / "2" / "3" >] [:options  string-list] [:mime] [:message  string] method-string
			RFC 5435	max_notifys, notify_ignore_errors MTA options	require "enotify";	Generate a new message, typically some form of notification message
:fcc			draft-ietf-extra-sieve-fcc-02.txt			Specify mailbox to receive copy of any generated notification
:from			RFC 5435			Specify author (From address) of notification
:importance			RFC 5435			Specify priority, where 1 corresponds to urgent priority, 2 corresponds to normal priority, and 3 corresponds to non-urgent priority; the default is 2 (normal)
:options			RFC 5435
:message			RFC 5435
:echo			Private
:mime			Private			The specified message body is a MIME entity, including MIME headers as well as content
:days			Private	notify_minimum_timeout, notify_maximum_timeout, and notify_timeout_default MTA options		Specify duplicate notification timeout in units of days
:hours			Private	notify_minimum_timeout, notify_maximum_timeout, and notify_timeout_default MTA options		Specify duplicate notification timeout in units of hours
:seconds			Private	notify_minimum_timeout, notify_maximum_timeout, and notify_timeout_default MTA options		Specify duplicate notification timeout in units of seconds
novacation			Private	system-level		System-level Sieve action to suppress all applications of the vacation action
override			Private		require "override";	(New in MS 8.0) Mark this Sieve script as determining the disposition of a message
redirect [MODIFIERS] address
			RFC 5228	max_redirects, max_redirect_addresses MTA options		"Forward" message to specified recipient address(es)
:copy			RFC 3894		require "copy";	Modifies the fileinto and redirect actions so that the action is performed without affecting Sieve's "implicit keep"
:keepmailfrom			Private			Retain original envelope FROM address on redirect; :keepmailfrom is the default unless :notify is specified in which case the default switches to :resetmailfrom
:list			RFC 6134	SIEVE_EXTLISTS mapping table, max_redirect_addresses MTA option	require "extlists";	Externally stored list of addresses to which to forward with redirect action
:noresent			Private	sieve_redirect_add_resent MTA option		Do not add Resent-*: header lines upon redirect
:notify			RFC 6009		require "redirect-dsn";	Set message's NOTIFY parameter on redirect
:resent			Private	sieve_redirect_add_resent MTA option		Add Resent-*: header lines upon redirect
:resetmailfrom			Private			Reset envelope FROM address to Sieve owner on redirect
:ret			RFC 6009		require "redirect-dsn";	Set message's NOTIFY RET (return-of-content) parameter on redirect
refuse  string
			Private	++	require "refuse";	Refuse message, at SMTP level if possible, falling back to generating MDN
reject  string
			RFC 5429		require "reject";	Refuse message
removeconversiontag  string-or-list
			Private	system-level		System-level Sieve action to remove the specified conversion tag(s) from the message
removeflag  [variable-name] list-of-flags
			RFC 5232	(max_variables MTA option, if using optional variable argument)	require "imap4flags"; (or require ["imap4flags", "variables"]; if using optional variable argument)	Remove the specified IMAP flag(s) from the message
replaceheader [:index  value [:last]] [:newname  header-field-name-str] [:newvalue  string] [COMPARATOR] [MATCH-TYPE] header-field-name-str [value-patterns-list]
			draft-degener-sieve-editheader-00		require "editheader";	Replace a header line
:index			draft-...-00			Separate though equivalent to the RFC 5260 ":index" MATCH-TYPE: attempt to match (and hence potentially replace) only exactly the specified occurrence of the specified header line, by default starting counting from the beginning of the message header
:last			draft-...-00			For the ":index" modifier, count backwards from the end of the message header
:newname			draft-...-00			Change the name of all matching header fields to the specified new name
:newvalue			draft-...-00			Change the value of all matching header fields to the specified new value
set [MODIFIERS] variable-name string-value
			RFC 5229	max_variables MTA option	require "variables";	Set a variable to a value
:encodeurl			RFC 5435			In a variables  set command, perform percent-encoding (as per RFC 3986) of the string value
:length			RFC 5229			Decimal number of characters in the value string, converted to a string
:lower			RFC 5229			Convert upper case characters to lower case
:lowerfirst			RFC 5229			Convert first character to lower case if it is a letter and upper case; rest of string left unchanged
:quoteregex			Private			In a variables  set command, backslash quote any characters requiring quoting for regex, namely asterisk, question mark, or backslash (*, ?, \)
:quotewild			Private			Prefix "*", "?", "\" characters with "\"
:quotewildcard			RFC 5229			Prefix "*", "?", "\" characters with "\"
:upper			RFC 5229			Convert lower case characters to upper case
:upperfirst			RFC 5229			Convert first character to upper case if it is a letter and lower case; rest of string left unchanged
setconversiontag  string-or-list
			Private	system-level		System-level Sieve action to set the message to have exactly the specified conversion tag(s)
setenvelopefrom  address-string-or-list
			Private	system-level		(New in MS 8.0) System-level Sieve action to override a message's original envelope From address
setflag [variable-name] list-of-flags
			RFC 5232	(max_variables MTA option if using variables; with LMTP delivery, see also the flagtransfer channel option)	require "imap4flags"; (or require ["imap4flags", "variables"]; if using variables)	Set the message to have exactly the specified IMAP flag(s)
setmtpriority  integer-or-string
			Private	system-level		(New in MS 8.0) System-level Sieve action to set a message's MT-PRIORITY
setnotify  string-or-list
			Private	system-level		System-level Sieve action to set the DSN NOTIFY parameter (defined in RFC 3461); the value may be the string "NEVER", or one (or a list) of the strings "FAILURE", "SUCCESS", "DELAY"
setoperation < "SUBMIT" / "PASSTHROUGH" / "RELAY" / "DEFAULT" >
			Private	system-level		(New in MS 8.0) System-level Sieve per-recipient override of type of enqueue operation being performed
setpriority  string-or-numeric-priority-value
			Private	system-level		System-level Sieve action to override message's effective processing priority
setreturn < "FULL" / "HDRS" / "HEADERS" >
			Private	system-level		System-level Sieve action to set the DSN RET parameter (defined in RFC 3461)
spamadjust  numeric-value-string
			Private			Set a message's "spam level"
transactionlog  string-or-list
			Private	system-level, log_transactionlog MTA option, logging channel option		(New in MS 8.0) System-level Sieve action specifying additional string to include in the MTA message transaction log file
vacation [:days  number] [:subject  string] [:from  address] [:addresses  string-list] [:mime] [:handle  string] reason-string
			RFC 5230	non-system-level, max_vacations and vacation_template MTA options	require "vacation";	Generate a vacation auto-response (an "I'm on vacation" sort of message)
:addresses			RFC 5230			Additional addresses to consider as "belonging" to the user, and hence whose presence on a recipient header line of an original message satisfies one requirement for vacation message generation
:days			RFC 5230	autoreply_timeout_default, vacation_minimum_timeout, and vacation_maximum_timeout MTA options		Specify timeout in days
:echo			Private			Modifier on vacation to produce a "processed" MDN response
:fcc			draft-ietf-extra-sieve-fcc-02.txt			Specify mailbox to receive copy of any generated vacation notice
:from			RFC 5230			Address to use in the From: header line of the generated vacation message
:handle			RFC 5230			Explicit label for this vacation operation, to be used instead of the usual argument-based label, so that vacation actions with different arguments may have a coordinated label and thereby respect each other's prior execution (and not generate yet another vacation message)
:headers			Private			Modifier on vacation to produce a response containing header lines, rather than the default MDN called for by the standard
:hours			Private	autoreply_timeout_default, vacation_minimum_timeout, and vacation_maximum_timeout MTA options		Specify the vacation action's autoresponse period in hours, rather than the normal days
:mime			RFC 5230			The reason-string is a MIME entity, including MIME headers as well as content
:noaddresses			Private			Modifier on vacation to suppress the MTA'S normal requirement (as per RFC 5230, Section 4.5) to only respond if the recipient address or one of its aliases appears explicitly on a recipient header line
:noheadercheck			Private			(MS 8.0.2.3) Modifier on vacation to suppress the MTA'S normal requirement (as per RFC 5230, Section 4.6) to only respond if various headers, e.g., List-ID:, are not present in the original message
:reply			Private			Modifier on vacation to produce a pure reply, containing only the reply text, rather than the default MDN called for by the standard
:seconds			RFC 6131	autoreply_timeout_default, vacation_minimum_timeout, and vacation_maximum_timeout MTA options	require "vacation-seconds";	Specify vacation action's autoresponse period in seconds, rather than the normal days
:subject			RFC 5230			Text to use in Subject: header line of generated vacation message
virusset  numeric-value-string
			Private			Set a message's "virus level"
warn  string-or-list
			Private	system-level, log_filter MTA option, logging channel option		(New in MS 8.0) System-level Sieve action specifying (an additional) string to appear in the " warn" clause in the log_filter field of MTA message transaction log entries
Tests
address [ADDRESS-PART] [COMPARATOR] [MATCH-TYPE] header-list value-list
			RFC 5228			Match Internet address in structured headers
:aindex			Private			Match against Nth address on header line
:index			RFC 5260		require "index";	Match against Nth named header line for address, header, or date tests
:last			RFC 5260		require "index";	Used with " :index to match against Nth named header line, counting backwards, for address, header, or date tests
:mime [:anychild] [MIMEOPTS]
			RFC 5703		require "mime";	Alter address, exists, or header tests to check aspects of structured MIME header lines
:anychild			RFC 5703		require "mime";	Modify :mime to look inside any nested parts
:raw			Private analogue of RFC 5173			(New in MS 7.0.5) Do not MIME decode any RFC 2047 MIME encoded-words
:text			Private analogue of RFC 5173			(New in MS 7.0.5) Perform MIME decoding of any RFC 2047 MIME encoded-words
allof  test-list			RFC 5228			Logical AND of tests; test-list has the form (test [,test]*)
anyof  test-list			RFC 5228			Logical OR of tests
body [COMPARATOR] [MATCH-TYPE] [BODY-TRANSFORM] value-list
			RFC 5173	enable_sieve_body MTA option	require "body";	Match content in the body of an email message; (only supports :contains and :isMATCH-TYPES, and a limited set of COMPARATORS)
currentdate [:zone  time-zone] [COMPARATOR] [MATCH-TYPE] date-part value-list
			RFC 5260		require "date";	Compare against current date-time
:zone			RFC 5260		require "date";	Specify a time zone offset to which to shift the current date-time prior to testing
date [:zone  time-zone / :originalzone] [COMPARATOR] [MATCH-TYPE] header-name date-part value-list
			RFC 5260		require "date";	Match against date from a header line
:originalzone			RFC 5260		require "date";	Test retaining the time zone offset of the original date time
:zone			RFC 5260		require "date";	Specify a time zone offset to which to shift the date-time prior to testing
duplicate [:handle  string] [:header  header-name / :uniqueid  value] [:seconds  timeout] [:last]
			draft-bosch-sieve-duplicate-09	max_duplicates, duplicate_tracking_url MTA options	require "duplicate";	(New in MS 8.0) Test whether "the same" message was (recently) already received
:handle			draft-bosch-sieve-duplicate-09		require "duplicate";	Distinguish, via handle name, this duplicate test from other duplicate tests
:header			draft-bosch-sieve-duplicate-09		require "duplicate";	Use as unique ID (for duplicate detection) the content of the specified header field
:last			draft-bosch-sieve-duplicate-09	duplicate_timeout_default	require "duplicate";	Modify :seconds interpretation (or if :seconds was not specified, use duplicate_timeout_default value) interpreting as seconds within which a "duplicate" message must have been received (counting from the most recent check of the same unique ID) to count as a duplicate
:mime			Private		require "mime";
:anychild			Private		require "mime";
:seconds			draft-bosch-sieve-duplicate-09	duplicate_timeout_default, duplicate_minimum_timeout, duplicate_maximum_timeout MTA options	require "duplicate";	Seconds within which a "duplicate" message must have been received (counting time from the first message with the same unique ID) to count as duplicate
:uniqueid			draft-bosch-sieve-duplicate-09		require "duplicate";	Use the specified value as the unique ID (for duplicate detection)
envelope [COMPARATOR] [ADDRESS-PART] [MATCH-TYPE] envelope-part-list value-list
			RFC 5228		require "envelope";	Match SMTP envelope address
environment [COMPARATOR] [MATCH-TYPE] environment-item value-list
			RFC 5183		require "environment";	Match against operating environment information
exists  header-list value-list
			RFC 5228			Test whether specified header(s) are present in a message
:list			Private enhancement of RFC 6134	SIEVE_EXTLISTS mapping table	require "extlists";	Match against externally stored data in address, envelope, and header tests; MTA private additional functionality is that ":list" is also supported on the standard exists test, as well as on extension tests currentdate, date, environment, hasflag, spamtest, string, and virustest, and on deleteheader and replaceheader actions
:mime [ :anychild] [MIMEOPTS]
			RFC 5703		require "mime";	Alter address, exists, or header tests to check aspects of structured MIME header lines
:anychild			RFC 5703		require "mime";	Modify :mime to look inside any nested parts
:regex			Private enhancement of draft-murchison-sieve-regex-08	enable_sieve_regex MTA option	require "regex";	Regex match type
false			RFC 5228			Always evaluate to FALSE
hasflag [MATCH-TYPE] [COMPARATOR] [variable-list] list-of-flags
			RFC 5232	(max_variables MTA option if using optional variable argument)	require "imap4flags"; (or require ["imap4flags", "variables"]; if using optional variable argument)	Test whether the message has the specified IMAP flag(s)
:list			Private enhancement of RFC 6134	SIEVE_EXTLISTS mapping table	require "extlists";	Match against externally stored data in address, envelope, and header tests; MTA private additional functionality is that ":list" is also supported on the standard exists test, as well as on extension tests currentdate, date, environment, hasflag, spamtest, string, and virustest, and on deleteheader and replaceheader actions
header [COMPARATOR] [MATCH-TYPE] header-list value-list
			RFC 5228	defer_header_addition and (new in MS 8.0) sieve_received MTA options		Match header
:mime [:anychild] [MIMEOPTS]
			RFC 5703		require "mime";	Alter address, exists, or header tests to check aspects of structured MIME header lines
:anychild			RFC 5703		require "mime";	Modify :mime to look inside any nested parts
:raw			Private analogue of RFC 5173			(New in MS 7.0.5) Do not MIME decode any RFC 2047 MIME encoded-words
:text			Private analogue of RFC 5173			(New in MS 7.0.5) Perform MIME decoding of any RFC 2047 MIME encoded-words
ihave  capability-list
			RFC 5463		require "ihave";	Test which Sieve extensions are available
importancetest [COMPARATOR] [MATCH-TYPE] value
			Private			Test a message's importance
memcache			Private	memcache_host, enable_sieve_memcache MTA options		(New in MS 8.0) Used as an action to manipulate data via the memcache protocol; used as a test to access data via the memcache protocol
memcache :adjustdown  value [:host  host-string] [:tableprefix  prefix-string] [:duplicate] [MATCH-TYPE] [COMPARATOR] [:quotatimeout  quotatimeout-numeric [:penalize]] [:timeout  timeout-value] key-string [test-string]
			Private			For the entry with the specified key, adjust the value down as specified and compare that adjusted value against the specified test-string value, which same test-string then becomes the entry's new value. MATCH-TYPE and COMPARATOR default to ':value "lt"' and 'comparator "i;ascii-numeric"', respectively.
memcache :adjustup  value [:host  host-string] [:tableprefix  prefix-string] [:duplicate] [MATCH-TYPE] [COMPARATOR] [:quotatimeout  quotatimeout-numeric [:penalize]] [:timeout  timeout-value] key-string [test-string]
			Private			For the entry with the specified key, adjust the value up as specified and compare that adjusted value against the specified test-string value, which same test-string then becomes the entry's new value. MATCH-TYPE and COMPARATOR default to ':value "gt"' and 'comparator "i;ascii-numeric"', respectively.
memcache :fetch [:host  host-string] [:tableprefix  prefix-string] [MATCH-TYPE] [COMPARATOR] key-string [test-string]
			Private			For the entry with the specified key, compare its current value against the test-string, setting the value to test-string. The test always fails if the entry does not exist. MATCH-TYPE and COMPARATOR default to :is and "i;ascii-casemap", respectively.
memcache :release  [:duplicate] [:host  host-string] [:tableprefix  prefix-string] [:timeout  timeout-value] key-string
			Private			Implement a generic reservation capability. :release releases a previous reservation made with :reserve. The test returns TRUE if the reservation if a reservation is successfully released, FALSE otherwise.
memcache :reserve  :quota  quota-numeric [:duplicate] [:host  host-string] [:tableprefix  prefix-string] [:timeout  timeout-value] key-string
			Private			Implement a generic reservation capability. :reserve attempts to take out a reservation for the specified key-string. quota-numeric specifies the maximum number of reservations that are allowed. The test returns TRUE if the reservation if the reservation is taken out successfully, FALSE otherwise. Multiple reservations may be taken out by multiple  :reserve operations. Note that each :reserve should be matched by a subsequent  :release.
memcache :throttle  :quota  quota-numeric [:duplicate] :quotetimeout  quotatimeout-numeric [:penalize] [:host  host-string] [:tableprefix  prefix-string] [:timeout  timeout-value] [MATCH-TYPE] [COMPARATOR] [:adjustup  adjustment-value] [:adjustdown  adjustment-value] key-string [test-string]
			Private			Implement MeterMaid throttle capability. The throttle value is incremented by default, though ":adjustup" or ":adjustdown" may be used to specify a non-default adjustment of the value. Then if none of MATCH-TYPE, COMPARATOR, nor test-string are specified, the test returns TRUE if the throttle is engaged, or FALSE if it is not engaged (or an error occurs). If any of the MATCH-TYPE, COMPARATOR, or test-string parameters is specified, then the throttle entry's value is adjusted and then the specified Sieve test is applied to the value. The default MATCH-TYPE is :value "gt" and the default COMPARATOR is i;ascii-numeric.
metermaid			Private	enable_sieve_metermaid MTA option		(New in MS 8.0) Used as an action to manipulate data stored in MeterMaid; used as a test to access data stored in MeterMaid
:adjustdown  adjustment-value [:host  host-string] [:duplicate] [MATCH-TYPE] [COMPARATOR] table-string key-string [test-string]
			Private			Decrement the entry with the specified key in the specified table by the specified adjustment value.
:adjustup  adjustment-value [:host  host-string] [:duplicate] [MATCH-TYPE] [COMPARATOR] table-string key-string [test-string]
			Private			Increment the entry with the specified key in the specified table by the specified adjustment value.
:fetch [:host  host-string] [MATCH-TYPE] [COMPARATOR] table-string key-string [test-string]
			Private			If none of MATCH-TYPE, COMPARATOR, nor test-string is specified, the specified entry's value is returned as a string, or an empty string is returned if the specified entry doesn't exist. If any of MATCH-TYPE, COMPARATOR, or test-string is specified, test against the current value of the specified entry (MATCH-TYPE and COMPARATOR default to ' :is' and ' :comparator "i;ascii-casemap"', respectively), returning FALSE if the specified entry does not exist.
:greylisting [:host  host-string] [:duplicate] [MATCH-TYPE] [COMPARATOR] table-string key-string [test-string]
			Private			If none of MATCH-TYPE, COMPARATOR, nor test-string are specified, then return TRUE if greylisting is engaged, while FALSE is returned if greylisting is not engaged or an error occurs. If any of MATCH-TYPE, COMPARATOR, or test-string is specified (MATCH-TYPE and COMPARATOR default to ' :is' and ' :comparator "i;ascii-casemap"', respectively), then increment the throttle and then apply the Sieve test to the value.
:remove [:host  host-string] [:duplicate] table-string key-string
			Private			Remove the entry with the specified key from the specified table. Returns TRUE if the operation is successful; FALSE if it is not.
:store [:host  host-string] table-string key-string value-string
			Private			Creates a new entry or updates an existing entry with the specified key in the specified table. Returns TRUE if the operation is successful; FALSE if it is not.
:throttle [:host:  host-string] [:duplicate] [MATCH-TYPE] [COMPARATOR] table-string key-string
			Private			MeterMaid throttle functionality. If none of MATCH-TYPE, COMPARATOR, nor test-string is specified, return TRUE if the throttle is engaged, or FALSE if the throttle is not engaged or an error occurs; if any of these three parameters is specified, then increment the throttle and then apply the Sieve test to the value. (MATCH-TYPE defaults to ':value "gt"' and COMPARATOR defaults to ':comparator "i;ascii-numeric"'.)
not  test			RFC 5228			Reverse value of test argument
notify_method_capability [COMPARATOR] [MATCH-TYPE] notification-uri notification-capability value-list
			RFC 5435		require "enotify";	Test whether a capability of a method of notification is available to be performed as desired
:list			Private enhancement of RFC 6134	SIEVE_EXTLISTS mapping table	require "extlists";	Match against externally stored data in address, envelope, and header tests; MTA private additional functionality is that ":list" is also supported on the standard exists test, as well as on extension tests currentdate, date, environment, hasflag, notify_method_capability, spamtest, string, and virustest, and on deleteheader and replaceheader actions
size < :over / :under > limit-value
			RFC 5228			Test size of message
:over			RFC 5228			Match if message size is over specified value
:under			RFC 5228			Match if message size is under specified value
spamtest [COMPARATOR] [MATCH-TYPE] value
			RFC 3685		require "spamtest"; or require "spamtestplus";	Test a message's "spam level"
:list			RFC 6134	SIEVE_EXTLISTS mapping table	require "extlists";	Match against externally stored data in address, envelope, and header tests; MTA private additional functionality is that ":list" is also supported on the standard exists test, as well as on extension tests currentdate, date, environment, hasflag, notify_method_capability, spamtest, string, and virustest, and on deleteheader and replaceheader actions
:percent			RFC 5235		require "spamtestplus";	Test a message's "spam level" as a percentage value
string [MATCH-TYPE] [COMPARATOR] source-string-list value-list
			RFC 5229	max_sieve_string_size MTA option	require "variables";	Test the (string) value of variable(s)
:list			Private enhancement of RFC 6134	SIEVE_EXTLISTS mapping table	require "extlists";	Match against externally stored data in address, envelope, and header tests; MTA private additional functionality is that ":list" is also supported on the standard exists test, as well as on extension tests currentdate, date, environment, hasflag, spamtest, string, and virustest, and on deleteheader and replaceheader actions
true			RFC 5228			Always evaluate to TRUE
valid_ext_list  extlist-names-list
			RFC 6134		require "extlists";	Test whether an external list specification is valid (both syntactically and semantically)
valid_notify_method  notification-uris-list
			RFC 5435		require "enotify";	Test whether notification methods are supported and syntactically valid
virustest [COMPARATOR] [MATCH-TYPE] value
			RFC 3685		require "virustest";	Test a message's "virus level"
:count			RFC 5231		require "relational";	Match type for numeric comparison on number of occurrences (as of MS 8.0.1.3, :count may also be used as a modifier to other match types in header and address tests to count and test the number of matches that occurred)
:list			RFC 6134	SIEVE_EXTLISTS mapping table	require "extlists";	Match against externally stored data in address, currentdate, date, envelope, exists, and header tests, as well as in the string test when the variables extension is enabled, and in spamtest and virustest tests when those extensions are enabled
:regex			draft-murchison-sieve-regex-08	enable_sieve_regex MTA option	require "regex";	Regex match type
:value			RFC 5231		require "relational";	Match type for comparison on string values
test-name string			Private	FILTER_test-name mapping table		Custom test test-name: probes mapping table FILTER_test-name with string, evaluating to TRUE if mapping table sets $Y flag, or FALSE otherwise
Functions
sub  name[(variables-list)] {...}
			Private	system-level		(New in MS 8.0) Define a function/subroutine
my  var-name [:= value]			Private			(New in MS 8.0) Declare a variable is local
return  value			Private			(New in MS 8.0) Exit subroutine, returning value
translate  string-or-list source-charset dest-charset
			Private			(New in MS 8.0.1) Perform character set conversion, returning translated string or list
test-name string			Private	FILTER_test-name mapping table	require "variables";	Custom test test-name used as a function: probes mapping table FILTER_test-name with string, returning mapping's string result in variable ${0} and mapping's flag result in variable ${1}
...many-other-functions...			Private			See Symbol table functions
Values
non-negative-integer			RFC 5228			Non-negative integer, range 0 to 2,147,483,647 (2^31 - 1); suffixes "K" (1024 or 2^10), "M" (2^20), or "G" (2^30) are permitted
negative-integer			Private			Negative integers are also supported by the MTA
"utf-8-string"			RFC 5228	max_sieve_string_size MTA option		String of characters represented in UTF-8; note that non-printing characters such as CR and LF are permitted, and so in particular strings can span multiple lines
"\character"			RFC 5228			\\ represents the backslash character, \" represents the double quote character, and otherwise the backslash is ignored as if it were not present
text:multiline text ended by CRLF.CRLF			RFC 5228			More convenient way to enter multiline text strings; note must dot-stuff (as with SMTP messages)
["s1", "s2", ..., "sN"]			RFC 5228	max_sieve_list_size MTA option		List of strings
"${hex:hex-pair-sequence}"			RFC 5228		require "encoded-character";	hex-pair-sequence is one or more hexadecimal-encoded characters, space separated; e.g., "{hex: 40 24}" represents "@$"
"${unicode: unicode-hex-sequence}"			RFC 5228		require "encoded-character";	unicode-hex-sequence is one or more Unicode hex-encoded characters, space separated; e.g., "${unicode: 0000040}" represents "@"
${variable-name}			RFC 5229	max_variables MTA option	require "variables";	variable-name may be a variable identifier, or digit(s) identifying the variable, e.g., ${a} refers to the variable named "a", while ${0} refers to the 0th variable; variable namespaces are not currently supported (so in particular variable names may not include any periods); note that variable substitutions are not supported in "body" test arguments
expression			Private			The MTA supports a variety of string and numeric operators and functions, and supports expressions to compute values; see Operators in Order of Precedence and Symbol table functions
ADDRESS-PARTS
:all			RFC 5228			Entire address
:comment			Private			Extract any parenthetical comment appearing after an address
:detail			RFC 3598		require "subaddress";	Extract subaddress (e.g., folder name) in address and envelope tests
:display			Private			Extract the display-name phrase (the optional text appearing outside of and specifically in front of the actual address, the actual address being the part enclosed in angles)
:domain			RFC 5228			Domain portion of address: the portion to the right of the @ character
:localpart			RFC 5228			RFC 822 "local-part" of address: the portion to the left of the @ character
:user			RFC 3598		require "subaddress";	Extract username (i.e., local-part minus subaddress) in address and envelope tests
BODY-TRANSFORMS
:raw			RFC 5173		require "body";	Interpret message body as an unprocessed "blob"; in particular, do not interpret MIME structure nor decode any content-transfer-encoding
:text			RFC 5173		require "body";	Decode MIME encoded text
COMPARATORS
:comparator "i;ascii-casemap"			RFC 5228, RFC 4790			Treat uppercase and lowercase characters in the ASCII subset of UTF8 the same
:comparator "i;ascii-casemap-collapse"			Private		require "comparator-i;ascii-casemap-collapse";	(New in MS 8.0) Similar to "i;ascii-casemap", except that all folding white space characters (space, tab, carriage return, line feed) are removed from both the target and pattern strings prior to comparison; this comparator is recommended for working around standards-incompliant client behavior regarding white space, folding white space, and MIME encoded-words
:comparator "i;ascii-integer"			Private		require "comparator-i;ascii-integer";	(New in MS 8.0) Test signed or unsigned integer values; (not supported on "body" tests)
:comparator "i:ascii-numeric"			RFC 4790		require "comparator-i;ascii-numeric";	Compare arbitrarily sized, unsigned integer numbers stored as octet strings, (in particular, disregard leading zeros, and truncate at the first non-digit character); see RFC 4790, Section 9.1.1 for further details; (not supported on "body" tests)
:comparator "i;octet"			RFC 5228, RFC 4790			Compare octets
:comparator "i;octet-collapse"			Private		require "comparator-i;octet-collapse";	(New in MS 8.0) Similar to "i;octet", except that all folding white space characters (space, tab, carriage return, line feed) are removed from both the target and pattern strings prior to comparison; this comparator is recommended for working around standards-incompliant client behavior regarding white space, folding white space, and MIME encoded-words
:comparator "i;utf-8"			?		require "comparator-i;utf8";	(New in MS 8.0) (not supported on "body" tests)
DATE-PARTS
date			RFC 5260		require "date";	Date in "yyyy-mm-dd" format
day			RFC 5260		require "date";	Two digit day, "01", ..., "31"
hour			RFC 5260		require "date";	Two digit hour, "00", ..., "23"
iso8601			RFC 5260		require "date";	Date and time in restricted ISO 8601 format
julian			RFC 5260		require "date";	Modified Julian Day, that is, the date expressed as an integer number of days since 00:00 UTC on November 17, 1958 (using the Gregorian calendar); this corresponds to the Julian Day minus 2400000.5
minute			RFC 5260		require "date";	Two digit minute, "00", ..., "59"
month			RFC 5260		require "date";	Two digit month, "00", ..., "12"
second			RFC 5260		require "date";	Two digit second, "00", ..., "60"
std11			RFC 5260		require "date";	Date and time in a format appropriate for use in a Date: header field (RFC 822 format)
time			RFC 5260		require "date";	Time in "hh:mm:ss" format
weekday			RFC 5260		require "date";	Day of the week expressed in range "0" (Sunday) to "6" (Saturday)
year			RFC 5260		require "date";	Four digit year, "0000", ..., "9999"
zone			RFC 5260		require "date";	Time zone in use, in +hh:mm or -hh:mm format
ENVELOPE-PARTS
from			RFC 5228		require "envelope";	Envelope From address
to			RFC 5228		require "envelope";	Envelope To address
auth			Private		require ["envelope", "envelope-auth"];	Access message's AUTH value
conversiontag			Private	system-level	require "envelope";	In system-level Sieve, access message's conversion tag(s)
envid			RFC 6009		require ["envelope", "envelope-dsn"];	Access message's envelope-id value
orcpt			RFC 6009		require ["envelope", "envelope-dsn"];	Access message's ORCPT value
notify			RFC 6009		require ["envelope", "envelope-dsn"];	Access message's DSN NOTIFY value
ret			RFC 6009		require ["envelope", "envelope-dsn"];	Access message's DSN RET value
ENVIRONMENT-ITEMS
domain			RFC 5183		require "environment";	Preferably the value of ldap_default_domain MTA option, next the value of received_domain MTA option, or if neither are defined the value of the L channel official_host_name
host			RFC 5183		require "environment";	L channel official-host-name
location			RFC 5183		require "environment";	Type of service evaluating the Sieve; "MTA" for MTA evaluation
name			RFC 5183		require "environment";	"IMTA" for MTA evaluation
phase			RFC 5183		require "environment";	Phase of processing; possible values are "initialize", "connect", "mail" (reported at both HELO and MAIL FROM command stages), "rcptin", "rcptout", "datastart", "dataend", and "pre" (the default value)
remote-host			RFC 5183		require "environment";	Current source system
remote-ip			RFC 5183		require "environment";	Source IP
version			RFC 5183		require "environment";	MTA version string (akin to version reported in Received: header line)
vnd.oracle.last-verdict			Private		require "environment";	(New in MS 7.0.5) Prior Sieve's explicit handling action (see discussion of MTA's Sieve hierarchy)
vnd.oracle.max_mime_width			Private		require "environment";	(New in MS 8.0.2.2) The maximum number of MIME parts found in any multipart in the message.
vnd.oracle.message-hash			Private		require "environment";	(New in MS 8.0) Return any message hash calculated by the generatemessagehash channel option; the query will fail if no message hash was generated
vnd.oracle.mime_levels			Private		require "environment";	(New in MS 8.0.2.2) The number of accessible MIME levels in the current message, i.e. the MIME "depth" of the message.
vnd.oracle.mt-priority			Private		require "environment";	(New in MS 8.0) Match against message's current MT-PRIORITY value
vnd.oracle.notifycount			Private		require "environment";	(New in MS 8.0.1.2) Return the count of the number of notification messages the current sieve has enqueued.
vnd.oracle.notifyquota			Private		require "environment";	(New in MS 8.0.1.2) Return the number of additional notify actions the current sieve is able to perform.
vnd.oracle.operation-type			Private		require "environment";	(New in MS 8.0) Match against message's current type of enqueue operation
vnd.oracle.reevaluate			Private		require "environment";	(New in MS 8.0) TRUE or FALSE according to whether this Sieve script is being reevaluated
vnd.oracle.tracking-id			Private		require "environment";	(New in MS 8.0) Return the tracking identifier for the current message; the query will fail if there's no tracking id
vnd.oracle.vacationcount			Private		require "environment";	(New in MS 8.0.1.2) Return the count of the number of vacation messages enqueued by the current sieve. Note that this is not necessarily the same as number of vacation actions performed since any number of conditions can turn a vacation action into a no-op.
vnd.oracle.vacationquot			Private		require "environment";	(New in MS 8.0.1.2) Return the number of additional vacation actions the current sieve is able to perform.
vnd.sun.authenticated-sender-address			Private		require "environment";	Match against sender address associated with the authentication for the SMTP session
vnd.sun.authenticated-sender-id			Private		require "environment";	Match against user identity associated with the authentication for the SMTP session
vnd.sun.autoreply-internal			Private		require "environment";	TRUE or FALSE according to whether the autoreply criteria have been met for use of the "internal" autoreply response text stored in LDAP
vnd.sun.destination-channel			Private		require "environment";	Match against message's destination channel
vnd.sun.source-channel			Private		require "environment";	Match against message's source channel
custom-item-name			Private	$+Eitem-name|item-value in an *_ACCESS address mapping table	require "environment";	Arbitrary, custom environment items for a message may be set from the FROM_ACCESS or *_ACCESS recipient accress mapping tables, for subsequent use in environment tests
MATCH-TYPES
:aindex			Private			Match against Nth address on header line
:contains			RFC 5228			Substring match
:count			RFC 5231		require "relational";	Match type for numeric comparison on number of occurrences; (not available for use with "body" test)
:index			RFC 5260		require "index";	Match against Nth named header line for address, header, or date tests
:last			RFC 5260		require "index";	For the :index modifier, count backwards from the end of the message header
:is			RFC 5228			Exact match
:list			RFC 6134 and private enhancements	SIEVE_EXTLISTS mapping table	require "extlists";	Match against externally stored data in address, envelope, and header tests; MTA private additional functionality is that ":list" is also supported on the standard exists test, as well as on extension tests currentdate, date, environment, hasflag, importancetest, memcache, metermaid, spamtest, string, and virustest, and on deleteheader and replaceheader actions
:matches			RFC 5228			Wildcard match; (not supported on "body" tests)
:regex			draft-murchison-sieve-regex-08	enable_sieve_regex MTA option	require "regex";	Regex match type; (not supported on "hasflag" or "body" tests)
:value			RFC 5231		require "relational";	Match type for comparison on string values; (may not be specified on "body" tests)
MIMEOPTS
:type			RFC 5703		require "mime";	For Content-type: MIME header field, parse and test the value of the MIME type; for Content-disposition: MIME header field, parse and test the disposition value; for other MIME headers, use a blank string
:subtype			RFC 5703		require "mime";	For Content-type: MIME header field, parse and test the value of the MIME subtype; for other MIME headers, use a blank string
:contenttype			RFC 5703		require "mime";	For Content-type: MIME header field, parse and test the combined value of the MIME type and subtype; for Content-disposition: MIME header field, parse and test the disposition value; for other MIME headers, use a blank string
:param			RFC 5703		require "mime";	Parse the header for MIME parameters, returning true if any value found matches any of the test string values

---

+Only displayed in imsimta test -expression -mm if executing process has "world" privilege

++Prior to MS 6.2, only permitted in system-level Sieves; nowadays supported in arbitrary Sieves

---

See also:

• Sieve supported extensions
• Sieve language