---
name: "sieve"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "mailutils"
version: "1:3.19-1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/sieve"
---

# sieve(1)

a mail filtering tool.

## NAME

sieve - a mail filtering tool.

## SYNOPSIS

**sieve** \[*OPTION*...\] *SCRIPT*

## DESCRIPTION

GNU sieve **--** a mail filtering tool.

- **-c**, **--\[no-\]compile-only**

  compile script and exit

- **-D**, **--dump**

  compile script, dump disassembled sieve code to terminal and exit

- **-d**, **--debug**\[=*FLAGS*\]

  debug flags (defaults to "TPt")

- **-E**, **--\[no-\]expression**

  treat SCRIPT as Sieve program text

- **-e**, **--email**=*ADDRESS*

  override user email address

- **--environment**=*NAME=VALUE*

  set sieve environment value

- **-f**, **--mbox-url**=*MBOX*

  mailbox to sieve (defaults to user's mail spool)

- **-k**, **--\[no-\]keep-going**

  keep on going if execution fails on a message

- **--line-info**=*BOOL*

  print source location along with action logs (default)

- **-n**, **--\[no-\]dry-run**, **--no-actions**

  do not execute any actions, just print what would be done

- **--no-program-name**

  do not prefix diagnostic messages with the program name

- **-t**, **--ticket**=*TICKET*

  ticket file for user authentication

- **-v**, **--\[no-\]verbose**

  log all actions

- **--variable**=*NAME=VALUE*

  set sieve variable

-

  Global debugging settings

- **--debug-level**=*LEVEL*

  set Mailutils debugging level

**--\[no-\]debug-line-info** show source info with debugging messages

- **--log-facility**=*FACILITY*

  output logs to syslog FACILITY

- **-M**, **--mailer**=*MAILER*

  use specified URL as the default mailer

-

  Sieve options

- **--clear-include-path**

  clear Sieve include path

- **--clear-library-path**, **--clearpath**

  clear Sieve library path

- **-I**, **--includedir**=*DIR*

  append DIR to the list of directories searched for include files

- **-L**, **--libdir**=*DIR*

  append DIR to the list of directories searched for library files

- **--libdir-prefix**=*DIR*

  add DIR to the beginning of the list of directories searched for library files

-

  Configuration handling

- **--config-file**=*FILE*

  load this configuration file; implies **--no-config**

- **--config-lint**

  check configuration file syntax and exit

- **--config-verbose**

  verbosely log parsing of the configuration files

- **--no-config**

  do not load site and user configuration files

- **--no-site-config**

  do not load site-wide configuration file

- **--no-user-config**

  do not load user configuration file

- **--set**=*PARAM=VALUE*

  set configuration parameter

-

  Informational options

- **--config-help**

  show configuration file summary

- **--show-config-options**

  show compilation options

- \-?, **--help**

  give this help list

- **--usage**

  give a short usage message

- **-V**, **--version**

  print program version

Mandatory or optional arguments to long options are also mandatory or optional for any corresponding short options.

Sieve-specific debug levels:

trace1  -  print parse tree before optimization trace2  -  print parse tree after optimization trace3  -  print parser traces trace4  -  print tests and actions being executed trace9  -  print each Sieve instruction being executed

Compatibility debug flags: g - main parser traces T - mailutils traces (same as **--debug-level**=*sieve*.trace0-trace1) P - network protocols (same as **--debug-level**=*sieve*.=prot) t - sieve trace (same as **--debug-level**=*sieve*.=trace4) i - sieve instructions trace (same as **--debug-level**=*sieve*.=trace9)

## REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs to \<bug-mailutils@gnu.org\>.\
 GNU Mailutils home page: \<http://mailutils.org\>\
 General help using GNU software: \<http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/\>

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2007-2024 Free Software Foundation, inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later \<http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html\>\
 This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

## SEE ALSO

The complete GNU mailutils documentation is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the **mailutils-doc** package is installed, the command

-

  **info mailutils**

should give you access to the complete manual.\
 You can also find this manual online in the GNU mailutils webpage:\
 https://www.gnu.org/software/mailutils/manual/index.html.\
 Please note this manpage was automatically generated by the Debian mailutils packagers. Do not file bugs for its content to the GNU Mailutils upstream authors.