Virtual Secretary, with Sioul¶

Virtual Secretary sorts mail with Python filters (00-imap-spam.py, 01-imap-taxes.py…) that cross-check mail, contacts and calendars. Sioul keeps those filters working, in two modes.

Mode A: Virtual Secretary keeps sorting on the server¶

Nothing changes on its side: it moves messages into IMAP folders and tags them. Sioul reads where a message was put, and turns the folder into a proposal (rules::FolderMapping in the core):

[[virtual_secretary.map]]
folder = "INBOX.Money.Taxes"
case = "taxes-2025"

[[virtual_secretary.map]]
folder = "INBOX.Services.Notifications"
shelf = "notifications"

[[virtual_secretary.map]]
folder = "INBOX.spam"
junk = true

Sioul does not move mail on the server while Virtual Secretary does, so the two never fight.

Mode B: Virtual Secretary's filters run inside Sioul¶

How it runs: a separate Python process loads the filter files unchanged, with globals imap, smtp and carddav that behave like Virtual Secretary's. They talk to Sioul's core over JSON-RPC on standard input and output.
Why a separate process: Python stays out of the Rust core, and the projects keep separate licences.
What it turns into: the filters' actions become Sioul proposals, listed below.

Virtual Secretary	In Sioul
`imap.get_objects(mailbox, n)`	the account's messages (the inbox is the Porch's arrivals)
`imap.run_filters(filter, action, runs)`	each card is filtered; how many times each filter ran on a message is kept in Sioul's database instead of hidden log files
`email.is_in(query, field)`, `get_sender()`, `headers`, `email["X-…"]`, `attachments`, `get_body()`, `get_date()`, `age()`	the same, from the card
`email.ip`, `email.domains`	the server route from `Received`
`spf_pass()`, `dkim_pass()`, `arc_pass()`, `authenticity_score()`, `is_authentic()`	Sioul's trust results
`is_newsletter()`, `is_mailing_list()`	the card's list detection
`move(folder)`	a proposal to file or assign a case, through the folder mapping
`tag(k)`, `untag(k)`	a label
`spam(folder)`	junk: set aside, and the classifier learns
`delete()`	the trash, recoverable for 30 days
`mark_as_read/answered/important`	flags
`query_referenced_emails()`, `query_replied_email()`	thread lookups in Sioul's store (later)
`smtp` (autoresponders)	drafts in the Outbox: Sioul never sends without you

"LEARN" filters (read-only, heavy) run on demand.
Permissions: every filter starts as a proposer, and you allow a filter to act alone, filter by filter.