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sisyphus | ||
test/Maildir | ||
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.gitignore | ||
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appveyor.yaml | ||
CHANGELOG.md | ||
classify_test.go | ||
classify.go | ||
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md | ||
CONTRIBUTING.md | ||
database_test.go | ||
database.go | ||
glide.lock | ||
glide.yaml | ||
info.go | ||
learn_test.go | ||
learn.go | ||
LICENSE | ||
mail_test.go | ||
mail.go | ||
Makefile | ||
mkdocs.yaml | ||
README.md | ||
sisyphus_suite_test.go |
Sisyphus: Intelligent Junk Mail Handler
As we all know too well, many mails we receive are undesired for various reasons. Sometimes, we just do not want to be part of a scam, sometimes we really prefer no to have this latest joke mail sent by our beloved friends -- even though we are happy to exchange serious messages with them.
Sisyphus is a junk mail handler of the latest generation. It has the following features:
- requires zero configuration, neither on the server nor on the client
- works with any MTA and any client
- learns about your preferences based on all messages in your inbox and your junk folder
- can handle multiple mail accounts with independant junk mail preferences
- requires minimal resources, e.g. learning over 50000 mails and keeping track of roughly 90000 words requires only 10MB of storage
How it works
Sisyphus analyzes each mail in the inbox and the junk folder and uses its
subject and text to improve the learning algorithm. Whenever a new mail arrives
in the Maildir/new
directory, Sisyphus classifies this mail based on its
content. Junk mails are then moved automatically to the Maildir/.Junk
directory, while good mails are left untouched. See the following blog
post on a rather non-technical
explanation.
Technically, Sisyphus applies a classic Bayesian Update algorithm to classify mails. However, in contrast to many traditional junk mail filters, classification is based on all mails ever received. This includes mails that are classified by the user as junk by moving them manually into the junk folder, or mails that have been correctly classified by Sisyphus previously. This is only possible with limited resources by applying the HyperLogLog algorithm to store the learned mails.
The learned information is stored in a local database called sisyphus.db
which is located in each Maildir
directory.
Install
Sisyphus can be installed by downloading the released binary package.
To build from source, you can
- Clone this repository into
$GOPATH/src/github.com/carlostrub/sisyphus
and change directory into it - Run
make build
This will leave you with ./sisyphus
in the sisyphus
directory, which you
can put in your $PATH
. (You can also take a look at make install
to install
for you.)
Usage
First, set the environment variables necessary for operation:
$ setenv SISYPHUS_DIRS PATHTOMAILDIR
$ setenv SISYPHUS_DURATION 24h
or
$ export SISYPHUS_DIRS=PATHTOMAILDIR
$ export SISYPHUS_DURATION=24h
or for Windows
$ set SISYPHUS_DIRS=PATHTOMAILDIR
$ set SISYPHUS_DURATION=24h
Sisyphus help can be started by running
$ sisyphus help
To start sisyphus, do
$ sisyphus run
To display various statistics, do
$ sisyphus stats
(caveat: run at least one learning cycle)
See the help for more details.
License
Sisyphus is licensed under the 3-Clause BSD license. See the LICENSE file for detailed information.