When creating a Modmail Automoderator rule with only archive: true, the rule fails validation if is_moderator is false or omitted.
Error shown:
Error parsing rules: No actions specified. Rule must either reply, private_reply or mute (or both)
However, the same rule saves successfully if author.is_moderator: true is used.
Example that fails
subject: 'Verification update from r/sub-name-here'
body (includes-word): ['thanks', 'copy', 'okay']
is_first_user_reply: false
author:
is_moderator: false
archive: true
Example that saves
subject: 'Verification update from r/sub-name-here'
body (includes-word): ['thanks', 'copy', 'okay']
is_first_user_reply: false
author:
is_moderator: true
archive: true
Use case
Our subreddit sends automated verification modmail messages. Users often reply with simple acknowledgements like "thanks", "ok", "copy", etc.
We want those low-value follow-up replies automatically archived to reduce manual cleanup.
I understand the likely reason for the restriction — preventing overly broad archive-only rules from accidentally hiding legitimate user messages. That makes sense from a safety perspective but is preventing tightly scoped archive workflows that appear safe and intentional.
One possible approach could be an explicit archive-only action (for example archive_only: true) that only works when the rule is narrow enough, such as requiring:
- a subject match
- and a body/body-regex/body-word match
That would preserve the safety guardrails while still enabling legitimate automation workflows for specific modmail conversations.
Thank you for all of your great apps!
When creating a Modmail Automoderator rule with only archive: true, the rule fails validation if is_moderator is false or omitted.
Error shown:
However, the same rule saves successfully if author.is_moderator: true is used.
Example that fails
Example that saves
Use case
Our subreddit sends automated verification modmail messages. Users often reply with simple acknowledgements like "thanks", "ok", "copy", etc.
We want those low-value follow-up replies automatically archived to reduce manual cleanup.
I understand the likely reason for the restriction — preventing overly broad archive-only rules from accidentally hiding legitimate user messages. That makes sense from a safety perspective but is preventing tightly scoped archive workflows that appear safe and intentional.
One possible approach could be an explicit archive-only action (for example archive_only: true) that only works when the rule is narrow enough, such as requiring:
That would preserve the safety guardrails while still enabling legitimate automation workflows for specific modmail conversations.
Thank you for all of your great apps!