Thunderbird Filter Rules Fix Script (Post-Migration)

[mymy]

Thunderbird Filter Rules Fix Script (Post-Migration)  on ubuntu.

#!/bin/bash

# Thunderbird Filter Rules Fix Script (Post-Migration)
#
# When migrating Thunderbird to a new machine and copying 'msgFilterRules.dat' 
# inside the Mail directory, the destination folders (such as Inbox, Sent, etc.) 
# often appear blank in the Message Filters UI. This script was created to fix that issue.
# 
# Tested as a Bash script on Ubuntu, it successfully restores folder mappings, 
# allowing filters to sort messages perfectly without throwing any folder-not-found errors.
# 
# This could be incredibly useful for power users (like myself, a user since the Netscape era) 
# who manage hundreds of complex filter rules.
# 
# *Please note: This is an experimental version.*

# ==============================================================================
# Thunderbird msgFilterRules.dat Auto-Fix Script (English Version)
# ==============================================================================

TARGET_FILE="msgFilterRules.dat"
BACKUP_FILE="msgFilterRules.dat-bkup$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)"

# Parse arguments (Check for -i option)
INTERACTIVE_MODE=0
while getopts "i" opt; do
    case "$opt" in
        i) INTERACTIVE_MODE=1 ;;
        *) echo "Usage: $0 [-i]"; exit 1 ;;
    esac
done

clear
echo "=================================================================="
echo "⚠️  [CRITICAL] BEFORE YOU PROCEED!"
echo " Please CLOSE Thunderbird completely."
echo " If it remains open, changes will be overwritten and lost."
echo "=================================================================="
read -p "Have you closed Thunderbird? (y/n): " CONFIRM
if [ "$CONFIRM" != "y" ] && [ "$CONFIRM" != "Y" ]; then
    echo "[Aborted] Operation cancelled. Close Thunderbird and try again."
    exit 1
fi

if [ ! -f "$TARGET_FILE" ]; then
    echo "[Error] $TARGET_FILE not found."
    echo "Please run this script in the directory containing $TARGET_FILE."
    exit 1
fi

echo ""
echo "--- Starting Thunderbird Filter Fix ---"

CURRENT_DIR=$(pwd -P)
CURRENT_FOLDER=$(basename "$CURRENT_DIR")
HINT_DOMAIN=$(echo "$CURRENT_FOLDER" | sed -E 's/^(pop|mail|imap|smtp)\.//I')

echo "[INPUT] Enter your NEW (current) email address."
echo "  (Example based on your current folder: someone@${HINT_DOMAIN} )"
read -p "Email Address: " EMAIL_INPUT

if [[ "$EMAIL_INPUT" != *@* ]]; then
    echo "[Error] Invalid email address format."
    exit 1
fi

# Extract username and domain
USER_PART=$(echo "$EMAIL_INPUT" | cut -d'@' -f1)
SERVER_DOMAIN=$(echo "$EMAIL_INPUT" | cut -d'@' -f2)

# Verify if the email matches the current directory name
MATCH_OK=0
case "$CURRENT_FOLDER" in
    *"$SERVER_DOMAIN"*) MATCH_OK=1 ;;
    *"$USER_PART"*) MATCH_OK=1 ;;
esac

if [ "$MATCH_OK" -eq 0 ]; then
    echo ""
    echo "❌ [Error] The entered email address does not match the current directory!"
    echo "  Current Directory: $CURRENT_FOLDER"
    echo "  Entered Email    : $EMAIL_INPUT"
    echo "  Please make sure you are running the script in the correct profile folder."
    exit 1
fi

# Generate the correct virtual internal path for Thunderbird
NEW_PATH="mailbox://${USER_PART}@${CURRENT_FOLDER}/"

cp "$TARGET_FILE" "$BACKUP_FILE"
echo "[Info] Backup created successfully: $BACKUP_FILE"

TMP_FILE="msgFilterRules.tmp"
> "$TMP_FILE"

# ==============================================================================
# Process Execution Modes
# ==============================================================================

if [ "$INTERACTIVE_MODE" -eq 1 ]; then
    echo "=================================================================="
    echo "🔍 [-i] Interactive Mode: Confirming modifications line by line."
    echo "=================================================================="
    
    # Save standard input to file descriptor 3 to handle user input during file read
    exec 3<&0

    while IFS= read -r line; do
        # Enable rules (Fix enabled="no" to "yes")
        if echo "$line" | grep -q '^enabled="no"'; then
            new_line='enabled="yes"'
            echo ""
            echo "【Enable Filter】Would you like to activate this filter?"
            echo "  Old: $line"
            echo "  New: $new_line"
            read -p "  -> Apply change? (y/n): " ans <&3
            if [ "$ans" = "y" ] || [ "$ans" = "Y" ]; then line="$new_line"; fi
        fi

        # Fix actionValue path (mailbox://)
        if echo "$line" | grep -q 'mailbox://'; then
            new_line=$(echo "$line" | sed -E "s|mailbox://[^\"/]+/|${NEW_PATH}|g")
            if [ "$line" != "$new_line" ]; then
                echo ""
                echo "【Path Change】Is it OK to fix this actionValue path?"
                echo "  Old: $line"
                echo "  New: $new_line"
                read -p "  -> Apply change? (y/n): " ans <&3
                if [ "$ans" = "y" ] || [ "$ans" = "Y" ]; then
                    line="$new_line"
                    echo "  => [Applied]"
                else
                    echo "  => [Skipped]"
                fi
            fi
        fi
        echo "$line" >> "$TMP_FILE"
    done < "$BACKUP_FILE"
    
    exec 3<&-
else
    # Batch Mode (Default)
    echo "=================================================================="
    echo "🚀 Batch Mode: Applying changes automatically..."
    echo "=================================================================="
    cat "$BACKUP_FILE" | \
        sed 's/^enabled="no"/enabled="yes"/' | \
        sed -E "s|mailbox://[^\"/]+/|${NEW_PATH}|g" > "$TMP_FILE"
fi

# Replace the target file with the fixed one
mv "$TMP_FILE" "$TARGET_FILE"

echo ""
echo "[Success] Finished! $TARGET_FILE has been successfully updated."
echo "Please start Thunderbird and verify your message filter destinations."

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[grundt]

@mymy Thanks for sharing your script.

I hadn't been aware that filter rules were stored in text files, and therefore relatively simple to copy rules from one email account to another.