Recipe: Newsletter Cleanup

Audit and prune newsletter subscriptions. Block the unwanted, unsubscribe from the noisy, and enable AI summaries for the ones worth keeping.

Prerequisite: Read the use-spark base skill for command reference and filter syntax.

Access level required: triage.

Steps

Step 1: List all newsletters

spark emails Inbox --filter "category:newsletter"

Review the senders. Look for patterns: senders the user never reads, duplicates, or obsolete subscriptions.

Step 2: Review individual newsletters

For each sender the user wants to evaluate:

spark thread <id>

Step 3: Remove unwanted subscriptions

For mailing lists with an unsubscribe mechanism:

spark action unsubscribe <id>

For senders that should be blocked entirely:

spark contact-action blockContact spammer@example.com

To block an entire domain:

spark contact-action blockDomain example.com

Step 4: Enable AI summaries for keepers

For newsletters the user wants to keep but not read in full:

spark contact-action enableAutosummaryForContact newsletter@example.com

Step 5: Group repetitive senders

For senders that send frequently, group their emails to reduce inbox clutter:

spark contact-action groupEmailsFromContact sender@example.com

Tips

• Start with spark emails Inbox --filter "category:newsletter" --page-size 50 to see a broad list of senders.
• Ask the user which senders they actually read before blocking anything.
• unsubscribe works through the mailing list's unsubscribe mechanism - it's cleaner than blocking.
• blockContact stops all future mail from appearing; blockDomain is more aggressive.
• Auto-summary generates a brief AI summary at the top of each email from that sender - great for digests.
• Grouping (groupEmailsFromContact) collapses repeated messages from the same sender into a single entry.
• Run this recipe periodically (monthly) to keep the newsletter list pruned.