Custom Block/Whitelist rules bypassed by default-accept or quarantine (Priority 100 on Blacklist still accepting)

[nikhi]

Hello PMG Community,

I am struggling to get custom rules in Proxmox Mail Gateway working properly. Despite configuring rules for Whitelisting and Blacklisting, emails are not following the expected logic—blacklisted senders are getting delivered via default-accept, and whitelisted senders are still ending up in Spam Quarantine.

I would appreciate guidance on how to properly set up a clean, working rule architecture in PMG from scratch.

My Current Issues​

1. Blacklist Rules Bypassed:I created a Blacklist rule with Priority 100, Direction: In, and Action: Block (or Quarantine). I added the exact email address EX:nikhil@gmail.com to the Who Object. However, incoming mail from this address bypasses the rule completely and falls back to default-accept:
   
   Whitelisted Senders Going to Quarantine:I added a sender (EX:nikhil@gmail.com) to Configuration -> Mail Proxy -> Welcomelist and created a Whitelist rule in Mail Filter -> Rules. However, because of a high SpamAssassin score (7/5), the Spam Quarantine rule executes first and quarantines the mail:
   
   
   

2. What I Need Help With​

   Could someone explain or provide a step-by-step guide on:
   
   1. Rule Setup Best Practices: How should priorities, objects (Who/What/Action), and directions (In/Out/Both) be configured from scratch so Blacklist and Whitelist rules reliably override Spam Quarantine?
   2. Debugging Unmatched Objects: Why would an exact email address in a Who Object fail to trigger a Priority 100 Blacklist rule?

Could someone explain or provide a step-by-step guide on:

1. Rule Setup Best Practices: How should priorities, objects (Who/What/Action), and directions (In/Out/Both) be configured so Blacklist and Whitelist rules reliably override Spam Quarantine?
2. Debugging Unmatched Objects: Why would an exact email address in a Who Object fail to trigger a Priority 100 Blacklist rule?