Allowlist and denylist rules for agent email, backed by Lists

Short summary

This tutorial explains how to use Nylas Lists and Rules to manage dynamic allowlist/denylist policies for AI email agents without code redeployments. Lists are typed, editable collections of domains, TLDs, or addresses that Rules reference via the in_list operator, applying to both inbound and outbound mail across all agent accounts in a workspace. The post covers the control-plane vs data-plane architecture, CLI commands for managing lists and rules, and honest tradeoffs including fail-closed behavior and limitations for cold-outreach scenarios.

• •Nylas Lists and Rules provide a deploy-free control plane for managing agent email allow/deny policies
• •Rules apply to both inbound and outbound mail across all agent accounts in a workspace via the in_list operator
• •Static allowlists remain simpler for single-agent setups; Lists shine when non-engineers need to update policies or multiple agents share rules

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.