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Dashboard and Analytics

The Mail-Rulez dashboard provides comprehensive monitoring and analytics for your email automation system. This guide covers how to interpret dashboard metrics, configure monitoring alerts, and use analytics to optimize your email processing.

Dashboard Overview

The main dashboard gives you an at-a-glance view of your entire Mail-Rulez system:

Screenshot: Main dashboard with all widgets

Key Metrics

System Health

Overall system status (Healthy/Warning/Error)
Service uptime and availability
Current processing status
Resource utilization

Processing Statistics

Emails processed today/week/month
Rules executed and success rates
List management activity
Retention policy executions

Account Status

Active/inactive account count
Last processing time per account
Current queue depth
Connection health

Widget Breakdown

System Status Widget

Screenshot: System status widget

Health Indicators:

🟢 Healthy: All systems operating normally
🟡 Warning: Minor issues or performance concerns
🔴 Error: Critical issues requiring attention
⚫ Offline: System not responding

Status Details:

Database connectivity
Scheduler status
Background services
Disk space and memory usage

Processing Statistics Widget

Screenshot: Processing statistics widget

Real-Time Metrics:

Emails processed in last hour
Current processing rate (emails/minute)
Average processing time per email
Queue length and wait times

Historical Trends:

Daily processing volume graphs
Weekly/monthly trend analysis
Peak usage identification
Performance over time

Account Health Widget

Screenshot: Account health monitoring

Per-Account Status:

Connection status (Connected/Disconnected/Error)
Last successful processing time
Current email queue size
Processing mode (Startup/Maintenance)

Quick Actions:

Test account connection
Force immediate processing
View account-specific logs
Edit account settings

Rule Performance Widget

Rule Execution Metrics:

Most frequently triggered rules
Rules with highest success rates
Rules causing errors or timeouts
Rules not triggered recently

Optimization Insights:

Identify unused rules
Find performance bottlenecks
Suggest rule improvements
Highlight conflicting rules

Analytics and Reporting

Email Volume Analytics

Screenshot: Email volume analytics dashboard

Volume Trends:

Hourly processing patterns
Daily volume averages
Weekly and monthly trends
Year-over-year comparisons

Source Analysis:

Email volume by account
Top sender domains
Email type distribution
Attachment size analysis

Rule Effectiveness Analytics

Rule Performance Metrics:

Execution frequency per rule
Success/failure rates
Average execution time
Resource usage per rule

Rule Impact Analysis:

Emails affected by each rule
Storage savings from rules
Time savings from automation
User intervention reduction

List Management Analytics

List Growth Tracking:

Whitelist/blacklist size over time
New additions per week/month
List effectiveness metrics
Training folder activity

List Performance:

Hit rates for each list
False positive/negative analysis
List maintenance recommendations
Duplicate detection results

Storage and Retention Analytics

Screenshot: Storage usage analytics

Storage Metrics:

Total storage used per account
Storage freed by retention policies
Largest folders and email sizes
Growth rate analysis

Retention Effectiveness:

Emails moved to trash vs. permanently deleted
Recovery rate from trash
Policy execution success rates
Storage optimization opportunities

Custom Dashboards

Creating Custom Views

Dashboard Customization:

Click "Customize Dashboard"
Drag and drop widgets
Resize widgets to fit your needs
Save custom layouts

Screenshot: Dashboard customization interface

Widget Options:

Chart types (line, bar, pie, gauge)
Time ranges (hour, day, week, month)
Data filters (account, rule, list type)
Refresh intervals

Role-Based Dashboards

Administrator Dashboard:

System health and performance
All account monitoring
Resource usage trends
Error and alert summaries

User Dashboard:

Personal account status
Individual processing statistics
Recent rule activity
Personal email trends

Operations Dashboard:

Service status monitoring
Performance bottlenecks
Maintenance requirements
Capacity planning metrics

Alert Configuration

Setting Up Alerts

Navigate to Monitoring → Alerts to configure notifications:

Screenshot: Alert configuration interface

Alert Types:

System Alerts: Server issues, resource problems
Processing Alerts: Failed email processing, queue backups
Security Alerts: Authentication failures, unusual activity
Performance Alerts: Slow processing, resource limits

Alert Thresholds

Performance Thresholds:

Processing time > 5 minutes per batch
Queue depth > 1000 emails
Memory usage > 80%
Error rate > 5%

System Thresholds:

Disk space < 10% free
Service downtime > 5 minutes
Database connectivity issues
Backup failures

Notification Channels

Email Notifications:

Configure SMTP settings
Set recipient lists per alert type
Customize email templates
Set notification frequency limits

Webhook Integration:

Slack channel notifications
Discord bot integration
Custom API endpoints
PagerDuty integration

In-App Notifications:

Dashboard banner alerts
Popup notifications
Badge counters
Alert history log

Performance Monitoring

Real-Time Performance Metrics

Screenshot: Real-time performance monitoring

CPU and Memory:

Current usage percentages
Historical usage trends
Peak usage identification
Resource allocation efficiency

Network Performance:

IMAP connection status
Network latency measurements
Bandwidth usage
Connection pool utilization

Database Performance:

Query execution times
Database connection count
Index usage efficiency
Storage growth rates

Performance Optimization Insights

Bottleneck Identification:

Slowest operations identification
Resource constraint analysis
Optimization recommendations
Capacity planning suggestions

Efficiency Metrics:

Emails processed per minute
Rules per second execution
Storage efficiency ratios
Resource utilization rates

Troubleshooting with Dashboard Data

Using Dashboard for Diagnostics

Problem Identification:

Check system status widget for overall health
Review recent processing statistics
Examine account-specific metrics
Analyze error patterns in alerts

Performance Investigation:

Compare current metrics to historical baselines
Identify correlation between issues and usage patterns
Check resource utilization during problem periods
Review concurrent activity levels

Common Diagnostic Scenarios

Slow Processing Investigation:

Check current queue depths
Review processing rate trends
Examine resource usage patterns
Identify problematic accounts or rules

Connection Issues Diagnosis:

Review account health status
Check authentication error patterns
Monitor network connectivity metrics
Analyze IMAP server response times

High Resource Usage Analysis:

Identify peak usage periods
Correlate with processing activities
Check for memory leaks or resource locks
Review concurrent operation counts

Dashboard Maintenance

Data Retention

Historical Data Management:

Raw metrics: 7 days
Hourly aggregates: 30 days
Daily aggregates: 1 year
Monthly aggregates: 5 years

Storage Optimization:

Automatic data aggregation
Configurable retention periods
Manual data export options
Archive old dashboard data

Dashboard Performance

Optimization Strategies:

Limit concurrent dashboard users
Use appropriate time ranges for queries
Cache frequently accessed data
Optimize database queries

Refresh Configuration:

Real-time widgets: 30 seconds
Statistics widgets: 5 minutes
Trend analysis: 1 hour
Historical reports: Manual refresh

Integration with External Tools

Metrics Export

Prometheus Integration:

# Prometheus configuration
- job_name: 'mail-rulez'
  static_configs:
    - targets: ['localhost:5001']
  metrics_path: '/metrics'
  scrape_interval: 30s

Available Metrics:

mailrulez_emails_processed_total
mailrulez_rules_executed_total
mailrulez_processing_duration_seconds
mailrulez_queue_depth

Grafana Dashboards

Pre-built Dashboards:

System overview dashboard
Email processing metrics
Performance monitoring
Alert management

Custom Dashboard Creation:

Import Mail-Rulez data sources
Create custom visualizations
Set up advanced alerting
Share dashboards across team

Log Aggregation

ELK Stack Integration:

Forward logs to Elasticsearch
Create Kibana visualizations
Set up log-based alerting
Correlate logs with metrics

Splunk Integration:

Configure log forwarding
Create custom dashboards
Set up automated monitoring
Generate compliance reports

Best Practices

Dashboard Usage

Regular Monitoring: Check dashboard daily for system health
Trend Analysis: Review weekly trends for optimization opportunities
Alert Response: Establish procedures for different alert types
Performance Baselines: Document normal operating ranges

Customization Guidelines

Role-Appropriate Views: Customize dashboards for different user roles
Relevant Metrics: Focus on metrics that drive actionable insights
Appropriate Time Ranges: Use time ranges appropriate for decision-making
Visual Clarity: Keep dashboards clean and easy to read

Maintenance Procedures

Regular Reviews: Monthly dashboard effectiveness reviews
Performance Optimization: Quarterly dashboard performance tuning
Alert Tuning: Adjust alert thresholds based on operational experience
Data Cleanup: Regular cleanup of old metrics and logs

Next Steps

With monitoring and analytics configured:

Log Management - View logs through the web interface Logs tab
Backup Procedures - See First-Time Setup
Performance Tuning - Use metrics from Performance Monitoring above
Troubleshooting Guide - Use metrics for problem solving