Systems and methods for handling email messages are described. Some embodiments are directed to determining whether an email message meets a predefined condition, and executing an action in an instant messaging (IM) system in response to determining that the email message meets the predefined condition. Other embodiments are directed to providing a programming interface, and storing inputs provided by a user at the programming interface. For those embodiments, the programming interface is adapted to receive user input in the form of a markup language. The inputs include a condition and an action. Yet other embodiments are directed to determining whether a digital message meets a predefined condition, and executing a filtering algorithm on the digital message in response to determining that the digital message does not meet the predefined condition. The digital message may be, for example, an email message or an IM message.