What does X-Spam-Status mean ?

SpamAssassin adds an extra email header such as

X-Spam-Status: Yes, score=21.6 required=4.0 tests=BATMAIL,BAYES_99,
DATE_IN_FUTURE_06_12,FS_REPLICA,FS_REPLICAWATCH,RAZOR2_CF_RANGE_51_100,
RAZOR2_CF_RANGE_E8_51_100,RAZOR2_CHECK,RCVD_IN_PBL,RCVD_IN_SORBS_DUL,
RDNS_DYNAMIC,URIBL_AB_SURBL,URIBL_BLACK,URIBL_JP_SURBL,URIBL_WS_SURBL
autolearn=spam version=3.2.1

These are visible when the a mail client is configured to "show full headers", or a similar option.

The fields are the following:

  • Whether the message is spam (yes/no)
  • The total score for the message (can be negative if whitelisted)
  • The score that would be required to be classed as spam
  • The comma-separated list of tests that returned non-zero value
  • Whether autolearn learned the message as spam or ham
  • The version of SpamAssassin that was used

To find out why a message was classified as spam (got the score it did), check the tests listed.

You can find all of the currently active rules with descriptions and scores in the Subversion repository under /trunk/rules or by downloading the latest published set using the sa-update tool. 

If a message is classed as spam, by default it is attached to a text message that gives the tests failed, points assigned, and short descriptions.

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