diff --git a/src/cli/init_cli.rs b/src/cli/init_cli.rs
index bedb35b..454654d 100644
--- a/src/cli/init_cli.rs
+++ b/src/cli/init_cli.rs
@@ -60,7 +60,13 @@ use cull_gmail::{ClientConfig, Error, GmailClient, Result};
 use lazy_regex::{Lazy, Regex, lazy_regex};
 
 /// Parse configuration root path with h:, c:, r: prefixes.
-fn parse_config_root(path_str: &str) -> PathBuf {
+///
+/// Supports:
+/// - `h:path` - Relative to home directory
+/// - `c:path` - Relative to current directory
+/// - `r:path` - Relative to filesystem root
+/// - `path` - Use path as-is
+pub fn parse_config_root(path_str: &str) -> PathBuf {
     static ROOT_CONFIG: Lazy<Regex> = lazy_regex!(r"^(?P<class>[hrc]):(?P<path>.+)$");
 
     if let Some(captures) = ROOT_CONFIG.captures(path_str) {
diff --git a/src/cli/init_cli/tests.rs b/src/cli/init_cli/tests.rs
index 96c4b9f..5eb6528 100644
--- a/src/cli/init_cli/tests.rs
+++ b/src/cli/init_cli/tests.rs
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ mod unit_tests {
         create_mock_credential_file(temp_dir.path()).unwrap();
 
         let init_cli = InitCli {
+            rules_dir: None,
             config_dir: "test".to_string(),
             credential_file: None,
             force: false,
@@ -88,6 +89,7 @@ mod unit_tests {
     fn test_validate_credential_file_not_found() {
         let temp_dir = TempDir::new().unwrap();
         let init_cli = InitCli {
+            rules_dir: None,
             config_dir: "test".to_string(),
             credential_file: None,
             force: false,
@@ -108,6 +110,7 @@ mod unit_tests {
         fs::write(&credential_path, "invalid json content").unwrap();
 
         let init_cli = InitCli {
+            rules_dir: None,
             config_dir: "test".to_string(),
             credential_file: None,
             force: false,
@@ -131,6 +134,7 @@ mod unit_tests {
         let config_path = temp_dir.path().join("new-config");
 
         let init_cli = InitCli {
+            rules_dir: None,
             config_dir: "test".to_string(),
             credential_file: None,
             force: false,
@@ -183,6 +187,7 @@ mod unit_tests {
         fs::rename(temp_dir.path().join("credential.json"), &cred_path).unwrap();
 
         let init_cli = InitCli {
+            rules_dir: None,
             config_dir: "test".to_string(),
             credential_file: None,
             force: false,
@@ -220,6 +225,7 @@ mod unit_tests {
         fs::write(config_path.join("cull-gmail.toml"), "existing config").unwrap();
 
         let init_cli = InitCli {
+            rules_dir: None,
             config_dir: "test".to_string(),
             credential_file: None,
             force: false,
@@ -243,6 +249,7 @@ mod unit_tests {
         fs::write(config_path.join("rules.toml"), "existing rules").unwrap();
 
         let init_cli = InitCli {
+            rules_dir: None,
             config_dir: "test".to_string(),
             credential_file: None,
             force: true,
@@ -275,6 +282,7 @@ mod unit_tests {
         fs::write(&test_file, "test content").unwrap();
 
         let init_cli = InitCli {
+            rules_dir: None,
             config_dir: "test".to_string(),
             credential_file: None,
             force: false,
@@ -317,6 +325,7 @@ mod unit_tests {
         fs::write(&test_file, "test content").unwrap();
 
         let init_cli = InitCli {
+            rules_dir: None,
             config_dir: "test".to_string(),
             credential_file: None,
             force: false,
diff --git a/src/cli/main.rs b/src/cli/main.rs
index d833fe4..29d1c52 100644
--- a/src/cli/main.rs
+++ b/src/cli/main.rs
@@ -127,6 +127,8 @@ use messages_cli::MessagesCli;
 use rules_cli::RulesCli;
 use token_cli::{TokenCli, restore_tokens_from_string};
 
+use std::path::PathBuf;
+
 /// Main CLI application structure defining global options and subcommands.
 ///
 /// This struct represents the root of the command-line interface, providing
@@ -304,8 +306,11 @@ async fn run(args: Cli) -> Result<()> {
 
     let mut client = GmailClient::new_with_config(client_config).await?;
 
+    // Get configured rules path
+    let rules_path = get_rules_path(&config)?;
+
     let Some(sub_command) = args.sub_command else {
-        let rules = rules_cli::get_rules()?;
+        let rules = rules_cli::get_rules_from(rules_path.as_deref())?;
         let execute = config.get_bool("execute").unwrap_or(false);
         return run_rules(&mut client, rules, execute).await;
     };
@@ -317,7 +322,11 @@ async fn run(args: Cli) -> Result<()> {
         }
         SubCmds::Message(messages_cli) => messages_cli.run(&mut client).await,
         SubCmds::Labels(labels_cli) => labels_cli.run(client).await,
-        SubCmds::Rules(rules_cli) => rules_cli.run(&mut client).await,
+        SubCmds::Rules(rules_cli) => {
+            rules_cli
+                .run_with_rules_path(&mut client, rules_path.as_deref())
+                .await
+        }
         SubCmds::Token(token_cli) => {
             // Token commands don't need an initialized client, just the config
             // We need to get a fresh client_config since the original was moved
@@ -530,6 +539,33 @@ async fn run_rules(client: &mut GmailClient, rules: Rules, execute: bool) -> Res
 /// - Container deployments with injected token environment variables
 /// - CI/CD pipelines with stored token secrets
 /// - Ephemeral compute environments requiring periodic Gmail access
+/// Gets the rules file path from configuration.
+///
+/// Reads the `rules` configuration value and resolves it using path prefixes.
+/// Supports h:, c:, r: prefixes for home, current, and root directories.
+///
+/// # Arguments
+///
+/// * `config` - Application configuration
+///
+/// # Returns
+///
+/// Returns the resolved rules file path, or None if using default location.
+fn get_rules_path(config: &Config) -> Result<Option<PathBuf>> {
+    let rules_config = config
+        .get_string("rules")
+        .unwrap_or_else(|_| "rules.toml".to_string());
+
+    // If it's just "rules.toml" (the default), return None to use default location
+    if rules_config == "rules.toml" {
+        return Ok(None);
+    }
+
+    // Otherwise, parse the path with prefix support
+    let path = init_cli::parse_config_root(&rules_config);
+    Ok(Some(path))
+}
+
 fn restore_tokens_if_available(config: &Config, client_config: &ClientConfig) -> Result<()> {
     let token_env_var = config
         .get_string("token_cache_env")
diff --git a/src/cli/rules_cli.rs b/src/cli/rules_cli.rs
index 7876ec5..0e06d4b 100644
--- a/src/cli/rules_cli.rs
+++ b/src/cli/rules_cli.rs
@@ -263,7 +263,21 @@ impl RulesCli {
     /// - **Error isolation**: Subcommand errors don't affect rule loading
     /// - **State preservation**: Configuration errors don't corrupt existing rules
     pub async fn run(&self, client: &mut GmailClient) -> Result<()> {
-        let rules = get_rules()?;
+        self.run_with_rules_path(client, None).await
+    }
+
+    /// Executes the rules command with an optional custom rules path.
+    ///
+    /// # Arguments
+    ///
+    /// * `client` - Mutable Gmail client for API operations
+    /// * `rules_path` - Optional path to rules file
+    pub async fn run_with_rules_path(
+        &self,
+        client: &mut GmailClient,
+        rules_path: Option<&Path>,
+    ) -> Result<()> {
+        let rules = get_rules_from(rules_path)?;
 
         match &self.sub_command {
             SubCmds::Config(config_cli) => config_cli.run(rules),