diff --git a/backend/src/plugins/Automod/AutomodPlugin.ts b/backend/src/plugins/Automod/AutomodPlugin.ts
index 6dbc8158..6c8a2605 100644
--- a/backend/src/plugins/Automod/AutomodPlugin.ts
+++ b/backend/src/plugins/Automod/AutomodPlugin.ts
@@ -167,6 +167,9 @@ const configPreprocessor: ConfigPreprocessorFn<AutomodPluginType> = (options) =>
         if (rule["actions"]["log"] == null) {
           rule["actions"]["log"] = true;
         }
+        if (rule["actions"]["clean"] && rule["actions"]["start_thread"]) {
+          throw new StrictValidationError([`Cannot have both clean and start_thread at rule '${rule.name}'`]);
+        }
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/backend/src/plugins/Automod/actions/availableActions.ts b/backend/src/plugins/Automod/actions/availableActions.ts
index 76b2a60e..c37f3a39 100644
--- a/backend/src/plugins/Automod/actions/availableActions.ts
+++ b/backend/src/plugins/Automod/actions/availableActions.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import { ReplyAction } from "./reply";
 import { SetAntiraidLevelAction } from "./setAntiraidLevel";
 import { SetCounterAction } from "./setCounter";
 import { SetSlowmodeAction } from "./setSlowmode";
+import { StartThreadAction } from "./startThread";
 import { WarnAction } from "./warn";
 
 export const availableActions: Record<string, AutomodActionBlueprint<any>> = {
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ export const availableActions: Record<string, AutomodActionBlueprint<any>> = {
   add_to_counter: AddToCounterAction,
   set_counter: SetCounterAction,
   set_slowmode: SetSlowmodeAction,
+  start_thread: StartThreadAction,
   archive_thread: ArchiveThreadAction,
 };
 
@@ -52,5 +54,6 @@ export const AvailableActions = t.type({
   add_to_counter: AddToCounterAction.configType,
   set_counter: SetCounterAction.configType,
   set_slowmode: SetSlowmodeAction.configType,
+  start_thread: StartThreadAction.configType,
   archive_thread: ArchiveThreadAction.configType,
 });
diff --git a/backend/src/plugins/Automod/actions/startThread.ts b/backend/src/plugins/Automod/actions/startThread.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..03a2dda2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/plugins/Automod/actions/startThread.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+import { GuildFeature, ThreadAutoArchiveDuration } from "discord-api-types";
+import { TextChannel } from "discord.js";
+import * as t from "io-ts";
+import { renderTemplate, TemplateSafeValueContainer } from "../../../templateFormatter";
+import { ChannelTypeStrings } from "../../../types";
+import { convertDelayStringToMS, MINUTES, tDelayString, tNullable } from "../../../utils";
+import { savedMessageToTemplateSafeSavedMessage, userToTemplateSafeUser } from "../../../utils/templateSafeObjects";
+import { automodAction } from "../helpers";
+
+export const StartThreadAction = automodAction({
+  configType: t.type({
+    name: tNullable(t.string),
+    auto_archive: tDelayString,
+    private: tNullable(t.boolean),
+    slowmode: tNullable(tDelayString),
+    limit_per_channel: tNullable(t.number),
+  }),
+
+  defaultConfig: {
+    limit_per_channel: 5,
+  },
+
+  async apply({ pluginData, contexts, actionConfig, ruleName }) {
+    // check if the message still exists, we don't want to create threads for deleted messages
+    const threads = contexts.filter((c) => {
+      if (!c.message || !c.user) return false;
+      const channel = pluginData.guild.channels.cache.get(c.message.channel_id);
+      if (channel?.type !== ChannelTypeStrings.TEXT || !channel.isText()) return false; // for some reason the typing here for channel.type defaults to ThreadChannelTypes (?)
+      // check against max threads per channel
+      if (actionConfig.limit_per_channel && actionConfig.limit_per_channel > 0) {
+        const threadCount = channel.threads.cache.filter(
+          (tr) =>
+            tr.ownerId === pluginData.client.user!.id && !tr.deleted && !tr.archived && tr.parentId === channel.id,
+        ).size;
+        if (threadCount >= actionConfig.limit_per_channel) return false;
+      }
+      return true;
+    });
+
+    const guild = pluginData.guild;
+    const archiveSet = actionConfig.auto_archive
+      ? Math.ceil(Math.max(convertDelayStringToMS(actionConfig.auto_archive) ?? 0, 0) / MINUTES)
+      : ThreadAutoArchiveDuration.OneDay;
+    let autoArchive: ThreadAutoArchiveDuration;
+    if (archiveSet === ThreadAutoArchiveDuration.OneDay) {
+      autoArchive = ThreadAutoArchiveDuration.OneDay;
+    } else if (
+      archiveSet === ThreadAutoArchiveDuration.ThreeDays &&
+      guild.features.includes(GuildFeature.ThreeDayThreadArchive)
+    ) {
+      autoArchive = ThreadAutoArchiveDuration.ThreeDays;
+    } else if (
+      archiveSet === ThreadAutoArchiveDuration.OneWeek &&
+      guild.features.includes(GuildFeature.SevenDayThreadArchive)
+    ) {
+      autoArchive = ThreadAutoArchiveDuration.OneWeek;
+    } else {
+      autoArchive = ThreadAutoArchiveDuration.OneHour;
+    }
+
+    for (const threadContext of threads) {
+      const channel = pluginData.guild.channels.cache.get(threadContext.message!.channel_id) as TextChannel;
+      const renderThreadName = async (str: string) =>
+        renderTemplate(
+          str,
+          new TemplateSafeValueContainer({
+            user: userToTemplateSafeUser(threadContext.user!),
+            msg: savedMessageToTemplateSafeSavedMessage(threadContext.message!),
+          }),
+        );
+      const threadName = await renderThreadName(actionConfig.name ?? "{user.tag}s thread");
+      const thread = await channel.threads
+        .create({
+          name: threadName,
+          autoArchiveDuration: autoArchive,
+          type:
+            actionConfig.private && guild.features.includes(GuildFeature.PrivateThreads)
+              ? ChannelTypeStrings.PRIVATE_THREAD
+              : ChannelTypeStrings.PUBLIC_THREAD,
+          startMessage:
+            !actionConfig.private && guild.features.includes(GuildFeature.PrivateThreads)
+              ? threadContext.message!.id
+              : undefined,
+        })
+        .catch(noop);
+      if (actionConfig.slowmode && thread) {
+        const dur = Math.ceil(Math.max(convertDelayStringToMS(actionConfig.slowmode) ?? 0, 0) / 1000);
+        if (dur > 0) {
+          await thread.setRateLimitPerUser(dur).catch(noop);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  },
+});