Conditional Rules

What You'll Learn

This guide explains how conditional rules work and how they help automate your application. You'll understand when conditional rules apply and discover common scenarios where they're particularly valuable.

What are Conditional Rules?

Conditional rules are automated triggers that set field values based on defined conditions. Once applied to a field, these rules take complete control of that field's values—making the field respond automatically to changes in your data without requiring manual updates.

For example, conditional rules can:

Set a Student Rank field to "Honor Roll" if the GPA is higher than 3.0
Assign a Commission Rate of 5% if an employee's Years of Experience is greater than 2
Change an Invoice Status to "Overdue" if Days Past Due is greater than 30

How Conditional Rules Work

When conditional rules are applied to a field:

The system evaluates each rule in order from top to bottom
When a rule's conditions are met, the corresponding value is set
Once a matching rule is found, no further rules are checked
If no rules match, the field value remains unchanged

Unlike validation rules (which verify data before saving), conditional rules actively set values based on other data in your application.

Note: Once you add even one conditional rule to a field, that field's values will only be set by the rules. You won't be able to manually update the field, and no other updates will affect its values.

Conditional Rules Lock the Field Completely

Once you add a conditional rule to a field, that field's value is controlled exclusively by its rules. This isn't just a priority setting — it's a full lock.

What gets overridden:

Manual edits by users in the Live App
Record Actions that target the same field
Form input values
Inline edits on table elements

If any of the above conflict with a conditional rule, the conditional rule wins every time. The field will always reflect what the rules dictate.

⚠️
Record Actions can't override conditional rules
A common mistake is setting up a Record Action to populate a field, then adding a conditional rule to the same field later. Once the conditional rule exists, the Record Action's output is ignored. If you need a field that auto-populates on create but can still be changed, add the Record Action to the Add form only — and don't add conditional rules to that field.

Conditional rules vs. Record Actions: choosing the right tool

Both can set field values automatically, but they behave very differently.

	Conditional Rules	Record Action on Forms
When it runs	Continuously, whenever conditions are met	Once, when the form submits
Can user override?	No	Yes
Triggered by	Any change that meets the condition	Form submission
Best for	Values that must always reflect a calculation or state	Setting a default at creation or update that users can change later

Use conditional rules when the field must always reflect a specific logic. Add a Record Action to only the Add form when you want to set an initial value but allow manual edits afterward.

When to Use Conditional Rules

Conditional rules are particularly valuable when:

Automating Status Updates

Changing order status based on payment received
Updating task status based on completion date
Setting account status based on subscription renewal

Calculating Values

Determining pricing tiers based on quantity
Setting tax rates based on location
Applying discount levels based on customer type

Streamlining Workflows

Assigning tasks based on department or expertise
Routing applications based on criteria met
Escalating issues based on priority or age

Ensuring Consistency

Standardizing categorization across records
Applying consistent naming conventions
Enforcing business rules across the application

Understanding what conditional rules can do is the first step. To learn how to create and manage them, see the Adding and Managing Conditional Rules guide.