# Business rules

> Business rules run every time a record is saved. Use them to fill in fields, check data, block changes, and update other records automatically.

A business rule reacts when a record in a table is created, updated, deleted, or restored. Rules keep your data correct on every save, no matter where the save comes from: a form, a kanban drag, the API, or a workflow step.

Rules run inside the save itself, as part of the same database transaction. If a rule refuses the save, nothing is stored. If a rule writes to another table and that write fails, the original save can be undone too.

## The four rule types

| Type | What it does | When it runs |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Computation](/docs/business-rules/computation) | Fills a field automatically | Before the record is stored, first |
| [Validation](/docs/business-rules/validation) | Checks the data and reports what is wrong | Before the record is stored, second |
| [Guard](/docs/business-rules/guard) | Blocks a change outright | Before the record is stored, third |
| [Side effect](/docs/business-rules/side-effect) | Writes to other tables, or starts a workflow | After the record is stored, in the same transaction |

Every computation finishes before any validation starts, and every validation finishes before any guard starts. So validations and guards always see the values computations filled in. Within one type, rules run by their **Order**: lower runs first.

## Create a rule

1. Open any view on the table, click **Settings**, and choose **Business Rules**.
2. Click **New rule**.
3. Enter a **Name**, such as "Approved orders cannot be edited", and optionally a **Description**.
4. Pick a **Rule type**.
5. Under **Runs on**, choose the operations: **Create**, **Update**, **Delete**, and **Restore**.
6. Optionally pick fields under **Only when these fields change**. An update that doesn't touch those fields skips the rule. Leave it empty to react to any change.
7. Under **When**, add conditions. Leave it empty and the rule runs on every matching save.
8. Under **Then**, set what the rule does. This part depends on the rule type.
9. Set the **Order** if several rules of the same type depend on each other.
10. Make sure **Rule is active** is on, then click **Create rule**.

> **Tip:** Click **AI assistant** in the rule editor and describe the rule in your own words, for example "orders over 10,000 need a manager in the approver field". The assistant drafts the rule. Click **Load into form**, check it, and save.

**Restore** is separate from **Create** on purpose. Bringing back an archived record can follow different logic than adding a new one.

## Conditions

A condition decides whether the rule applies to this save. You can combine these kinds:

| Condition | Use it to |
| --- | --- |
| **Field comparison** | Compare a field with a value, another field, or the current user. |
| **Field changed** | React only when a field's value actually changes, optionally from a specific value or to a specific value. |
| **Status changed to** | React when a status field reaches a particular state. |
| **All of…** | Group conditions that all have to hold. |
| **Any of…** | Group conditions where one is enough. |
| **Not…** | Invert whatever is inside. |
| **Rows exist in…** | Check that another table has a matching record. |
| **No rows exist in…** | Check that another table has no matching record. |

Comparisons use operators such as **is**, **is not**, **is more than**, **is less than**, **is at least**, **is at most**, **contains**, **starts with**, **is one of**, **is empty**, and **is not empty**.

### Values in conditions and actions

| Source | What it gives you |
| --- | --- |
| **Value** | A fixed value you type. |
| **Field** | A field on the record, either **After** the save (the new value) or **Before** it (the old value). |
| **Context** | A fact about the save: the **Signed-in user**, **The user's groups**, whether the **User owns the organization**, **The user's permissions**, **Right now**, the **Current table**, or the **Current row**. |
| **Row** | The whole record, before or after the save. Useful when you start a workflow. |

Computations can also use a total from another table or a formula. See [Computation](/docs/business-rules/computation).

## Manage rules

Each rule in the list shows a one-line summary of what it does, on which operations, and when. From a rule's menu you can:

- **Enable** or **Disable** it without deleting it.
- **Edit** it.
- **Duplicate** it. The copy starts disabled so you can adjust it before it runs.
- Open its **Execution history**.
- **Delete** it. It stops running immediately. Records it already wrote stay as they are.

The **Execution log** tab shows every time rules ran on this table, with the outcome (**Passed**, **Refused**, **Failed**, or **Skipped**), the operation, how long it took, and a step-by-step trace.

## What rules don't do

Rules don't send email, wait, create PDFs, or call other systems. Those belong in a [workflow](/docs/workflows). A [side effect](/docs/business-rules/side-effect) can start a workflow, and the workflow only starts after the save has been committed. It never runs for a save that was rolled back.

Some bulk operations skip business rules for speed, for example the **Bulk Upsert DataView** step in a workflow. Don't rely on a validation to protect records that arrive that way. Add the checks to the workflow before the write instead.

> **Note:** Business rules aren't available on time series tables. Business rules are included on selected plans. If **Business Rules** is greyed out in the view settings, your plan doesn't include it.

## Plan your rules

Write each rule as one sentence: on this table, on these operations, if this condition, then this effect. Name the type. Decide what the person sees when a guard or validation refuses the save, and write that message in their words. If one rule depends on another, give them an order, remembering that computations always run before validations, and validations before guards.

  - [Computation](/docs/business-rules/computation): Fill a field automatically when a record is saved.
  - [Validation](/docs/business-rules/validation): Check data and show what is wrong.
  - [Guard](/docs/business-rules/guard): Block a change based on state or role.
  - [Side effect](/docs/business-rules/side-effect): Write to other tables or start a workflow.

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Source: https://community.sapugo.app/docs/business-rules