Conditional rules
One policy that reshapes itself per request.
Conditions read the submitted form and shape the route before the first stage activates. They are evaluated once, at submission, and the resolved route is frozen onto the request, so later policy edits never disturb work already in progress.
When a stage runs
Every stage on the Approval route has a setting for When this step runs:
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| Always runs | The stage runs on every request |
| Runs only when | The stage runs only if its condition is met |
| Skipped when | The stage runs on every request except when its condition is met |
A condition is one or more clauses, each a field, a comparison and a value, for example “amount greater than 50,000”. With several clauses, choose Match all or Match any.
Branches in a parallel group are gated one by one, so a branch whose condition fails is skipped while its siblings run.
Comparisons
greater than, at least, less than, at most, equals, does not equal and contains. Conditions can only test fields the form actually has, so add fields on the Submit form step first.
Approving automatically
On the Conditions & outcome step, Add auto-approve creates a rule such as “if amount is less than 500, the request is approved automatically”. When it matches, the request is approved without going through the stages, and the decision is still recorded. An auto-approve rule does not change the steps of the route.
Older skip rules
Policies saved before stage conditions existed may carry a rule that skips a stage. Those rules still work exactly as before and are saved as they are; the builder marks them as retired. To move one across, give the stage a Skipped when condition and remove the rule.
Example
The Purchase Request template has one manager stage and a rule that adds a finance director stage when the amount is over 5,000. Requests under the threshold need one approval; larger ones need two. The same route can be built by putting the finance director stage on the route with Runs only when amount greater than 5,000, which keeps the whole route visible in one place.