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Check something before you act

In this article

Trigger conditions are deliberately simple, and they cannot ask the question people ask most: is this field empty? This step can.

  • A walkthrough video, then what this step does that a trigger condition cannot
  • Five checks worth building, including one that uses AI to match names loosely
  • The three check types, and all twelve comparisons
  • Why the same two branches are called three different things

01 · Video

Feature walkthrough

Video · your first condition · 2:30

02 · Why

Why do we have this?

Trigger conditions are deliberately simple, and they cannot ask the question people ask most: is this field empty? This step can. If you are checking for something missing, this is where you do it.

It can also do two things trigger conditions cannot: add up the lines on a record, and read the record’s match status and flags.

03 · Use cases

Use case 1
Flag invoices with no PO number

Row Check → PO Reference → is empty → flag on the Yes path.

Use case 2
Only chase big ones

Row Check → Total Amount → greater than → 10000.

Use case 3
Act on a failed match

Status & Flags → Comparison status is one of → Exception. See How matching works.

Use case 4
Catch a total that does not add up

Totals → SUM of the line amounts → compare with the header total.

Use case 5
Match a supplier name that is spelled differently

Row Check → Vendor Name → ✨ match. The sparkle marks the two comparisons that use AI to allow for spelling differences.

04 · How

Add a condition step

  1. Press ADD STEP and choose If / Or under Logic & Control.
  2. Choose a check type: Row Check, Totals, or Status & Flags.
  3. For a Row Check, choose whether you are testing This row or Another row (lookup).
  4. Pick the field, pick the comparison, type the value.
  5. Read the PREVIEW line — it says your rule back to you in plain words.
  6. Add steps to the Yes path, the No path, or both.

The comparisons available

Comparison
= (equals)
≠ (not equals)
> (greater than)
≥ (greater or equal)
< (less than)
≤ (less or equal)
contains
does not contain
✨ match
✨ not match
is empty
is not empty

05 · Expected result

The step shows in the list with two branches under it. The preview line reads like a sentence, for example IF Total Amount > (greater than) 10000.

Records that pass go down the Yes path; the rest go down the No path. If a path is empty, nothing happens on that side and the workflow carries on.

06 · Troubleshooting and notes

Status & Flags is the join to your comparisons

  • Comparison statusis one of — with the built-in statuses (Disregarded, Conflict, Review, Not matched, Matched) plus your own status-rule outcomes, such as Matched to PO or Exception. Whatever your admin named in the comparison’s status rules turns up here.
  • Flags — "all flags passed", with a box to ignore particular flags. The preview says it best: Yes when every flag on the record is green.

Totals uses this. to mean the current row

In a filter, this.invoice_number is the invoice number of the record being checked. With no filter it adds up every row.

The paths have different names in different places

Here they are Yes path and No path. In the Form view they show as IF and ELSE. Same two paths — see Reading the builder.

Variables in this step have the same problem as elsewhere

See the warning in The actions you can add. The comparison itself works fine; it is inserted values in text that come out blank.

07 · FAQ

Common questions

Can I check two conditions at once?

Use two If / Or steps, one inside the other's Yes path.

What is "Another row (lookup)"?

It checks a field on a related record instead of this one — for example, the supplier's payment terms rather than the invoice's.

What do the sparkles mean?

✨ match and ✨ not match use AI to compare text loosely, so "Northwind Office Supplies Ltd" and "Northwind Office Supplies Limited" count as the same. The plain = (equals) would say they differ.

Does an empty branch break anything?

No. It just means nothing happens on that side.