Rules that sort

A rule says: when the description has this piece of text, the record goes to that category. Rules sort the records that arrive with no category, so you do not have to pick one every time.

Where to find it

Open Settings, then Categories, and go down to the panel Rules that sort on their own. The panel appears once the space has at least one category (see Categories and priorities).

Teach a rule from a record

The quickest way is to sort one record by hand and turn it into a rule.

1. In Records, List, find the record. If it has no category yet, give it one with Edit in its menu.
2. Press the gear button at the end of its row and choose Always sort like this.
3. The screen confirms it with a sentence that starts with Done. and names the text it will look for.

The rule uses the whole description of that record, as it was written, including an instalment ending such as 1/3. To catch more records, edit the rule down to the part that repeats, such as ifood.

Write a rule

1. In the panel, press New rule.
2. In When the description has, write a piece of the description, at least two letters. Case and accents are ignored, and a piece is enough: uber finds Uber to the airport.
3. In It goes to, pick the category.
4. Press Save.

The rule shows in the panel as a sentence, such as When it has uber, it goes to Rides and taxi.

Sort the records already there

A new rule sorts the records written after it. For the ones already there, press Run over the old ones, which appears once the panel has at least one rule. It gives a category to every record that has none and matches a rule, then says how many it sorted, such as Sorted 12 records that had no category. When it sorted nothing, it says Nothing to sort: everything already has a category.

Change or stop a rule

Press the gear button beside the rule. The menu offers:

1. Edit, to change the text or the category.
2. Switch off, which keeps the rule but stops it. It is then shown struck through, and Switch on brings it back.
3. Delete, which removes it at once. Records it already sorted keep their category.

When rules run

1. When a record is written with no category: from the form, from quick entry and from an import, where the review shows the category each line will get before anything is written.
2. When you press Run over the old ones.

A category chosen by hand is never replaced by a rule.

Good to know

1. When more than one rule matches, the first in the list wins. New rules go to the end, and the list cannot be reordered, so an older rule wins over a newer one.
2. A rule reads only the description. It does not look at the account, or at whether the record is an expense or an income.
3. A rule only sets the category. Rules do not learn on their own: changing a category by hand leaves every rule as it was.
4. Transfers are never sorted, and Run over the old ones leaves out records checked against the bank.
5. Records written by a recurrence take the category of the series when they are written, and no rule is asked then. If the series has no category, Run over the old ones can still sort them later (see What repeats, and the calendar).
6. In a shared space, only an Owner, an Administrator or an Editor can write and run rules (see Members and invitations).
7. Rules work the same in the browser and on a server of your own.

Next: Categories and priorities and Importing a statement.