Rules - ActionLayer

The rules engine evaluates a condition tree against trigger events and runs actions when conditions match. Rules are how you auto-approve trusted contacts, flag urgent threads, route by sender, or shortcut the approval step for known cases.

Method	Path	Purpose
`POST`	`/v1/rules`	Create a rule
`GET`	`/v1/rules`	List rules
`GET`	`/v1/rules/{id}`	Get one rule
`PATCH`	`/v1/rules/{id}`	Update a rule
`DELETE`	`/v1/rules/{id}`	Delete a rule

How rules work

An event fires (e.g. email.received).
ActionLayer fetches all active rules for that workspace + trigger, ordered by priority ascending.
For each rule, it walks the condition tree. If conditions pass, all actions execute.
If stop_after_match: true on a matching rule, evaluation halts; otherwise the next rule is checked.

Rule evaluation runs in the background (Celery) — it never blocks an API response.

Trigger events

Event	Fires when
`email.received`	An inbound message is parsed and stored
`email.sent`	An outbound message is queued for delivery
`email.delivered`	Postmark confirmed delivery
`draft.created`	An agent submits a draft
`draft.approved`	A draft is approved (manually or via auto-approve)
`draft.sent`	An approved draft was successfully delivered
`draft.stale`	A draft was marked stale (newer inbound arrived)

Conditions

Conditions are an AND/OR tree:

{
  "operator": "AND",
  "conditions": [
    { "field": "contact.status", "op": "equals", "value": "trusted" },
    {
      "operator": "OR",
      "conditions": [
        { "field": "message.body_text", "op": "contains", "value": "urgent" },
        { "field": "thread.subject",    "op": "contains", "value": "ASAP" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Supported fields

Available fields depend on the trigger:

Trigger	Fields
`email.received`	`message.from_email`, `message.subject`, `message.body_text`, `thread.subject`, `thread.status`, `contact.status`, `contact.tag`, `contact.domain`, `identity.id`
`draft.created` / `draft.approved` / `draft.stale`	`thread.subject`, `thread.status`, `contact.status`, `contact.tag`, `contact.domain`, `identity.id`

Supported operators (`op`)

Operator	Applies to	Notes
`equals`	string, enum	Exact match (case-insensitive for emails)
`not_equals`	string, enum
`contains`	string	Substring, case-insensitive
`not_contains`	string
`starts_with` / `ends_with`	string
`in` / `not_in`	string, enum	`value` must be a list

The condition builder in the dashboard surfaces only the operators valid for each field.

Actions

actions is an ordered list. Each item is a {type, ...params} object.

Type	Params	Effect
`set_thread_status`	`status: open\|waiting\|draft_pending\|closed`	Force the thread into that state
`set_approval_mode`	`mode: manual\|auto`	Override `auto_approve_replies` for this draft only
`skip_approval`	(none)	Approve the draft and queue send
`notify_channel`	`channel: telegram\|slack\|email`, `config: {...}`	Fire an ad-hoc notification
`add_tag`	`tag: string`	Tag the contact
`set_priority`	`priority: low\|normal\|high\|urgent`	Surface in inbox sorting

Create

curl -X POST https://api.actionlayer.dev/v1/rules \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACTIONLAYER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Auto-approve trusted contacts",
    "trigger_event": "draft.created",
    "priority": 50,
    "stop_after_match": true,
    "conditions": {
      "operator": "AND",
      "conditions": [
        { "field": "contact.status", "op": "equals", "value": "trusted" }
      ]
    },
    "actions": [
      { "type": "skip_approval" }
    ]
  }'

Request body

Field	Type	Default	Notes
`name`	string	required	Human label
`trigger_event`	enum	required	One of the events above
`conditions`	object	`{}`	AND/OR tree, max 10 KB serialized
`actions`	array	`[]`	Max 10 KB serialized
`status`	`active` \| `inactive`	`active`	`inactive` keeps the rule but skips evaluation
`priority`	int	`100`	Lower number = evaluated first
`stop_after_match`	bool	`false`	If true and the rule matches, no further rules run
`identity_id`	UUID	null	Scope rule to a single identity
`assistant_id`	UUID	null	Scope rule to a single agent

More examples

Flag urgent threads

{
  "name": "Flag urgent",
  "trigger_event": "email.received",
  "conditions": {
    "operator": "OR",
    "conditions": [
      { "field": "message.subject",  "op": "contains", "value": "URGENT" },
      { "field": "message.body_text", "op": "contains", "value": "asap" }
    ]
  },
  "actions": [
    { "type": "set_priority", "priority": "urgent" },
    { "type": "notify_channel", "channel": "telegram", "config": { "chat_id": "…" } }
  ]
}

{
  "name": "Close newsletters",
  "trigger_event": "email.received",
  "conditions": {
    "operator": "AND",
    "conditions": [
      { "field": "message.from_email", "op": "ends_with", "value": "@substack.com" }
    ]
  },
  "actions": [
    { "type": "set_thread_status", "status": "closed" }
  ]
}

List

curl 'https://api.actionlayer.dev/v1/rules?trigger_event=draft.created&status=active' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACTIONLAYER_API_KEY"

Returned in priority order (ascending).

Update

curl -X PATCH https://api.actionlayer.dev/v1/rules/RULE_ID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACTIONLAYER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"status": "inactive"}'

Delete

curl -X DELETE https://api.actionlayer.dev/v1/rules/RULE_ID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACTIONLAYER_API_KEY"

Errors

HTTP	`error`	When
402	`plan_limit_reached`	Workspace at rules cap (0 / 25 / 100 by plan; Builder Pack has no rules)
404	`not_found`	Rule does not exist
422	validation	`trigger_event` not allowed, conditions/actions over 10 KB, etc.

Resources

Documentation Index

​How rules work

​Trigger events

​Conditions

​Supported fields

​Supported operators (op)

​Actions

​Create

​Request body

​More examples

​Flag urgent threads

​Auto-close newsletter threads

​List

​Update

​Delete

​Errors