Automation rules: log and pause campaigns by metrics

An automation rule checks the metrics of the selected campaigns at a set frequency and, when all conditions match, records a trigger in its log or pauses the campaigns. The Automation rules («Автоматические правила») section is in the main panel menu; on a phone it opens with the More («Ещё») button. The owner, the admin, team leads and media buyers work with rules.

What a rule does

• A rule is created for selected campaigns, from 1 to 100.
• At each check, the tracker calculates the metrics of each campaign for the set period and compares them with the conditions. Metrics are calculated for each campaign separately, not as a total for the rule.
• The action is performed for a campaign that matches all conditions and has reached the minimum number of clicks.
• A rule does not work until it is enabled. You can enable it only after a condition check.

A rule has one action, set in the Action («Действие») field.

The panel reports a trigger with the notification “Automation rule … triggered” («Автоправило … сработало») — see When a notification appears.

A rule changes only tracker campaigns and only in one direction: only a user can resume a campaign it paused — see Paused campaign.

Who works with rules

How to assign team members to a team lead is described on the Team lead and their media buyers page.

• A rule has an author — the user who created it. The rule runs with the author's permissions. When a team lead, owner or admin edits a rule, the author does not change.
• Team leads and media buyers see a rule as long as all of its campaigns are their own or, for a team lead, campaigns of team members assigned to them. If the user's campaign groups are restricted, each campaign of the rule must be in an allowed group.
• A campaign that has been shared with the user cannot be added to a rule: such access gives view only.
• A media buyer does not see the rules of the team lead, owner and admin, even if those rules include their campaigns.
• A designer who opens the page by its address sees “The section is unavailable for your role.” («Раздел недоступен для вашей роли.»)

Restrictions from the “Permissions” window

The owner and the admin can narrow the access of team leads and media buyers in the Permissions window: Admin panel → Team («Админ-панель → Команда»), the Permissions («Права») button in the user's row. The window's section table has an Automation rules row.

The condition check shows the metrics of the whole campaign, so the section is closed to users whose reports or individual report fields are closed. The View value for the Reports section does not affect rules.

The restrictions from the first five rows of the table also turn off all enabled rules of this user, and the group restriction turns off those of their rules that include a campaign from a group that is not allowed — see When the tracker turns off a rule itself. Restrictions do not apply to the owner and the admin.

How to create a rule

1. Open the Automation rules section.
2. Click + Rule («+ Правило») in the page header. On a phone, use the + button on the right above the bottom bar. The New rule («Новое правило») form opens in place of the list.
3. Fill in the Name («Название»).
4. In the Campaigns block, select the campaigns the rule watches.
5. In the All conditions must match («Все условия должны совпасть») block, set the conditions: a metric, a comparison and a number. The + Condition («+ Условие») button adds a row, the × button removes one.
6. Fill in Minimum clicks («Не меньше кликов»), Statistics period, minutes («Статистика за, минут»), Check every, sec. («Проверка каждые, сек.») and Between actions, sec. («Между действиями, сек.»)
7. Choose the Action.
8. If the rule should not work around the clock, set the Time zone («Часовой пояс»), the From («С») and To («До») times and the days of the week.
9. Click Check conditions («Проверить условия») and look at the Preview check («Предварительная проверка») block.
10. Select Enable after saving («Включить после сохранения»).
11. Click Save and enable («Сохранить и включить»).

The form closes, and the rule appears first in the list with the “Enabled” («Включено») state. Without the Enable after saving checkbox, the button is called Save paused («Сохранить на паузе»): the rule is saved turned off and does not check campaigns. The Close («Закрыть») button closes the form without saving.

Form fields

Under the numeric fields is the hint “Attribution by click date. The last two minutes are excluded to let statistics arrive. The pause between actions is counted separately for each campaign.” («Атрибуция по дате клика. Последние две минуты исключены, чтобы дать статистике поступить. Пауза между действиями считается отдельно для каждой кампании.»)

Campaigns

• The list loads 200 campaigns at a time. If there are more campaigns, a button with a counter is below the list, for example Load more (200 / 512) («Загрузить ещё (200 / 512)»).
• The Search among loaded campaigns («Поиск среди загруженных кампаний») field filters by name only among the campaigns already loaded.
• To the right of the name is “Active” («Активна»), “Paused” («Пауза») or “Archived” («В архиве»).
• A paused campaign can be selected: the rule does not perform the action for it until it becomes active.
• An archived campaign cannot be added to a rule: its checkbox is inactive.
• Team leads and media buyers also see campaigns shared with them in the list. They cannot be added to a rule: the condition check responds with “Campaign unavailable” («Кампания недоступна»).
• When 100 campaigns are selected, the other checkboxes are inactive.

A campaign that was archived after it was added to a rule stays selected in it:

• the rule skips it, and the other campaigns are checked as usual — see How checks run;
• a rule with such a campaign can be paused, renamed and edited;
• to remove the campaign from the rule, clear its checkbox and save the rule. You can select it again only after it is restored from the archive — see Restoring from the campaign list;
• for an enabled rule, clearing the checkbox changes the campaign list: for the rule to stay enabled, check the conditions before saving — see Editing an enabled rule.

Conditions

A condition is a metric, a comparison and a number. The action is performed when a campaign meets all conditions of the rule at the same time.

Metrics are calculated the same way as the same columns in reports — see the Metrics table and How cost is calculated. The conversion type settings work the same way as in reports. Amounts are in US dollars.

Comparisons: greater than («больше»), at least, less than («меньше»), at most («не больше»), equals.

• The number can be fractional and negative, with an absolute value of no more than 1,000,000,000,000.
• In conditions on ROI, % and CR, %, the number is set in percent: -30 for ROI means a loss of 30 % of the cost.
• A condition on ROI, % is not met while the campaign's cost for the period is zero.
• equals requires an exact match, so it suits counts, not amounts and percentages.
• One metric can be used in several conditions, for example cost at least 50 and less than 100.
• The + Condition button adds the condition Clicks at least 100. The last remaining condition cannot be deleted.

Statistics period

• Metrics are calculated for the last number of minutes set in the Statistics period, minutes field. This is a rolling period, not a calendar day.
• The period ends 2 minutes before the start of the current minute: the most recent clicks are not included. Example: with the value 60, a check at 12:07 counts clicks from 11:05 to 12:05.
• Conversions are attributed to the click date: the calculation includes conversions for clicks made in this period — see Attribution: click date or conversion date.
• A conversion that arrives after a check is included in the following checks as long as its click stays in the period.

Schedule

• The From and To times are set in the time zone from the Time zone field.
• The start is included in the interval, the end is not: from 09:00 to 18:00 the rule works from 09:00 to 17:59.
• If From is later than To, the interval crosses midnight and belongs entirely to the start day. Example: From 22:00, To 04:00, Mon selected — the rule works from 22:00 on Monday to 03:59 on Tuesday.
• The Around the clock («Круглосуточно») button clears both time fields. You cannot fill in only one of them.
• Outside the schedule, checks run at the same frequency, but metrics are not calculated and actions are not performed. In the log, such a run is recorded with the “Outside the schedule” («Вне расписания») status.
• The rule's time zone also determines the day to which spend uploaded by the spend extension belongs.

Next to the days of the week is the hint “No days selected means every day. A night interval belongs to the start day.” («Без выбранных дней — каждый день. Ночной интервал относится к дню начала.»)

Checking conditions before enabling

The Check conditions button calculates the metrics of the selected campaigns for the rule's period as of now. No actions are performed and the rule is not saved. The check shows for which campaigns the conditions already match: an enabled rule may perform the action for them at the very first check, right after saving.

The Preview check block shows:

• the calculation period in the browser's time and the calculation time in milliseconds, followed by “No actions were performed.” («Действия не выполнялись.»);
• “Currently outside the schedule.” («Сейчас вне расписания.») — if the rule is not working at this minute according to the schedule;
• a table with the Campaign («Кампания»), Result («Результат»), Clicks, Cost («Расход») and ROI columns. With zero cost, the ROI column shows a dash.

Under the table is the line “At run time, the conditions, permissions, campaign state and pause between actions are checked again.” («При запуске условия, права, состояние кампании и пауза между действиями проверяются заново.»)

Why the check is needed and how it works:

• A new rule and a paused rule are enabled only after a check. An enabled rule needs it only when what the rule checks or does changes — see Editing an enabled rule.
• The Enable after saving checkbox is inactive until the check has run.
• Any change to the form resets the check and clears the Enable after saving checkbox. It does not clear the Keep the rule enabled («Оставить правило включённым») checkbox of an enabled rule.
• A check is valid for 10 minutes. If you enable the rule later, the panel responds with “Check the current conditions before enabling” («Перед включением проверьте текущие условия»).
• A rule can be saved paused without a check.
• The button accepts up to 10 requests per minute from one IP address. The count is shared by all users from that address. It also includes license activation, saving IP2Proxy settings, updating the IP2Proxy database and checking a blocklist registry source.

How checks run

• An enabled rule is checked right after saving, then after the interval from the Check every, sec. field from the end of the previous check.
• Every 10 seconds, the tracker looks for rules that are due for a check and checks them one by one.
• The time of the next check is shown in the Next check («Следующая проверка») column in the browser's time.

What one check does:

1. Checks the author's permissions: access to the section and to each campaign of the rule.
2. Checks the schedule. Outside the schedule, the check ends here.
3. Calculates the metrics of each campaign for the period.
4. For a campaign whose conditions matched, checks that it is active and that the pause between actions has passed.
5. Performs the action, records the run in the log and schedules the next check.

If statistics are unavailable or arrive incomplete, the action is not performed for any campaign: the run gets the “Error” («Ошибка») status, and the rule stays enabled.

A check skips paused and archived campaigns: the action is not performed for them, and the log shows “Campaign inactive”, “Campaign inactive or deleted” («Кампания неактивна или удалена») or “Campaign archived” for them. The other campaigns of the rule are checked as usual; such a campaign does not affect the run status.

Pause between actions

• The Between actions, sec. field sets how soon the rule can repeat the action on the same campaign.
• The pause is counted separately for each campaign, from the moment of the action.
• Until the pause has passed, a campaign with matching conditions gets the “Pause between actions” («Пауза между действиями») result in the log.
• The pause applies to both actions. For a rule with the Write to log action, it sets how often the same campaign is recorded in the log with the “Done” («Выполнено») result.
• Saving the rule does not reset the pause countdown.
• Each rule has its own countdown.

Paused campaign

The Pause campaign action gives the campaign the “paused” status — the same one as the Pause («Пауза») button in the Campaigns section, see Statuses.

• A visit to the campaign link gets a 404 response, and the click is not recorded.
• The campaign settings and its streams do not change.
• The rule does not resume the campaign.
• A campaign that is already paused is not touched by the rule, whatever action is selected.

How to resume a campaign:

1. Open the Campaigns section.
2. Select the campaign and click Enable («Включить») above the table. Or open the campaign and click Start («Запустить»).

Anyone who is allowed to edit the campaign can resume it — see Who can edit a campaign.

A pause set by a rule is not shown in the Audit log: look for it in the rule log. Creating, changing and deleting rules and every click of Check conditions are recorded in the Audit log with the automations resource.

Rule list

The list shows up to 200 rules, the most recently created first. While there are no rules, the table shows “No rules yet. Create a rule and check its conditions before enabling it.” («Правил пока нет. Создайте правило и проверьте условия перед включением.»)

The rule row has the Log («Журнал»), Pause and Delete («Удалить») buttons.

• Pause turns the rule off without opening the form. The button is shown only for an enabled rule.
• To enable a rule, open it, click Check conditions, select Enable after saving and click Save and enable.
• Delete deletes the rule together with its log after the confirmation “Delete rule “…” and its log?” («Удалить правило «…» и его журнал?»).
• Every save, including a pause, increases the rule's version number by 1. The version number is visible in the log.
• A check that was running at the moment of saving does not perform the action and gets the “Rule changed” («Правило изменено») status.
• The list does not refresh by itself: to see the current state and check time, refresh the page.

Editing an enabled rule

For an enabled rule, the Rule settings form opens with the Keep the rule enabled checkbox selected, and the save button is called Save («Сохранить»). You need to check the conditions again only if what the rule checks or does changes.

When a field from the second row of the table has changed, the form shows the inactive Enable after saving checkbox instead of Keep the rule enabled, and the button is called Save paused. Above the buttons, in red: “The rule is currently enabled, and you changed what it checks or does. Click “Check conditions” and select “Enable after saving” — otherwise the rule will be saved paused.” («Правило сейчас включено, а вы изменили то, что оно проверяет или делает. Нажмите «Проверить условия» и отметьте «Включить после сохранения» — иначе правило будет сохранено на паузе.»)

For the rule to stay enabled:

1. Click Check conditions and look at the Preview check block.
2. Select Enable after saving. The warning above the buttons disappears.
3. Click Save and enable.

What else to keep in mind:

• If you return the fields to their previous values, the Keep the rule enabled checkbox appears again. The order of the selected campaigns does not matter; the conditions must be in their previous order.
• To pause the rule from the form, clear the Keep the rule enabled checkbox. Above the buttons appears “The rule is currently enabled. This save will pause it.” («Правило сейчас включено. Это сохранение поставит его на паузу.»), and the button is renamed Save paused.
• The same text is shown above the buttons when the conditions have already been checked but the Enable after saving checkbox is not yet selected.
• A paused rule is enabled only after a condition check, even if nothing in it was changed.

Rule log

1. Click Log in the rule row. The “Log · rule name” («Журнал · название правила») block opens under the list.
2. Click a run row to expand it.
3. Click Refresh («Обновить») to reload the log.

A run row shows the start time in the browser's time, the status, the number of campaigns for which the action was performed, and the rule version: “actions: 2 · version 3” («действий: 2 · версия 3»). An expanded row shows the status explanation and a “campaign — result” list.

• The log has no metric values: clicks, cost and ROI are shown only by the preview check.
• The log shows the last 100 runs. With a check every 300 seconds, that is about 8 hours.
• Runs older than 90 days are deleted at the rule's next check. The log of a paused rule is not cleaned up.
• A run that includes a campaign unavailable to you is not shown to you.
• While there are no runs, the block says “No runs yet.” («Запусков ещё нет.»)

Run statuses

Result per campaign

When the tracker turns off a rule itself

A rule goes into the “Paused” state without user involvement in three cases.

The author's access counts as changed if at the time of the check at least one of these conditions holds:

• the Automation rules or Campaigns section is closed to the author, or View is selected for one of them;
• the Reports section is closed to the author, or at least one report field is restricted;
• the author has the Designer or Financier role;
• a campaign of the rule does not belong to the author, and for a team lead — neither to them nor to a team member assigned to them;
• the campaign's group is not among the groups allowed to the author.

These conditions do not apply to an author with the Owner or Admin role.

What happens when a rule is turned off because of the author's access or the settings:

• The panel reports it with the notification “Automation rule … turned off” («Автоправило … выключено») — see Who receives a notification.
• The rule is not checked until it is enabled again: give the author back their access, open the rule, click Check conditions and save it with the Enable after saving checkbox. After saving, the red text under the name disappears.
• If one of the rule's campaigns no longer belongs to the author or its group is not allowed to them, the rule disappears from their list. The owner and the admin see it, and so does the author's team lead if all campaigns of the rule are available to them.
• When a team lead, owner or admin enables someone else's rule or saves it as enabled, the tracker checks the author's access. If the author has no access to the section or to a campaign of the rule, saving responds with “Action not available with current permissions” («Действие недоступно для текущих прав»).

A rule that turned off after its first trigger reports this with the notification “Automation rule … triggered” with the line “The rule is set to trigger once and is now turned off.” To enable it again, open the rule, click Check conditions and save it with the Enable after saving checkbox.

With the “Error” status, the rule is not turned off: it stays enabled and keeps being checked. The error text is shown under the rule name until the next check passes. The notification “Automation rule … not running” («Автоправило … не выполняется») arrives no more than once a day.

An archived campaign does not turn the rule off and does not cause the “Error” status: the check skips it and records the “Campaign archived” result in the log. The rule keeps working for the other campaigns.

When a user is deleted, their rules are deleted together with their logs. The user's campaigns pass to another team member, the rules do not.

Inactive license

• While the license is inactive, rules are not checked: campaigns are not paused and no log entries appear. Traffic keeps flowing.
• A check during which the license stopped being valid gets the “Waiting for license” status and does not perform the action.
• After renewal, checks resume by themselves. The first check calculates the metrics for the current period; missed checks are not repeated.

Limitations

• Up to 200 rules per workspace; the count is shared by all users. You cannot create a 201st rule: “The limit of 200 rules has been reached. Delete a rule you don't need to create a new one” («Достигнут предел в 200 правил. Удалите ненужное правило, чтобы создать новое»). The limit does not prevent editing and deleting existing rules.
• Up to 100 campaigns and up to 10 conditions per rule.
• There are nine metrics. Custom metrics and the other report columns are not available in conditions.
• There are two actions: writing to the log and pausing a campaign. A rule does not enable campaigns and does not change streams, offers or landing pages.
• The statistics period is from 5 minutes to 7 days, the check frequency from 1 minute to a day, the pause between actions up to 7 days.
• The last 2 minutes of statistics are not included in the calculation.
• The log holds the last 100 runs, no older than 90 days.
• The preview check waits for statistics for up to 45 seconds and accepts up to 10 requests per minute from one IP address.

Check

1. Create a rule with the Write to log action and click Check conditions: in the Preview check block, each campaign has a result.
2. Select Enable after saving and click Save and enable. In the list, the rule shows “Enabled”, and the Next check column shows a time.
3. After a minute, click Log. The block has a run with the “Checked”, “Action performed” or “Outside the schedule” status.

The owner and the admin can also check the background task itself: Admin panel → Status («Админ-панель → Состояние»), the Background tasks («Фоновые задачи») block, the Automation rules row with the “Running” («Работает») state — see System status.

Error messages

The error text is shown in red above the form or above the rule list. On an error, the form stays open.

Check the current conditions before enabling

The tracker enables a rule only after a fresh condition check. The message appears in two cases:

• More than 10 minutes have passed since the condition check, and you are enabling a new rule, a paused rule, or an enabled rule in which you changed what it checks or does.
• You are saving an enabled rule with the Keep the rule enabled checkbox, and in the meantime the tracker turned it off itself — see When the tracker turns off a rule itself.

Click Check conditions again and save the rule. If the checkbox in the form is called Enable after saving, select it before saving.

Campaign unavailable

The rule includes a campaign that you cannot add to a rule: it was shared with you, or your access to it changed while the form was open. Clear the checkbox of this campaign and run the check again.

An archived campaign cannot be added to a rule. Clear its checkbox or restore the campaign («В правило нельзя добавить кампанию из архива. Снимите с неё отметку или восстановите кампанию»)

You selected a campaign that was archived while the section was open: in the form's list it still shows “Active” or “Paused”. Clear its checkbox or restore the campaign — see Restoring from the campaign list.

A campaign that was archived after it was added to the rule does not prevent saving — see Campaigns.

Action not available with current permissions

Saving was rejected for one of these reasons:

• the rule includes a campaign that you cannot add to a rule;
• you are enabling another author's rule or saving it as enabled, and the author has no access to the section or to one of the rule's campaigns.

Remove such a campaign from the rule. If the author has no access, save the rule paused: the owner or the admin can give the author back their access in the Permissions window.

resource not found

Another user deleted the rule while the page was open. Refresh the page.

The rule has changed. Refresh the page («Правило изменилось. Обновите страницу»)

Another user saved the rule, or you did it yourself in another tab. Refresh the page and repeat the action. On deletion, the text is shorter: “The rule has changed” («Правило изменилось»).

Rule not found («Правило не найдено»)

The rule is no longer available to you: its author is no longer assigned to you, or one of its campaigns no longer belongs to you or is not in the groups allowed to you. Refresh the page.

Section unavailable: check your role, campaign access and statistics restrictions

The section is closed to your role or your permissions — see Restrictions from the “Permissions” window. Access is changed by the owner or the admin in the Permissions window.

Access to the section is restricted by the administrator

View or No access is selected for you for the Automation rules section, or the Campaigns section is closed. Access is changed by the owner or the admin in the Permissions window.

temporary error, retry later

The preview check did not get the statistics. Try again in a few seconds. If the error repeats, the owner or the admin should check the clickhouse card in the Status section — see Services and migrations.

Too many requests, try again later («слишком много запросов, попробуйте позже»)

More than 10 such requests per minute came from your IP address — together with requests of other users from this address. Wait a minute and click Check conditions again.

The limit of 200 rules has been reached. Delete a rule you don't need to create a new one

The workspace already has 200 rules. The count includes the rules of all users, including those you do not see. Delete a rule you do not need and create a new one. If you have no extra rules of your own, contact the owner or the admin: they see all rules.

The limit does not prevent editing, pausing and deleting existing rules.

internal error

A server failure. Repeat the action. If the error remains, the owner or the admin should check the Status section.

Invalid rule («Некорректное правило»)

The Minimum clicks, Statistics period, minutes, Check every, sec. or Between actions, sec. field contains a fractional number. Enter an integer.

Field validation messages

The messages “Invalid or duplicate campaign” («Некорректная или повторяющаяся кампания»), “From 1 to 10 conditions are required” («Нужно от 1 до 10 условий»), “Unknown condition operator” («Неизвестный оператор условия»), “Unknown action” («Неизвестное действие»), “Schedule time: HH:MM” («Время расписания: ЧЧ:ММ»), “Invalid days of the week” («Некорректные дни недели») and “Rule revision required” («Нужна ревизия правила») are returned only by the API: the panel form does not send such values.

The rule is enabled, but the action is not performed

Open the rule log and look at the run status and the per-campaign result:

• “Outside the schedule” — check the time zone, time and days of the week.
• “Not enough clicks” — the campaign did not reach the number in the Minimum clicks field during the period.
• “Conditions not met” — check the conditions with the Check conditions button. A condition on ROI, % is not met when the cost is zero.
• “Pause between actions” — the action has already been performed on this campaign, and the pause has not passed yet.
• “Campaign inactive”, “Campaign inactive or deleted” or “Campaign archived” — the campaign is paused or archived: the rule skips such campaigns.
• “Error” — see When the tracker turns off a rule itself.

A campaign was paused, but there is no matching rule in the list

The campaign may have been stopped by a rule you do not see: a media buyer does not see the rules of the team lead, owner and admin. Ask the person who manages your campaigns.