Rules
Rules for the work you want done while you're away
A rule says when Svanja should start and what it should do, in plain words. Without a rule, Svanja only works on what you ask for.
What does a rule look like?
A rule has three parts. When says what starts it, like an email from someone you haven't marked as a client. Only if is an optional check in plain words. Do is the job, written the way you would brief a colleague.
Below the rule, Svanja lists what it may do outside your account, for example sending a Slack message. When you turn the rule on, it may do those things and nothing else. To take one out, change the words of the rule.
What can start a rule?
Rules start from four kinds of events. You can narrow each one down with filters, so the rule only looks at the mail or the events that matter.
- An email in one of your mailboxes, filtered by sender or subject
- A schedule, like each weekday at 9 or the last business day of the month
- An event in a connected tool, like an Asana task assigned to you
- A form someone filled in on a page you shared
How do I know a rule does the right thing?
You test it before you turn it on. Svanja takes up to 10 matching events from the last 30 days and runs the rule on them. Nothing is saved or sent. You see which ones matched and why, and the drafts it would have made.
If a rule picks the wrong email later, click This should not have matched. Svanja shows why it matched and suggests a better condition, which you can test again.
Do rules cost credits?
Rules that only file or label mail use no credits, and every plan can have as many as you like. Each run of a rule with AI uses credits, and Free includes three such rules.
When your credits are used up, a matched rule waits. It runs once for that event when the credits are back.
Do I have to write rules from scratch?
No. Start from a sample, or press Make a rule from this on an email or on a finished task. Svanja fills in the rule from what just happened, and you look it over before you turn it on.
You can also ask in the chat. If you ask Svanja to turn a rule on, it does. If you only suggest one, it saves a draft.
Questions about rules
Does Svanja do things without a rule?
Only the jobs you give it. It doesn't go looking for work in your inbox, and an email that matches no rule stays an ordinary email.
Can I change a rule that is on?
Yes. Changes apply to new events. Tasks that already started keep the version they started with.
Can a team share rules?
Yes, on the Team plan. A team rule runs as a member you name, with the team's mailboxes and connections.
Try Svanja with your own mailbox
Sign up now, and you get an email when your account is ready.