Rules and automation

Three tools

Which tool to use

All three use the same alarms, commands and notifications.

	Alarm rules	Rules card	Flows
Use it for	Opening an alarm when a value crosses a limit or a device goes silent	When this happens, if that holds, do this, for a site or a device	Any processing you can draw as blocks: transform, enrich, route, call outside systems
Where it lives	The device profile, for every device of it	A Rules card on a dashboard, locked to an asset or a device	Automation, on the IoT host or the General host
Example	`temperature` above the device's `max_temp` for 60 seconds opens a Major alarm	Fan on when the room stays above 28 °C for five minutes during working hours	Turn a meter counter into consumption per hour and store it as a new key
Limits	50 rules per profile, 16 comparisons per condition	10 triggers, 16 conditions and 20 actions per rule	Versions, a test runner and automatic pause
Docs	Alarm rules	The rules engine	Flows

Writing a rule

When, only if, then

Rules are written in the drawer of a Rules card, without drawing a flow. Each one runs as a flow behind the scenes.

When

A value crosses a line or stays there for a time; a device connects, disconnects or goes inactive; an alarm is raised or cleared; a time of day, every N minutes, sunrise or sunset, a date; or a manual run.

Only if

Other values, a device's status, an active alarm, a time window, day or night, a date window, your organisation's holiday calendar, or a formula over device values.

Then

Send a command, change a device setting, notify users, roles or teams, raise or clear an alarm, wait, wait until something holds, choose between up to five branches, or switch another rule on or off.

Manual and Auto

Stop the automation of a place with one switch

Every asset and device has a mode, and Auto is the default. In Manual, every rule whose home is in that place stops, runs in progress stop at their next step, and no rule from anywhere sends a command or a setting to its devices. A place is in Manual when it, or any asset above it, is.

Manual until: 30 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, a set time or indefinitely; the person who set it is told when Auto returns
Also runs in Manual: a rule with only notify and alarm actions can keep running, so safety notices still go out
Switching back to Auto lists the rules whose triggers hold now, and can run them once from the current values
Every switch is audited and sent as the webhook event rules.mode_changed

Manual applies to rules in Rules cards. Alarm rules on device profiles are a separate tool.

Limits of a rule

An action on a kind of device runs once for each such device in the place, up to 200 devices
A wait lasts at most 24 hours; a stays-so-for timer at most 24 hours, and it survives a restart
Rules compare with fixed values. Per-device limits belong in alarm rules, which can read a device attribute as the threshold
A rule that names a deleted device goes to Needs attention and stops until someone edits it
Rules have their own plan limit and do not count against your flows

Flows

Flows with versions and an emergency stop

Your organisation's root flow saves telemetry and attributes and runs the alarm rules for every device message. Other flows add any processing you can draw as blocks. Every deploy is a new version you can roll back to.

A test runner before you deploy
Automatic pause of a flow that fails or runs too often, with an alert
Loop detection, per-device command limits and an emergency stop
Failed messages kept for replay or deletion

The automation screen: runs and steps this month, errors, timeouts and the flow protections

Flow blocks

Blocks for the common jobs

Each block has its own help in the editor. Flows export and import as files, and templates give you a start.

Schedules and webhooks

Start a flow daily, on a cron expression, at sunrise or sunset, or when an outside system calls the flow's address.

Counters and statistics

Deltas of a meter counter, with restarts handled; counts in a window; and count, sum, average, minimum, maximum and rate over a number of messages or up to 7 days.

Machine counters example →

Watchdogs and deadbands

Notice a key that stopped arriving, and pass on only changes larger than a deadband, as a value or a percentage.

Unmanned site example →

Enrich and store

Add the device's fields and attributes, related entities or latest values, and store derived keys as telemetry of the message's device.

Outside systems

HTTP requests with bearer tokens or OAuth2 client credentials, with private addresses blocked; MQTT out to other brokers; e-mail notices with attachments.

Alarms and commands

Raise, clear and acknowledge alarms with the normal lifecycle, and send catalog commands to the message's device.

FAQ

Questions about rules and flows

Do I need to write code?

No. Alarm rules and Rules-card rules are forms. Flows are drawn from blocks; a script block is there for the cases blocks do not cover.

What happens to automation while someone works on site?

Switch the place to Manual. Its rules stop, and no rule sends commands or settings to its devices until it returns to Auto. Notify-only rules marked Also runs in Manual keep working.

Can a rule escalate an alarm that nobody acknowledged?

Not as a rule condition: the active-alarm check does not tell acknowledged from unacknowledged alarms. Use the alarm rule's repeat reminder and its severity levels instead; a rising severity notifies again.

Can each device have its own limit?

In alarm rules, yes: the threshold can be a device attribute such as max_temp. Rules-card rules compare with fixed values, and a rule targets one device or every device of a profile in its place, so use separate profiles when devices must behave differently.

Can flows reach our other systems?

Yes: HTTP requests, MQTT out, and flows started by a webhook call. Signed outgoing webhooks also report device, alarm, command, firmware and rule events.

Automating a site?

Tell us what should happen and when. We show you whether a rule, an alarm or a flow fits, and set up the first one with you.

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