Advanced

Automation Rules

Run actions automatically when orders or shipments match a condition — tag, split, or append to labels.

Intro

Automation Rules watch incoming work and act on matches — tag it, split it, mark it — so humans stop repeating the same decisions.

Purpose

Tag VIP or wholesale orders the moment they sync
Split orders or shipments that mix goods that never ship together
Enforce policy consistently, around the clock

Create a rule

Open Advanced → Automation Rules and click New Rule. Name it by its job ("Tag VIP on import") and optionally put it in a Group (see below).
Pick a Condition — rules reuse the logic you build under Conditions. The editor offers Use existing (choose a saved condition; Edit it in place, or tick Save as new to copy it when it is Used by other rules) or Create new (an inline condition named "Rule name" Condition, which joins the rule's group). Creating or editing conditions here needs Manage conditions.
Add one or more Actions:

Action	Target	What it does
Add Tag	Order or Shipment	Apply a tag from the tag library
Remove Tag	Order or Shipment	Remove a tag
Replace Tag	Order or Shipment	Swap one tag for another
Split Order	Order	Break matching items into their own order / shipment
Split Shipment	Shipment	Break matching items into a separate shipment
Append Field	Order label or Shipment label	Add text (for example a custom field value) to the record's label so it shows in lists and documents. Re-running never duplicates the suffix

Tag actions offer only active tags (a tag the rule already uses stays selectable even after it is deactivated).

Switch the rule Active — on the list, every row has an inline Active switch.
Test it in the Tester (header button) with a real order number or a sample cart before anything goes live — nothing is saved in a dry run. Then sync or create an order that should match and check the shipment's Activities.

Rules run when orders and shipments are evaluated by the automation pipeline — on import, on every order update, right after a document is printed or downloaded, after a split (automatic or manual, both halves), and, when you tick Run automation rules after merge, after a merge (see Split & merge).

Two stages. Actions aimed at the Order (order tags, order label) run at the order stage, against the whole order. Actions aimed at the Shipment (shipment tags, shipment label, split shipment) run at the shipment stage, where the condition is evaluated against each shipment's own items — so after a split, a "Livestock" tag lands only on the box that holds livestock, never on the supplies box.
Order. Rules run by priority (lower first, default 0), then creation date; a match does not stop later rules. Each split rule that fires creates its own new shipment and later rules see what is left — the reason a "keep supplies with livestock" setup is one rule, not two. Priority is only editable through the AI assistant.
Drafts. An inactive rule never runs in production, but the Tester can include it (Include inactive rules).

Groups

Every rule and every condition belongs to a group; the same groups serve both lists. Anything saved without one lands in the store's Default group. Use groups to filter the list (All groups select), to test a whole set together in the Tester, and to switch a set on or off in one go.

In the Group field, search or type a new name — Create group "…" adds it on the spot (case-insensitive, so Client splits and client splits are the same group).
Manage groups (button in the header of both Automation Rules and Conditions) renames groups, edits their description, makes another group the default, or deletes a group — its rules and conditions move to the default group. The default group cannot be deleted.
Anyone with View conditions or View automation rules can see groups; Manage on either can change them.
One group name has a built-in meaning for printing — see Conditions → Groups.

The list

Search (name, description, group, condition, actions), filter by All statuses / Active / Inactive and by group. Columns Rule (name, group badge, description), When (the condition, or Any order), Then (action badges), Active. Select rows to Activate, Deactivate or Delete in bulk (up to 200 at a time).

Tester (dry run)

Advanced → Automation Rules → Tester replays an existing order (type its number) or a sample cart (Select Products / Add Manual Item, a real customer or a quick-fill address, shipping lines, discounts, custom attributes) through the real pipeline and shows what would happen — Dry run — nothing is saved.

Control	What it does
Add order (up to 4 more)	Merge scenario: each order runs on its own, then the store's merge rules are evaluated across all resulting shipments — like the merge sweep. Shows Merges automatically / Merge suggestion for staff / Nothing merges with every condition's pass or fail
Classify with Shipping Rates	Runs the live Shipping Rates engine on the cart and stamps checkout groups so Shipping Group / Checkout rate conditions match. Replayed orders that already have a breakdown keep it
Rules to run	All groups, one group, specific rules, None — checkout grouping only (just see how Shipping Rates groups the cart), or Checkout groups → split rules (preview) — one shipment per checkout group using rules generated from the profile, listed under Rules this preview ran so you can recreate them
Include inactive rules	Runs drafts too (selected drafts always run)
Compare: current automation rules vs checkout shipping rules	Runs everything twice — live rules vs generated split rules — and shows both side by side with a Same outcome / Different outcome verdict

Results: Checkout grouping (per group: rate, price, Own shipment / Rides with … / Split across shipments), the resulting orders and shipments, the step-by-step timeline (Hide non-matches), Rule by rule (Matched / No match, Draft — this test only, Inactive — never runs, Condition missing), and What the rules saw — every attribute per line incl. checkout rate and metafields (Item details switch; manual items and unsynced variants carry no metafields, so meta rules see nothing for them).

Recipe: flag slips that need reprinting

Two shipment rules keep a Reprint tag accurate without anyone watching:

Condition Printed document outdated by item changes contains Packing Slip → Add Tag Reprint.
Condition Printed document outdated by item changes does not contain Packing Slip → Remove Tag Reprint.

When a line changes after the slip was printed the first rule tags the shipment; reprinting from the Print menu re-runs the rules and the second one clears it. Details of what counts as printed are under Documents → Print tracking.

Start with one simple rule and watch it for a day. Overlapping automations are the hardest thing to debug later.

Who can use it

A Pro and Enterprise feature. Permissions View automation rules / Manage automation rules; creating or editing conditions from the rule editor needs Manage conditions, and picking tags needs View tags. The AI assistant can create, edit, activate and explain rules and conditions with the same permissions (rules it creates start as drafts), and can re-run rules on existing shipments — automation is never retroactive on its own.

Hooks — run again later, when inventory changes or a shipment moves, instead of only when the order is evaluated
Conditions — reusable matching logic
Tags — the labels rules often apply
Shipment settings → Shipment Filters — skip work entirely instead of acting on it
Apps → Weather → Rules and Rate Shopper → Rules — app-specific rule sets

Tags (library)

Manage the shared tag library — names, colors, groups, CSV import.

Fulfillment Adjustments

How StoresBoost moves a line off the Online location when that location is oversold, and what this screen can and cannot do today.