Rules & Conditions

Learn how to configure the conditional logic and scoring rules that route workflow execution and produce automated decisions.

Rules and conditions are the logic layer in RiskOS™ workflows. They evaluate signals from enrichments, input data, and computed values to determine how an evaluation is routed and what decision is reached.

Conditions

A condition evaluates one or more expressions to true or false and branches the workflow accordingly.

Condition structure

Each condition expression has three parts:

Part	Description	Example
Left operand	The value to evaluate	`sigma_identity_fraud.score`
Operator	The comparison logic	`greater than`
Right operand	The threshold or reference value	`0.85`

Operand sources

Source	Description
Input data	Fields from the evaluation request payload
Enrichment data	Values returned by Enrichment steps
Output fields	Results from Transformation, Condition, Rule Scorecard, or Tag steps
Aggregation	Velocity counters and entity-level aggregations

Operators

Category	Operators
Equality / comparison	equals, not equals, greater than, less than, greater or equal, less or equal
String	contains, not contains, starts with, ends with, matches regex, in, not in
Array	contains, not contains, has any of, has all of
List	in Allow List, in Deny List
Presence	is set, is not set
Reason code	has reason code, does not have reason code

Grouping

Combine multiple conditions using:

AND — all conditions must be true
OR — at least one condition must be true

The workflow follows the True path if the condition group evaluates to true, and the False path otherwise.

Rule types

RiskOS™ uses the term "rule" in several workflow step contexts. Each serves a different purpose:

Rule type	Step	Purpose	Output
Condition rule	Condition	Routes the workflow based on boolean logic	True/False branch
Score rule	Rule Scorecard	Assigns a numeric risk score (-100 to 100) when a condition is met	Summed score value
Decision rule	Decision Rules	Combines a condition with a decision outcome in a single step	`ACCEPT`, `REJECT`, `REVIEW`, or step-level values (`RESUBMIT`, `CANCEL`), or Manual Review
Matrix rule	Matrix Rule	Evaluates a tabular set of conditions	Row-level match
Grouped rules	Grouped Rules	Evaluates collections of related rules together	Group-level outcome

Rule Scorecards

A Rule Scorecard assigns numeric risk scores based on rule evaluations:

Each score rule defines a condition and a score value (-100 to 100).
Rules that evaluate to true contribute their score.
The final output is the sum of all matching scores.
Downstream Condition or Decision steps reference the scorecard output to make routing decisions.

Decision Rules

A Decision Rules step combines condition evaluation with decision assignment in a single step:

Each rule maps a condition to an outcome — the standard API decision values (ACCEPT, REJECT, REVIEW), step-level values (RESUBMIT, CANCEL), or Manual Review routing.
Rules are evaluated top-to-bottom; the first matching rule applies.
A fallback (Else) path handles cases where no rule matches — it can either continue without a decision or assign a default decision.

This is the only workflow step that can both issue a final decision and continue execution via a fallback path.

How conditions and rules drive decisions

flowchart TD
    ENRICH["Enrichment signals"] --> COND["Condition step"]
    COND -->|True| SCORE["Rule Scorecard"]
    COND -->|False| DR["Decision Rules"]
    SCORE --> THRESHOLD{"Score > threshold?"}
    THRESHOLD -->|Yes| ACCEPT["Decision: ACCEPT"]
    THRESHOLD -->|No| REVIEW["Decision: REVIEW"]
    DR -->|Rule 1 match| REJECT["Decision: REJECT"]
    DR -->|No match| FALLBACK["Fallback: continue"]

Related concepts

Workflows — Where rules and conditions are configured
Signals & Attributes — The data taxonomy that rules evaluate (signals, attributes, derived values)
Decisions — The outcomes that rules produce
Enrichments — The data services that provide signals for evaluation
Evaluations — The runtime execution context
Statuses & Lifecycle — How rule outcomes affect evaluation state transitions
Terminology Governance — Canonical naming for rule types
Workflow Steps: Condition — Condition step reference
Workflow Steps: Decision Rules — Decision Rules step reference
Workflow Steps: Rule Scorecard — Scorecard step reference

Updated 5 days ago