Record Rules

The Record Rules tab locks a record, or some of its fields, once a select or status field reaches a value you choose. Lock a task once it is Done, a contract once it is Signed, or a lead's source once the lead is converted.

Record rules only lock. They never make a field required: to require a field, use Configuring Fields.

Accessing the Record Rules Tab

1. Click Modules in the sidebar to open the Module catalog
2. Open your module from the catalog
3. Click the Record Rules tab

Module admins can also reach it from a module's settings page: under Fields & layout, click Record rules.

Who Can Manage Rules

• Add Rule, edit, and delete are available to the Owner, Admin, Builder, and Super Admin roles, on a plan that includes the Module Builder.
• Through the API, the record-rule endpoints (/modules/{moduleId}/record-rules) require the module:manage permission on Modules.
• The tab appears on your custom modules and on the built-in data modules the Module Builder can extend. Cases does not offer record rules.

Creating a Rule

1. Click Add Rule (or Create First Rule when the module has none)
2. Fill in the Create Record Rule dialog:

3. Click Create. An active rule applies as soon as it is saved.

If the module has no select or status field, the field list shows "No select/status fields available". Add one in the Fields tab first.

How Rules Match

A rule matches a record when its trigger field currently holds one of the rule's values:

• Capitalization and surrounding spaces are ignored. "Done", "done", and " done " all match a rule on done.
• Multi-select fields match when any selected option is one of the rule's values.
• Empty fields never match.
• Inactive rules are ignored.

Several Rules on One Module

Locks add up. If any matching rule locks the entire record, the whole record is locked. Otherwise, the fields from every matching Specific Fields rule are locked together.

Bypass Roles

• Super Admin always bypasses every rule.
• Anyone else can edit a locked record only if, for every rule that currently matches it, they hold at least one of that rule's bypass roles.
• A matching rule with no bypass roles locks everyone except Super Admin.

Bypass is all or nothing per record. Suppose a contract matches two rules: "Lock signed contracts" (Entire Record, Admin bypasses) and "Lock contract amount" (Specific Fields, no bypass roles). An Admin cannot edit that contract at all, because they cannot bypass the second rule.

When Rules Are Enforced

Coherence checks rules on the server when an existing record is saved, so a locked record stays locked whether the edit comes from the record page, a table or board, the API, an import, or an AI agent.

Entire Record Locks

Every edit to the record is refused, including changing the trigger field back. That covers labels and types too: adding or removing a label, or setting or clearing a type, is refused on one record or on several at once. In a bulk change from the records list, one locked record refuses the whole batch before any record changes, and the error names that record.

To reopen a locked record, someone with a bypass role (or Super Admin) edits it, or a module admin turns the rule off.

Comments are still accepted on a locked record.

Specific Fields Locks

A save is refused if it includes a locked field, even when the value has not changed. Other fields on the record save normally. Labels and types are not fields, so a field lock does not stop changing them.

The Save That Triggers a Lock Succeeds

Rules are checked against the record as it was before the save. Setting a contract's status to Signed succeeds, along with any other changes in the same save, and the contract is locked from then on.

Not Checked on Create or Delete

• Creating a record is never blocked. A record created with a matching value (for example, a task created as Done) is locked from then on.
• Deleting a record is not blocked by record rules. Control who can delete with Permissions.

Error Messages

A refused save returns a 403 error naming what is locked:

What Users See

Locks are shown only to people they apply to. Someone who can bypass every matching rule sees an editable record.

• Record page, entire record locked: a "This record is locked" banner names the rule ("Locked by rule: …") and every field is read-only.
• Record page, fields locked: a "Some fields are locked" banner lists the read-only fields and the rule that locks them.
• Table views: locked cells are read-only.
• Kanban boards: a card cannot be dragged to another column when the field the board is grouped by is locked. The card shows a lock icon; hover it to see "Locked by rule: …".

Imports

• Rows that create records are not affected.
• Rows that update an existing record (the Update duplicate strategy) re-send every field of the merged record. If a rule locks any field of that record, or the whole record, for the person running the import, the row fails with the lock message and appears in the import's error list.

See Import & Export for duplicate handling.

Bulk Set Assignee

When you use Set assignee on several records, Coherence checks every selected record first. If a rule locks the assignee field, or the whole record, on any of them, the entire batch is refused before any record changes, and the error names the record.

AI Agents

AI agents are checked with the Agent role, not with the roles of the person they are working for. An agent cannot edit a locked record or field unless Agent is one of the rule's bypass roles, even when it is working for an Admin or Owner.

Managing Rules

Each rule card shows its name, its condition ("When: Status = Done"), whether it Locks Entire Record or Locks Specific Fields, the locked fields, and its bypass roles. A rule that is turned off shows a Disabled badge.

Editing a Rule

1. Click the pencil icon on the rule
2. Update settings in the Edit Record Rule dialog
3. Click Save Changes

Disabling a Rule

Edit the rule and turn Active off. The rule stays on the tab but no longer locks anything.

Deleting a Rule

1. Click the trash icon on the rule
2. Click Delete to confirm. This cannot be undone.

Example Configurations

Lock Completed Tasks

The built-in Tasks module template includes this rule:

Lock Signed Contracts

Keep a Lead's Source Once It Is Closed Out

The rest of the lead stays editable, so the team can keep adding notes and changing the assignee, while source reporting stays stable.

Best Practices

• Name rules after what they lock. The name is what users see in the banner and in errors.
• Prefer field locks when only some data is final. An entire-record lock also blocks fixing a typo.
• Give rules a bypass role for corrections, unless only Super Admin should ever change a locked record.
• Add Agent as a bypass role only on purpose. Without it, AI agents cannot edit what a rule locks.
• Check imports before turning a rule on. Update imports fail on rows whose records the rule locks.

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Related: Uniqueness & Duplicate Detection | Permissions | Module Builder Guide