Overview

Rules in Akeneo PIM automate product information enrichment. They apply actions to products and product models based on specific conditions. For more details, refer to our dedicated article about the rules engine.

You can create rules via the UI or by importing a YML file.

Create a Rule in the PIM UI

To create a rule in the UI, navigate to Settings/Rules and click Create. A pop-up will appear; enter a code and a label for your rule, then confirm. Your rule is now created, and you can define its product selection and actions.

After creating a rule, the edit screen shows two tabs: Rule Builder and Properties. In the Properties tab, you can set the rule's priority and its label translations. While these can be updated, the rule's code remains immutable.

The Rule Builder Tab

This tab is crucial for managing your rule's conditions and actions. First, filter the products you wish to update using the available filters under the Add Condition button.

Product Selection

In the Product selection section, define 'Conditions' using attributes or system fields to filter products/product models. These conditions together form your 'Product selection'.

System fields are listed first, followed by attributes grouped by type. Use the search bar to find specific attributes. Once a condition is added, its color changes to purple, and a new line appears in the product selection.

Each condition line includes the chosen system field or attribute (in purple) and an operator, which varies based on the filter. Additional fields, such as value, channel, and locale, may appear depending on the filter's requirements. To remove a condition, click the 'X' at the end of its line.

A counter next to the Add Condition button displays the number of products/product models that match your current conditions; this count updates automatically as you adjust conditions.

Available Conditions

You can use all system fields and attribute types in the PIM as conditions to select products/product models, including:

• Categories
• Family
• Family variant
• Groups
• Status
• Entity type (product or product model)
• Identifier
• Completeness
• Parent
• Creation date
• Update date
• Asset collection attribute
• Date attribute
• File attribute
• Image attribute
• Measurement attribute
• Multi-select attribute
• Simple select attribute
• Number attribute
• Text attribute
• Boolean attribute
• Text area attribute
• Reference entity single link attribute
• Reference entity multiple link attribute
• Price attribute
• Table attribute

Add Actions

After filtering your products/product models, you can add actions to apply to them:

1. Click Add action at the top of the screen.
2. Select the desired action from the list (use the search bar or scroll).
3. A new section will appear below the Product Selection.

For a full list of actions available via YML file import, see the rules engine article. The table below details actions available through the PIM interface.

Available Actions

Rules Engine Use Cases

The Akeneo Rules Engine is a powerful tool for automating repetitive tasks and ensuring data consistency, saving you valuable time and effort. Here are some practical use cases:

• Automatic Attribute Population: As shown in the screenshot, you can automatically populate complex attribute values, like a size chart table, based on product selections (e.g., Family: "Mens Clothing", Gender: "Men", Size Type: "Regular"). This eliminates manual data entry for common product attributes.
• Dynamic Categorization: Automatically assign products to categories based on their attribute values. For example, assign all products with "color" set to "red" and "in stock" to a "Red Clearance" category.
• Data Standardization: Ensure consistent data across your catalog. For instance, if a product's "material" is "leather," automatically set its "care instructions" to "wipe with a damp cloth."
• Enrichment based on Completeness: Identify products with missing essential attributes and automatically apply an action. For example, if the "description" field is empty for a product, copy content from a "short description" field to populate it.
• Calculating Values: Perform mathematical operations on numeric attributes. For example, calculate the "selling price" by adding a pre-defined margin to the "cost price."
• Cross-Attribute Enrichment: Copy values between different attribute types. For instance, copy a "brand name" from a simple text attribute to a reference entity single link attribute.

Create Rules via a YML Import

To create rules using a YML file, first create it, then import it into the PIM using the Rule import in YML import job.

View All Rules

The Settings/Rules screen displays all rules created or imported in the PIM. You can search by rule code or label.

The last column shows tags indicating each rule's action type (add, copy, concatenate, set, calculate, remove, clear). You can also sort rules by priority.

Calculate the Number of Impacted Products Per Rule

To help validate rule conditions, you can calculate the number of products a rule will affect. The first execution might impact many products, but subsequent runs could affect fewer or none.

1. Select one or more rules by checking the box on the left side of the screen.
2. Click Calculate the impacted products.
3. Confirm the action in the pop-up.
4. A confirmation message will appear, and you'll be notified when the calculation is complete.

The number of impacted products will appear in the Impacted products column on the right side of your screen.

Execute Rules

But you can also manually execute:

• A single rule
• A selection of rules
• All rules (note: this may take a long time)

The rule execution summary is available in the process tracker.

The summary provides details such as the number of rules executed, products/product models updated, and any warnings.

Execute a Single Rule

To execute a rule, click Execute at the end of its line in the grid. A confirmation message will appear.

While editing or creating a rule, you can also execute it by clicking ..., then Save and execute.

Execute a Selection of Rules

To execute multiple rules at once:

1. Select the rules by checking the box on the left side of each rule's line.
2. Click Execute.
3. Confirm the action in the pop-up.
4. A confirmation message will appear, and you'll be notified upon completion.

Define a Status for a Rule

You can set a rule's Status to control its automatic execution. This is useful if you want to save a rule but not run it immediately.

To change a rule's status, go to its Properties tab and select either Enabled or Disabled.

The rules grid displays the status of each rule at a glance.

Duplicate a Rule

To avoid re-creating similar rules, you can duplicate an existing one. For example, if rules differ by only one condition.

To duplicate, access the rule edit form, click ..., then Save and duplicate. A creation pop-up will appear where you can enter a new code and label for your duplicated rule.

Delete Rules

Delete a Single Rule

To delete a rule, click Delete at the end of its line in the grid. Confirm the action in the pop-up.

Delete a Selection of Rules

To delete multiple rules at once:

1. Select the rules by checking the box on the left side of each rule's line.
2. Click Delete.
3. Confirm the action in the pop-in.

Limitations

The rule engine has the following limitations:

• 50 rules in the Growth package
• 150 rules in the Advanced package
• 600 rules in the Premium package