Conditions & Routing

Route work automatically using data-driven rules and decision logic.

How routing works

Routing decides where an approval goes next. stepbase gives you three ways to control that: by what the user clicked, by a rule, or fully automatic.

By what the user clicked

The simplest kind. Each button on a stage (Approve, Reject, Request Changes) points to a specific next step. When the reviewer clicks, the Flow follows that line.

By a rule (Condition Blocks)

A Condition Block is a decision point shaped like a diamond. It reads the data the Flow has gathered so far and chooses a path. For example: send purchases under $1,000 straight to approval, but anything above that to a manager. stepbase checks your paths in the order you set them and uses the first one that matches.

Automatic

Some blocks (notifications, data lookups, transforms, external API calls) run on their own in the background and move the approval forward without any human action.

Condition Builder

The visual Condition Builder lets you create rules without writing code.

Building a rule

Select a field from the hierarchical field selector (organized by stage)
Choose an operator (25+ available)
Enter a comparison value
Combine rules with AND/OR groups for complex logic

Nested groups

You can combine rules with AND/OR groups to build more involved logic. For example: "Amount >= 10,000 AND (Department is Engineering OR Priority is urgent)".

IF all of the following are true (AND):
  budget_total >= 10000
  IF any of the following are true (OR):
    department == "Engineering"
    priority == "urgent"

Operators

stepbase provides 30+ operators grouped by data type.

Category	Operators
Numeric	equals, not equals, greater than, less than, >=, <=
String	contains, not contains, starts with, ends with, matches regex
Boolean	is true, is false
Date	before, after, between
Array	in, not in
Existence	is empty, is not empty, exists, not exists
Multi-instance (any)	any equals, any not equals, any contains, any greater than, any less than
Multi-instance (all)	all equals, all greater than, all less than, none equals

Note: Use "any" and "all" when you need to check across multiple reviewers or across rows in a table field. For example, to route if any reviewer gave a score above 8, pick the reviewers' scores in the field selector and apply "any greater than 8".

Field selector

The field selector is a point-and-click menu of everything the Flow has gathered so far: approver names, amounts, departments, external scores. Pick a field from a list; you never have to type a path.

Flow details: Flow name, when it was started, the unique ID
Who started it: name, email
Where it is now: the current stage
Answers from each step: every form field, grouped by the stage that collected it
External data: anything pulled in from connected systems
Flow variables: values calculated by Transform Blocks

Bringing in data from other systems

A condition can use data from outside stepbase, like a credit score from a scoring API, or an eligibility flag from your HR system. You set up the connection once, then pick its fields from the field selector just like any other data; stepbase handles the lookup path behind the scenes.

For example, you could route loan requests by a risk score pulled live from an external API, or check whether a vendor exists in your procurement system before sending the request to legal.

Note: External data is fetched at the moment the condition runs. Set up the connection in Dashboard > Connectors before using it in a rule.

Condition templates

Save frequently used conditions as templates for reuse across your workspace. Build a condition, click "Save as Template", and load it when building new condition blocks.

Example patterns

Budget-based routing

Path 1: amount < 1,000 -> Auto Approve
Path 2: amount >= 1,000 AND < 5,000 -> Manager Review
Path 3 (default): -> Director Review

Risk-based escalation

IF risk_score >= 80 OR sanctions_flagged == true
  -> Route to Compliance Review

Region-specific assignment

IF country IN ["US", "CA"]
  -> North America Team
ELSE (default)
  -> Global Review Team

Next: Assignments & Teams