When two rules match the same merchant

Two rules can match the same transaction and give it different categories. Only one category lands. This article shows which rule wins, how to spot the clash and how to pick the winner yourself. If you don't have a rule yet, start with create a rule.

Which rule wins

• The rule created first. When two active rules in a ledger match a transaction, the older rule's category lands.
• Everywhere rules run. The same order decides new transactions as they arrive: bank transactions, imports, and transactions your AI adds without a category. It also decides when you ask your AI to apply your rules.
• Edits don't change the order. Changing a rule's pattern or category, or turning it off and on again, keeps its place. A rule you delete and make again goes to the back.
• Patterns can overlap without being the same. A rule matches when the merchant name contains its pattern. A rule for "Coffee" and a rule for "Daily Grind Coffee" both match Daily Grind Coffee charges.
• Agreeing rules don't clash. If both rules give the same category, nothing needs fixing.
• There's no priority setting. If your AI tries to set one, Pennyweight refuses it and explains that rules apply in the order they were created.

How to spot a clash

• When you create the second rule. If an active rule has exactly the same merchant pattern and a different category, your AI gets a warning that names the other rule. The new rule is still saved. Patterns that only overlap, such as "Coffee" and "Daily Grind Coffee", don't trigger this warning.
• In the preview. Ask your AI what applying your rules would change. The preview lists the transactions where rules disagree, with the winning rule and the others. This catches overlapping patterns too.

Testing a single rule counts its own matches. It doesn't show a clash with another rule.

How to fix it

1. Ask your AI to list your rules and find the two that match the merchant.
2. Decide which category you want.
3. Ask your AI to turn off the other rule, delete it, or change its pattern so it no longer matches that merchant. See test, edit, turn off or delete a rule. New transactions follow the fix from then on.
4. To fix transactions that are already there, ask your AI to apply your rules. It previews the change first. See apply your rules to transactions you already have.

What you'll see

For the first prompt, your AI saves both rules and may mention that they clash. It turns off the Coffee rule, previews applying your rules, then applies them. The 48 Daily Grind Coffee charges go to Dining. The Coffee rule stays in your list, marked inactive.

For the second, your AI saves both rules, previews and applies them. The Daily Grind Coffee charges go to Coffee, because the Coffee rule was created first.

For the third, your AI saves both rules and adds the purchase. It lands in Coffee, because the Coffee rule was created first. The 48 older charges stay uncategorized.

Good to know

• Turn off or delete. Turning a rule off keeps it for later. Deleting needs a reason and can't be undone.
• One rule on its own. When your AI applies a single rule, such as a new rule it applies as it creates it, only that rule runs. Its category lands even if an older rule would win. The next time you apply all your rules, the older rule's category replaces it. If a rule set those categories in the last 90 days, the preview flags them.
• Your categories stay. No rule changes a category you set yourself. See who wins: you, your rules, or the bank.
• One ledger at a time. Rules only clash with rules in the same ledger. See rules belong to a ledger.