Test, edit, turn off or delete a rule
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A rule stays as you first wrote it until you change it. It sorts new transactions as they arrive, and existing ones when you ask your AI to apply it. You can ask your AI how far a rule reaches before you apply it, fix its pattern or category, turn it off for a while, or delete it. If you don't have a rule yet, start with create a rule.
How to do it
- Ask your AI to list your rules. It shows the rules of your active ledger, each with its pattern, category and whether it is on.
- To test a rule, ask how many transactions it would match. Your AI counts the matches and shows a few examples. Nothing changes.
- To edit a rule, say what to change: the category, the merchant pattern, or the note on why the rule exists.
- To pause a rule, ask your AI to turn it off. Ask again to turn it back on.
- To remove a rule for good, ask your AI to delete it and say why.
- After an edit, test the rule again. To update transactions that are already there, ask your AI to apply your rules. See apply your rules to transactions you already have.
Create a rule that puts Daily Grind Coffee in Dining without applying it, then tell me how many of my transactions it would match.
Create a rule that puts Daily Grind Coffee in Dining, don't apply it, then turn it off.
Create a rule that puts Daily Grind Coffee in Dining without applying it. Then change it to also match Cafe Lumiere, and tell me how many transactions it matches now.
What you'll see
For the first prompt, your AI saves the rule and reports how many transactions it would match: 48 Daily Grind Coffee charges. It may show some of them. No category changes.
For the second, your AI saves the rule, then turns it off. The rule stays in your list, marked inactive.
For the third, your AI changes the same rule's pattern instead of making a new one, then tests it again. The count now includes the Cafe Lumiere charges as well.
What a test tells you
- An exact count. The number covers every matching transaction in the rule's ledger, not just one page. In a ledger past about 20,000 transactions, the result says the count is a minimum.
- Up to 20 examples. Each shows the transaction and the category the rule would give it. When there are more, the result says the examples are only a sample.
- Matches, not changes. The count includes transactions whose category you set yourself. Applying the rule leaves those alone. See who wins: you, your rules, or the bank.
- Mixed currencies. If the matches span more than one currency, the result says so.
Good to know
- Edits keep the rule. A new pattern gets the same parsing and pattern checks as a new rule, and the rule keeps its ID. You don't need to delete it and start over.
- Changes reach new transactions only. An edit takes effect for transactions that arrive from then on. Editing, turning off or deleting a rule leaves the categories it already set. To recategorize existing transactions with the edited rule, ask your AI to apply your rules. It previews the change first, and the preview flags categories set in the last 90 days.
- A rule that's off is skipped. New transactions don't get it, and applying your rules ignores it. Your AI can still test it.
- Deleting needs a reason. Your AI records why, and the delete can't be undone. Turn the rule off instead if you might want it back.
- No priority setting. When two active rules match, the rule created first wins. Pennyweight refuses a priority value. To settle a clash, edit the pattern, turn one off, or delete one. See when two rules match the same merchant.
- One ledger per list. Your AI lists one ledger's rules at a time, your active one unless you name another. It can test, edit or delete a rule in any ledger by its ID.
- No usage count. Pennyweight doesn't keep a count of how often a rule has been applied. To see a rule's reach, test it. To see which transactions a rule categorized, ask your AI to find them by that rule. Categorizations made before Pennyweight recorded the rule on each transaction don't show up.