TopolearnFilters stop Zaps from acting on the wrong items, such as internal emails or orders below a threshold.
A filter is a checkpoint inside a Zap. It looks at the data so far and asks a yes/no question. If the answer is yes, the run continues. If no, the run stops there and shows as Filtered in Zap history.
Each rule has three parts: a field, a condition, and a value. For example:
Order Total(Number) Greater than100Email(Text) Does not contain@mycompany.comPhoneExists
Conditions come in types: text, number, date/time, true/false (boolean), and "exists / does not exist". Pick the type that matches the data. A number condition only works on values that really are numbers, and text conditions ignore upper and lower case.
You can combine rules with AND (all must be true) or OR (at least one must be true).
Where you place the filter matters. Put it as early as possible, right after the trigger if you can. Steps before the filter still run (and may use tasks); steps after it only run when it passes. The filter step itself does not use a task.
A filter can only stop a run. If you want different actions for different cases (urgent tickets to one channel, the rest to another), you need paths, the next lesson.
Watch out with line items: a filter does not remove individual items from a list. It decides whether the whole run continues.
Remember
- A filter continues or stops the whole run based on rules
- Place filters early; the filter itself costs no task
- Choose the condition type that matches the data
Watch out for
- Using a Text condition like "greater than" on numbers, which compares them as words and gives odd results.