# Routing rules

**Rules** are where a [routing form](/help/routing-forms/overview) does its job: each
rule has **conditions** on the form's answers and a **destination**. When someone
submits the form, 42min checks the rules **from top to bottom and uses the first one
whose conditions match** — so order matters. You edit them on the form's **Rules** tab
([open the builder](/360/routing?new=1)).

<Screenshot
  src="/help/screenshots/routing-forms/rules.png"
  alt="The Rules tab of the 42min routing-form builder: an 'Add Rule' button and the Default Rule (the mandatory fallback) with a destination dropdown set to 'Custom Message'"
  caption="The Rules tab — 'Add Rule' to add a conditional rule above the Default Rule, which is the mandatory fallback ('Applied when no other rule matches'). Each rule's destination is chosen from a dropdown."
/>

## How a rule works

- **Conditions** — one or more checks against the visitor's answers, combined with
  **AND** ("all of these must be true") or **OR** ("any of these"). A check looks at a
  field and tests its value — for example *"Team size" is "200+"*, or *"Region" is one
  of "EU", "UK"*. (The exact set of operators — equals, is one of, contains, and so on
  — is shown in the rule editor; pick what fits the field type.)
- **Destination** — where matching people go: an event type's booking page, an external
  URL, a custom message, or another routing form. See
  [Destinations](/help/routing-forms/destinations).

## Order and the fallback

- Rules are evaluated **top to bottom; the first match wins**. Put your **most
  specific** rules first and broader ones below — otherwise a broad rule grabs everyone
  before a narrow one gets a look.
- The last rule is the **fallback** — it's **mandatory** and has no conditions; it
  catches everyone who matched nothing above. Make it a sensible default (commonly your
  general intro-call event type or a "we'll be in touch" message), so no one ever hits
  a dead end.

## How to do it

1. On the form's **Rules** tab, add a rule. Build its conditions (choose a field, an
   operator, a value; add more and pick AND / OR).
2. Set the rule's [destination](/help/routing-forms/destinations).
3. Add more rules, dragging them into priority order — narrowest at the top.
4. Configure the **fallback** rule's destination.
5. Save, then submit the form yourself a few times with different answers to confirm
   each path lands where you expect. The form's **Responses** tab shows which rule each
   submission matched.

## Common pitfalls

- **Broad rule above a narrow one.** "Team size is anything → intro call" placed above
  "Team size is 200+ → enterprise rep" means *no one* reaches the enterprise rep — the
  broad rule matches first. Reorder so specific beats general.
- **Forgot the fallback (or made it useless).** Every form must have one; a person who
  matches nothing else ends up there. An empty or broken fallback is a dead end.
- **AND where you meant OR.** "Region is EU AND Region is UK" can never be true — for
  "either of these values", use OR (or an "is one of" condition).