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Data Rules let you encode the data quality checks that matter to your project as expressions Mangrove evaluates automatically. When an event is created, a datapoint is updated, or a batch is calculated, the rule runs in the background and raises an alert if the data matches a condition you’ve defined. Use Data Rules when you want to:
  • Catch out-of-range measurements before they propagate into reports
  • Flag missing or implausible values during data ingestion
  • Validate that calculated batch outputs stay within expected bounds
  • Encode methodology guardrails that your team would otherwise check by eye

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Key concepts

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Rule

A rule is a single named expression evaluated against either incoming event data or model calculation results. Rules belong to a project and are managed in Project Settings → Data Rules.

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Target

Each rule has a target that determines what it evaluates:
TargetEvaluates
Event DataIndividual datapoints as events are created or updated. Use this to validate raw measurements at ingestion.
Batch CalculationsOutputs of a model after a batch is generated. Use this to validate downstream calculation results.
When a rule’s condition matches, Mangrove raises an alert on the affected event or batch — it does not block event creation, datapoint updates, or batch generation. Alerts are surfaced for review; users can dismiss them with a reason without changing the underlying data.

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Rule expression

The expression is the condition that triggers the rule. Expressions are written in a domain-specific language similar to SQL — for example: 
{{carbon_content}} not between 0.50 and 0.90
When the expression evaluates to true on a record, that record is flagged. See Rule Expressions for the full reference.

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Effective period

Every rule has an Effective from date and an optional Effective to date. The rule evaluates records whose date falls within this range — anything outside it is left alone.
  • Set Effective to to a date when the rule should stop applying (for example, when a methodology version retires).
  • Leave Effective to blank to mean Ongoing — the rule keeps running on new data indefinitely.
When you save a new or edited rule, Mangrove evaluates every matching record within the effective range automatically. There is no separate backfill step.

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Alert

When a rule’s expression matches a record within the effective period, Mangrove creates an alert. Alerts surface in three places:
  • Event drawer — alerts appear on the affected event with a link back to the rule
  • Batch detail — batches with rule alerts show them on the batch page
  • Reports — alerts on records included in a report are propagated to that report
Alerts can be dismissed with a reason, which preserves the result for audit while clearing it from the active list.

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Lifecycle

To stop a rule from running on new data, set or shorten its Effective to date — the rule keeps its past alerts but no longer evaluates records after that date. To remove a rule entirely, delete it — deleting a rule also removes all of its evaluations and alerts.

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API access

Accessing rules over the Mangrove API requires your API token to have the rule scope enabled. Tokens missing this scope receive a 403 Unauthorized response from any rules endpoint. To add the scope, open Settings → API Tokens, edit the token, and tick Rules Engine in the permissions list.