Behavior Rules | Aura Help

Overview

Behavior rules are the automation engine that makes your Aura proactive. Instead of waiting for you to ask questions, a rule-equipped Aura monitors conditions and reaches out at the right moments with relevant, contextual messages.

This page provides a comprehensive reference for all rule capabilities. For a practical step-by-step tutorial, see Building Rules.

Anatomy of a Rule

Every behavior rule consists of four components:

Component	Purpose	Required
Name	Human-readable identifier for the rule	Yes
Trigger	When to evaluate the rule	Yes
Conditions	Additional criteria that must be met	No
Action	What happens when the rule fires	Yes

When a trigger activates, Aura evaluates any conditions. If all conditions are met (or there are no conditions), the action executes.

Trigger Types

Triggers determine when a rule is evaluated. Aura supports three categories of triggers.

Time-Based Triggers

Run rules at specific times or on schedules:

Trigger	Example
Specific time	7:00 AM every day
Time + days	8:00 AM on weekdays only
Interval	Every 4 hours between 9 AM and 6 PM

Note

Time-based triggers use your configured timezone. Make sure your timezone is set correctly in Settings → Account.

Location Triggers

Fire rules based on your physical location:

Trigger	Example
Arrive at location	When I arrive at "Work"
Leave location	When I leave "Home"
Enter area	When entering a city or region

Location triggers require the Location sense to be enabled and saved locations to be configured in Library → Locations.

Sensor Data Triggers

Trigger rules when sensor data meets certain thresholds:

Sensor	Example Trigger
Oura Sleep Score	When sleep score drops below 70
WHOOP Recovery	When recovery is in red zone (<33%)
Weather	When rain probability exceeds 50%
Temperature	When temperature drops below 40°F

Tip

Sensor triggers are powerful for health and wellness Auras. Combine them with time conditions to avoid triggering at inappropriate times.

Conditions

Conditions refine when a rule actually fires. Even if a trigger activates, conditions must also be met for the action to execute.

Condition Types

Time conditions: Day of week, time ranges, weekday vs weekend
Weather conditions: Temperature, precipitation, UV index, air quality
Calendar conditions: Has meeting, is free, next meeting within X minutes
Location conditions: Currently at location, not at location
Sensor conditions: Any connected sensor value above/below threshold

Combining Conditions

Multiple conditions can be combined with AND/OR logic:

AND (all must be true): "Weekday AND morning AND rain expected"
OR (any must be true): "Sleep score below 60 OR recovery score below 40"
Mixed: "Weekday AND (raining OR temperature below 50)"

Warning

Complex condition logic can be hard to debug. Start simple and add complexity gradually. Test your rules to verify they fire when expected.

Actions

When a rule fires, it executes an action. The primary action is sending a proactive message.

Send message: Your Aura composes and sends a contextual message
Push notification: Additionally trigger a push notification (if enabled)

Prompt Hints

A prompt hint guides what your Aura should focus on when composing the message. It's like giving your Aura a specific topic or instruction.

Good prompt hints are specific:

Weak: "Tell me about the weather"
Better: "Share today's weather forecast, highlighting if I'll need an umbrella or jacket for my commute"
Best: "Give me a brief weather update focusing on the morning commute (around 8 AM) and afternoon (around 5 PM). Mention any weather alerts."

Your Aura has access to all connected sensor data when composing the message. The prompt hint just focuses its attention on what matters most for this particular rule.

Rule Templates

Templates are pre-configured rules for common use cases. They include:

Morning Briefing: Daily summary at your wake time
Weather Alert: Notify when conditions change significantly
Meeting Prep: Brief you before important meetings
Evening Wind-Down: End-of-day reflection
Low Recovery Check: When wearable shows poor recovery
Work Arrival: Context when you arrive at the office

Templates come with sensible defaults but can be customized after adding them. Adjust the timing, conditions, and prompt hints to match your preferences.

Managing Rules

Rules are managed within each Aura's settings:

Enable/disable: Toggle rules on or off without deleting them
Edit: Modify any aspect of a rule
Delete: Permanently remove a rule
Duplicate: Copy a rule as a starting point for a new one
Reorder: Change priority when multiple rules might fire simultaneously

Note

Disabled rules are not evaluated but retain their configuration. This is useful for seasonal rules or temporary pauses.

Rule Evaluation

Understanding how rules are evaluated helps you build more effective automation:

Trigger check: Is it time for this rule to run? Has the location changed? Has sensor data crossed a threshold?
Condition evaluation: If triggered, are all conditions currently met?
Cooldown check: Has this rule fired recently? (Prevents spam)
Action execution: Compose and send the message

Rules have a default cooldown period to prevent the same rule from firing repeatedly. Time-based rules typically fire once per scheduled time; event-based rules have configurable cooldowns.

Debugging Rules

When rules aren't working as expected:

Check rule history: View when rules were evaluated and why they did or didn't fire
Verify senses are connected: Rules depending on sensor data need active connections
Test conditions manually: Are the conditions actually being met?
Check timezone: Time-based rules use your configured timezone
Review cooldowns: A rule might not fire if it recently fired
Simplify and test: Remove conditions temporarily to isolate issues

Tip

Use the "Test Rule" feature (if available) to simulate a rule firing and see what message would be generated, without waiting for actual trigger conditions.

For more practical examples and step-by-step guidance, see the Building Rules guide.