Make filters for beginners: stop the wrong records

A Make filter stops records that do not meet your rules before the next module runs. Build this small practice workflow before using a filter in a scenario that sends messages or changes data.

1. Build a harmless practice workflow

1. In Make, click Create scenario. Name it Filter practice and leave it Inactive.
2. Click the large + on the empty canvas. Choose Tools, then Basic trigger.
3. Under Bundles, click Add item once. Inside that bundle's Items, add two items. Give the first Name status and Value ready. Give the second Name quantity and Value 1. Click Save.
4. Click the small + beside the trigger. Add Tools > Compose a string. Enter Record accepted. in Text, close the mapping panel if it covers the controls, then click Save.

You should have two connected modules. The trigger makes one practice record, called a bundle in Make.

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Full Make editor with a Basic trigger containing status ready and quantity 1

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2. Add two rules with AND

1. Click the dotted connection between the modules to open Set up a filter.
2. Set Label to Ready records with a positive quantity.
3. Click the first condition field and select the trigger's status item from the mapping panel. Close the mapping panel. Keep Text operators: Equal to, then type ready in the field below.
4. Click Add AND rule. Map the trigger's quantity into the new condition. Close the mapping panel, choose Numeric operators: Greater than, and enter 0.
5. Click the filter's Save, then the canvas toolbar's Save. If Make shows only the unused-output warning, choose Save anyway.

Select the coloured field tokens from the trigger. Typing the word status as plain text would compare that word instead of the record's value. The two rules require a ready status and a quantity above zero. Make's filtering guide (opens in a new tab) explains how a failed condition stops a bundle on that connection.

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Full Make editor with status equal to ready and quantity greater than zero joined by AND

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3. Test records that pass and fail

1. Click Run once. For this practice, an unused-output warning is expected because the text module ends the workflow. Choose Run anyway only for that warning. Fix missing settings or other errors first.
2. With ready and 1, the filter should show one passing bundle and both modules should run.
3. Click the white run bubble above Compose a string. In its Output, check that Text says Record accepted.

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Full Make editor with the Compose a string inspector showing Record accepted in its output

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4. Open Basic trigger. Change the status value to pending, keep quantity 1, click Save, then Run once. The text module should not run.
5. Repeat with status ready and quantity 0. This should also stop at the filter.
6. Click the result badge above the connection to open Filter inspector. Check which rule failed. Restore ready and 1 and run again to confirm the passing result still works.

With a zero quantity, the inspector shows the status rule passing and the quantity rule failing. The connection passes zero bundles to the next module.

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Full Make editor with Filter inspector showing a passing status rule and a failing quantity rule

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4. Apply the rule to your own workflow

Use the same filter setup between a source module and the action it controls. Map fields from your actual source and choose values that match your data. Keep the scenario inactive while you check sample outputs. The practice's fixed values repeat each time you run it.

Put the filter before a sending or writing module. Passing the same record again does not make it unique; use a separate duplicate check if your workflow must act only once.

If the filter behaves differently

• Nothing passes. Inspect the trigger's output and the filter's mapped tokens. Our rule uses Equal to; check spelling, spaces and case. Make also offers Equal to (case insensitive) when that matches your task.
• The wrong records pass. Check that you added an AND rule. OR allows a record through when an alternative rule matches.
• The action already happened. Move the filter before that action. Filtering a later connection cannot reverse an earlier send or write.
• The controls are covered. Close the mapping panel before choosing an operator or saving. If fields are missing, inspect a sample output from your source module.

Optional: accept two statuses. To accept ready or approved while requiring a positive quantity, give each OR group its own quantity rule.

1. Keep the existing status equal to ready AND quantity greater than 0 group.
2. Click Add OR rule. Map status again, keep Text operators: Equal to and enter approved.
3. Inside that second group, click Add AND rule. Map quantity, choose Numeric operators: Greater than and enter 0. Save the filter, then save the scenario.

If the second group checks only approved, it also accepts an approved record with quantity 0. The quantity check in the first group does not protect the second group.

Change the Basic trigger values and click Run once for each case. With quantity 1, both ready and approved should produce Record accepted. Test each status again with quantity 0, then test pending with quantity 1. Those three cases should stop at the filter, with no Compose a string operation. Inspect the filter results and leave scheduling inactive.

To practise a filter before any sending or writing action, start with Make Free (opens in a new tab) and run both the passing and failing examples above. Inspect the filter result and leave the scenario inactive.

Sources: Make filtering (opens in a new tab), adding a filter (opens in a new tab), module runs and output inspection (opens in a new tab), Make plans (opens in a new tab).