meta-automated-rules-builder

Automated Rules Builder

Overview

This skill helps set up automated rules in Meta Ads Manager that continuously monitor your campaigns and automatically take actions based on performance metrics, saving time and enabling fast responses to changes.

Automated Rules Fundamentals

What Are Automated Rules?

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  HOW AUTOMATED RULES WORK                                       │
│                                                                 │
│  1. TRIGGER: When does Meta check the rule?                     │
│     └── Every 30 min, daily, or custom interval                 │
│                                                                 │
│  2. CONDITION: Which criteria must be met?                      │
│     └── E.g.: CPA > $25 AND Impressions > 1000                 │
│                                                                 │
│  3. ACTION: What happens when the condition is true?            │
│     └── Pause, change budget, adjust bid, notification          │
│                                                                 │
│  4. SCOPE: Which items does the rule apply to?                  │
│     └── Campaigns, Ad Sets, or Ads                              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Rules Location in Meta

NAVIGATION:
Ads Manager → Automated rules → + Create rule
OR
Ads Manager → Campaigns table → check items → More → Create a new rule

RULE TYPES:
├── Custom rule (you choose the conditions and actions)
├── Reduce auction overlap (template)
└── Reduce audience fragmentation (template)

SCHEDULE (how often the rule runs):
├── Every 30 minutes: Meta checks the rule at least once every
│   30 minutes (API: SEMI_HOURLY, at the start of every half-hour)
├── Daily: once a day, at midnight in the ad account's time zone
└── Custom: chosen days and times, e.g. every day at 06:00

Sources: "Create an automated rule in Meta Ads Manager", "View and manage active rules in Meta Ads Manager", and the Marketing API guide "Schedule Based Rules", which runs a daily rule at midnight in the ad account's time zone. A fixed time such as "Daily at 06:00" in the templates below needs a Custom schedule.

Rule Categories & Use Cases

Rules of thumb, not Meta figures: check them against the account's own history.

Campaign budget: when a campaign uses Advantage+ campaign budget (the meta_create default, budget_mode="CBO"), Meta does not let you create rules with cost-related conditions, such as Cost per Result, that turn its ad sets or ads on or off or only send a notification. Apply those rules to the campaign, or use them on ad sets that set their own budgets (budget_mode="ABO"). Under a campaign budget the ad sets have no budget of their own, so budget rules go on the campaign. Source: "About rules with cost-related conditions in Meta Ads Manager".

Category 1: Budget Protection Rules

GOAL: Prevent budget waste on poor performance

RULE: CPA Limit Pause
├── Apply to: Ad Sets (active)
├── Action: Turn off ad set
├── Conditions:
│   ├── Cost per Result > $[MAX CPA]
│   └── Impressions > 1000 (wait for data)
├── Time Range: Last 3 days
├── Schedule: Every 30 minutes
└── Notification: On

RULE: ROAS Minimum Guard
├── Apply to: Campaigns
├── Action: Turn off campaign
├── Conditions:
│   ├── Purchase ROAS < [MIN ROAS]
│   └── Amount Spent > $100
├── Time Range: Last 7 days
├── Schedule: Every 30 minutes
└── Notification: On

Category 2: Scale Rules

GOAL: Automatically scale up on good performance

RULE: Increase Budget on Low CPA
├── Apply to: Ad Sets
├── Action: Increase daily budget by 20%
├── Conditions:
│   ├── Cost per Result < $[TARGET CPA - 20%]
│   └── Results > 10
├── Time Range: Last 3 days
├── Schedule: Daily at 06:00
├── Max Budget Cap: $[MAX DAILY BUDGET]
└── Notification: On

RULE: Decrease Budget on High CPA
├── Apply to: Ad Sets
├── Action: Decrease daily budget by 15%
├── Conditions:
│   ├── Cost per Result > $[TARGET CPA + 20%]
│   └── Amount Spent > $50
├── Time Range: Last 3 days
├── Schedule: Daily at 06:00
├── Min Budget Floor: $[MIN DAILY BUDGET]
└── Notification: On

Category 3: Creative Management Rules

GOAL: Automatically pause underperforming ads

RULE: Pause Low CTR Ad
├── Apply to: Ads
├── Action: Turn off ad
├── Conditions:
│   ├── CTR (link) < 0.5%
│   └── Impressions > 3000
├── Time Range: Last 7 days
├── Schedule: Daily at 00:00
└── Notification: On

RULE: High Frequency Warning
├── Apply to: Ad Sets
├── Action: Send notification only
├── Conditions:
│   └── Frequency > 3.0
├── Time Range: Last 7 days
├── Schedule: Daily at 09:00
└── Notification: On

Category 4: Learning Phase Rules

GOAL: Protect learning phase and prevent premature decisions

RULE: Learning Phase Budget Lock
├── Apply to: Ad Sets
├── Action: Send notification only (!)
├── Conditions:
│   ├── Hours Since Creation < 168 (first 7 days)
│   └── Results < 50
├── Time Range: Last 7 days
├── Schedule: Daily
└── Notification: On
Warning: Do NOT auto-pause during learning!

RULE: Post-Learning Performance Check
├── Apply to: Ad Sets
├── Action: Send notification only (check learning_stage_info before
│   turning the ad set off by hand: an older ad set can be back in
│   learning after a significant edit)
├── Conditions:
│   ├── Hours Since Creation > 168
│   ├── Cost per Result > $[TARGET CPA x 1.5]
│   └── Amount Spent > $[CPA TARGET x 50]
├── Time Range: Last 7 days
├── Schedule: Daily
└── Notification: On

Rules have no condition for the Delivery status ("Learning"), so Hours Since Creation stands in for it; it does not see significant edits, which can restart learning. Check the Delivery column, or learning_stage_info (see MCP Tool Integration), before acting. Meta: an ad set usually exits the learning phase after about 50 results in the week after its last significant edit ("About the learning phase", Meta Business Help Center).

Rule Builder Templates

Rules of thumb, not Meta figures: check them against the account's own history.

Template 1: Complete Budget Protection Set

RULE SET: BUDGET PROTECTION
============================

RULE 1: Emergency Stop
├── Name: [ACCOUNT]_Emergency_Stop_High_CPA
├── Apply to: All active ad sets
├── Action: Turn off
├── Conditions:
│   ├── Cost per Purchase > $[CPA TARGET x 2]
│   └── Amount Spent > $[CPA TARGET]
├── Time Range: Today
├── Schedule: Every 30 minutes
└── Why: Stop bleeding on clearly losing ads
Note: Cost per Purchase has no value while there are no purchases;
Rule 3 covers that case.

RULE 2: CPA Limit Daily
├── Name: [ACCOUNT]_CPA_Limit_Daily
├── Apply to: All active ad sets
├── Action: Turn off
├── Conditions:
│   ├── Cost per Purchase > $[CPA TARGET x 1.3]
│   └── Purchases > 3
├── Time Range: Last 3 days
├── Schedule: Every 30 minutes
└── Why: Pause on persistently high CPA

RULE 3: No Conversions Alert
├── Name: [ACCOUNT]_No_Conv_Alert
├── Apply to: All active ad sets
├── Action: Notification only
├── Conditions:
│   ├── Purchases < 1
│   └── Amount Spent > $[CPA TARGET x 2]
├── Time Range: Last 3 days
├── Schedule: Daily at 09:00
└── Why: Early warning on zero conversions

Template 2: Auto-Scaling Rule Set

RULE SET: AUTO-SCALING
======================

RULE 1: Scale Up Winners
├── Name: [ACCOUNT]_Scale_Up_Winners
├── Apply to: All active ad sets
├── Action: Increase daily budget by 20%
├── Conditions:
│   ├── Cost per Purchase < $[CPA TARGET x 0.8]
│   └── Purchases > 5
│   └── Daily Budget < $[MAX BUDGET]
├── Time Range: Last 3 days
├── Schedule: Daily at 06:00
├── Budget Cap: $[MAX DAILY BUDGET]
└── Why: Allocate budget to winners

RULE 2: Scale Down Losers
├── Name: [ACCOUNT]_Scale_Down_Losers
├── Apply to: All active ad sets
├── Action: Decrease daily budget by 20%
├── Conditions:
│   ├── Cost per Purchase > $[CPA TARGET x 1.2]
│   └── Purchases > 3
│   └── Daily Budget > $[MIN BUDGET]
├── Time Range: Last 3 days
├── Schedule: Daily at 06:00
├── Budget Floor: $[MIN DAILY BUDGET]
└── Why: Automatically reduce losers

RULE 3: Weekend Budget Boost
├── Name: [ACCOUNT]_Weekend_Boost
├── Apply to: Selected campaigns
├── Action: Increase daily budget by $[X]
├── Conditions:
│   └── Impressions > 0 (holds for any delivering campaign)
├── Time Range: Last 7 days
├── Schedule: Custom (Saturday 00:00)
└── Why: Extra budget on weekends, if the account's history shows
    stronger weekend results
Rules have no day-of-week condition: the Custom schedule picks the days.
The rule does not lower the budget again: plan that step by hand or with
a separate rule.

Template 3: Creative Rotation Rules

RULE SET: CREATIVE MANAGEMENT
=============================

RULE 1: Kill Low Performers
├── Name: [ACCOUNT]_Kill_Low_CTR
├── Apply to: All active ads
├── Action: Turn off ad
├── Conditions:
│   ├── CTR (link click-through rate) < 0.5%
│   └── Impressions > 5000
├── Time Range: Last 7 days
├── Schedule: Daily at 00:00
└── Why: Stop budget going to bad ads

RULE 2: High Frequency Warning
├── Name: [ACCOUNT]_Frequency_Alert
├── Apply to: All active ad sets
├── Action: Send notification only
├── Conditions:
│   └── Frequency > 3.5
├── Time Range: Last 7 days
├── Schedule: Daily at 09:00
└── Why: Signal for creative refresh

RULE 3: Video Cost Alert
├── Name: [ACCOUNT]_Video_Cost_Alert
├── Apply to: Ads (select the video ads)
├── Action: Turn off ad
├── Conditions:
│   ├── Cost per Result > $[from this account's history]
│   └── Impressions > 5000
├── Time Range: Last 7 days
├── Schedule: Daily
└── Why: Pause expensive video ads
Note: Meta's published condition lists have no ThruPlay condition;
a result is the outcome of the objective and settings you selected.

Condition Builder Guide

Available Metrics

PERFORMANCE METRICS:
├── Results (conversions of choice)
├── Cost per Result
├── Impressions
├── Reach
├── Frequency
├── CPM (cost per 1000 impressions)
├── CPC (cost per click)
├── CTR (click-through rate)
├── Amount Spent

CONVERSION METRICS:
├── Purchases
├── Cost per Purchase
├── Purchase ROAS
├── Leads
├── Cost per Lead
├── Add to Carts
├── Checkouts Initiated

VIDEO METRICS:
├── Video Plays

TIME CONDITIONS:
├── Hours Since Creation
├── Current time (epoch seconds)
└── No condition for the Delivery status ("Learning") or the day of
    the week: pick days with a Custom schedule

The condition dropdown in Ads Manager is the full, current list. Sources: "Available conditions for automated rules in Meta Ads Manager" and the Marketing API rules evaluation spec.

Condition Combinations

AND vs OR LOGIC:

AND (all conditions must be true):
├── CPA > $20 AND Impressions > 1000
└── Both must be true for action

NO OR WITHIN A RULE:
├── "CPA > $30 OR CTR < 0.3%" needs two rules with the same action
└── Each rule then triggers on its own condition

COMPLEX EXAMPLE, BUILT AS TWO RULES:
Rule A: CPA > $25 AND Purchases > 5
Rule B: CTR < 0.5% AND Impressions > 5000

OPERATORS: is greater than, is smaller than, is between, is not between
(so "Purchases = 0" is written "Purchases < 1")

LIMITS:
├── One of each condition per rule
├── One level per rule: campaigns, ad sets or ads, not a mix
├── Up to 250 rules per ad account, active and inactive together
└── Rules can't run on ads about social issues, elections or politics

Sources: "About conditions for automated rules in Meta Ads Manager": all conditions must be met, so an OR needs a separate rule per condition. "Limits to automated rules in Meta Ads Manager" for the limits.

Best Practices & Warnings

Rules of thumb, not Meta figures: check them against the account's own history.

Do's

RECOMMENDED:
├── Always add "AND Impressions > X"
│   └── Prevents decisions on insufficient data
├── Use 3-7 day time ranges
│   └── Balance between responsiveness and reliability
├── Set budget caps/floors on scaling rules
│   └── Prevents runaway budgets
├── Test rules on a small subset first
│   └── Validate before broad rollout
├── Document your rules
│   └── Know why you set something up
└── Check rules weekly
    └── Adjust thresholds as metrics change

Don'ts

AVOID:
├── Auto-pausing during Learning Phase
│   └── Let learning phase complete (about 50 results in a week)
├── Too short time ranges (Today/Yesterday)
│   └── Too volatile, unreliable data
├── Too low impression thresholds
│   └── Minimum 1,000+ for reliable CTR
├── Conflicting rules
│   └── Rule A increases, Rule B decreases simultaneously
├── Forgotten rules still running
│   └── Audit monthly
└── No notifications enabled
    └── Always know what's happening

Rule Audit Checklist

Monthly Review

RULE AUDIT CHECKLIST
====================

□ INVENTORY
├── How many rules are active?
├── Which rules haven't triggered since the last review?
└── Are there conflicting rules?

□ THRESHOLDS
├── Do CPA targets still match current performance?
├── Are budget caps/floors still relevant?
└── Are impression minimums sufficient?

□ PERFORMANCE
├── Which rules have triggered most often?
├── Have auto-actions had the expected effect?
└── Are there false positives/negatives?

□ CLEANUP
├── Remove inactive rules
├── Update naming conventions
└── Document changes

MCP Tool Integration

Pulling Live Data Before Setting Thresholds

Before building rules, always check current account performance to set realistic thresholds:

STEP 1: Get recent CPA baseline
→ meta_get_insights(account_id="...", fields=["cost_per_action_type","spend","actions"], date_preset="last_7d", level="adset")

STEP 2: Check frequency levels
→ meta_get_insights(account_id="...", fields=["frequency","impressions"], date_preset="last_7d", level="adset")

STEP 3: Review current learning phase status (an ad set field; insights do not return it)
→ meta_query(account_id="...", entity_type="adsets", effective_status=["ACTIVE"], fields=["id","name","learning_stage_info"])

learning_stage_info.status is LEARNING, SUCCESS or FAIL (learning limited). Meta returns it only for active ad sets, not for ad sets with dynamic creative, and not all ad accounts are eligible for it. dynamic_lp_conversions_threshold is, in Meta's words, the "new conversions threshold for dynamic learning phase status" ("Ad Campaign Learning Stage Info", Marketing API reference).

Use the actual CPA from the meta_get_insights results to set rule thresholds; never guess. meta_get_insights returns one page: while a response has paging.next, fetch the next page with meta_query(account_id, "adsets", pagination_url=<paging.next>) and add its rows.

Meta's rules documentation notes that rule time ranges can include today's data, unlike most reports (Marketing API rules evaluation spec), so a rule's "Last 7 days" can differ slightly from date_preset="last_7d".

Ad Superpowers has no tool that creates or edits automated rules: build them in Ads Manager.

Example Interaction

User: "I want to set up rules so my ads automatically stop if the CPA gets too high. My target CPA is $15."

Claude response:

"Let me first check your current account performance to set accurate thresholds.

meta_get_insights(account_id="...", fields=["cost_per_action_type","impressions","spend"], date_preset="last_7d", level="adset")

Based on those results, I'll build a complete rule set for CPA protection. With a target CPA of $15, I'd suggest the following:

---

RULE SET: CPA Protection (Target: $15)

Rule 1: Emergency Stop

Name: CPA_Emergency_Stop
Apply to: All active ad sets
Action: Turn OFF ad set
Conditions:
├── Cost per Purchase > $30 (2x target)
└── Impressions > 500
Time Range: Today
Schedule: Every 30 minutes

Stops ad sets with extreme CPA at the next rule check (at least every 30 minutes)

---

Rule 2: CPA Limit

Name: CPA_Limit_Pause
Apply to: All active ad sets
Action: Turn OFF ad set
Conditions:
├── Cost per Purchase > $19.50 (1.3x target)
└── Purchases > 3
Time Range: Last 3 days
Schedule: Every 30 minutes

Pauses on persistently high CPA

---

Rule 3: No Conversion Alert

Name: No_Conv_Warning
Apply to: All active ad sets
Action: Send notification only
Conditions:
├── Purchases < 1
└── Amount Spent > $30 (2x target)
Time Range: Last 3 days
Schedule: Daily at 09:00

Warning on zero conversions

---

Important:

• Do NOT set an auto-pause rule during learning phase
• Wait until the ad set has left the learning phase: Meta says that usually takes about 50 results in the week after the last significant edit. Rules can't see the learning phase, so check the Delivery column first.
• If the campaign uses a campaign budget, apply these rules to the campaign: Meta does not allow cost-based rules that turn its ad sets off or only notify.
• Rules of thumb, not Meta figures: check them against the account's own history. That covers the multipliers above.
• Check after 1 week whether the thresholds are working well

After rules are live, monitor via:

meta_get_insights(account_id="...", fields=["cost_per_action_type","spend","impressions"], date_preset="last_3d", level="adset")

Would you like me to also add scaling rules for when CPA is below target?"