Data validations
Data validations are rules that help you maintain clean, accurate, and reliable boards by ensuring the right information is added at the right time. As boards scale across teams and use cases, validation rules help reduce data entry errors, prevent broken automations, improve reporting accuracy, and support stronger governance.
In this article, we’ll explore how validation rules work, why they matter, and how to set them up to keep your processes consistent from start to finish ✅
What are data validation rules?
Data validation rules allow you to set specific criteria for your columns, ensuring that data added to your board can only occur when these criteria are met. These criteria range from validation rules, such as requiring a number to be greater than a specific value, to conditional rules with cross-column dependencies.
These rules are designed to prevent data entry errors at the source, reduce automation failures, and improve reporting reliability across structured workflows.
Conditional rules
Conditional rules work with an if-then structure, enabling you to set cross-column dependencies. This means you can require certain conditions to be met in one column before another column can be updated. It’s a powerful way to ensure that related information remains consistent and that workflows align with your team’s logic and requirements.
For example, you can require story points to be entered before marking a task as Done, prevent a deal from moving to Won unless the risk level is Medium or Low, or require a Date value when a Status changes to Approved.
To add a conditional rule, follow these steps:
1Click the three dots to the right of the column name.
2Hover over Settings.
3Select Set column validations.
4From the right-hand panel click the checkbox next to Conditional rule.
You begin by setting the If condition, which is based on the column you've chosen to set the rule on. The next step is to select the Then condition, which will affect another column on your board. Once completed, click the Save button in the bottom right corner.
Below, we have selected that if the Status Column is "Live", then the Checkbox Column must be "checked".
If you attempt to change the value of the if column and the conditional column does not meet the rule requirements, then an item pop-up card will appear, instructing you to fill out the relevant required column value. For example, below, we have changed the Status Column to "Live"; however, the "Completed" column has not been checked.
Validation rules
Validation rules let you set straightforward requirements for your board’s data, preventing errors before they occur. For example, requiring numbers to be over a specific amount in the Numbers Column, or only allowing Date Column entries from a specific date. These rules help ensure data is complete, accurate, and aligned with your team’s workflow requirements.
To add a Validation rule to a column, follow these steps:
1Click the three dots to the right of the column name.
2Hover over Settings.
3Select Validation rule.
4Using the dropdown menu in the right-hand panel, select a validation rule to apply to that column.
For example, we have set a validation rule on our Numbers Column that requires all new items added to the board to contain an amount of at least $100, ensuring the estimated budget reflects the minimum spend for projects.
Once the rule is set, an error message appears for new items with data in that column that does not meet the validation, and the data reverts to empty if the validation fails. For example, adding an item with an "Estimated budget" under $100 triggers an error, and the invalid number is removed.
Adding multiple rules
When setting up validation and conditional rules, each column type has specific limitations and capabilities. For most columns, you can only apply one validation rule or conditional rule per column. The Status and Dropdown columns, however, allow greater flexibility.
For validation rules, you can select multiple labels from the Status or Dropdown columns to include in the validation. For example, we have selected that our status must contain one of the following labels: "Working on it", "Stuck", and "Assigned".
For conditional rules, you can set multiple rules, allowing a new condition to be applied for each selected label. To add multiple conditional rules, click on the + New rule button, use the dropdown to select the new if label, and choose the then condition.
While validation rules don’t support and/or logic, conditional rules offer more complexity. The if section supports one condition per label, and the then section supports and/or logic. You can therefore set a rule that enforces two or more conditions.
To add an and/or condition, select + New column under your conditional rule and set the parameters of that new condition. For example, we have set our conditional rules so that if our status is "Live", then the "Completed" column must be checked, and the "Estimated budget" column must be at least $100.
If we attempt to change the status to "Live" and the conditional columns do not meet the rule requirements, an item pop-up card will appear, instructing you to fill out the column details to meet the rule.
Permissions
Users with permissions to set columns as required and add data validation rules can define and manage validation logic at the board level. Users who do not have these permissions will not be able to edit or delete data validations or change required columns.
Data validations and WorkForms
Data validations and WorkForms can be used together to keep your data consistent and reliable. When a form is connected to a board that includes validation rules, those rules will still apply as long as the relevant columns are present in the form. However, certain combinations of visible or hidden questions can affect whether data validations work as expected.
Data validations and Managed Templates
If you’re using Managed Templates, you can set validation rules directly on the template. This allows you to enforce standardized data rules across all existing and future boards created from the template, helping maintain consistent processes and reliable reporting across teams.
Template-level behavior
You can set validation rules on template-managed columns as well as make columns within the template required. Once you publish the template, these rules will automatically apply to all existing boards created from the template as well as all future boards created from the template.
Instance board behavior
On boards created from a Managed Template:
- Validation settings for template-managed columns are disabled.
- You can’t override, edit, or remove template-level validation rules from the board.
- Template-managed columns cannot be marked as required from the instance board.
For columns you create directly on the instance board:
- You can add validation rules.
- You can’t mark those columns as required.
This ensures that instance-level configurations don’t block template owners from publishing items to boards created from the template.
Data validations on deleted or restricted columns
When a column is deleted or contains permission restrictions, any validation rules linked to that column might stop functioning. Below is the expected behavior of all scenarios in which a column is either deleted or restricted.
- Simple validations
For simple validation rules, such as “Number > 100”, deleting the column completely removes the validation. Once the column is gone, the rule no longer applies to any items on the board.
- Conditional "if/then" validations
For conditional rules like “If Status is Done, then Number > 100”, deleting either the “if” or “then” column disables the rule. Without both columns, the condition can’t run, and the validation will no longer apply.
- Conditional "and/or" validations
For conditional validations using “and/or” logic (for example, “If Status is Live, then Checkbox must be selected, and Number>100”), deleting one of the “then” columns keeps only the remaining condition active. The rule continues to work with whatever part is left. You’ll still see the missing condition in the builder and can delete it manually if needed.
- Viewing and editing restrictions
If you can see a column but don’t have permission to edit it, validation rules still apply, but you won’t be able to fix or complete the value yourself. For example, if the rule says “When Status is Done, Date can’t be empty” and you mark the status as Done, you’ll receive a validation message, but you won’t be able to enter a date.
- Editing a validation rule
If a column that is being utilized in a conditional validation has been deleted, or if you do not have access to one or more of the columns because of restricted viewing permissions, you will be unable to edit the validation rule. The rule will appear greyed out in the settings, accompanied by a note explaining the restriction on editing.
FAQs
Data validations are not supported in regular templates. If you’re using Managed Templates on the Enterprise plan, you can set validation rules and required columns at the template level. These rules automatically apply to all existing and future boards created from the template.
No. Template-managed columns are governed only at the template level to prevent conflicts and maintain centralized governance.
Instance boards cannot mark columns as required because template owners must be able to publish items into boards created from the template without local requirements blocking the workflow.
Board builders can add validation rules to local columns created on the instance board, but they cannot mark those columns as required.
An empty value in the conditioned “then” column only violates the rule when the rule explicitly requires a value, such as “must not be empty”, or must contain "a". Similarly, if the rule only defines a value constraint, such as restricting specific text, the cell can remain empty without violating the rule.
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