Rules
A rule describes a meaningful pattern in parsed instrument data. When a rule matches, Chipper creates an event. The rule can remain monitoring-only or have one or more alerting conditions attached to it.
Start with the Rules Library
Go to Configure → Rules, then select Rules Library. Choose an instrument type to review the rules Chipper already knows for that data format.
Enable the rules that describe useful failures, recovery behavior, measurements, durations, and workflow milestones. Enabling a rule creates events for matching data; it does not alert anyone unless the rule also has an alerting condition.
The Rules table shows whether each rule is:
- Monitoring-only: creates events without alerts.
- Alert-enabled: has at least one alerting condition.
Use the event and alert counts to see which rules are useful in practice.
Rule types
Instance
Creates an event each time a condition matches—for example, an instrument fault, retry, or state transition.
Duration
Pairs a start condition with an end condition and measures the elapsed time—for example, an acquisition or liquid-handling step. A duration can begin in one delivered file and end in another.
Derivation
Extracts or computes a numeric value from a matching line—for example, temperature, position error, volume, or cycle time. Derived values can feed charts, thresholds, and SPC controls.
Create a custom rule
Editors and administrators can select Add Custom Rule from the Rules page.
- Choose an instrument type.
- Add a clear name, category, and description.
- Choose the rule type.
- Build the detection logic from fields present in the parsed schema.
- Add alerting conditions only for situations that require attention.
- Review the preview and save.
Chipper Query Language
Custom detection logic uses Chipper Query Language (CQL). Common operators include:
| Purpose | Operators |
|---|---|
| Equality | =, != |
| Numeric comparison | <, <=, >, >= |
| Regex search | ~, ~= |
| Membership | IN, NOT IN |
| Null checks | IS NULL, IS NOT NULL |
| Logic | AND, OR, parentheses |
Use only fields shown for the selected instrument type. Prefer equality or membership for known values and regex search for text patterns.
status IN ('ERROR', 'FAILURE', 'TIMEOUT')
message ~= 'failed to connect' AND error_code IS NOT NULL
temperature >= 37.5
For the full workflow, see Enable monitoring rules.