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A Rule is a plain-English prompt that tells Echo what to look for in your emails. The better your prompt, the more accurate and useful your dashboard will be.

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Start with a template

If you’re new to Rules, the easiest way to get started is with one of Echo’s built-in templates — Invoices, Flights, Taxes, Offers. They’re ready to use out of the box and cover the most common use cases. For anything more specific, you can write your own Rule from scratch or modify a template to fit your needs.

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How to write a good Rule

Be specific about what you want extracted. Vague prompts produce vague results. Tell Echo exactly what data to pull out.
Instead of…Try…
”Find payment info""Extract the vendor name, invoice number, total amount, and due date"
"Get flight details""Extract the flight number, departure time, arrival time, and booking reference"
"Find discounts""Extract the promo code, discount value, and expiry date”
Describe what to do when data is missing. Emails aren’t always complete. Tell Echo what to show when a field isn’t found. 
If no due date is found, write "—".
If the amount is unclear, write "?".
Tell Echo what the email looks like. The more context you give, the better Echo can identify relevant emails and ignore the rest. 
This email is invoice-related if it contains a payment request, 
an invoice number, or phrases like "amount due" or "please pay".
Define the output format. If you want data displayed in a specific way, say so explicitly. 
Format amounts as: $1,200.00
Format dates as: MMM DD, YYYY

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What to avoid

  • Too broad. A Rule that matches everything will consume datapoints fast and produce noisy results.
  • Too narrow. A Rule written for one specific email format may miss variations from the same sender.
  • Assuming Echo knows context. Echo reads each email independently — it has no memory of previous emails or your past dashboard data.

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Improving a Rule that isn’t working

Since you can’t test a Rule on a specific email before activating it, the best approach is to iterate:
  1. Activate the Rule and wait for new matching emails to arrive
  2. If Echo misses data or extracts the wrong things, go back and refine the prompt
  3. Be more explicit about what you want — add examples, clarify edge cases

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Example: a custom Rule

Here’s a simple Rule for extracting subscription renewal notices: 
Extract subscription renewal notices. This data is relevant if it mentions 
a renewal, a recurring charge, or a subscription expiring soon.

Extract:
- Service name
- Renewal amount
- Renewal date
- Plan type (monthly or annual)

If any field is missing, write "—".
Format amounts as: $0.00
Format dates as: MMM DD, YYYY
The clearer and more structured your prompt, the more consistent Echo’s output will be.