Core Workflow Condition Operators

You might know that there is a separate section for explaining condition operators. Head over there to see a detailed explanation of many conditions and operators.

Due to differences from other places in Zammad which are also using conditions (e.g. triggers), you can find a dedicated description of operators for core workflows below.

Be aware that the availability of the operators depends on the selected attribute and its field type. Some of the operators may only be available for system attributes (e.g. for “tags”, “active”).

Operator	Description
after (absolute)	Matches if a date/time is after a specific point in time.
after (relative)	Matches if a time span after a specified event has passed.
before (absolute)	Matches if a date/time is before a specific point in time.
before (relative)	Matches if a time span after a specified event has not passed.
contains	Matches if at least one of the specified values is present in the field (OR logic).
contains not	Matches if the field contains at least one value that is not among the specified values. Also matches if the field is empty.
contains all	Matches if every specified value is present in the field (AND logic).
contains all not	Matches if none of the specified values are present in the field. The field and the condition have no value in common: this means “contains none of”, not “does not contain all of”. In triggers and overviews, this operator means “not all of the specified values are present” instead. See the examples section below.
contains one	Same as contains. Matches if at least one of the specified values is present.
contains one not	Same as contains not. Matches if the field contains at least one value that is not among the specified values.
does not match regex	Matches if content doesn’t fit to regex rule.
ends with	Matches if content ends with specified value.
ends with one of	Matches if content ends with one of the specified values.
from (relative)	Matches if date/time is after a period of time after an event.
is	Matches if content is equal to a specified value.
is any of	Matches if content is equal to any of specified values.
is greater than	Matches if the value is greater than the specified value.
is greater than or equal to	Matches if the value is greater than or equal to the specified value.
is less than	Matches if the value is less than the specified value.
is less than or equal to	Matches if the value is less than or equal to the specified value.
is modified	Matches if content is modified. True from the moment of changing content until form submit.
is modified to	Matches if content is modified to a specific value. True from the moment of changing content until form submit.
is none of	Matches if content is none of any specified values.
is not	Matches if content is not equal to a specified value.
is set	Matches if content is present.
just changed	Matches if content has changed. Only true for the moment of changing content until next form field action/click.
just changed to	Matches if content has changed to a specified value. Only true for the moment of changing content until next form field action/click.
matches regex	Matches if value fits to regex rule.
not set	Matches if no content is present.
starts with	Matches if content starts with specified value.
starts with one of	Matches if content starts with one of the specified values.
till (relative)	Matches if date/time is before a period of time before an event.
today	Matches if date/time is today.
within last (relative)	Matches if date/time content is within specified period of time before now.
within next (relative)	Matches if date/time content is within specified period of time after now.

Multi-Select Operators

The contains family of operators compares two sets of values: the values currently in the field and the values specified in the condition. The diagrams below show the condition values as an orange circle and the field values as a blue circle.

Differences to Triggers and Overviews

Be aware that these operators behave differently in other features that use conditions (e.g. triggers and overviews). The most confusing difference: in core workflows, contains all not means that no value matches at all, while in triggers and overviews it means “not all values are present”. The table below compares both worlds side by side.

Operator	Core workflows (this page)	Triggers, overviews, etc.
contains	At least one value is present (OR logic).	Not available; contains one is the equivalent.
contains one	Same as contains.	At least one value is present (OR logic).
contains all	Every value is present (AND logic).	Every value is present (AND logic).
contains not	At least one field value is outside the condition, or the field is empty.	Not available for multi-select fields.
contains one not	Same as contains not.	The field has no value in common with the condition.
contains all not	The field has no value in common with the condition.	Not all values are present (at least one is missing).

Example 1: Condition A, B - Field A, B, C

In this scenario, the field holds the values A, B and C, while the condition asks for the values A and B.

Condition values A, B overlap with field values A, B, C.

Operator	Matches?	Why
contains	yes	A and B are in both sets (OR logic).
contains one	yes	Same as contains.
contains all	yes	Both A and B are present (AND logic).
contains not	yes	C is in the field but not in the condition.
contains one not	yes	Same as contains not.
contains all not	no	A and B are present in the field.

Example 2: Condition A, B, C - Field C, D

In this scenario, the field holds the values C and D. The condition value C is present in the field, while A and B are not.

Condition values A, B, C partially overlap with field values C, D.

Operator	Matches?	Why
contains	yes	C is in both sets (OR logic).
contains one	yes	Same as contains.
contains all	no	Only C of the three condition values is present.
contains not	yes	D is in the field but not in the condition.
contains one not	yes	Same as contains not.
contains all not	no	C is present in the field.

This partial overlap is where the two “all” operators part ways: contains all fails because one condition value is missing, while contains all not fails because a single common value is enough to block it.

Example 3: Condition A, B - Field C, D

In this scenario, the field holds the values C and D, which have nothing in common with the condition values A and B.

Condition values A, B have no overlap with field values C, D.

Operator	Matches?	Why
contains	no	No value is in both sets.
contains one	no	Same as contains.
contains all	no	Neither A nor B is present.
contains not	yes	C and D are not in the condition.
contains one not	yes	Same as contains not.
contains all not	yes	The field has no value in common with the condition.

This is the only example where contains all not matches.

Example 4: Condition A, B - Field is empty

In this scenario, the field holds no values at all, while the condition asks for the values A and B.

The field holds no values at all.

Operator	Matches?	Why
contains	no	No value is present.
contains one	no	Same as contains.
contains all	no	No value is present.
contains not	yes	An empty field matches.
contains one not	yes	Same as contains not.
contains all not	yes	An empty field has no value in common with the condition.

Note that contains not and contains one not match an empty field, while contains and contains all do not. If you want to exclude specific values, be aware that empty fields pass the condition.