> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.clipsx.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Conditional extension automation

> Choose which copied text runs an extension, test conditions, and control rule priority.

Use automation when you repeat the same transformation on matching copies. A rule selects an application, an extension setup, and an optional **Only run when…** question. The decision model evaluates the question before the extension runs.

Automation processes future captures, including another copy of an existing clip. It does not transform your whole history. Results stay attached to the original clip; automation never copies or pastes them for you.

## Prepare a manual result

1. Install and enable an extension that declares capture automation, such as Rewrite. Review its permissions.
2. Run your intended setup manually on harmless text and check its output. Save customized setup choices so a rule can reuse them.
3. For a conditional rule, assign a compatible **General decisions** preset in **Intelligence → Models → Usage & defaults**. Rewrite also needs **Extension text generation**. See [decision model setup](https://docs.clipsx.app/decision-models.md#setup).

A rule without a condition does not need a decision model, but the selected operation still needs its own prerequisites and permissions.

## Create and test a condition

For example, prepare a Rewrite setup that translates into English, then ask whether the copy is a Japanese message that needs translation.

1. Open the extension's settings and **Automation rules**. **Manage automation** from Tools also opens the editor for the selected setup.
2. Add a rule. Select the operation, source application or **All copied clips**, and your built-in or saved setup.
3. Enable **Only run when…** and enter **Is this a Japanese message that needs translation into English?**
4. Save and review the processing permission. Configured decision and generation providers receive the text needed for their tasks; either may be hosted.
5. Test the saved enabled rules with harmless Japanese and English samples. Inspect the selected rule and setup before copying another sample normally.

The test evaluates conditions without saving the sample or generating a rewrite. Yes at **50% or more** matches; the score does not guarantee correctness. If a model check fails, evaluation stops with a retryable failure. An error never counts as No and never selects a different provider automatically.

## Put rules in the right order

ClipsX tries enabled rules for the exact source application first, in their displayed order. If none matches, it tries **All copied clips** rules in order. Only the first matching rule runs for each extension operation and capture.

Put specific conditions above broad fallbacks. An unconditional rule always matches eligible input and prevents later rules in its scope from winning. Use the up/down controls to reorder rules.

The source application is where you copied the text, not where you plan to paste it. A website inside a browser is identified as that browser. If ClipsX cannot identify the source application, an exact-application rule cannot match.

## Review results and recover

Inspect **Recent automation attempts** for no match, privacy restrictions, unavailable decision checks, or other failures. Check the assigned models, saved setup, package permissions, and source application before retrying. Privacy-restricted and secret clips are excluded from automatic extension processing.

Editing a saved setup affects future captures. Deleting a setup disables rules that use it; existing results remain readable. Disable or delete rules to stop future automatic runs. Manual extension operations run directly without evaluating automation conditions, so always review the selected input and permissions.

See [extensions](https://docs.clipsx.app/extensions.md) and [privacy behavior](https://docs.clipsx.app/decision-models.md#failed-checks).


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