Rules that shape the roster

Put your staffing requirements to work.

Choose who can work each shift, set the number or mix of people you need, and review the roster against those rules.

What you can set

Choose which teams can fill each shift. Set rules using numbers or percentages, then apply them through Shift Logic. Editing a template does not change rules already applied to shifts.

Supported hard staffing operators
Rule	Meaning on a staffed shift
MIN_COUNT	At least this many people from the source team.
MAX_COUNT	No more than this many people from the source team.
EXACT_COUNT	Exactly this many people from the source team.
MIN_PERCENTAGE	At least this percentage of assigned people from the source team.
MAX_PERCENTAGE	No more than this percentage of assigned people from the source team.

These rules must be met; they are not preferences or priorities. Older active team rules may use team-name tags or the “new member” setting, which means membership created within the last 90 days. The saved rule’s scope matters.

From request to rule

Made-up examples show how the rules work. The pantry roster example shows generated results.

Leave a place for a trained host

Organizer’s request: “Registration needs one trained host and up to two helpers.”
Structured meaning: Set capacity to 3, allow the Hosts and Helpers teams, and bind Hosts EXACT_COUNT = 1 and Helpers MAX_COUNT = 2 to Registration.
Where it applies: One physical Registration shift; counts use approved membership in each source team.
Effect on the roster: Two helpers cannot take the host’s place. A generated nonempty roster must include exactly one host; a third helper is rejected. A missing host can leave the shift unfilled.

Keep Becky and Barbara off the same shift

Organizer’s request: “Do not assign Becky and Barbara to the same shift at this event.”
Structured meaning: Resolve the two members, choose AVOID with this event’s scope, review the proposal, then choose Approve & save rule.
Where it applies: Every physical shift in that event. Organization-wide and individual-shift scopes are also supported.
Effect on the roster: A roster containing both people on the same shift is rejected. They may work different shifts—even if those shifts overlap in time. This rule is not a ban on being present together.

Relax that pair rule for one reviewed schedule

Organizer’s request: “For this schedule only, allow that pair on Registration; keep the rule elsewhere.”
Structured meaning: The schedule proposal names the existing AVOID rule and Registration shift as the temporary exception. Review the proposed scope and explicitly approve/apply that saved proposal.
Where it applies: Only the selected shift in that proposal. It does not edit the saved relationship rule.
Effect on the roster: The approved plan may put the pair on Registration if the other constraints allow it. Other shifts retain the rule. A later ordinary Auto-Schedule run enforces the saved rule again.

Rules do not create available people.

Automatic assignments need approved team membership and availability for the whole shift. Capacity and each person’s overlapping commitments are checked too.
Conflicting requirements, minimum counts above capacity, or ambiguous source-team memberships must be resolved. The scheduler does not quietly ignore a rule to fill a place.
Empty shifts can stay open for later signups. Minimums are staffing targets, not a requirement to have everyone assigned before publication; upper limits and reserved places protect the remaining spots.
AI schedule proposals can lock current assignments and set a maximum number of hours per person across the event. That is not a daily limit or a guarantee of equal workloads.

Choose the right scheduling action.

Direct Auto-Schedule replaces saved assignments immediately when successful. AI schedule proposals wait for explicit approval and apply. Only that proposal path supports temporary relationship exceptions; it does not promise arbitrary natural-language policies.

Build my roster

Core scheduling is free. See AI pricing before preparing a paid plan.