Hard Filters are plain-English rules that skip a job before it is scored, no matter how well it would score otherwise. Use them for things that are a firm yes or no for your team.
List | A job is skipped when... | Example rules |
Must-Haves | it clearly misses one of the rules | Long-term project, Involves React Native |
Deal-Breakers | it clearly matches one of the rules | WordPress only, Payment in crypto tokens |
You can add up to 10 rules per list, each up to 120 characters.
How to add rules
Open the scanner and go to the AI Qualification tab.
In Hard Filters, type a rule in Must-Haves or Deal-Breakers and press Enter.
To remove a rule, click the × next to it.
Save.
Duplicates and empty rules are ignored automatically.
How rules are judged
A job is skipped only if it clearly breaks a rule.
If the job does not mention the rule at all (for example, no budget is given), it passes. Its AI summary then ends with "Could not verify must-have: ...".
A skipped job gets a score of 0 and is saved to Example Jobs. In its AI Reasoning Log you will see "This Job Matched One of the Scanner's Hard Filters, So It Was Skipped Before Scoring", and the Disqualification Comment quotes the rule, for example: Deal-breaker: "WordPress only".
If the AI check ever fails on a job (for example a temporary provider error), the job is not skipped. It is scored as usual.
What makes a good Hard Filter
Hard Filters are for rules that need reading the job. Good examples:
Long-term project
WordPress or Shopify only
Payment in crypto tokens
Requires on-site work
Mobile app, not a website
Budget, hourly rate, project length, client location, payment verified, spend, hire rate and reviews should go in the scanner's Jobs and Client filters instead. Those filters are exact and free, and jobs that fail them never reach AI Qualification.
Be careful with strict Must-Haves
Hard Filters can skip a lot of jobs. In our testing on real job posts, the single Must-Have "Long-term project" removed about half of typical jobs, because most posts list a duration under 3 months. Only add a rule like this if you truly want to skip everything else.
Tip: run a Live preview after adding rules to see how many of your recent jobs would be skipped.
Good to know
Hard Filters do not turn AI Qualification on by themselves and do not change billing.
Thumbs up or down on a skipped job still teaches the scanner, the same as on any other job.
Skipped jobs are cheaper to process, because no scoring runs for them.