Connect Auto Flow Rules to Process Files in Stages

One Auto Flow row can rename and categorize a file together. Use a chain when a later stage needs different settings, such as a first naming pass followed by sorting into an existing archive.

Chaining is available in RenameClick 2.15.2. A chain is defined by folders: the first row’s output becomes input for a later row. Moving a row up or down on screen does not define execution order.

Incoming → Stage 1 → Ready → Stage 2 → Archive

This diagram describes a configuration, not a test result. Ready is the first stage’s destination and the second stage’s source.

1. Create the first row with Incoming as Source and Ready as Destination.
2. Choose the first stage’s file types and naming or categorization settings.
3. Create the second row with Ready as Source and Archive as Destination.
4. Choose the second stage’s settings and a filter that accepts the first stage’s output.
5. If the first stage creates subfolders inside Ready, decide whether the next stage needs Recursive.
6. Start Watch on the rows, initially with Auto Apply off.

A file reaches the next stage after the first stage is applied. A suggested destination waiting in Processed has not moved the file there. If the second stage should keep the new name, leave Rename off in that row.

Watch and Auto Apply remain separate settings for each row. You can inspect the first stage before applying it, then inspect the second stage’s proposed move. With Auto Apply enabled, that row applies its processed changes automatically.

Each separately applied stage is its own file operation. Do not assume a multi-stage chain costs the same as one action that renames and moves a file together.

Check both the intermediate filename and the destination. A correct first stage does not guarantee that a later model decision is correct.

The file stays at the location reached by the completed stage. When the downstream row starts watching, its source scan can pick up eligible files already there.

Keep RenameClick running for Watch to process arrivals. A folder connection does not schedule work while the application is closed.

A route must not send files around a cycle back to an earlier source. Auto Flow also rejects rules with the same source and overlapping file-type filters. Use distinct sources or non-overlapping filters.

Source and destination overlap is evaluated for the individual rules and their route. Do not rely on the older assumption that every destination is excluded from all watching.

Same-folder Match Folders is a separate supported setup: it watches direct files and moves matches into existing top-level subfolders. Recursive watching is disabled there.

See folder validation and routing rules for the full reference.

Inspect Processed, Applied, and Errors on each row. A file in the first row’s Processed list has not reached the next source yet. A file applied to Ready but absent from the next row may be filtered out, outside its recursive scope, or waiting for Watch.

For an error in the second stage, check that row’s provider, permissions, and sorting settings. Turn Watch off before using Undo or Redo; undoing an earlier stage is not a coordinated rollback of the whole chain.

See the first Auto Flow setup guide for the full reference.