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Content rules enforce quality on Help Center articles. Write each rule in plain English and OpenCX runs every article through them, either on save, on publish, or both. A rule with must severity can block publish when it fails; should rules warn but let the article ship.
Manage rules at Help Center → Settings → Content Rules.

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What a rule looks like

Every rule has three fields:
FieldWhat it controls
Applies toMain article (checked during content-check runs) or Translation (injected into the AI’s translation prompt so translations follow the rule by construction).
SeverityOne of must, should, must not, should not. must/must not can block publish when the On publish setting is Block; should/should not only surface warnings.
InstructionThe rule itself, written in plain language. Max 500 characters.

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Examples

Applies to: Main article
Severity:   must
Instruction: Every article starts with a 1-2 sentence TL;DR under the title.

Applies to: Main article
Severity:   should not
Instruction: Avoid exclamation points and emoji in body copy.

Applies to: Translation
Severity:   must
Instruction: Keep product names (OpenCX, Autopilot, Assist Mode) in English in every language.

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When rules run

The Automation card on the Content Rules page controls when checks fire. Pick the combination that matches how your team ships content.
SettingWhat it does
Auto-check on editRe-runs all Main-article rules every time you save a draft. Surfaces violations inline so you can fix them before publish. Off by default.
ThrottleDebounce for auto-checks, 5 to 300 seconds. Saves while you’re typing collapse into one check run. Default 30 seconds.
On publishWhat happens when you hit Publish on an article that fails a must rule: Disabled (no check), Warn (shows the violation, allows publish), Block (rejects publish until the must rule passes).
A should/should not violation always surfaces as a warning — it never blocks, no matter what the On publish setting says.

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Manual runs

Run a check on demand from the article editor — Run content check in the editor menu. The panel shows every rule, pass/fail, and the AI’s reasoning per violation. Use this before bulk-publishing imported content or when tuning a new rule.

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Tune rules that fire too often

If a should rule flags valid articles constantly, the rule is probably too broad. A few patterns that work:
  • Anchor to a structural signal — “The first heading under the title is a ## heading” beats “Articles are well-structured”.
  • Give an example — Instruction: "Every screenshot has a caption below it (example: 'Figure 1: the sidebar with categories expanded')".
  • Scope with applies-to — a rule that belongs only to translations should target Translation, not Main article.

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Good to know

Content rules enforce editorial quality — tone, structure, terminology, factual claims. They don’t check URLs for reachability, run spellcheck, or validate HTML. Those are separate tools.
A rule set to Applies to: Translation doesn’t run as a check after translation — it’s added to the AI’s translation prompt so the output follows the rule by construction. This is how the glossary and translation rules stay consistent.
The On publish setting applies to every article in the Help Center. If one team needs block semantics and another doesn’t, split Help Centers across orgs or split the rules by Applies to scope.
Rules can target a single article by ID instead of the whole Help Center. Useful for imported content where one article needs a one-off rule without globalizing it.

Articles

Content rules run against articles on save or publish.

Translations

Translation-scoped rules shape the AI’s translation prompt.

Categories

Organize the articles your rules apply to.

Help Center overview

Everything the Help Center does.