URL rules

URL rule operators

Each URL rule compares the current page's path (or full URL) against a value you specify:

| Operator | Matches when | | --------------------- | -------------------------------------- | | equals | The path is exactly the value | | starts with | The path begins with the value | | ends with | The path ends with the value | | contains | The path includes the value anywhere | | matches | The path matches a glob pattern | | does not equal | The path is not the value | | does not start with | The path does not begin with the value | | does not contain | The path does not include the value |

What's compared

By default, URL rules compare against the pathname — the part of the URL after the domain, before any ? query string.

For https://app.example.com/dashboard/users?tab=active:

Pathname: /dashboard/users
Full URL: https://app.example.com/dashboard/users?tab=active

Switch to Full URL matching in the rule settings if you need to match query parameters.

URL breakdown showing pathname vs full URL with parts labeled — By default rules match against the pathname — enable Full URL to include query strings

Examples

Show on the dashboard home only:

URL path  equals  /dashboard

Show on all pages under /settings:

URL path  starts with  /settings

Show on any user profile page:

URL path  matches  /users/*/profile

Show everywhere except the billing page:

URL path  does not start with  /settings/billing

Glob patterns

The matches operator supports simple glob syntax:

| Pattern | Matches | | ------- | ------------------------------------ | | * | Any single path segment (no slashes) | | ** | Any path (including slashes) |

Examples:

/users/*/profile — matches /users/123/profile but not /users/123/settings/profile
/admin/** — matches /admin/, /admin/users, /admin/settings/roles

Multiple URL rules

Targeting rule builder showing URL operator dropdown and value field — Add as many URL rules as you need — all rules must match for the flow to show

You can add multiple URL rules to a single flow. By default they use AND logic — all rules must match. This lets you narrow the target:

URL path  starts with  /dashboard
URL path  does not contain  /onboarding

Shows on any dashboard page except the onboarding section.

Trailing slashes

Zenstep normalizes trailing slashes during comparison — /dashboard and /dashboard/ are treated as equivalent. You don't need to add both.

Hash-based routing

If your app uses hash-based routing (e.g., /#/dashboard), use a Full URL rule instead of a path rule:

Full URL  contains  #/dashboard

Zenstep re-evaluates targeting rules on client-side navigation (pushState / replaceState events). Flows will show and hide correctly as users navigate between pages in a single-page app without a full page reload.

⚠️

Some SPA frameworks (particularly older React Router versions) delay route changes slightly. If you notice flows showing on the wrong page briefly, add a small delay setting to the flow (under Advanced settings) to let the route stabilize before evaluation.