Container Rules

If you create a “Bestiary” folder and want every creature page inside it to automatically be typed as “Creature” — without you having to remember to assign the type each time — container rules are the answer. A container rule attaches to a folder page and fires whenever a new page is created inside it.

Before you start

Container rules can only be set on Folder type pages. Regular page types cannot carry container rules. Make sure the folder page you want to configure has its type set to “Folder”.

You also need the type you want to auto-assign to exist. If you haven’t created your custom types yet, see Create Custom Types first.

Set a container rule on a folder

1. Open the folder page in the editor.
2. Open the folder’s settings panel or right-click the folder in the sidebar and select Container rules.
3. Click + Add rule.
4. Select the type to auto-assign (for example, “Creature” or “Location”).
5. Choose the depth:
   • Direct children only — the rule applies to pages created immediately inside this folder, but not to pages nested deeper.
   • All descendants — the rule applies to all descendants at any depth, including everything nested inside.
6. Confirm the rule.

The rule appears in the folder’s rule list. You can set multiple rules on the same folder — for example, one rule assigning “Creature” to direct children and another assigning “Entity” including everything nested inside.

How auto-assignment works

When you create a new page inside a folder that has an active container rule, Inklings inspects the ancestor chain of the new page and finds all applicable rules. Each matching rule generates a type assignment with scope “container” on the new page. This happens automatically as part of page creation — no extra step required.

A direct-children rule on “Bestiary” assigns “Creature” to pages created directly in “Bestiary”. It does not assign “Creature” to pages created inside a sub-folder of “Bestiary”.

A recursive rule on “World” assigns “NPC” to pages created anywhere in the “World” subtree — direct children, grandchildren, and everything nested inside at any depth.

Tip

You can combine rules from different ancestor folders. If “World” has a recursive “Entity” rule and “Thornwall Keep” (inside “World”) has a direct-children “Location” rule, a page created directly inside “Thornwall Keep” will receive both the “Entity” and “Location” type assignments.

Remove a container rule

1. Open the folder page and navigate to its container rules panel.
2. Find the rule you want to remove and click the delete action.
3. Confirm.

Removing a rule does not retroactively remove type assignments that were already made. Pages that received a type assignment before the rule was deleted keep their assignments.

Rules persist across sessions

Container rules are stored in the workspace database. Closing and reopening the workspace does not remove them. A rule you set today will still auto-assign types to pages created inside that folder next week.

Validation

Inklings rejects container rules in two cases:

• The target page is not a folder. You cannot attach a container rule to a regular page.
• The type does not exist. The type referenced by the rule must exist in the workspace. If you delete a type that is referenced by a container rule, the rule is removed automatically.

See Also

• Create Custom Types — Define the types you want container rules to assign
• Page Hierarchy — Understand parent-child relationships and how pages nest inside folders
• Collection Views — Query all pages of a type across your workspace
• Define and Manage Properties — Add structured fields to the types your rules assign