How rules work

Bouncer checks your rules from the top of the Rules list down. The first rule that matches a link decides where it opens.

What a rule is

A rule pairs a match with a destination. The match can be the link itself, the app that sent the link, or both. The destination is a browser, a profile in that browser, or a native app.

You create most rules from an example link. See Start from an example link.

Top to bottom, first match wins

Bouncer walks the Rules list from top to bottom and stops at the first rule that matches. Rules below that one are not checked.

Order matters when two rules could match the same link. Put the narrower rule above the wider one. Drag a rule to move it.

The order you see in the list is the order Bouncer checks. Nothing hidden reorders it.

Disabled rules are skipped

A disabled rule stays in the list but Bouncer never checks it. It appears dimmed. Use this to switch a rule off without deleting it.

When no rule matches

Bouncer opens the link in your fallback browser. If you chose a profile for the fallback browser, it opens in that profile.

The fallback browser is set in Settings > General under Fallback Browser:. Until you change it, it is the browser that was your default before you installed Bouncer.

Native apps come after rules

Bouncer can send some links to a desktop app instead of a browser. Zoom, Figma, and Slack links are examples. This runs only when Prefer native apps is on in Settings > General. It is off by default.

Native app routing runs after the rules, not before them. A rule that matches the link itself always wins. Bouncer sends a link to the native app only in these cases:

No rule matched.
The rule that matched is a catch-all rule with no conditions.
The rule that matched only looked at the app that sent the link, not the link itself.

See Built-in app routes for the list of apps.