Rules

Rules translate business requirements into scheduling constraints. dabke includes 12 built-in rules that cover common workforce scheduling needs.

How rules work

Rules are passed to ModelBuilder as ruleConfigs, an array of { name, config } entries. Each rule compiles into CP-SAT constraints during builder.compile().

const builder = new ModelBuilder({
  // ... employees, shifts, coverage
  ruleConfigs: [
    { name: "max-hours-week", config: { hours: 40, priority: "MANDATORY" } },
    { name: "min-rest-between-shifts", config: { hours: 11, priority: "HIGH" } },
  ],
});

Priority levels

Each rule has a priority that determines how the solver treats it:

Priority	Behavior
`MANDATORY`	Hard constraint. The solver will never violate it, even if it means no solution is found
`HIGH`	Soft constraint with high penalty. Strongly preferred but can be violated
`MEDIUM`	Soft constraint with medium penalty
`LOW`	Soft constraint with low penalty (nice to have)

Built-in rules

Hours limits

Rule	Description
`max-hours-week`	Maximum hours per employee per week
`min-hours-week`	Minimum hours per employee per week
`max-hours-day`	Maximum hours per employee per day
`min-hours-day`	Minimum hours per employee per day

{ name: "max-hours-week", config: { hours: 40, priority: "MANDATORY" } }
{ name: "min-hours-week", config: { hours: 20, priority: "MEDIUM" } }

Consecutive days

Rule	Description
`max-consecutive-days`	Maximum consecutive working days
`min-consecutive-days`	Minimum consecutive working days (avoid isolated single days)

{ name: "max-consecutive-days", config: { days: 5, priority: "MANDATORY" } }

Shift limits

Rule	Description
`max-shifts-day`	Maximum number of shifts per employee per day
`min-rest-between-shifts`	Minimum rest hours between consecutive shifts

{ name: "min-rest-between-shifts", config: { hours: 11, priority: "MANDATORY" } }

Time off

Rule	Description
`time-off`	Block specific dates/times for an employee

{
  name: "time-off",
  config: {
    employeeId: "alice",
    dates: ["2026-02-14"],
    priority: "MANDATORY",
  },
}

Assignment

Rule	Description
`assign-together`	Keep specific employees on the same shifts
`employee-assignment-priority`	Prefer certain employees for certain roles/times
`location-preference`	Prefer employees at specific locations

Scoping

Rules can be scoped to apply to specific subsets of employees or time periods. Use the scope field:

{
  name: "max-hours-week",
  config: { hours: 20, priority: "MANDATORY" },
  scope: { roleIds: ["part-time"] },
}

Scope options:

employeeIds: apply to specific employees
roleIds: apply to employees with specific roles
skillIds: apply to employees with specific skills
days: apply only on specific dates
daysOfWeek: apply only on specific days of the week

Quickstart Semantic Time

Getting Started

Guides

Schedule Definition

Time Periods

Coverage

Shift Patterns

Cost Optimization

Solver

Supporting Types

Rules

How rules work

Priority levels

Built-in rules

Hours limits

Consecutive days

Shift limits

Time off

Assignment

Scoping

​How rules work

​Priority levels

​Built-in rules

​Hours limits

​Consecutive days

​Shift limits

​Time off

​Assignment

​Scoping

How rules work

Priority levels

Built-in rules

Hours limits

Consecutive days

Shift limits

Time off

Assignment

Scoping