---
title: 5. Decision items
slug: lf-lab/5-decision-items
docTags: 
createdAt: 2026-05-19T07:43:04.868Z
---

### Narrative context

The email has its structure. Now it needs an offer — the right offer, for this specific customer, chosen at send time from the LF catalog. The decisioning engine knows seven of the eight offers in the catalog already. You will author the eighth from scratch — a federation-wide **under-36 promo** aimed at younger profiles — and then embed the decision policy directly inside the journey's recap email so every recipient sees their best-fit offer at render time.

### Create the decision rule

You author the eligibility rule first - decision rules determine to whom an offer can be shown.

- In the left menu, under **Decisioning**, click **Strategy setup** to see the list of rules. 
- Click **Create rule**. 
- Leave **Enable dataset lookup** disabled and click **Next**. 
- Set **Name** to `{{LASTNAME}}-rule_under36`. 
- In the **Attributes** search for `age`. 
- Drag the `Demopotemea > individualCharacteristics > core > age` onto the canvas. 
- Set the operator as `is less than`. 
- Set the number to `36`. 
- Click **Refresh estimate** to have a rough estimation of the profiles that match this condition.
- Click **Create**.

:::hint{type="info"}
**Why this matters**: the rule isolates the eligibility logic from the offer content. If the business later decides "under 35", the change happens here without re-authoring the offer.
:::

### Create the decision item

- Click on **Catalog** to see the list of decision items (aka offers).
- Click **Create item**.
- Set **Name** to `[{{LASTNAME}}] - Mortgage promo — Under 36`.
- Set **Priority** to **90**.
- Set **Start date** to `2026-05-01`.
- Set **End date** to `2026-08-31`.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/75RKTJ9S1Q9pcXJGMx4Lo_image.png)

In the custom attributes section, set:

| Custom attribute                                  | Value                                                                |
| ------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| offerMetadata > Category                          | Mortgage                                                             |
| offerContent > Text Content > Compact Title       | Mortgage solution for under 36                                       |
| offerContent > Text Content > Compact Description | Reduced setup costs and conditions calibrated for younger borrowers. |
| Terms > Mortgage > Offer Scope                    | central                                                              |
| offerScope                                        | federation                                                           |
| Terms > Mortgage > Duration                       | 25                                                                   |
| Terms > Mortgage > Tier                           | promo                                                                |
| Terms > Mortgage > Rate                           | 3.25                                                                 |

- Click **Next**.
- In **Eligibility**, click** By rule** and select rule\_under36 (or the rule you just created).

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/tnW1rH5aX4z1FYzKIv5fZ_image.png)

- Click **Next**.
- Review the item and then click **Save**.
- Click **Save**.

Now your item is ready to be used in any communication with your customer, whether it is an email, a push notification or an SMS.

### Embed the decision policy inside the journey's recap email

Let's explore **Collections**.

Collections allow you to categorize and group your decision items according to your preferences. These categories are created by crafting rules that leverage the attributes of decision items.

- Click **Collections**.
- Click on **Mortgage offers**. 
- Click **Preview collection**.

In the list you should find also your item; this is because the collection is dynamic and automatically includes all the items where `category = mortgage`.

- Click **Cancel** to go back.

Now the decision engine need to know how to prioritize different items. A **selection strategy **is reusable, and consists of a collection associated with an eligibility constraint and a ranking method to determine the offers to be shown when selected in a decision policy.

The selection strategy **Mortgage offers selection **ranks the items on each send and returns the best fit. 

Now you can embed the items directly inside the journey's recap email with a decision policy.

- In the left menu, under **Journey Management**, click **Journeys**.
- Open your journey `[{{LASTNAME}}] - Mortgage simulation to pre-approval`.
- On the canvas, click the **Follow up email** action node.
- In the Properties panel, click **Edit content** then **Edit email body** to open the email in the designer.

The email has an blue empty box that you can fill with the content you want. The editor prepared a fragment (pre-built piece of content) to display the offer. In this exercise you will enable the decisions engine to show the offer content in the box.

![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/DuDKVFWMo0nHlSbxYvnkA_image.png)

- In the body, click the **Drop content here** block.
- In the left panel, click the icon :inlineImage[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/oOQ8nJatApyRFWThQB5yU-20260414-134134.png" alt caption width="55" height="55"}  then drag **Mortgage Offer Box** onto the block.

**Mortgage Offer Box **is a content fragment: a predefined block with generic data, that you can fill with the most relevant content. 

- Click the icon :inlineImage[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/N0Gk_Tsm5JKdggvDVydVm-20260520-163059.jpg" alt caption width="30" height="30"} and then **Add decision policy** > **Add new policy**.
- Set the name to `mortgage_offer` and click **Next**.

Now you need to decide which set of offers you want to display.

- Click **Add** > **Selection strategy**.
- Select **Mortgage offers selection** and click **Save**.

:::hint{type="info"}
You can also define one or more **Fallback items**. If the engine can't find anything from the Selection strategy (because for example the item has expired), it returns a generic content valid for everyone. 
:::

- Click **Next** and then click **Create**.

Now you have selected the group of offers the engine have to evaluate before sending the email. The next step is assigning a placement. 

- Click **Assign placement**.
- Select email then click **Assign**.

Now you're ready to use the decision item attributes in the email. Next step is to replace the placeholder text with a reference to the decision item.

- Click inside the grey box, to select the container.
- Click the icon :inlineImage[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/N549ZHZFN29lgRZIV85eB-20260520-163331.jpg" alt caption width="30" height="30"} and then the icon :inlineImage[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/9pRTIjnxW43LXpzk2w-Pn-20260520-163331.jpg" alt caption width="33" height="31"} to unlock the fragment.
- Then select **OFFER TITLE** and click the icon :inlineImage[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/8XSokaZGhl0l_7Y6RzRIr-20260414-131713.png" alt caption width="38" height="38"} to open the personalisation editor.

Among the profile and contextual data, now you also have the possibility to choose the decision attributes.

- On the left menu click on **Decision policies**.
- Search  `title` and click the **+** icon beside** Compact title**. 
- {{item.demopotemea.content.textContent.compactTitle}}appear in the expression editor. 
- Click **Save**.

Now, the placeholder test will be replaced by the offer title selected by the decision engine.

Repeat the same activity for the other fields:

| PLACEHOLDER    | FIELD                                                               |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| OFFER SUBTITLE | textContent.compactDescription                                      |
| RATE           | terms.mortgage.rate                                                 |
| DURATION       | terms.mortgage.duration                                             |
| VALIDITY DATE  | experience.decisioning.decisionitem.itemCalendarConstraints.endDate |



![](https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/1Jp0iolWv35Z_mkI7oUiT/RP6PZF1Iqfzk1hpyweQwt_image.png)

### Preview per-profile outcomes

The email now selects its offer at render time. Use the per-profile preview to verify ranking behaves sensibly.

- In the email designer (still open from the journey), click **Simulate Content** > **Simulate Content**.
   You should already have a test profile from the previous exercises. If you want to see a different rendering:
- click **Manage test profiles**.
- Set **Identity namespace** to **Email**.
- Set **Identity value** to `lf-mrt-023@mailinator.com`.
- Click **Add profile**.
- Click the arrow on the left to go back to the simulator.

Now you have two different profile. Check the differences.

### Business punchline

You just gave the same email a brain. Five customers — five different offers, each one ranked against a formula that knows their age, their loan-to-value, their propensity to convert, and the region they live in. You did not write five emails. In production, this scales to every customer in the catalog without any additional authoring effort — every new offer you add becomes immediately available to the engine, and every customer's recap email re-ranks on each send.