# Conditionally required
You can streamline how agents populate case fields, and reduce data entry errors, by conditionally requiring specific fields.
To make a field conditionally required, you first set up a field condition. Then, on a case template, choose which field the case field condition should apply to.
For example, you may want to enforce that **Agent Handle Reason** is required if a case is updated after it was created. To achieve this you would:
1. Create a case field condition based on whether the [Date/Time Opened](case-fields.md) field is not blank.
1. Apply the case field condition to the **Agent Handle Reason** field on the case template.
The following image shows an example **Edit case** page where this requirement is being enforced.
This feature provides a lot of flexibility. Following are few other examples you can set up:
+ If Status = Closed, then the Close Reason field must be populated.
+ If Case Reason = Refund, then the Amount field is required.
+ If Country = USA, the State field is required.
You can apply case field conditions to multiple fields on a template.
**Topics**
+ [Step 1: Create case field conditions](#step1-create-case-field-condition)
+ [Step 2: Add the case field conditions to a template](#step2-add-casefieldcondition-template)
+ [Example field case conditions](#example-case-conditions)
+ [APIs to create field case conditions](#case-conditions-apis)
## Step 1: Create case field conditions
1. Log in to the Connect Customer admin website with an **Admin** account, or an account assigned to a security profile that has the following permission in it's security profile: **Cases** - **Case Templates** - **Create**.
1. On the left navigation menu, choose **Agent applications**, **Case field conditions**.
1. Choose **New Field Condition**.
1. On the **Create new field condition** page, use the **Source field** dropdown list to choose the field you want to validate, as shown in the following image:
1. Choose the operator and the value to check.
For example, the following image shows when the **State** field equals **New York**, a case field will be required.
The condition is configured as follows:
+ **Source** = **State**
+ **Operator** = **equals**
+ **Value** = **New York**
+ **Required** is selected. A case field that you specify in [Step 2](#step2-add-casefieldcondition-template) will be required when this condition is met.
1. You can add up to 5 field conditions and choose whether they are fulfilled by AND or OR conditions, by choosing the Add Condition button.
1. For **Fallback condition**, if the condition is not met, choose this field to set the default experience.
For example, if you leave **Fallback condition** unselected, when **Country** does not equal **USA**, then the field this condition is applied to won't be required. So, if you apply the condition to **State**, but the **Country = France**, the **State** field won't be required.
1. Choose **Save**, and then proceed to the next step to add the condition to your template.
## Step 2: Add case field conditions to a template
In this step, you specify which case fields the condition will apply to.
1. Log in to the Connect Customer admin website with an **Admin** account, or an account assigned to a security profile that has the following permission in it's security profile: **Cases** - **Case Templates** - **Create** or **Edit**.
1. On the left navigation menu, choose **Agent applications**, **Case templates**.
1. Choose the case template you want to apply the condition to.
You may want the condition to apply to one template but not others. For example, you may want a **Close reason** condition to apply to escalations, but not to general inquires.
1. In the **Fields** section, choose the settings icon next to the field you want to apply the condition to. The following image shows the settings icon for the **State** field.
1. In the **Modify field conditions for** [{{field}}] use the dropdown box to choose the condition you want to apply to the field.
In the following image, the **USA requirements** condition is going to be applied to the **State** field.
1. Choose **Apply**, and then choose **Save** to save the change to the template.
The status page indicates which conditions have been applied to a field. The following image shows the **USA requirements** condition is applied to the **State** field.
## Example case field conditions
### Example 1: Require agents to enter a reason for closing a case
1. Create the following condition:
+ If **Status** is **Closed**, then a case field will be required. If **Status** is not **Closed**, then a case field will be optional.
The following image shows how to set up this condition.
1. Assign this condition to the **Closed Reason** field on the cases template.
1. Result: When agents save a case and the **Closed Reason** field is blank, they will be prompted to enter a value.
### Example 2: Require agents to provide a reason every time they update a case
1. Create the following condition:
If the **Date/Time Created** field does not equal blank, then a case field will be required. If the **Date/Time Created** field is empty, then that case field is optional. The following image shows how to set up this condition.
1. Assign this condition to the **Agent Handle Reason** field on the cases template.
1. Result: When agents save a case and the **Agent Handle Reason** is blank, they will be prompted to enter a value.
### Example 3: Require agents to provide a reason when they assign a case to the Escalation queue
1. Create the following condition:
If the **Assigned Queue** field equals the **Escalation queue** Amazon Resource Name (ARN), then a case field will be required. If the **Assigned Queue** field does not equal the **Escalation queue** ARN, then that case field is optional.
**Tip**
You can copy the ARN of a queue from the **Queues** page.
The following image shows how to set up this condition.
1. Assign this condition to the **Escalation reason** field on the cases template.
1. Result: When agents assign a case to the **Escalation queue**, and the **Escalation reason** field is blank, they will be prompted to enter a value.
## APIs to create case field conditions
Use the following APIs to programmatically create case field conditions and associate them to a template:
+ [CreateCaseRule](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/connect/latest/APIReference/API_connect-cases_CreateCaseRule.html): Creates the case field condition.
+ [CreateTemplate](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/connect/latest/APIReference/API_connect-cases_CreateTemplate.html) or [UpdateTemplate](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/connect/latest/APIReference/API_connect-cases_UpdateTemplate.html): Associate the case field condition with the case template.