What a rule is made of
Every rule answers five questions:
| Part | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Applies to | One extension — or a whole profile of extensions (Premium). |
| URL patterns | Which sites trigger the rule. One pattern is free; combining several in one rule is Premium. The rule fires if any pattern matches. |
| Action | Enable or disable on matching sites. |
| When you leave | Revert (back to its previous state) or Keep as is. |
| Auto-refresh | Optionally reload the page after the rule fires, so the extension takes effect immediately. |
Create rules from an extension's ⋮ menu → Manage Rules, or see everything at once in menu → Manage Rules (the all-rules panel).
URL patterns
Domain match (recommended)
Matches the site and all of its subdomains. You don't need https:// or www. — Extensio normalizes patterns for you.
| Pattern | Matches | Doesn't match |
|---|---|---|
example.com | example.com, www.example.com, shop.example.com | example.org, notexample.com |
mail.google.com | mail.google.com | google.com, drive.google.com |
Path match (with wildcards)
Matches domain + path, where * stands for anything. Use it when only part of a site should trigger the rule.
| Pattern | Matches | Doesn't match |
|---|---|---|
example.com/blog/* | example.com/blog/, example.com/blog/post-1 | example.com/about |
github.com/*/issues* | github.com/facebook/react/issues, github.com/org/repo/issues/42 | github.com/org/repo/pulls |
*.example.com/admin* | app.example.com/admin, cms.example.com/admin/pages | example.com/admin (no subdomain) |
The * wildcard matches anything, including /. Patterns match the whole domain-plus-path, so add a trailing * when deeper pages should match too.
Revert vs. Keep as is
Revert (the default) makes a rule a temporary, per-site override: when you navigate away, the extension returns to whatever state it had before — your manual choice, or the active profile's setting. This is what you want 90% of the time.
Keep as is makes the rule a one-way switch: it acts when the site matches and then leaves the extension alone. Use it for "turn this on when I reach my dev site, and don't touch it afterwards" workflows.
Profile targets 👑
Instead of one extension, a rule can target a profile — it then applies to every extension that belongs to that profile. One rule like "disable my whole Shopping profile on banking.com" replaces a dozen individual rules.
Auto-refresh
Many extensions (ad blockers, dark-mode tools, userscript managers) only affect pages loaded after they were enabled. Turn on Auto-refresh page and Extensio reloads the tab once after the rule changes the extension's state — so it just works. Built-in loop protection ensures the page is never refreshed repeatedly.
How rules interact with profiles and pins
- Pinned extensions always win. A pinned ("always on") extension is never touched by any rule.
- Rules override the active profile per site. On a matching site the rule's action applies; when you leave (with Revert mode), the extension returns to the profile's state.
- Rules follow your focus. Extensio evaluates the tab you're actually viewing — a matching site left open in a background tab won't flip your extensions.
Free vs. Premium
| Capability | Free | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Rules per extension | Up to 5 | Unlimited |
| Patterns per rule | 1 | Unlimited |
| Profile targets | — | ✓ |
| Revert / Keep-as-is modes | ✓ | ✓ |
| Auto-refresh | ✓ | ✓ |
Rules beyond a free limit aren't deleted — they show a lock badge and simply stay inactive until you upgrade (or free a slot). See Premium & Billing.