These walkthroughs show how the ranking platform features work together to solve real problems. Each scenario can be completed entirely within the console — no engineering support required.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.neuronsearchlab.com/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Scenario 1: newsroom weather emergency
Goal: Pin a closures guide to slot 2 on the homepage during a live weather event.Create the rule
Open Console > Rules Engine, click New Rule, and create a
pin rule named Pin school closures guide to slot 2.- Condition field:
entity_id - Operator:
equals - Value:
itm_school_closures_live - Action: pin the item to position
2 - Scope: homepage context
- Status: active
Verify with Explainability
Open Console > Explainability, enter a reader ID and the item ID
itm_school_closures_live, then click Explain.Pass condition: Explainability shows the rule Pin school closures guide to slot 2 matched the item.2, the change failed.
Scenario 2: Streaming platform series launch
Goal: Promote a new series for two weeks, targeting users who haven’t watched it yet, while running an A/B test to measure the impact.Define the audience
Create two segments in Console > User Segments to separate users who have and have not engaged with the series.Segment: “Hasn’t watched Series X”
- Type:
item_interaction - Item ID: the series item ID, for example
itm_series_x_ep1 - Operator:
interactions < - Value:
1 - Name: “Hasn’t watched Series X”
- Condition 1: Type
item_interaction, Item IDseries_x_ep1, Operatorinteractions >, Value0 - Condition 2: Type
item_interaction, Item IDseries_x_ep10, Operatorinteractions <, Value1 - Logic: AND
- Name: “Started not finished Series X”
Create the rules
Create two scheduled rules in Console > Rules Engine.Rule: “Pin Series X for new viewers”
- Type:
pin - Priority:
80 - Condition:
segment_idequals “Hasn’t watched Series X” - Action: pin the series into the top 3 positions
- Schedule: campaign launch through two weeks later
- Type:
boost - Priority:
70 - Condition:
segment_idequals “Started not finished Series X” - Action: boost the series episodes with a high factor
- Schedule: same campaign window
Run an A/B test
Go to Console > A/B Testing, click New Experiment, and create “Series X launch campaign”.
- Description: “Hypothesis: pinning Series X for non-viewers increases completion rate.”
- Control (50%): no config overrides; standard recommendations
- Treatment (50%): config overrides with
include_rule_idsset to the two rule IDs above - Status: Running on launch day
Measure results
During the campaign, open the experiment’s Results tab and click Refresh metrics periodically. Compare CTR and conversion rate between Control and Treatment, then check lift percentage.After two weeks, set the experiment status to Completed. The rules auto-deactivate via their schedule.
Scenario 3: E-commerce flash sale weekend
Goal: Boost sale items for a weekend, show premium items to high-value customers, suppress out-of-stock products, and test whether manual merchandising rules outperform pure ML.Create the high-value customer segment
Go to Console > User Segments, click New Segment, and create “High-value customers”.
- Type:
computed - Field:
total_events - Operator:
greater_than - Value:
100
Create the sale rules
Create the merchandising rules in Console > Rules Engine.Rule: “Flash sale boost”
- Type:
boost - Priority:
60 - Condition:
categoryequalssale - Action: boost with a high factor
- Schedule: Friday 18:00 to Sunday 23:59
- Type:
boost - Priority:
80 - Conditions:
segment_idequals “High-value customers” andtierequalspremium - Action: boost premium items strongly
- Schedule: same weekend window
- Type:
filter - Priority:
100 - Condition:
stock_statusequalsout_of_stock - Action: exclude matching items
- Schedule: none; always active
Set up the pure ML experiment
Go to Console > Pipeline Config, create or note your default pipeline, and consider creating a second pipeline with the rules stage disabled for pure ML ranking.Then create an experiment in Console > A/B Testing:
- Control (50%): default pipeline
- Treatment (50%): pipeline with rules stage disabled
- Status: Running on Friday
Monitor the sale
Open Console > Analytics and watch served volume. Filter by user ID to spot-check that VIP users see premium items, and refresh experiment metrics throughout the weekend.After the sale, complete the experiment and compare conversion rates. The sale rules auto-deactivate after Sunday, so no cleanup is needed.
Scenario 4: Content freshness and diversity
Goal: Ensure recommendations always include recent content and don’t over-represent a single category.Create freshness and diversity rules
Create both rules in Console > Rules Engine.Rule: “Boost new content”
- Type:
boost - Priority:
50 - Condition:
published_days_agois less than7 - Action: boost by a moderate factor
- Schedule: none; always active
- Type:
diversify - Priority:
40 - Conditions: none; applies to all results
- Action: limit to maximum 3 items per
categoryvalue - Schedule: none; always active
Scenario 5: Gradual feature rollout
Goal: Roll out a new set of ranking rules to 10% of users first, then expand.Deploy rules as inactive
Create your new rules but leave them inactive with the toggle off. Note their rule IDs.
Create a staged experiment
Go to Console > A/B Testing and create an experiment:
- Control (90%): no config overrides
- Treatment (10%): config overrides with
include_rule_idsset to the new rule IDs - Status: Running
Combining features
These scenarios demonstrate a pattern: segments define who, rules define what, scheduling defines when, pipelines define how, and experiments measure whether it works.| Feature | Role |
|---|---|
| User Segments | Target specific user cohorts |
| Rules Engine | Override rankings with business logic |
| Rule scheduling | Time-bound campaigns |
| Pipeline Config | Control which processing stages run |
| A/B Testing | Measure impact with traffic splits |
| Explainability | Debug and verify before launch |
| Analytics | Monitor outcomes in production |

