---
title: "Create a filter group"
description: "Save an audience as a group: lifecycle stages plus the groups to include and exclude. Pyn keeps its members current."
sidebar:
  order: 2
area: directory
feature: employee-groups
appPath: /directory/home
lastVerified: 2026-10-23
version: "2026-10-16"
audience: admin
screenshots:
  - id: directory-employee-groups-filter-add
    caption: Add Filter Group takes a name, the lifecycle stages and the groups to include and exclude.
related:
  - directory/employee-groups/how-audiences-match
  - directory/employee-groups/reference-group-types
  - flows/automations
intercom:
  - id: "12651638"
    title: Understand Groups in Pyn (Pyn 2)
    url: https://intercom.help/pyn/en/articles/12651638-understand-groups-in-pyn-pyn-2
    note: draws on
---

You keep building the same audience in every flow: current employees in Engineering who are not in the leadership team. A filter group saves that definition once, and every flow can include it.

## Before you start

- You are a workspace admin.
- The groups you want to combine are demographic groups, such as departments, countries and locations. A filter group takes no static, relationship, lifecycle or other filter groups; include those in an automation's audience directly.

![Add Filter Group takes a name, the lifecycle stages and the groups to include and exclude.](https://support.pynhq.com/media/directory/employee-groups/directory-employee-groups-filter-add.png)

## Steps

1. In Pyn, open **Directory** in the left navigation, then select **All Groups** under **Employee Groups**.

2. Select **Create**, then **Filter** in the **Create Employee Group** dialog. The **Add Filter Group** page opens.

3. Type a **Group Name**, for example "US Engineering".

4. Under **Lifecycle**, choose the stages to allow. **Current** is chosen for you; open the selector to add a stage such as **Joiner**, or remove one with its **x**. Nothing chosen matches nobody.

5. Under **Included**, search for and add the groups a member must be in; under **Excluded**, the groups that remove them. Groups with the same parent, such as two countries, mean "in any of these"; groups with different parents must all match. Someone in an excluded group is left out whatever else they match.

6. Select **Preview**. The **Confirm Filter Group** page lists the matching employees; read it, then select **Confirm**.

7. On **Your filter group has been created.** select **Done**. The group's panel opens.

> **Note:** Including **Department: Engineering**, **Country: Australia** and **Country: USA** means `Engineering AND (Australia OR USA)`: the two countries share a parent, so either matches, and Department is a separate requirement. The lifecycle stages are a requirement on top. See [How audiences match](https://support.pynhq.com/directory/employee-groups/how-audiences-match/).

## What you should see

The panel reads **This filter group is still being evaluated for your employees** until Pyn has checked everyone, which can take several minutes in a large workspace, then **Details** shows **Last Evaluated** and **Group Employees:**. **Configure** shows the audience read-only. The group is listed under **Filter** and **All Groups** and can be chosen in any automation's audience. If something goes wrong the page reads **There was an error creating the filter group**; select **Back**, check the audience and confirm again.

## Related

- [How audiences match](https://support.pynhq.com/directory/employee-groups/how-audiences-match/) for how included, excluded and lifecycle conditions combine.
- [Group types](https://support.pynhq.com/directory/employee-groups/reference-group-types/) for how a filter group is re-evaluated.
- [Automations](https://support.pynhq.com/flows/automations/) for using the group.

## Related Intercom articles

- [Understand Groups in Pyn (Pyn 2)](https://intercom.help/pyn/en/articles/12651638-understand-groups-in-pyn-pyn-2) — draws on