docs(audiences): document OR filter group with AND exclusion pattern

[george-dilthey]

What changed

Added a second filter group example to docs/audiences.md showing the (A OR B OR C) AND D = false pattern — conditions in a filter group switched to OR, combined via a top-level AND filter to act as a global exclusion. Also corrected an existing claim that top-level filters are "always AND" (they default to AND but the connector is toggleable to OR).

Why

Intercom conversation #215475622490195 (Sierra / Candice Meier) was escalated to a human because Fin couldn't explain how to build a dynamic exclusion segment. The customer had a suppression audience of Partners but needed to carve out the ~70 Partners who are also Customers or Prospects (Visa, Mastercard, Stripe). Human support agent Bo Morin answered by explaining the AND group pattern: put the OR conditions (Competitor OR Partner OR related contact) in a filter group, and add the Customer/Prospect exclusion as a separate top-level filter set to AND.

The existing doc's filter group example only showed A AND B AND (C OR D) — it never showed the inverse case where the OR conditions are in the group and the exclusion is a top-level filter. That was the specific gap that caused the escalation.

Additionally, the existing line said "All top-level filters are joined with AND" — the verifier confirmed this is incorrect. The top-level connector is also user-toggleable to OR (default is AND, but not locked). This was corrected.

Source link(s)

• Intercom conversation: https://app.intercom.com/a/inbox/w28k1kwz/inbox/conversation/215475622490195
• Slack thread (customer's original channel): https://clay-hq.slack.com/archives/C0B27F21V96/p1787334944284789
• Human support reply (Bo, the answer that informed the doc addition): https://clay-hq.slack.com/archives/C0B27F21V96/p1787605741468899
• #dust-support corroboration (filter groups confirmed): https://clay-hq.slack.com/archives/C08AP3K53H9/p1786710757628519
• Code verification (verifier sub-agent):
  • apps/frontend/src/components/FilterBuilder/FilterBuilderGroupConditional.tsx:51-94 — AND/OR toggle confirmed for both group-level and top-level connectors
  • services/audiences/src/query/compilerv3/frontends/json/json-frontend.ts:145 — combinationMode (AND/OR) respected at compile time
  • Verifier verdict: PASS (all claims verified, liveness confirmed — no feature flags, available to all customers)

Uncertainties

None. Both edits are verified PASS by the verifier sub-agent against live product code.

Related observations

Many open PRs touch docs/audiences.md (#2179, #2184, #2192, #2195, #2202, #2203, #2204, #2210, #2215, #2224, #2225, #2231, #2232, #2245, #2251, #2261, #2272, #2280, #2288, #2291, #2295, #2303, #2305, #2321, #2323, #2345, #2348). None of them cover the filter group AND/OR exclusion pattern or the top-level connector correction documented here — all address other topics. Reviewers should reconcile these PRs at merge time.

Closes DOC-2104

[linear-code]

DOC-2104