Build workflows
Triggers
Every way a workflow can start: manual, webhook, schedule, form, chat, email, WhatsApp and more.
A workflow starts from one or more triggers. Triggers marked active only start the workflow only while it is active; you can still test them in the editor.
| Trigger | Starts the workflow when… | Active only |
|---|---|---|
| Manual Trigger | you click Execute workflow | no |
| Webhook | an HTTP request arrives at its URL | yes (test URL works in the editor) |
| Schedule | a time or interval comes round | yes |
| Form Trigger | someone submits your hosted form | yes (test form works in the editor) |
| Chat Trigger | a message arrives from the chat panel, or from your public chat page | public chat: yes |
| WhatsApp Trigger | your WhatsApp Business number receives a message | yes |
| Gmail Trigger | a new email matching your search arrives | yes |
| Google Drive Trigger | a file is created or changed | yes |
| HTTP Poll Trigger | a JSON API returns new items | yes |
| Error Trigger | another workflow that names this one as its error workflow fails | no |
| Sub-workflow Trigger | another workflow calls this one | no |
Test events
Webhook, Form and WhatsApp triggers have a test mode. Click Listen for test event (or Open test form), send one request, and the editor runs the workflow with it, so you can build with real data.
Schedules
The Schedule trigger runs every N minutes, on a cron expression (for example 0 9 * * 1-5 for 09:00 on weekdays) or once at a date and time. It uses the workflow's time zone unless you set one on the node.
Several triggers
A workflow can have more than one trigger, for example a Webhook for production and a Manual Trigger for testing. Each execution starts from one of them.
See Webhooks and forms, Chat and WhatsApp for details.