Triggers (v2)
The trigger in Automations v2 is the first node in every Automation and the only node with nothing before it. It determines when a run starts and which files or data the run starts with, and the first node after it processes those items.
Choose the trigger by what starts the run: a schedule, a person or an API call, activity in a folder, an external system sending JSON, or an email. For v1, see triggers in Automations v1.
| Trigger | When a run starts | What the run starts with |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled | At the times you configure | Matching files or folders, or one empty data item when no folder path is set |
| Manual | When a person or an API call starts it | Matching files or folders, the files or data supplied in the API call, or one empty data item |
| File Action | When a selected file action occurs in the folder you choose | Existing regular files in file mode, or action data in event mode |
| Folder Creation | When a matching new folder is created | One data item per recorded folder creation, without reading the folder's contents |
| Webhook | When an external system calls the Automation's webhook URL | One data item per JSON object, or files or folders selected by its path and pattern |
| Incoming Email | When an email arrives at the Automation's address | One file item for each attachment, and one for the message body when Save Body is on |
Selecting Files With the Trigger
Scheduled, Manual, and path-selecting Webhook triggers take a Folder Path and incoming pattern to select files or matched folders. File Action and Folder Creation use their paths and static patterns to match events.
File Action supplies files or event data; Folder Creation supplies data about each matching new folder. Incoming Email applies static name patterns and a limit to its attachments, because its files are received by email rather than read from a folder.
An Automation with a Scheduled trigger can also be started manually, and the run selects files with the same folder path and pattern as a scheduled run. An Automation with a File Action or Folder Creation trigger cannot be started manually.