Automation Triggers

Automation triggers in Files.com define when an automation runs. After selecting an automation type like Copy Files, Move Files, Import Files, or Run Sync, you choose a trigger that determines how the automation starts.

Triggers let organizations automate managed file transfer workflows on a schedule, respond to real time file activity, support manual operations, and integrate with external systems. Files.com supports both scheduled and event based triggers to cover a wide range of operational needs.

Scheduled Triggers

Scheduled triggers run automations at specific times without requiring user action or file system events. Organizations rely on scheduled triggers to automate recurring file movement, system integrations, archival processes, and retention based cleanup. Scheduled triggers provide precise control over execution timing, including time of day, time zones, and holiday calendars.

Interval-Based Triggers

Interval triggers run automations on a recurring cadence that includes daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly schedules. By default, interval based automations run at midnight UTC and work well for routine tasks.

Interval based automations support configurable execution times and time zones. You can override the default schedule and run an automation at a specific time of day. For example, you can configure a Move Files automation to run on the second day of every month at 6:30 PM PST.

The available scheduling options depend on the selected interval. Daily schedules support one or multiple runs per day. Weekly schedules allow you to select days of the week and specific run times. Monthly schedules allow execution on a specific day of the month or at the end of the month, with full control over timing. Quarterly and yearly schedules follow the same scheduling behavior.

Interval schedules support both individual times and time ranges. When you define a time range, the automation runs once per hour during the selected window. This capability helps organizations schedule recurring automations during off peak hours and control execution windows for connected systems.

Custom Scheduled Triggers

Custom scheduled triggers provide precise control over execution patterns that fall outside standard interval definitions. You can select specific days of the week, configure exact times of day, and schedule multiple runs within the same day. Custom schedules run based on the selected time zone.

Custom schedules support workflows that align with business hours or operational shifts. For example, an Import Files automation can run every weekday at 06:00 UTC and again at 15:00 UTC, or a sync task can run after each production shift completes.

Custom schedules also support time ranges. Instead of defining multiple individual start times, you can define a continuous execution window. For example, instead of specifying individual start times at 01:00, 02:00, 03:00, 04:00, and 05:00 UTC, you can define a single time range of 01:00 through 05:00 UTC. The automation then runs once per hour during that window.

Running automations within defined time ranges helps protect connected systems during peak usage periods. When a workflow interacts with a remote server that experiences heavy traffic during business hours, scheduling execution during lower usage windows reduces contention and avoids impacting active users.

Time Zones and Holidays

All scheduled automations run based on the selected time zone so execution aligns with local operational expectations.

You can select a Holiday region to prevent automations from running on observed holidays. When enabled, the automation skips scheduled runs that fall on holidays for the selected region, helping avoid unintended file processing or delivery when teams are unavailable.

File Action-Based Triggers

File action based triggers start automations when specific file events occur inside Files.com folders. These events include file uploads, renames, modifications, and deletions. File action based triggers support real time workflows like moving newly uploaded files into processing folders, renaming files on arrival, and copying new files to secondary locations.

When using a file action based trigger, the automation runs only on the file involved in the triggering event. For example, if the trigger is set to run when a file is created, the automation will process only that newly created file and will not act on other files already in the folder.

This type of trigger is especially effective for workflows that involve file uploads via Share Links, Inboxes, or APIs. As soon as the file appears in a monitored folder, the automation executes without delay. It is important to note that file action triggers only apply to Files.com folders. Activity in remote-mounted directories is not monitored by these triggers unless files are first synced into Files.com.

File Action-Based Triggers and Child Sites

Automations within a parent site can interact with folders in child sites, but the automation and all its run logs exist only within the parent site. This isolation of automations within their sites affects how file action-based triggers can be used.

Only actions recorded within the automation's site can trigger an automation. This means that parent site automations triggered by file activity within a child site's folder are only triggered when the activity occurs through the parent site. That parent site automation cannot be triggered by file activity carried out directly in the child site.

Automations in child sites have no way to interact with parent sites or any other child sites. This means that a child site automation with a file action trigger is not started when file activity occurs within a parent site process or session, even if that file activity is changing the contents of the child site.

Inbound Webhook Triggers

Webhook triggers allow external systems to activate automations by sending an HTTP request to a unique URL generated by Files.com. Both GET and POST methods are supported, and the contents of the request body are ignored. This makes the trigger easy to integrate with CRMs, ERPs, SaaS platforms, and automation tools that can send outbound webhooks.

For example, a webhook can be used to trigger a file import as soon as a third-party application completes an export process. Since webhook URLs can be used to trigger automated activity on your site, treat them as confidential and secure them accordingly.

Manual Execution with Run Now

Manual execution allows you to run automations on demand. Automations configured with the Ad Hoc (Run Manually) trigger run only when you select Run Now and never run automatically.

Run Now from the Automation Details starts an enabled automation immediately. You can use it to test and validate an automation after configuration or to execute on demand workflows like one time imports or file cleanup without waiting for a schedule or event. Run Now is available only for enabled automations.

Run Now works with automations that use non file action based triggers. It is not available for File Action Based Triggers because those automations run only in response to real time file events.

Triggering Automations on Remote Servers

Files.com does not poll Remote Servers used in our Remote Server Mount feature for the purpose of firing Realtime and File Action-based triggers. Consider using our Sync capability for realtime interoperability between Automations and Remote Servers.

To address this, use a Run Sync automation to pull files from the remote server into Files.com on a defined schedule. Once files arrive in a Files.com folder, you can trigger additional automations like Move Files or Copy Files using any trigger type. For example, a partner may upload invoices to a remote SFTP location. Files.com syncs those files every ten minutes using Sync or at a defined schedule using Run Sync automation, and once received locally, a Move Files automation can route them to the appropriate processing folder.

Controlling Run Order with Serialize Jobs

Automations triggered by file actions or webhooks are designed to run as soon as the event occurs. By default, multiple automation runs triggered close together may run at the same time. This parallel execution improves performance but may cause issues when working with remote mounts or shared destinations.

To avoid conflicts, you can enable the Always Serialize Jobs setting, which is available only for automations that are not triggered by a schedule. You will see this option when configuring file-triggered or webhook-triggered Copy Files, Move Files, Delete Files, Import Files, and Run Sync automations where a destination is involved. This setting ensures that automation runs execute one at a time in the order they are triggered. It helps prevent race conditions, overlapping writes, and inconsistent file states, especially when automations interact with remote storage locations that do not support simultaneous access.