Triggers - Action Model

Automation That Never Sleeps

Triggers transform your agents from on-demand workers into proactive digital employees that spring into action the moment something happens. No more manual starts, no more missed opportunities—just intelligent automation responding to your world in real-time.

The Autonomy Revolution: While others require you to manually start every automation, Action Model agents wake up and work based on ANY trigger—emails, messages, API calls, file changes, or custom events—creating truly autonomous operations.

Core Trigger Types

Time-Based

Schedule workflows at specific times or intervals

Event-Based

React to system events, file changes, or application actions

Communication

Respond to emails, messages, or notifications

Web Hooks

Listen for API calls and external system events

Data Changes

Monitor databases, spreadsheets, or APIs for updates

AI Detection

Intelligent triggers based on content analysis

Time-Based Triggers

Schedule Your Digital Workforce

Simple Scheduling
Advanced Scheduling

Basic Time Triggers:

Daily Triggers

Run workflows at specific times each day:

Morning Reports: 9 AM daily summary
Lunch Break Tasks: 12 PM automation
End of Day: 5 PM cleanup and backup
Overnight Processing: 2 AM heavy tasks

Configuration:

trigger:
  type: daily
  time: "09:00"
  timezone: "America/New_York"
  skip_weekends: true
  skip_holidays: true

Weekly Triggers

Execute on specific days and times:

Monday Morning: Week planning workflows
Wednesday Check-ins: Mid-week reports
Friday Summaries: Weekly wrap-ups
Weekend Maintenance: Saturday cleanups

Configuration:

trigger:
  type: weekly
  days: ["Monday", "Wednesday", "Friday"]
  time: "10:00"
  timezone: "UTC"

Monthly Triggers

Run on specific dates each month:

Month Start: First day processing
Mid-Month: 15th day reviews
Month End: Last day reports
Quarterly: Every 3 months

Configuration:

trigger:
  type: monthly
  day: 1  # or "last", "15", etc.
  time: "08:00"
  months: ["January", "April", "July", "October"]

Complex Time Patterns:

Cron Expressions

Use cron syntax for precise control:

# Every 15 minutes during business hours
trigger:
  type: cron
  expression: "*/15 9-17 * * MON-FRI"

# First Monday of every month at 10 AM
trigger:
  type: cron
  expression: "0 10 1-7 * MON"

# Every hour between 8 AM and 8 PM
trigger:
  type: cron
  expression: "0 8-20 * * *"

Common Patterns:

*/5 * * * * - Every 5 minutes
0 */2 * * * - Every 2 hours
0 9-17 * * 1-5 - Every hour, 9-5, weekdays
0 0 * * 0 - Weekly on Sunday midnight

Interval Triggers

Run repeatedly with specific gaps:

trigger:
  type: interval
  every: 30  # minutes
  between:
    start: "08:00"
    end: "18:00"
  conditions:
    - business_hours_only: true
    - max_runs_per_day: 20

Use Cases:

Check for new data every 10 minutes
Sync systems every hour
Monitor prices every 30 minutes
Process queue every 5 minutes

Smart Scheduling

AI-optimized timing based on patterns:Adaptive Scheduling:

Learn optimal execution times
Avoid system peak loads
Respect rate limits automatically
Adjust for time zones dynamically

Example:

trigger:
  type: smart
  goal: "maximize_success_rate"
  constraints:
    - avoid_peak_hours: true
    - respect_api_limits: true
    - optimize_for_speed: true

Communication Triggers

React to Messages Instantly

Email Triggers
Messaging Triggers

Monitor Inboxes and React:

Configure Email Monitoring

Set up email account access:

trigger:
  type: email
  provider: "gmail"  # or outlook, yahoo, imap
  account: "support@company.com"
  folder: "INBOX"

Define Trigger Conditions

Specify what emails trigger workflows:

conditions:
  - subject_contains: ["urgent", "invoice", "order"]
  - from_domain: "@client.com"
  - has_attachment: true
  - is_unread: true

Extract Email Data

Pass email content to workflow:

variables:
  - email_subject: "${trigger.subject}"
  - email_body: "${trigger.body}"
  - sender: "${trigger.from}"
  - attachments: "${trigger.attachments}"

Process and Respond

Workflow automatically processes the email and takes action

Common Email Triggers:

Invoice processing from specific vendors
Customer support ticket creation
Order confirmation handling
Newsletter subscription management
Out-of-office auto-responses

Instant Message Monitoring:

Slack Triggers

trigger:
  type: slack
  events:
    - message_posted
    - mention
    - file_shared
    - reaction_added
  channels: ["#sales", "#support"]
  keywords: ["help", "urgent", "@bot"]

Use Cases:

Respond to mentions
Process commands
Archive important messages
Generate summaries

Teams Triggers

trigger:
  type: teams
  events:
    - new_message
    - meeting_scheduled
    - file_uploaded
  teams: ["Marketing", "Sales"]
  respond_to: ["questions", "requests"]

Use Cases:

Meeting note automation
Task creation from messages
File organization
Status updates

WhatsApp Business

trigger:
  type: whatsapp
  events:
    - message_received
    - media_received
    - status_update
  from_contacts: true
  business_hours_only: false

Use Cases:

Customer inquiries
Order updates
Appointment reminders
Support tickets

SMS Triggers

trigger:
  type: sms
  provider: "twilio"
  events:
    - incoming_message
  keywords: ["STOP", "HELP", "ORDER"]
  auto_response: true

Use Cases:

Verification codes
Alerts processing
Quick responses
Order tracking

Webhook Triggers

API-Driven Automation

Universal Integration: Webhooks allow ANY system to trigger your workflows, making Action Model the universal automation hub for your entire tech stack.

Incoming Webhooks
Platform Webhooks

Receive Data from Any System:

Generate Webhook URL

Create unique endpoint for your workflow:

https://api.actionmodel.com/webhooks/wf_abc123xyz

Configure Authentication

Secure your webhook:

webhook:
  auth_type: "bearer_token"  # or basic_auth, api_key
  token: "${WEBHOOK_SECRET}"
  validate_signature: true
  allowed_ips: ["192.168.1.0/24"]

Parse Incoming Data

Extract and validate payload:

data_mapping:
  customer_id: "$.payload.customer.id"
  order_amount: "$.payload.order.total"
  items: "$.payload.order.items[*]"
  timestamp: "$.headers.x-timestamp"

Trigger Workflow

Process the data and execute automation

Common Webhook Sources:

E-commerce platforms (Shopify, WooCommerce)
Payment processors (Stripe, PayPal)
CRM systems (Salesforce, HubSpot)
Form builders (Typeform, Google Forms)
GitHub/GitLab/Bitbucket
Monitoring tools (Datadog, New Relic)

Pre-configured Platform Triggers:

Stripe Events

trigger:
  type: stripe_webhook
  events:
    - payment_intent.succeeded
    - customer.subscription.created
    - invoice.payment_failed
    - charge.dispute.created
  
actions:
  - update_crm
  - send_receipt
  - create_invoice
  - alert_team

GitHub Events

trigger:
  type: github_webhook
  repository: "company/project"
  events:
    - push
    - pull_request
    - issue_created
    - release_published
    
branch_filter: ["main", "develop"]

Shopify Events

trigger:
  type: shopify_webhook
  events:
    - orders/create
    - orders/fulfilled
    - customers/create
    - products/update
    
filters:
  - total_price: ">100"
  - fulfillment_status: "fulfilled"

Custom APIs

trigger:
  type: custom_webhook
  endpoint: "/api/trigger/custom"
  method: ["POST", "PUT"]
  headers:
    content_type: "application/json"
    x_api_key: "${API_KEY}"
    
validation:
  schema: "json_schema_v4"
  required_fields: ["id", "action", "data"]

File & Folder Triggers

Monitor Your File System

Local File Monitoring

Watch for File System Changes:

trigger:
  type: file_system
  paths:
    - "/Users/Downloads/*.pdf"
    - "/Documents/Invoices/"
    - "C:/Data/Input/*.csv"
    
events:
    - file_created
    - file_modified
    - file_deleted
    - folder_created
    
filters:
    - extension: [".pdf", ".xlsx", ".docx"]
    - size: "<10MB"
    - modified: "last_5_minutes"

Use Cases:

Process new downloads automatically
Backup modified files
Convert file formats
Organize incoming documents
Extract data from new reports

Cloud Storage Triggers

Monitor Cloud Drives:

Google Drive

trigger:
  type: google_drive
  folder: "/Shared/Invoices"
  events: ["file_uploaded"]
  share_notification: true

Dropbox

trigger:
  type: dropbox
  path: "/Team/Reports"
  events: ["file_added", "file_modified"]
  recursive: true

OneDrive

trigger:
  type: onedrive
  folder: "/Documents/Contracts"
  events: ["new_file"]
  file_types: [".pdf", ".docx"]

FTP/SFTP Monitoring

Watch Remote Servers:

trigger:
  type: ftp
  server: "ftp.company.com"
  path: "/incoming/"
  poll_interval: 5  # minutes
  events:
    - new_file
    - file_complete  # Wait for upload to finish
    
process:
  - download_file
  - process_locally
  - move_to_processed
  - delete_original

AI-Powered Triggers

Intelligent Event Detection

Content Analysis
Predictive Triggers

Trigger Based on Content Understanding:

Sentiment Triggers

trigger:
  type: sentiment_analysis
  source: "twitter_mentions"
  conditions:
    - sentiment: "negative"
    - confidence: ">0.8"
    - urgency: "high"
    
actions:
  - alert_support_team
  - create_priority_ticket
  - draft_response

Applications:

Crisis management
Customer satisfaction monitoring
Brand reputation tracking
Review response automation

Pattern Recognition

trigger:
  type: pattern_detection
  monitor: "sales_data"
  patterns:
    - anomaly_detection: true
    - trend_reversal: true
    - threshold_breach: ">$10000"
    
alert_when:
  - unusual_spike
  - sudden_drop
  - pattern_break

Applications:

Fraud detection
Performance monitoring
Predictive maintenance
Market analysis

Visual Triggers

trigger:
  type: image_recognition
  source: "security_camera"
  detect:
    - object: "package"
    - person: "at_door"
    - text: "delivery"
    - motion: true
    
confidence_threshold: 0.85

Applications:

Security monitoring
Inventory tracking
Quality control
Document processing

Anticipate Events Before They Happen:

Proactive Automation: Don’t just react—predict and prevent. AI triggers can forecast events and launch workflows preemptively.

Forecast Triggers

trigger:
  type: predictive
  model: "sales_forecast"
  conditions:
    - predicted_value: "<threshold"
    - confidence: ">0.75"
    - time_horizon: "next_7_days"
    
preventive_actions:
  - increase_marketing_spend
  - alert_sales_team
  - adjust_inventory

Risk Triggers

trigger:
  type: risk_assessment
  monitor: ["customer_behavior", "payment_history"]
  risk_factors:
    - churn_probability: ">0.7"
    - payment_default_risk: "high"
    - usage_decline: ">30%"
    
mitigation:
  - send_retention_offer
  - schedule_check_in_call
  - adjust_credit_limit

Capacity Triggers

trigger:
  type: capacity_planning
  metrics: ["cpu_usage", "queue_length", "response_time"]
  predictions:
    - overload_in: "30_minutes"
    - capacity_breach: "imminent"
    
actions:
  - scale_resources
  - redistribute_load
  - alert_ops_team

Custom Triggers

Build Your Own Trigger Logic

JavaScript Triggers
Composite Triggers
Chain Triggers

// Custom trigger that monitors multiple conditions
class CustomTrigger {
  constructor(config) {
    this.config = config;
    this.lastCheck = null;
  }
  
  async shouldTrigger() {
    // Check multiple data sources
    const metrics = await this.fetchMetrics();
    const alerts = await this.checkAlerts();
    const time = new Date();
    
    // Complex trigger logic
    if (metrics.sales < this.config.threshold && 
        alerts.priority === 'high' &&
        time.getHours() >= 9 && time.getHours() <= 17) {
      
      return {
        trigger: true,
        data: {
          sales: metrics.sales,
          alert: alerts.message,
          timestamp: time.toISOString()
        }
      };
    }
    
    return { trigger: false };
  }
  
  async fetchMetrics() {
    // Fetch from your data source
    return await api.get('/metrics/sales');
  }
  
  async checkAlerts() {
    // Check alert system
    return await api.get('/alerts/latest');
  }
}

Combine Multiple Trigger Conditions:

trigger:
  type: composite
  require: "all"  # or "any", "custom"
  
  conditions:
    - time:
        after: "09:00"
        before: "17:00"
        weekdays_only: true
        
    - email:
        from: "@important-client.com"
        subject_contains: "urgent"
        
    - file:
        exists: "/data/ready.flag"
        
    - api:
        endpoint: "https://api.service.com/status"
        response_contains: "ready"
        
  logic: |
    (time AND email) OR 
    (file AND api) OR
    (email.priority == "high")

Sequential Trigger Patterns:

trigger_chain:
  name: "Order Processing Chain"
  
  step_1:
    trigger: email
    condition: "subject contains 'new order'"
    output: order_id
    
  step_2:
    trigger: webhook
    condition: "payment.confirmed for {order_id}"
    wait_timeout: 3600  # 1 hour
    
  step_3:
    trigger: file
    condition: "invoice_{order_id}.pdf created"
    
  on_complete:
    action: "process_complete_order"
    
  on_timeout:
    action: "escalate_to_human"

Trigger Management

Monitor and Control Your Triggers

Trigger Dashboard

Real-time Trigger Monitoring:

Metric	Description	Current
Active Triggers	Currently monitoring	47
Fired Today	Triggers activated	1,234
Success Rate	Successful workflow starts	98.5%
Avg Response Time	Trigger to action	230ms
Failed Triggers	Errors in last 24h	12

Features:

Live trigger status
Execution history
Performance metrics
Error logs
Testing interface

Trigger Conditions

Advanced Filtering and Rules:

global_conditions:
  business_hours:
    timezone: "America/New_York"
    days: ["Mon", "Tue", "Wed", "Thu", "Fri"]
    hours: "09:00-17:00"
    
  rate_limiting:
    max_per_minute: 10
    max_per_hour: 100
    max_per_day: 1000
    
  error_handling:
    max_retries: 3
    retry_delay: 60  # seconds
    exponential_backoff: true
    
  deduplication:
    enabled: true
    window: 300  # seconds
    key: "${trigger.id}"

Trigger Testing

Test Before Deploying:

Simulation Mode

Test triggers without executing workflows

Sample Data

Use test data to verify trigger logic

Debug Output

See exactly what data triggers pass to workflows

Performance Testing

Ensure triggers can handle expected load

Advanced Trigger Features

Priority Queuing

Smart Execution Order:

High-priority triggers jump the queue
Critical alerts processed first
Business logic for prioritization
Fair scheduling for normal triggers

Trigger Groups

Organize Related Triggers:

Group by department or function
Bulk enable/disable
Shared configuration
Cascading triggers

Conditional Triggers

Dynamic Trigger Logic:

If-then-else conditions
Multiple condition paths
Variable-based triggers
Context-aware activation

Trigger Templates

Reusable Trigger Patterns:

Save common trigger configs
Share across workflows
Version control
Team collaboration

Trigger Analytics

Understand Your Automation Patterns

Usage Metrics
Optimization

Trigger Performance Data:

Trigger Type	Fires/Day	Success Rate	Avg Response
Time-based	450	99.8%	50ms
Email	280	97.5%	320ms
Webhook	620	98.2%	180ms
File	150	99.1%	450ms
AI Detection	85	95.3%	1200ms

Getting Started with Triggers

Choose Trigger Type

Select the appropriate trigger for your automation needs

Configure Conditions

Set up when the trigger should activate

Map Data

Define what information passes to the workflow

Test Thoroughly

Use test mode to verify trigger behavior

Deploy and Monitor

Activate trigger and track performance

The Power of Triggers: Every trigger you configure is another step toward complete automation. Start with simple time-based triggers, then gradually add event-based and AI-powered triggers as your automation sophistication grows.

Trigger Library

Browse pre-built triggers

Workflow Builder

Connect triggers to workflows

Best Practices

Trigger optimization guide

Triggers: Where automation becomes autonomous. Set it once. Runs forever. Never miss a moment.

​Automation That Never Sleeps

​Core Trigger Types

Time-Based

Event-Based

Communication

Web Hooks

Data Changes

AI Detection

​Time-Based Triggers

​Schedule Your Digital Workforce

​Communication Triggers

​React to Messages Instantly

Slack Triggers

Teams Triggers

WhatsApp Business

SMS Triggers

​Webhook Triggers

​API-Driven Automation

​File & Folder Triggers

​Monitor Your File System

Google Drive

Dropbox

OneDrive

​AI-Powered Triggers

​Intelligent Event Detection

​Custom Triggers

​Build Your Own Trigger Logic

​Trigger Management

​Monitor and Control Your Triggers

​Advanced Trigger Features

Priority Queuing

Trigger Groups

Conditional Triggers

Trigger Templates

​Trigger Analytics

​Understand Your Automation Patterns

​Getting Started with Triggers

Trigger Library

Workflow Builder

Best Practices

Automation That Never Sleeps

Core Trigger Types

Time-Based Triggers

Schedule Your Digital Workforce

Communication Triggers

React to Messages Instantly

Webhook Triggers

API-Driven Automation

File & Folder Triggers

Monitor Your File System

AI-Powered Triggers

Intelligent Event Detection

Custom Triggers

Build Your Own Trigger Logic

Trigger Management

Monitor and Control Your Triggers

Advanced Trigger Features

Trigger Analytics

Understand Your Automation Patterns

Getting Started with Triggers