All workflow triggers and when to use each one

Every workflow starts with a single trigger. Choosing the right one is half the automation: if the correct event fires the flow at the correct moment, the rest falls into place. This guide walks through all the Omnifox workflow triggers by category and tells you when to use each, with the filters that make the difference.

Messaging: react to what comes in

This is the most-used family. The star trigger is Message received, and its power lives in the filters:

• Channel: fire only on WhatsApp, or only on Instagram, etc.
• Keyword: ignite the flow when the text contains "price", "support" or whatever you define.
• Type: tell text, image and audio apart.
• First message only: key for a one-time welcome instead of greeting on every reply.

The same family includes Button pressed and List option selected (to react to WhatsApp interactive menus), WhatsApp Flow submitted (when the customer completes a form), and delivery signals like Message delivered, Message read or Message reaction. There's also Outbound message failed, handy for retries.

Conversation: the chat lifecycle

These triggers don't watch a single message but the state of the whole conversation. Conversation opened/closed/resolved/pending are great for automating closures (for example, Conversation closed → request CSAT). The time-based ones are gold for service quality:

• SLA breached: alert the team when the committed time is exceeded.
• Customer waiting for agent reply: escalate before it goes cold.
• Contact inactivity (minutes): re-engage whoever stopped replying.
• Auto-close on inactivity, Auto-close customer didn't reply, Auto-close agent didn't reply.

Add CSAT response received (with a min/max score threshold, so you treat a promoter and a detractor differently) and Assignment changed.

Contact: when data changes

Here the event is the contact itself. Contact created is ideal for onboarding. Tag added and Tag removed turn your tagging system into an automation engine: tag "VIP" and you fire premium care. Contact field updated reacts when a specific profile field changes.

System: integrations and scheduled fires

This category connects Omnifox with the rest of your stack. Incoming webhook lets an external system (your store, your ERP) light a flow; you can filter with a path_match like event.type == "order.paid" to react only to certain events. Scheduled (cron) runs on a fixed time (daily reminders, reports). Shortcut (manual from inbox) lets an agent launch the flow with one click. And Manual lets another workflow call this one as a sub-routine.

There are also important operational signals: Template approved/rejected/paused, WABA quality changed and Channel disconnected, perfect to warn the team when something in your infrastructure needs attention.

Calls: voice (plan-dependent)

If your plan includes the calling feature, voice triggers unlock: Call received/answered/missed/rejected/ended, Duration exceeds threshold, First call from contact, Returning contact, Call out of hours. And for the after-call: Recording ready, Recording transcribed, Voicemail received/transcribed, plus IVR option selected and IVR abandon to measure your voice menu.

CRM and Appointments: move the pipeline

On the commercial side, Deal won (deal.won) is the classic trigger to kick off onboarding. Deal lost, Deal created and Deal stage changed cover the rest of the pipeline. Deal with no activity (cold, N days) and Contact not replying (N days) are ideal for automatic re-engagement. And Appointments contribute Appointment created/canceled and Appointment reminder (N hours before).

Boards and Team: internal operations

Board triggers follow your work: Column changed, Item created, Item assigned, Task due soon (≤24h), Task overdue. Team triggers cover internal comms: You were mentioned, Message posted in a Space, Reminder due, Poll closed.

How to pick the right trigger

Two final tips: one trigger per workflow (if you need two events, build two flows), and use the trigger's filters so you don't over-fire. A Message received with no filter runs on every message from every customer; with a keyword filter, it runs only when it matters.

Before publishing, test the trigger with a real case: send yourself a test message or launch it from the Shortcut (manual from inbox) and confirm the filter lights the flow only when it should. A well-filtered trigger saves executions and avoids duplicate messages to the customer. And remember that call triggers and some CRM ones depend on your plan, so check the feature is enabled before wiring a voice flow.

In Omnifox all these triggers live in the same visual editor: you pick the trigger from a list, tune its filters and chain the nodes. Choose the event that fires your next automation and start building today.