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A trigger watches for an event and decides whether to start (or resume) an automation. The TriggerRegistry registers a handler per type. When an event reaches AutomationEventListener, the registry finds matching triggers, each runs shouldTrigger and extractContext, and the runner kicks off the workflow.

This page lists every trigger that ships with AppEngine, the upstream event types it listens to, and the variables it leaves on context.variables for downstream steps.

Built-in triggers

Field	Type	Description
scheduled_time	time-based	Fires on cron, fixed interval, or one-shot at a future timestamp. Listens to `scheduled_time`, `cron_trigger`. Config: `schedule.type` = `cron \| interval \| once`; plus `cronExpression`, `interval` + `unit`, or `executeAt`.
contact_created	CRM event	Fires shortly after a contact is created (within 5 minutes). Listens to `contact.created`, `contact.imported`, `contact.registered`. Config supports `source` (`website \| import \| api \| manual \| form`), `tags`, `excludeTags`, `customFields`.
email_opened	Broadcast event	Fires on email-tracking open events. Listens to `email.opened`, `email.open`, `email_tracking.open`. Payload includes the `emailEvent` and the `contact` who opened.
email_clicked	Broadcast event	Fires on link-click events. Listens to `email.clicked`, `email.link_clicked`, `email_tracking.click`. Use to detect strong intent on a campaign.
appointment_booked	Calendar event	Listens to `appointment.booked`, `calendar.appointment_created`, `booking.created`. Payload includes the `appointment` record (id, time, attendees).
page_visited	Tracking event	Listens to `page.visited`, `website.page_view`, `tracking.page_visit`. Payload includes the `pageVisit` (url, timestamp, referrer) and the resolved `contact` if known.
contact_tagged	CRM event	Listens to `contact.tagged`, `contact.tag_added`, `tag.assigned`. Payload includes `tagEvent.contactId` and `tagEvent.tag`.
database_change	Repository event	Generic CDC trigger. Listens to `data_created`, `data_updated`, `data_deleted`, `social_activity_created`, `form_submitted`, `activity_created`, `message_received`, `phone_call`. Filter by `datatype` and `operation` (`created \| updated \| deleted \| *`).
call_incoming	Phone event	Inbound voice call. Used to drive IVR flows.
call_missed	Phone event	Missed call. Pair with `make_call` or `send_notification` for callback automations.
sms_received	Phone event	Inbound SMS. Pair with `send_notification` (SMS) for keyword auto-replies.

Payload shapes

What a step sees on context.variables depends on the trigger.

scheduled_time

{
  "triggerType": "scheduled_time",
  "scheduledAt": "2026-04-25T09:00:00Z",
  "currentTime": "2026-04-25T09:00:01Z",
  "scheduleId": "sched_abc",
  "cronExpression": "0 9 * * MON"
}

contact_created

{
  "contact": {
    "id": "c-123",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "firstName": "Alice",
    "tags": ["newsletter"],
    "source": "website",
    "createdAt": "2026-04-25T..."
  },
  "triggerResult": {
    "triggerType": "contact_created",
    "contactId": "c-123",
    "contactEmail": "[email protected]",
    "contactName": "Alice",
    "source": "website"
  }
}

email_opened / email_clicked

{
  "emailEvent": {
    "id": "evt-1",
    "messageId": "msg-1",
    "eventType": "opened",
    "timestamp": "2026-04-25T...",
    "url": "https://...",
    "userAgent": "..."
  },
  "contact": { "id": "c-123", "email": "..." }
}

email_clicked adds emailEvent.url (the clicked link).

appointment_booked

{
  "appointment": {
    "id": "appt-1",
    "startsAt": "2026-04-30T15:00:00Z",
    "endsAt": "2026-04-30T15:30:00Z",
    "attendees": ["[email protected]"],
    "bookedAt": "2026-04-25T..."
  },
  "contact": { "id": "c-123" }
}

page_visited

{
  "pageVisit": {
    "url": "https://example.com/pricing",
    "referrer": "https://google.com",
    "visitedAt": "2026-04-25T..."
  },
  "contact": { "id": "c-123" }
}

contact_tagged

{
  "tagEvent": {
    "contactId": "c-123",
    "tag": "vip",
    "taggedAt": "2026-04-25T..."
  }
}

database_change

The most flexible — fires on every data_* repository event. Filter narrowly to avoid runaway evaluations.

{
  "datatype": "lead",
  "operation": "updated",
  "record": { /* the new BaseModel */ },
  "previous": { /* the prior version, on update */ },
  "triggerConfig": { "datatype": "lead", "operation": "updated" }
}

Filter database_change

Without a datatype filter, the trigger evaluates on every write across the org. Always set config.datatype to the collection you care about and pin config.operation if possible.

Recency window

Most contact, email, page-visit, and appointment triggers reject events older than five minutes. This protects against late-arriving webhooks accidentally re-firing automations on stale data. If you replay events deliberately (e.g. backfilling), use POST /automation/:automationId/execute with the variables you want instead.

Circular prevention

database_change runs each event through TriggerGuardService first. By default the guard blocks:

An automation triggering itself (preventSelfTrigger).
More than 5 nested executions (maxDepth).
A re-run against the same record within 1 second (cooldownMs).

Override per-flow via settings.circularPrevention. See flow builder.

Triggers reference