How Agents Get Triggered
Schedule, events, or manual runs
How Agents Get Triggered
Agents don't wait in a chat window. They activate based on triggers.
Common Trigger Types
Cron / Schedule
Runs at fixed intervals: every hour, daily at 9 AM, every Monday, etc.
Example: Daily report generator, hourly backup agent
Runs at fixed intervals: every hour, daily at 9 AM, every Monday, etc.
Example: Daily report generator, hourly backup agent
Webhook / Event
Triggers when an external event happens: new PR, payment received, file uploaded.
Example: PR review agent, order processor
Triggers when an external event happens: new PR, payment received, file uploaded.
Example: PR review agent, order processor
Manual Run
Developer or system explicitly starts the agent on-demand.
Example: Emergency data migration, one-time analysis
Developer or system explicitly starts the agent on-demand.
Example: Emergency data migration, one-time analysis
Continuous Loop
Agent runs forever, checking a queue or condition, sleeping when idle.
Example: Job queue worker, monitoring agent
Agent runs forever, checking a queue or condition, sleeping when idle.
Example: Job queue worker, monitoring agent
Try Different Triggers
In the playground, change the trigger dropdown and observe how the agent logs reflect the trigger type. In production, your trigger choice affects infrastructure design:
- Cron → Scheduled cloud function or cron job
- Webhook → HTTP endpoint + event subscription
- Manual → CLI command or dashboard button
- Loop → Long-running container or worker process