Triggers

Every workflow needs exactly one active trigger, the node that decides when a run starts. Flero ships with six built-in trigger types, plus a trigger node for each enterprise connector (47 of those). This page is a quick reference; for in-depth per-trigger guides, see Section 05, Triggers.

Built-in triggers

Start (manual)

What: The default trigger added to every new workflow. Fires when you click Run in the editor or call the workflow's API endpoint.

When to use: Testing, ad-hoc executions, workflows called by other systems via API.

Outputs: Whatever payload you pass on the manual run (or empty if none).

See Manual & test runs.

Webhook Trigger

What: Generates a public HTTPS URL. Anything that POSTs (or GETs, PUTs, etc.) to that URL fires a run with the request body as the trigger payload.

When to use: External services pushing events to you, Stripe, GitHub, Shopify, custom webhooks.

Key config:

Field	Notes
Path	Auto-generated; copy the full URL via the inspector
HTTP method	`POST` (default), `GET`, `PUT`, `PATCH`, `DELETE`
Secret	Optional shared secret; validates the `X-Webhook-Secret` header on incoming calls
Response mode	`Immediately` (200 OK before the workflow runs) or `On completion` (returns whatever the terminal node produced)

Outputs: body, headers, query, method, path, timestamp.

See Webhook trigger.

Schedule Trigger

What: Fires on a time-based schedule.

When to use: Hourly syncs, daily reports, polling external systems on a cadence.

Key config:

Field	Notes
Type	`Interval`, `Cron`, or `Once`
Interval	e.g. every 5 minutes
Cron expression	Standard 5-field cron, e.g. `0 9 * * *` for 9am daily
Run once at	ISO 8601 datetime
Time zone	Defaults to workspace TZ

Outputs: scheduledTime, cronExpression (or interval / once metadata), and any custom payload you've set.

See Schedule trigger.

Form Trigger

What: Generates a public form URL with fields you define. Each submission fires a run.

When to use: Lightweight user-initiated workflows, feedback collection, request intake, lead capture.

Key config: A list of form fields (text, number, email, select, checkbox, file upload), each with label / type / required flag / validation.

Outputs: One key per form field, populated with the user's submission.

See Form trigger.

Chat Input

What: A conversational entry point, fires when a user types into a Flero-hosted chat surface.

When to use: Multi-turn AI interactions, internal chatbots, support workflows.

Outputs: message, conversationId, optional context (prior turns).

See Chat trigger.

MCP Trigger

What: Receives a call via the Model Context Protocol, letting LLM agents invoke this workflow as a tool.

When to use: Workflows that should be callable by external AI agents (e.g. Claude with MCP).

Outputs: Tool-call arguments structured per the MCP spec.

Connector event triggers

In addition to the built-ins, most enterprise connectors have a trigger variant that fires on an event in the external service. Examples:

Connector	Example triggers
Slack	`message posted`, `reaction added`, `channel created`
GitHub	`PR opened`, `issue commented`, `push to branch`
Stripe	`charge.succeeded`, `customer.created`, `invoice.paid`
Shopify	`order created`, `order paid`, `customer updated`
Salesforce	`lead created`, `opportunity stage changed`
Google Calendar	`event created`, `event updated`
Jira	`issue created`, `status changed`

Find the full list on each connector's page in the Connector catalog.

Mechanically, connector triggers fall into two flavours:

Webhook-style, the external service POSTs to a Flero-generated URL. Lowest latency.
Polling, Flero checks the service on a schedule. Slightly higher latency; needed when the service doesn't support webhooks.

The trigger node tells you which mode it's using in its inspector.

See Connector event triggers.

Common patterns

One trigger per workflow. Need to react to two different events? Build two workflows, or chain via a sub-workflow.
Manual + scheduled. Keep the Start node in development; replace it with a Schedule trigger when you flip the workflow to active.
Webhook + idempotency. External services occasionally re-send events. Use the Set node with the webhook event ID as a key to dedupe.

Section 05, Triggers, full per-trigger reference
Schedule trigger
Webhook trigger

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