Flow Triggers
Choose the right trigger so your flow starts when you expect.
What a trigger does
A trigger is the event that starts a flow. If the trigger never happens (or doesn’t match the flow settings), the flow won’t run.
Common trigger patterns
Choose the trigger that best matches the event you can test quickly:
- Tag added or tag removed
- Added to list or removed from list
- Board stage changed (when a contact moves stages)
- Property changed (a contact field updates to a value)
- Opens an email or clicks a link in an email
- Anniversary date (recurring yearly/monthly)
- Exact date (one-time calendar date)
- Order Created, Order Paid, Order Refunded, Order Status Changed, or Abandoned Cart for store activity
- Form Submitted for form widget submissions
- Quiz Completed for quiz and survey-mode submissions
- AI Chat Contact Captured, AI Chat Signal Detected, AI Chat High Intent, AI Chat Booking Intent, No Booking, AI Chat Staff Review Required, and AI Chat Lead Temperature Changed for Website AI Chat follow-up
Setup guidance is in Forms, Quizzes, and Quiz Widget.
When to use each trigger
How to choose the right trigger
- Pick the event you can test quickly.
- Keep it specific (avoid vague triggers that are hard to verify).
- For property changes from forms, submit a test form that changes the mapped field value; unchanged values do not start a new trigger.
- If you need a date/time flow, confirm the date field exists on the contact.
- For the next step, see Flow Steps so you can map the trigger to the right action.
- For Website AI Chat setup and recent chat review, see Website AI Chat.
List and tag targeting updates
- List/tag trigger settings now support selecting multiple lists or tags at once.
- You can switch targeting mode between Include and Exclude directly in the selector.
- If a needed list/tag does not exist yet, create it inline or open Manage Lists/Tags without leaving the flow.
Imports and manual entry
- CSV imports include Trigger flows for imported contacts. It is off by default so adding tags or lists during an import does not start flows unless you choose that behavior.
- To start a flow for specific existing contacts, select them in Contacts and use the Flow bulk action. You can choose the active flow and starting step before confirming.
- Email and SMS steps can run immediately when contacts are manually added to a flow. Delay and wait steps begin from the confirmation time.
Date trigger setup updates
- Anniversary and exact-date triggers now support both built-in date fields and custom date/datetime fields.
- You can set an explicit trigger time (hour/minute) for date-based automations.
- Date triggers can be narrowed with list targeting so only matching audiences enter.
Quick test checklist
- Trigger the event with one test contact.
- Confirm the contact appears in the flow.
- Confirm include/exclude list/tag targeting matches the test contact as expected.
- If the flow includes a wait step, confirm it’s waiting on something that can become true.
Continue with
Test a Flow
Validate a flow end-to-end before you turn it on.
Flows Troubleshooting
Fix common issues like “stuck” contacts and missing triggers.
Related Help Docs
Updated May 25, 2026
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