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Understanding Triggers

Triggers are specialized nodes in the Workforce that activate your agents based on specific events or conditions. They function as the initial connection point in your workflow, determining when your AI agents should start performing their tasks.

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Types of Triggers

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Manual Triggers

When you first create a workforce, a manual trigger is automatically added to your workspace. This allows you to directly initiate your workflow by sending a message to your agent, similar to how you would interact with a standalone agent in Relevance AI. Manual triggers are ideal for:
  • Testing your workflow during development
  • On-demand tasks that require human initiation
  • Workflows that need to begin with specific human input or context

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Integration Triggers

Integration triggers connect your workforce to external systems, allowing your agents to automatically respond to events from those systems. These triggers enable your AI Workforce to monitor and react to activities in your connected tools and platforms. Common integration triggers include:
  • Email triggers that activate when new messages arrive
  • Calendar triggers that respond to meeting invitations or reminders
  • CRM triggers that react to new lead creation or status changes
  • Webhook triggers that respond to custom events from any system

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Recurring Schedule Triggers

Recurring schedule triggers allow your AI Workforce to run automatically at set times without manual intervention. This is perfect for automating repetitive tasks that need to happen on a regular basis. Use recurring schedules for:
  • Daily reports that need to be generated every morning
  • Weekly data processing tasks
  • Monthly analytics and summaries
  • Periodic system checks and maintenance tasks

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Adding Triggers to Your Workforce

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Adding Your First Trigger

  1. When you open your workforce, you’ll see a manual trigger already available in your workspace.
  2. Connect this trigger to an agent by dragging a line from the trigger to your chosen agent.
  3. This connection establishes the entry point for your workflow.

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Adding Additional Triggers

To add more triggers to your workforce:
  1. Navigate to the Workforce interface.
  2. Locate the “Triggers” section in the node palette.
  3. Drag your desired trigger type onto the workspace.
  4. Position it appropriately in your workflow diagram.
  5. Connect the trigger to the agent that should respond first when the trigger activates.

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Configuring Triggers

Each trigger type has specific configuration options that determine its behavior:

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Manual Trigger Configuration

To trigger your workforce manually:
  1. Switch to the “Task” tab in the Relevance AI interface.
  2. Use the message input field to send a manual message to your workforce.
  3. Provide natural language instructions that will initiate your workflow.
  4. Your connected agent will receive this message and begin processing according to your workflow configuration.
This manual interaction allows you to start your workflow with specific context and instructions whenever needed.

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Integration Trigger Configuration

Integration triggers require specific setup to connect with external systems:
  1. Select the integration trigger in your workspace.
  2. Complete the authentication process for the connected service.
  3. Configure trigger conditions (e.g., specific email subjects, calendar event types).
  4. Set any filters to ensure the trigger only activates for relevant events.
  5. Test the connection to verify proper setup.

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Recurring Schedule Trigger Configuration

Recurring schedules can be configured using either simple schedule options or advanced cron expressions:

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Simple Schedule Options

Schedule TypeWhat It DoesPerfect For
DailyRuns every day at a time you chooseMorning reports, daily check-ins
WeeklyRuns on specific days each weekTeam updates, weekly newsletters
MonthlyRuns on chosen dates each monthMonthly reports, regular maintenance
CustomRuns on specific dates you selectOne-off tasks or irregular schedules

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Advanced: Cron Expressions

For more precise control over scheduling, you can use Cron expressions. Relevance AI uses AWS EventBridge cron format, which requires six fields: 
minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week year
Cron Expression Format:
FieldValuesWildcards
Minute0-59, - * /
Hour0-23, - * /
Day-of-month1-31, - * ? / L W
Month1-12 or JAN-DEC, - * /
Day-of-week1-7 or SUN-SAT, - * ? L #
Year1970-2199, - * /
Special Characters:
  • * (asterisk) - all values
  • ? (question mark) - no specific value (used in day-of-month or day-of-week)
  • - (dash) - range of values
  • , (comma) - additional values
  • / (forward slash) - increments
  • L - last day of month or week
  • W - nearest weekday
  • # - nth occurrence of a day in a month
Common Cron Expression Examples: 
0 10 * * ? *        # Every day at 10:00 AM
0 0 * * MON *       # Every Monday at midnight
0 9 1 * ? *         # First day of every month at 9:00 AM
0 0 * * MON-FRI *   # Weekdays at midnight
*/15 * * * ? *      # Every 15 minutes
0 9,17 * * ? *      # Daily at 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM
0 0 1,15 * ? *      # 1st and 15th of every month at midnight
0 8 ? * 2 *         # Every Monday (day 2) at 8:00 AM
0 10 L * ? *        # Last day of every month at 10:00 AM
0 9 ? * 2#1 *       # First Monday of every month at 9:00 AM
AWS EventBridge cron expressions use 6 fields, unlike traditional Unix cron which uses 5 fields. Always include the year field, and use ? for either day-of-month or day-of-week when specifying the other.

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Best Practices for Using Triggers

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Strategic Trigger Placement

  • Start with clarity: Position triggers at the logical beginning points of your workflows.
  • Minimize redundancy: Avoid having multiple triggers that serve the same purpose.
  • Consider user experience: For manual triggers, ensure they’re intuitive and provide clear guidance.

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Trigger Maintenance

  • Regularly test triggers to ensure they’re functioning correctly.
  • Monitor trigger activity to identify any performance issues.
  • Update trigger configurations when connected systems change.

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Recurring Schedule Best Practices

  • Start small: Begin with one simple recurring task before setting up complex schedules.
  • Test thoroughly: Run your workforce manually first to ensure it works as expected.
  • Monitor initially: Check the first few automated runs to confirm everything works correctly.
  • Use cron for precision: When you need exact timing control, use cron expressions instead of simple schedules.
  • Consider dependencies: Ensure your workforce can complete within the scheduled interval to avoid overlapping runs.

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Security Considerations

  • Review authentication settings for integration triggers regularly.
  • Implement appropriate access controls for manual triggers.
  • Consider data privacy implications when configuring trigger conditions.

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Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Verify connection settings and authentication. For integration triggers, check that the connected service has the proper permissions. For recurring schedules, ensure the cron expression or schedule configuration is correct.
Check for overlapping trigger conditions. Review all triggers in your workforce to ensure they don’t respond to the same events. For recurring schedules, verify that you don’t have multiple schedules set for the same time.
Examine workflow complexity and agent configuration. Complex workflows with multiple agents may take longer to complete. Check your agent settings and consider optimizing the workflow structure.
Yes, you can disable recurring schedule triggers without deleting them. Simply toggle off the schedule in your workforce’s trigger settings when you need a pause.
Scheduled runs use your account’s configured timezone. You can adjust this in your workforce settings to ensure tasks run at the correct local time.
Test triggers based on their type:For Manual and Integration Triggers:
  1. Navigate to the “Task” tab in your Workforce
  2. For manual triggers: Send a test message to initiate the workflow
  3. For integration triggers: Trigger a test event from the connected service
  4. Monitor the execution in the Workforce Task View to verify proper activation
For Recurring Schedule Triggers:
  • Note: Test activations are not currently supported for recurring schedule triggers
  • Best practice: Test your workflow manually first using a manual trigger before setting up the recurring schedule
  • Monitor the first few automated runs after activation
  • Check the Task View after scheduled runs to verify execution
Checking Logs and Error Messages:
  1. Workforce Task View: Navigate to the “Task” section in your Workforce to view:
  2. Tool Logs: Within individual tools, access the “Logs” tab to view execution details. Learn more about Tools
  3. Agent Task History: For agents with recurring schedules, view error details in the agent’s task history. Learn more about Agent Triggers
Additional Verification Steps:
  • Verify that connected agents have appropriate permissions
  • Ensure all necessary API keys and credentials are current
  • Check trigger configuration settings (filters, conditions, authentication)