Triggers
A trigger is the entry point of an automation—the event that starts a run. Every automation begins with exactly one trigger, and the data the trigger captures becomes the starting payload that later steps can read.
When you add the first node and select Trigger, the panel groups the available triggers into General Triggers and Integration Triggers. Integration triggers fire on events in an external system and require a connection to that system—see Connections.
For the full field-level configuration of each trigger, see the Reference.
General triggers
| Trigger | Starts a run when… |
|---|---|
| On Demand | You start it yourself with Run Automation, or another automation calls it. Optionally define a payload so the run can be started with structured input. |
| Schedule | A recurring schedule comes due, or you start a run yourself with Run Automation. You set the schedule with a cron expression. The system checks for due schedules about once a minute, so schedules finer than one minute may skip runs. |
| Webhook | An external system sends an HTTP POST to the trigger's generated URL. A generated signing secret lets the trigger reject unsigned requests. You can send a test delivery and review past deliveries from the node's actions. |
| Automation Completed | A chosen target automation finishes. You select which outcomes to react to—Succeeded, Failed, or both. |
Running a schedule without waiting
A schedule trigger can be run at any time, without waiting for its next occurrence. Click Run Automation on the trigger to start a run immediately. The run carries the payload configured on the trigger, exactly as a scheduled run does, so a schedule can be tested without temporarily rewriting it to fire sooner.
Starting a run this way leaves the schedule alone—the next scheduled run still happens at its usual time. Run history tells the two apart: a run started by hand is labeled with the name of the person who started it, and a scheduled run is labeled with its schedule.
Running on demand from content
When an on-demand automation is registered against a content type, editors can start it directly from that content's edit page instead of opening the flow editor—the Esca Automations widget lists every automation registered for the content being edited, each with a Run button.
Clicking Run opens a confirmation popup; confirming starts the run and links to it. If the registration sets a cooldown, a wedge covers the Run button after each fire and recedes as the cooldown counts down, warming from orange to green as it clears.
Integration triggers
Integration triggers receive events over a webhook from the connected system. Depending on the connection's authentication, the webhook is either registered automatically or set up by an administrator—the node shows the current setup status.
Brightspot
The Content trigger fires on a content event in a connected Brightspot CMS. Select the connection, optionally limit it to specific sites, and choose the event:
Published, Drafted, Revised, Merged, Scheduled, Unscheduled, Transitioned (a workflow transition), Archived, Restored, Deleted, Commented, and On Demand.
Narrow which content matches with filters—Types (content types), Field (a field's value), Content (specific assets), and Match All (combine filters). With no filters, the trigger matches all content on the connected CMS.
The Content action's write operations—publish, save, archive, restore, delete, transition, and comment—are visible to Content triggers, including a Content trigger on the same automation. If a Content trigger's event matches a Content action in the same automation, the automation can retrigger itself, and nothing stops the loop automatically. Guard against this with a condition that limits when the matching action runs.
Jira
Fires on a Jira event for a chosen project. Select the connection and project, optionally add a JQL filter to refine which issues match, and choose the event: Issue Created, Issue Updated, Issue Deleted, Comment Added, or Comment Updated.
GitHub
Fires on a GitHub webhook event for a chosen repository. Select the connection and repository, then choose the event: Push, Pull Request, Issues, Issue Comment, Pull Request Review, Pull Request Review Comment, Release, Create, Delete, or Workflow Run. Some events offer an additional filter, such as which pull-request actions to match.