In today's fast-paced digital landscape, speed is not just a feature—it's a fundamental expectation. Customers demand instant feedback, systems require immediate updates, and business opportunities vanish in minutes. The traditional approach of running processes on fixed schedules or relying on manual intervention is no longer viable. This legacy model creates delays, fosters data silos, and leaves your business one step behind.
The solution is a paradigm shift towards an event-driven architecture. Instead of periodically asking "Has anything happened yet?", your systems can react instantly the moment something does. This is the core principle behind Triggers.do: empowering you to build powerful, automated workflows that spring into action based on real-time events.
At its heart, event-driven workflow automation is a simple but profound concept: workflows are initiated by specific occurrences, or "events," rather than by a predetermined schedule or manual command.
Think of it like this:
The old way is like checking your physical mailbox once a day (polling). You might find something, or you might find nothing. The process is inefficient and the response is delayed.
The event-driven way is like getting a push notification on your phone the second a package is delivered. You receive the critical information instantly and can act on it immediately.
This "act immediately" capability is where the magic happens. By connecting your workflows to event sources, you eliminate latency and create a truly responsive system that handles tasks autonomously, 24/7.
At Triggers.do, we call the connection between an event and a workflow a Trigger. A trigger is the "When this happens..." portion of a "When this happens, do that" rule. It's the listening post, constantly waiting for the right signal to launch an automated process.
The power of this model lies in its versatility. You can create triggers from virtually any event source imaginable:
Capturing an event is only the first step. The real value comes from turning that raw signal into intelligent, targeted action. This is where the Triggers.do platform shines by providing a developer-first experience.
Forget clunky UI builders. With Triggers.do, you define your automation logic as clear, version-controllable code. This makes your triggers transparent, reusable, and easy to integrate into your existing development practices.
For example, here’s how you could create a trigger that launches a workflow for any Shopify order over $100:
import { trigger } from '@do-sdk/triggers';
// Define a trigger that starts a workflow when a new
// high-value order is received from Shopify.
await trigger.create({
name: 'High-Value Shopify Order',
event: 'shopify.order.created',
filter: 'body.total_price > 100.00',
workflow: 'process-high-value-order',
});
Notice the filter property in the code above? This is a critical feature for building efficient systems. Not every order.created event is equal. By applying a simple filter expression, you ensure that your workflow only runs when the specific criteria are met. This saves compute resources, reduces operational noise, and keeps your automation focused on the events that matter most.
A single event can be the catalyst for a cascade of actions. Triggers.do allows one event to initiate multiple, parallel workflows. Imagine a "New User Signup" event. A single trigger can simultaneously:
This enables you to orchestrate sophisticated business processes that span multiple departments and systems, all kicked off by one defining moment.
Best of all, these triggers are the starting point for our agentic workflows. This means that once a workflow is triggered, our autonomous agents can take over, handling complex, multi-step tasks that may require reasoning, interacting with APIs, and adapting to unexpected outcomes.
By embracing event-driven automation, you can move from a reactive, high-latency operating model to a proactive, real-time one. Eliminate manual bottlenecks, ensure data is always in sync, and deliver the instantaneous experiences your customers expect.
With Triggers.do, you can connect any event to powerful agentic workflows using simple, code-based definitions.
Explore Triggers.do today and start building the next generation of automated workflows.
What is a trigger in the context of agentic workflows?
In .do, a trigger is a defined event that automatically initiates one or more workflows. Think of it as the 'When this happens...' part of a 'When this happens, do that' rule, all managed as simple code.
What kinds of events can I use as triggers?
You can trigger workflows from virtually any event source: incoming webhooks from services like Stripe or GitHub, messages from a queue, database changes, scheduled times (cron jobs), or custom events emitted from your own applications.
Can I filter events so a workflow only runs under certain conditions?
Yes. Our platform allows you to apply conditional logic to incoming event payloads. You can write simple expressions to filter events, ensuring that workflows only run when specific criteria are met, such as an order value exceeding $100.
Can one trigger start multiple workflows?
Absolutely. A single event can be configured to trigger multiple, parallel workflows. This enables you to orchestrate complex, branching business processes, like notifying sales, updating inventory, and starting fulfillment, all from one new order event.