Creating Your First API Trigger: A Step-by-Step Guide

In today's fast-paced digital landscape, the ability to react to events in real-time isn't just a feature—it's a necessity. Waiting for nightly batch jobs or manual interventions is a relic of the past. Modern businesses need to automate at the speed of their operations, and that means embracing event-driven architecture.

This is where Triggers.do shines. We provide a powerful platform to initiate any workflow, from any system, the moment an event occurs. The core of this capability lies in a simple yet profound concept: the API Trigger.

This guide will walk you through exactly what an API trigger is, why it's a cornerstone of modern Business Process Automation, and how you can create your very first one in minutes.

What is an Event-Driven API Trigger?

Think of an API trigger as a hyper-aware gatekeeper for your automated processes. It's a predefined condition that listens for specific real-time events. When an event matching its criteria occurs—like a new user signing up, a payment being processed, or a support ticket being logged—the trigger instantly fires, initiating a designated workflow.

Instead of constantly asking your systems "Has anything happened yet?", an event-driven approach lets your systems tell you "Something just happened!" This shift is more efficient, scalable, and unlocks true Event-Driven Automation.

With Triggers.do, you can connect to virtually any event source:

• Webhooks from SaaS platforms like Stripe, Shopify, or GitHub.
• Messages from pub/sub systems like Kafka or RabbitMQ.
• Database changes from services like Supabase or Firebase.
• Custom events sent directly from your own applications via our API.

The Anatomy of a Trigger

Before we build one, let's look at what makes up a trigger in Triggers.do. It’s a simple, declarative object that’s easy to understand and powerful in practice.

Here’s a code example for a trigger that starts a "HighValueOrderFulfillment" workflow whenever a new order over $500 is placed.

import { Trigger } from 'triggers.do';

// A trigger that starts the 'HighValueOrderFulfillment' workflow
// whenever a new order over $500 is placed.
const highValueOrderTrigger = new Trigger({
  event: 'platform.order.created',
  filter: 'data.totalAmount > 500',
  action: {
    workflow: 'HighValueOrderFulfillment',
    inputs: {
      orderId: '{{data.id}}',
      customerEmail: '{{data.customer.email}}'
    }
  }
});

await highValueOrderTrigger.activate();

Let's break it down:

• event: This is the specific event name the trigger is listening for. A clear, structured naming convention like platform.order.created is a best practice.
• filter: This is the magic. You don't want every order to start this special workflow. The filter ensures the workflow only runs for events that match your precise conditions. Our powerful filtering engine lets you define conditions based on any data in the event payload.
• action: This defines what happens when the trigger's conditions are met.
  • workflow: The name of the workflow to execute.
  • inputs: How you pass data from the event into the workflow. Here, we map the order ID and customer email from the event payload directly to the workflow's inputs, making the automation dynamic and context-aware.

Step-by-Step Guide: Creating Your High-Value Order Trigger

Now, let's create the trigger from the example above. We'll build a real-world automation that connects your business events to actionable logic.

Step 1: Identify Your Event and Workflow

First, identify the business process you want to automate.

• The Event: A new order is created in our e-commerce system. The system sends a webhook with a JSON payload to an endpoint we'll get from Triggers.do. The event name we'll use is platform.order.created.
• The Workflow: We have a pre-existing workflow named HighValueOrderFulfillment that handles notifying the warehouse, sending a special thank you email, and adding the customer to a VIP list.

Step 2: Define Your Trigger in Code

Using the Triggers.do SDK, you can define your trigger declaratively in your codebase. This allows you to manage your automation logic with the same rigor as your application code—including version control, code reviews, and automated testing.

Create a new file and import the Trigger class.

import { Trigger } from 'triggers.do';

Step 3: Set the Event and Filter

Now, create an instance of the Trigger. We'll specify the event name we're listening for and add our crucial filter to only catch orders with a total amount greater than $500.

const highValueOrderTrigger = new Trigger({
  event: 'platform.order.created',
  filter: 'data.totalAmount > 500',
  // ... action to be defined next
});

This precise filtering is key to creating efficient and targeted Workflow Triggers.

Step 4: Configure the Action and Map Inputs

Next, tell the trigger what to do. We'll point it to the HighValueOrderFulfillment workflow and map the necessary data from the incoming event payload. Our templating syntax {{...}} makes it easy to access nested data from the event.

const highValueOrderTrigger = new Trigger({
  event: 'platform.order.created',
  filter: 'data.totalAmount > 500',
  action: {
    workflow: 'HighValueOrderFulfillment',
    inputs: {
      orderId: '{{data.id}}',
      customerEmail: '{{data.customer.email}}'
    }
  }
});

Step 5: Activate Your Trigger

The final step is to activate the trigger. This one line of code securely deploys your trigger definition to the Triggers.do platform, where it becomes live and immediately starts listening for matching events.

await highValueOrderTrigger.activate();

That's it! You have achieved Instant Workflow Activation. Your system is now equipped to automatically handle high-value orders in real-time, with no manual intervention required.

Beyond the Basics: One Event, Many Actions

The power of Triggers.do doesn't stop with a single trigger. A single event can initiate multiple, independent workflows. For example, you could create another trigger that listens for the same platform.order.created event but has a different filter and action:

• Trigger 1: Filters for data.totalAmount > 500 and starts HighValueOrderFulfillment.
• Trigger 2: Filters for data.customer.isFirstTime === true and starts NewCustomerWelcomeSequence.
• Trigger 3: Has no filter and starts UpdateAnalyticsDashboard for every order.

This allows for sophisticated, branching logic right at the point of event ingestion, creating a responsive and intelligent automation ecosystem.

Automate at the Speed of Your Business

API triggers are the fundamental building blocks for creating a reactive, automated, and efficient business. By connecting your systems with API Triggers, you decouple them, improve scalability, and unlock the power to act on information the moment it becomes available.

Ready to connect your business events to actionable logic? Get started with Triggers.do today and create your first trigger in minutes.