Trigger Types Overview
Scheduled (Time-Based)
Run a workflow on a fixed interval — every hour, once a day, weekly, monthly — or on a precise cron expression for full scheduling control.
Event-Based
Fire a workflow in response to something that happens: a new row added to a data source, a webhook payload received, or a form submitted.
Manual
Start a workflow on demand from the Autoflux dashboard, a Qvista button widget, or via the Autoflux API — useful for one-off tasks and ad-hoc processes.
Hybrid (with Approval)
Combine automated execution with manual review steps. The workflow runs automatically up to a defined checkpoint, then waits for a designated approver before continuing.
Time-Based Scheduling
Use a scheduled trigger when you want a workflow to run at predictable, recurring intervals — for example, syncing a data source every night or generating a weekly report every Monday morning.Predefined Intervals
Select from the following predefined options in the trigger configuration panel:- Every hour — fires at the top of each hour
- Every day — fires once every 24 hours at a time you specify
- Every week — fires on one or more days of the week at a specified time
- Every month — fires on a specific day of the month at a specified time
Cron-Style Schedules
For schedules that predefined intervals cannot express, switch the trigger to Custom (Cron) and enter a standard five-field cron expression. Autoflux validates the expression in real time and displays a human-readable description of when the next five runs will occur, so you can confirm the schedule is correct before activating the workflow.All schedule times are evaluated in the timezone configured for your Qvista workspace. Navigate to Settings → Workspace → Timezone to review or update your timezone before scheduling critical workflows.
Event-Based Triggers
Event triggers fire a workflow the moment a specified event occurs in a connected system. Unlike scheduled triggers, event-based workflows execute in real time — minimising the lag between something happening and your automation responding to it.New Data in a Data Source
Trigger a workflow whenever new data appears in a connected source:- New row in a Google Sheet — fires immediately when a row is appended to a specified tab
- New record in a database — fires when a row matching optional filter criteria is inserted into a MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQL Server table
- New or updated file in cloud storage — fires when a file is created or modified in a Google Drive folder, Dropbox directory, AWS S3 bucket, or Azure Blob Storage container
Webhook Received
Autoflux generates a unique, workspace-scoped inbound URL for each webhook trigger. Paste this URL into any external system that supports outbound webhooks — payment processors, form builders, customer support platforms, monitoring tools — and Autoflux fires the workflow every time a payload arrives. The full webhook payload is available as dynamic data in all downstream steps. You can optionally add a Payload Filter so the workflow only proceeds when specific fields in the payload match defined criteria.Form Submission
If you have built a Dynamic Form in Qvista, attach it directly to an Autoflux workflow using the Form Submitted trigger. Every time a respondent submits the form, the workflow fires and the form field values are automatically available for mapping in downstream steps — no webhook configuration required.Manual Triggers
A manual trigger gives you a one-click way to start a workflow without waiting for a schedule or an external event. Manual workflows are useful for:- Running a data migration or bulk update on demand
- Executing an administrative task at irregular intervals
- Testing a workflow against live data before switching to an automated trigger
Hybrid Workflows with Manual Approval Steps
Autoflux lets you pause an otherwise automated workflow and require a designated person to approve or reject the continuation. This is useful wherever a human decision point is essential — approving a large purchase order, reviewing AI-generated content before it publishes, or signing off on a new employee’s system access. To add an approval step:- Insert an Approval node at the appropriate point in your workflow canvas.
- Specify the approver — a specific Qvista user or a role — and an optional deadline.
- Configure the Approved and Rejected downstream paths independently.
Real-Time vs. Scheduled Execution
| Real-Time (Event-Based) | Scheduled | |
|---|---|---|
| Latency | Near-instant — fires within seconds of the trigger event | Runs at the configured time; data may be minutes or hours old |
| Best for | Customer-facing processes, alerts, CRM updates | Batch reports, nightly syncs, periodic data exports |
| Resource profile | Bursty — may fire many times in rapid succession | Predictable — fires at known intervals |
| Monitoring | Each run is logged individually with full payload detail | Runs are grouped by schedule interval in the execution log |
Setting Up a Scheduled Workflow
The following steps walk you through scheduling a workflow that generates a weekly summary report and posts it to Slack every Monday morning.Create a New Workflow
Go to Autoflux → Workflows and click New Workflow. Name the workflow something descriptive, such as Weekly Sales Summary — Slack.
Configure the Scheduled Trigger
Click the trigger node and select Schedule. Choose Every week from the predefined interval list, select Monday, and set the time to 08:00. Confirm that the displayed timezone matches your workspace setting and save the trigger.
Add a Data Step
Append a Qvista Datatable: Query Rows action step. Select the datatable that holds your sales records and configure a filter to return only rows created in the past seven days. The query result is available as a list variable in all downstream steps.
Add an Aggregation or Formatting Step
Insert a Custom Script or Data Transform step to roll up the raw rows into a summary: total deals closed, total value, top performer. Map the aggregated values to named variables for use in the next step.
Post to Slack
Append a Slack: Send Message action. Select the target channel, then compose the message body using the summary variables from the previous step via the Dynamic Data panel. Preview the formatted message in the step editor to confirm the layout.
Test and Activate
Click Test Workflow to run the full sequence immediately against the current data. Open the Logs tab and verify that each step completed successfully and that the Slack message content looks correct. Toggle the workflow to Active — it will now run automatically every Monday at 08:00.