Triggers in MESA

A Trigger is the initial step that activates your workflow in MESA. There are various types of triggers you can utilize, each initiating workflows based on different criteria.

We'll go through the difference between each type of trigger and how to identify if your trigger is an event-based trigger or a polling trigger.

Every workflow begins with a Trigger, the spark that gets everything rolling. Here’s a rundown of the various trigger types you can play with in MESA.

Event-Based

These triggers kickstart your workflow in response to specific events. For instance, when a Shopify order is created, the corresponding workflow runs immediately. Event-based triggers allow for real-time processing for your automation without waiting for scheduled times.

Event-Based Triggers are like the prompts that kickstart your workflows based on specific activities or actions happening.

Polling

Certain Triggers use/offer a polling system to initiate the workflow at specific time intervals. Depending on the Trigger, you may be able to select the polling interval or it may be native to the third-party service's data send. Whoa - that's technical, so what does that mean? Every hour, or whatever frequency the polling is set at, MESA will look for any recent activity associated with the trigger and process all the updates gathered within the hour (or another time interval).

Polling triggers operate by regularly checking for new data or updates at set intervals, such as hourly. They initiate workflows based on this scheduled checking, processing all updates gathered during the interval. This ensures that changes are handled efficiently in bulk.

There is a default schedule set for a polling trigger once it's added to a workflow, but you can adjust the polling frequency in the trigger’s Configure submenu.

While the trigger step is open, click the Configure submenu, then select More Options. This will expand the additional setup options for the trigger where you can select the Schedule checkbox and reference the default frequency or change it.

Connection

For many triggers, especially those involving third-party apps, successful authentication is crucial. This process ensures MESA has the necessary permissions to access and interact with the apps used in your workflows. Please refer to our Connections support guide for detailed instructions on authentication.

Other Common Triggers

Schedule

The Schedule trigger enables scheduling automated workflows either on a recurring basis or as a one-time event. For recurring schedules, workflows can be triggered at regular intervals, such as hourly or daily. Alternatively, the one-time option triggers a workflow at a specific date and time you select, occurring just once. This feature provides flexibility in automating tasks according to precise timing requirements.

Webhooks

Webhooks are a popular standard on the internet for sending event notifications. MESA's Webhook trigger allows you to integrate any 3rd party service that supports them, even ones that don't have an integration yet.

Web Request

While webhooks are a great way to send "back end" event notifications, Web Requests allow a "front end" web client to send data to a workflow and receive a response.

Email

The email trigger allows you to initiate an automation by sending an email to a unique MESA email address. The details within the email, including the subject, message body, and sender information, can be used as variables in subsequent steps of your workflow, enabling dynamic and responsive automation processes based on the content of the received email.

Forms

Automations can also be started every time a form is filled out. The form can be hosted on a MESA URL or embedded within your site. Like email, the contents of the form will be turned into variables that can be used within your workflow to customize the actions and drive the logic.

The Google Forms trigger has the same process, but it will run based on a submission received from your linked Google Form.