Choosing a trigger
The trigger decides when a workflow starts and what data its steps get. A workflow has exactly one trigger. There are close to 300 to choose from.
Pick or change the trigger
- Select the trigger at the top of the canvas.
- Select Change trigger. Choose what starts this workflow opens.
- Use Search triggers, for example
order paid, or browse the categories. - Pick a trigger. The side panel shows its description, its options and the filter.
Changing the trigger changes the event your steps read. Check the fields that use event.payload afterwards; the problems button above the canvas helps.
The kinds of triggers
| Kind | Starts when | How fast | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify events | Shopify reports that something happened: order created, product updated, refund created | Seconds | Shopify events |
| Change triggers | One field changed, with the value before and after: tags added, price changed, back in stock | Seconds | Change triggers with before and after values |
| Metafield and metaobject triggers | A metafield or a metaobject entry changed | Seconds, or a few minutes for resources Shopify sends no event for | Metafield and metaobject triggers |
| On a schedule | At the times you set | On the minute | Schedules |
| Incoming webhook | Another system sends a request to the workflow's secret URL | Seconds | Incoming webhooks |
| Run manually, Started by another workflow | You press Run now, or another workflow starts this one | At once | Manual runs and workflows started by another workflow |
| Checked every few minutes | The app asks your store every 5 minutes, because Shopify sends no event: blog posts, pages, expired discounts, order display status | A few minutes | This page, below |
| Storefront behaviour | A shopper viewed a product, searched, added to cart | Seconds, best effort | Storefront behaviour triggers |
| Waiting triggers | Something did NOT happen in time: an abandoned checkout, a visit without a purchase | After the waiting time | Abandoned checkout and left without purchase |
Badges in the picker
- Personal data - the event contains names, email addresses or postal addresses. It is stored, encrypted, with each run in the run history.
- Current - the trigger the workflow uses now.
- Show unverified triggers - by default the picker lists the triggers we fired for real and checked. The others use Shopify's documented event and should work the same way; tick the box to see them.
Triggers that need something first
- A permission. A trigger only receives events for store data you granted. The panel shows This trigger needs a permission with a button to the Permissions page. See Permissions and store data access.
- Shopify's approval for customer data. Order, customer, draft order, checkout, fulfillment and company events contain protected customer data. Shopify only delivers them to an app it has approved for that data. If such a trigger stays silent, see Permissions and store data access.
- Shopify Plus. A few events only exist on Plus stores.
Triggers checked every few minutes
For some changes Shopify sends no event at all. The app checks your store every 5 minutes instead, only while a workflow that needs it is turned on:
- Blog created or updated, Blog post created or updated, Page created or updated
- Discount expired - discounts that ended before the workflow was turned on do not start it
- Order display status changed - the fulfillment status shown in the Shopify admin, for open orders of the last 30 days
- Company location tax exemptions changed
These can arrive a few minutes after the change. The first check only takes note of what exists; it starts nothing.
First-time customer order
First-time customer order starts when a customer places their first order. The app asks Shopify for the customer's number of orders when the order comes in. An order without a customer (guest checkout) does not start it.
One trigger, fewer runs
A trigger filter stops events you do not care about before a run starts, and those events do not count against your plan. See Trigger filters.