crewAI/docs/en/enterprise/guides/automation-triggers.mdx

---
title: "Automation Triggers"
description: "Automatically execute your CrewAI workflows when specific events occur in connected integrations"
icon: "bolt"
---

Automation triggers enable you to automatically run your CrewAI deployments when specific events occur in your connected integrations, creating powerful event-driven workflows that respond to real-time changes in your business systems.

## Overview

With automation triggers, you can:

- **Respond to real-time events** - Automatically execute workflows when specific conditions are met
- **Integrate with external systems** - Connect with platforms like Gmail, Outlook, OneDrive, JIRA, Slack, Stripe and more
- **Scale your automation** - Handle high-volume events without manual intervention
- **Maintain context** - Access trigger data within your crews and flows

## Managing Automation Triggers

### Viewing Available Triggers

To access and manage your automation triggers:

1. Navigate to your deployment in the CrewAI dashboard
2. Click on the **Triggers** tab to view all available trigger integrations

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/enterprise/list-available-triggers.png" alt="List of available automation triggers" />
</Frame>

This view shows all the trigger integrations available for your deployment, along with their current connection status.

### Enabling and Disabling Triggers

Each trigger can be easily enabled or disabled using the toggle switch:

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/enterprise/trigger-selected.png" alt="Enable or disable triggers with toggle" />
</Frame>

- **Enabled (blue toggle)**: The trigger is active and will automatically execute your deployment when the specified events occur
- **Disabled (gray toggle)**: The trigger is inactive and will not respond to events

Simply click the toggle to change the trigger state. Changes take effect immediately.

### Monitoring Trigger Executions

Track the performance and history of your triggered executions:

<Frame>
  <img src="/images/enterprise/list-executions.png" alt="List of executions triggered by automation" />
</Frame>

## Building Automation

Before building your automation, it's helpful to understand the structure of trigger payloads that your crews and flows will receive.

### Payload Samples Repository

We maintain a comprehensive repository with sample payloads from various trigger sources to help you build and test your automations:

**🔗 [CrewAI Enterprise Trigger Payload Samples](https://github.com/crewAIInc/crewai-enterprise-trigger-payload-samples)**

This repository contains:

- **Real payload examples** from different trigger sources (Gmail, Google Drive, etc.)
- **Payload structure documentation** showing the format and available fields

### Triggers with Crew

Your existing crew definitions work seamlessly with triggers, you just need to have a task to parse the received payload:

```python
@CrewBase
class MyAutomatedCrew:
    @agent
    def researcher(self) -> Agent:
        return Agent(
            config=self.agents_config['researcher'],
        )

    @task
    def parse_trigger_payload(self) -> Task:
        return Task(
            config=self.tasks_config['parse_trigger_payload'],
            agent=self.researcher(),
        )

    @task
    def analyze_trigger_content(self) -> Task:
        return Task(
            config=self.tasks_config['analyze_trigger_data'],
            agent=self.researcher(),
        )
```

The crew will automatically receive and can access the trigger payload through the standard CrewAI context mechanisms.

<Note>
  Crew and Flow inputs can include `crewai_trigger_payload`. CrewAI automatically injects this payload:
  - Tasks: appended to the first task's description by default ("Trigger Payload: {crewai_trigger_payload}")
  - Control via `allow_crewai_trigger_context`: set `True` to always inject, `False` to never inject
  - Flows: any `@start()` method that accepts a `crewai_trigger_payload` parameter will receive it
</Note>

### Integration with Flows

For flows, you have more control over how trigger data is handled:

#### Accessing Trigger Payload

All `@start()` methods in your flows will accept an additional parameter called `crewai_trigger_payload`:

```python
from crewai.flow import Flow, start, listen

class MyAutomatedFlow(Flow):
    @start()
    def handle_trigger(self, crewai_trigger_payload: dict = None):
        """
        This start method can receive trigger data
        """
        if crewai_trigger_payload:
            # Process the trigger data
            trigger_id = crewai_trigger_payload.get('id')
            event_data = crewai_trigger_payload.get('payload', {})

            # Store in flow state for use by other methods
            self.state.trigger_id = trigger_id
            self.state.trigger_type = event_data

            return event_data

        # Handle manual execution
        return None

    @listen(handle_trigger)
    def process_data(self, trigger_data):
        """
        Process the data from the trigger
        """
        # ... process the trigger
```

#### Triggering Crews from Flows

When kicking off a crew within a flow that was triggered, pass the trigger payload as it:

```python
@start()
def delegate_to_crew(self, crewai_trigger_payload: dict = None):
    """
    Delegate processing to a specialized crew
    """
    crew = MySpecializedCrew()

    # Pass the trigger payload to the crew
    result = crew.crew().kickoff(
        inputs={
            'a_custom_parameter': "custom_value",
            'crewai_trigger_payload': crewai_trigger_payload
        },
    )

    return result
```

## Troubleshooting

**Trigger not firing:**
- Verify the trigger is enabled
- Check integration connection status

**Execution failures:**
- Check the execution logs for error details
- If you are developing, make sure the inputs include the `crewai_trigger_payload` parameter with the correct payload

Automation triggers transform your CrewAI deployments into responsive, event-driven systems that can seamlessly integrate with your existing business processes and tools.