Workflow Triggers

Triggers determine when your workflow runs. Choose the trigger that matches your automation goal.

Triggers cannot be changed after creating a workflow. Make sure to select the right one for your use case.

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On a Schedule

Run workflows at specific times on specific days — perfect for recurring reminders, weekly updates, or standup prompts.

Configuration

Setting	Description
Days	Select one or more days (Monday through Sunday)
Time	Choose the hour (messages send shortly after the selected time)
Timezone	Select your timezone for accurate scheduling

Available Variables

Variable	Description
{{channel}}	References the target channel

Example Use Cases

• Send a weekly team update every Monday at 9:00 AM

• Post daily standup reminders at 9:30 AM on weekdays

• Send end-of-week summaries every Friday at 4:00 PM

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User Joins Channel

Automatically trigger when someone joins one of your specified channels — ideal for onboarding, welcome messages, or channel-specific introductions.

Configuration

Setting	Description
Channels	Select one or more channels to monitor

Available Variables

Variable	Description
{{user}}	Mentions the user who joined
{{channel}}	References the channel they joined

Example Use Cases

• Welcome new hires when they join #new-employees

• Send channel guidelines when someone joins #support

• Introduce team norms when someone joins a project channel

Behavior Notes

• Triggers every time someone joins (no duplicate prevention by default)

• Use re-enrollment settings to control repeat triggers

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Channel Meets Criteria

Trigger workflows when you're added to new channels that match specific rules — powerful for scaling communication across dynamic or auto-created channels.

Configuration

Setting	Description
Metric	What to check (e.g., Channel Name, Channel Purpose, Channel Topic)
Operator	How to match: Contains, Starts With, Ends With
Value	The text to match against
Filter Logic	AND (all rules must match) or OR (any rule can match)

Available Variables

Variable	Description
{{channel}}	References the matching channel

Example Use Cases

• Post project guidelines when added to channels starting with proj-

• Share customer success resources in channels containing customer

• Add onboarding info to channels ending with -onboarding

Example Configuration

Trigger when channel name starts with proj-

This would match channels like #proj-alpha, #proj-website-redesign, #proj-q1-launch.

Behavior Notes

• Only triggers once per channel per workflow (duplicate prevention built-in)

• Great for workspaces with auto-created or templated channels

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Form Submission

Trigger when someone submits a Threadly form — great for automating responses, routing requests, or updating external systems.

Configuration

Setting	Description
Form	Select which form triggers the workflow
Filters (optional)	Add conditions based on form field values

Filter Options

Operator	Description
Equals	Field value exactly matches
Contains	Field value contains the text
Greater Than	Field value is greater than (for numbers)
Less Than	Field value is less than (for numbers)

Combine multiple filters with AND (all must match) or OR (any can match).

Available Variables

Variable	Description
{{user}}	The person who submitted the form
{{field_name}}	Any form field value (use the field's internal name)

Example Use Cases

• Send a confirmation DM when someone submits a feedback form

• Notify managers when a time-off request is marked "Urgent"

• Route support tickets based on the selected category

• Update HubSpot when a lead capture form is submitted

Example Configuration

Trigger when the "Priority" field equals Urgent

This filters the workflow to only run for urgent submissions.

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Message Posted

Trigger when messages are posted in specified channels — useful for monitoring activity or responding to specific keywords.

Configuration

Setting	Description
Channels	Select channels to monitor
Keywords (optional)	Only trigger on messages containing specific words (case-insensitive)

Available Variables

Variable	Description
{{user}}	The person who posted the message
{{channel}}	The channel where it was posted

Example Use Cases

• Alert a team when "urgent" is mentioned in #support

• Track when competitors are mentioned in sales channels

• Trigger follow-ups when specific product names appear

Behavior Notes

• Bot messages are automatically ignored

• Messages from the workflow creator are ignored

• Has a 60-minute cooldown per channel to prevent spam

• Cooldown is channel-based, not user-based

This trigger may require a feature flag to be enabled for your workspace.

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Trigger Comparison

Trigger	Best For	Key Variables	Cooldown Behavior
On a Schedule	Recurring reminders, updates	{{channel}}	N/A
User Joins Channel	Onboarding, welcome messages	{{user}}, {{channel}}	Per-user (configurable)
Channel Meets Criteria	Scaling across dynamic channels	{{channel}}	Per-channel (automatic)
Form Submission	Automating form responses	{{user}}, form fields	Per-user (configurable)
Message Posted	Monitoring, keyword responses	{{user}}, {{channel}}	Per-channel (60 min)

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