Triggers — What Can Start an Automation

Table of contents:

System events
Schedule
Webhook — external call
Manual run
Trigger comparison

A trigger is the first block of every workflow — the condition that tells the system "start now." Without a trigger, a workflow will never run.

In Sembot, you have four ways to start an automation:

System events

System events are situations that occur within Sembot or on connected platforms — for example, monitoring detects a campaign anomaly, a product feed reports an error, or a competitor's product price changes.

In practice, Sembot handles these events through two mechanisms:

1. Monitoring alert → task → workflow

When Sembot detects an anomaly (e.g., a sudden drop in visibility, a feed import error, or a cost threshold exceeded), the system automatically creates a task for the team. If an AI Job is assigned to that task, running the job can in turn trigger another workflow.

Flow:

[Monitoring alert] → [Create task] → [Run AI Job] → [Workflow]

2. External event → webhook → workflow

If an external platform (store, pricing system, advertising platform) can send HTTP notifications, you can configure it to trigger a workflow in Sembot immediately when the event occurs.

Examples of events that can be connected via webhook:

A product price change in an e-commerce system
Completion of a product feed import
A campaign's daily budget exceeded (if the platform sends alerts)
An order status change

📸 [SCREEN: AI Task trigger configuration — selecting the project and job category that should trigger the workflow]

Schedule

A schedule lets you run a workflow automatically at defined intervals — every hour, every few days, every week, every month, and other combinations.

How to configure the frequency:

The schedule form works on an interval basis: you enter a number and select a time unit from the list.

Unit	Example	Use case
hours	every 1 hour	Campaign monitoring throughout the day
days	every 1 day	Morning spend and performance report
weeks	every 1 week	Weekly summary for the manager
months	every 1 month	Monthly performance analysis

The field labeled "Repeat rule every:" — you enter a number (e.g., 2) and select a unit from the adjacent list (e.g., weeks). Result: the workflow runs every 2 weeks.

Additional configuration options:

Your time zone — select the time zone used to calculate the run time (e.g., Europe/Warsaw). Important for international campaigns.
Start date — the workflow will not start before the specified date.
End date — three options:
- Never ends — the workflow runs indefinitely
- A specified date — the schedule turns off automatically after that date
- After N occurrences — the workflow runs exactly as many times as you specify, then stops
On these days: (for the weeks unit) — check specific days of the week: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
On day (for the months unit) — options: First/Second/Third/Fourth/Last day of the month, or a specific date from the list

Configuration example — weekly report on Monday:

Repeat rule every:   1   weeks
On these days:       Mon
Time:                08:00
Your time zone:      Europe/Warsaw
End date:            Never ends

📸 [SCREEN: schedule configuration form — "Repeat rule every:" field with number and unit list, day-of-week section with checkboxes, time field and time zone]

Webhook — external call

A webhook is a unique URL generated by Sembot for a given workflow. When an external system sends an HTTP POST request to that address, the workflow starts immediately.

How it works:

You create a workflow with a Webhook trigger.
Sembot generates a unique URL for that workflow.
You paste that URL into the settings of an external system (e-commerce platform, marketing tool, or your own application).
From that point on, every call to that URL triggers the workflow.

What can be passed in a webhook:

The external system can include data with the call (e.g., the ID of the product whose price changed, or the content of an alert). Sembot can read that data and use it in subsequent workflow blocks — for example, fetching details for only that specific product instead of the entire catalog.

When to use a webhook instead of a schedule:

A schedule runs at fixed intervals — even if nothing has happened. A webhook reacts exactly when something occurs. If response time matters (e.g., an immediate alert after a feed error), a webhook is a better choice than a schedule set to run every 15 minutes.

📸 [SCREEN: Webhook trigger configuration — the generated URL ready to copy and a description of how to use it in an external system]

Manual run

Any workflow can be run manually — with a single click, without waiting for a trigger.

Where to do it:

From the editor — the "Run once" button in the top bar runs the workflow one time and shows the results in the Inspector panel on the right.
From the workflow list — click the workflow name to open the overview panel, then click the "Run now" button.

When it's worth running manually:

While creating and testing a new workflow — verify it works before activating it
When something happened on a one-off basis and you want to trigger the workflow outside the schedule (e.g., an urgent report outside the weekly cycle)
After fixing an error — re-run a workflow that previously failed

A manual run executes the workflow for real — actions (e.g., creating a task, sending an HTTP request) will actually execute. This is not a preview.

📸 [SCREEN: workflow overview panel with the "Run now" button and the "Activate" button]

Trigger comparison

	Schedule	Webhook	System event	Manual
When does it run?	At fixed intervals	Immediately upon call	When monitoring / AI Job fires	On user request
Requires external configuration?	No	Yes (URL connection)	Partially	No
Reacts to real-time events?	No	Yes	Yes	No
Best use case	Reports, recurring analyses	Integrations with external systems	Alerts, anomaly monitoring	Testing, one-off actions

Triggers — What Can Start an Automation ​

System events ​

Schedule ​

Webhook — external call ​