Skip to main content

What are triggers?

Agent triggers
A Trigger is an event that automatically starts an Agent, transforming it from an on-demand tool into a proactive agent running in the background. You can set up Triggers to run Agents based on a schedule, specific events in your other software, or incoming webhooks.
A Trigger is not required if you only plan to run an Agent manually.

Organize triggers with tags

Use trigger tags to label related triggers by team, workflow, customer, or purpose. Tags are shared across your workspace and can be created, renamed, recolored, or deleted from the tag picker on any trigger. On the main Triggers page, use the Tags section in the sidebar to filter the list. Selecting more than one tag shows triggers that have any selected tag.

How to create triggers

All trigger types include a Timeout setting. Choose 15, 30, 60, or 120 minutes, or choose Uncapped for runs that should not stop automatically. If you do not change this setting, Realm stops a trigger run after 60 minutes.

Based on a schedule

Schedule-based trigger
This trigger runs an Agent on a recurring, time-based interval. You can set it to run hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly. Example: An Agent could run every morning at 8 AM, scan your calendar for the day’s meetings, gather recent news and background information on the attendees and their companies, and deliver a concise briefing document.

Based on a knowledge event

Event-based trigger
This trigger runs an Agent automatically when synced knowledge changes in one of your connected systems. Use it when the Agent should react to new or updated records, documents, messages, tickets, calls, CRM objects, or activities. When you create a knowledge-event trigger, you define what starts the Agent, where it happens, and under what conditions. The configuration options are:
  • Source: The connected application where the event originates, such as Gong, Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Google Drive, Jira, or Zendesk. Only connected sources are shown.
  • Trigger when: The item type and change type that starts the Agent. Realm builds these options from the selected source’s supported content types, such as Opportunity updated, Deal updated, Ticket created, Call created, Thread created, or Thread reply added.
  • Filter conditions (optional): Rules that control precisely when the Agent runs.
    • If: Set conditions based on the changed item. For example, only run the Agent when an Opportunity’s Stage changes to Closed Won, when an Owner field is not empty, or when a call’s duration is longer than 10 minutes.
    • Folder or Channel: Restrict the trigger to a specific folder, channel, or similar location within the source application. Slack triggers require a channel. Other sources can usually be left unrestricted.

Options of the Trigger when field

After you select a Source, Realm shows the event options available for that source. Each option pairs a supported item type with the event that can start the Agent:
PatternMeaningExample options
Item createdA new item of that type was syncedOpportunity created, Deal created, Call created
Item updatedAn existing item of that type changedOpportunity updated, Deal updated, Ticket updated
Item reply added or Item activity addedA new reply, comment, or activity was added to an existing parent itemThread reply added, Opportunity activity added, Deal activity added
Some item types only support updated events, so you may not see both created and updated for every item type. Salesforce also includes shortcuts such as Task created and Event created for activity-style automation. For CRM automation, look for the CRM object in this menu rather than a separate generic event name. For example, a Salesforce Opportunity change is configured with Source = Salesforce and Trigger when = Opportunity updated. A HubSpot deal change is configured with Source = HubSpot and Trigger when = Deal updated.

Conditions on updated events

Updated events require at least one Filter condition. The Agent runs only when a condition field changed and the new value matches the condition. For example, to run when a Salesforce Opportunity is moved to Closed Won:
  • Source: Salesforce
  • Trigger when: Opportunity updated
  • Filter condition: If Stage equals Closed Won
This means the Agent runs when the Opportunity’s Stage field changes to Closed Won. It does not run for every unrelated edit to the Opportunity. Filter conditions can match a specific value, exclude a value, check whether text contains a value, match any value from a list, or check whether a field is empty or not empty. Created and reply/activity-added events can be left without conditions. If you leave them unrestricted, the Agent runs for every new matching item in the selected Source and folder or channel. Example: Analyze a Gong call transcript Goal: Automatically summarize every new sales call, identify mentioned competitors, and extract action items.
  • Source: Gong
  • Trigger when: Call created
  • Agent action: The Agent receives the call transcript, summarizes it, searches for competitor names against a predefined list, and sends a summary with action items to a specific Slack channel.
Example: Automate CRM updates Goal: When a deal is marked as “Closed Won” in Salesforce, automatically fill in a “Win Reason” field based on recent call notes and emails.
  • Source: Salesforce
  • Trigger when: Opportunity updated
  • Filter: If Stage equals Closed Won
  • Agent action: The Agent gathers context from recent activities, generates a concise “Win Reason”, and updates the corresponding field in Salesforce.
Example: React to a new CRM activity Goal: When a task or event is added to a Salesforce Opportunity, summarize what changed and notify the account owner.
  • Source: Salesforce
  • Trigger when: Opportunity activity added, Task created, or Event created, depending on the activity you want to catch
  • Filter: Optional, such as If Reply Type equals Task
  • Agent action: The Agent reads the Opportunity context and the new activity, then sends a Slack message to the owner.
Example: Sync Salesforce Opportunities to Google Sheets Goal: Keep a Google Sheet up to date when relevant Salesforce Opportunities are created or updated. Set up the Agent with these pieces:
  • Add Salesforce as knowledge or as a tool, depending on whether the Agent only needs synced CRM context or also needs to run live Salesforce actions.
  • Add the Google Sheets tool and enable the read and write actions the Agent needs.
  • Make sure the spreadsheet is selected with Google Picker before the Agent writes to it. See Updating Google Sheets for the detailed setup.
  • Set write actions to Ask while testing. Change them to On only after the Agent reliably writes the right rows and values.
  • Use preset parameters for stable values the Agent should not choose, such as the Spreadsheet ID and a fixed sheet or range pattern.
  • Let the Agent fill dynamic values, such as the row to update and the cell values, when those depend on the triggered Opportunity or the current sheet contents.
Then create a trigger:
  • Source: Salesforce
  • Trigger when: Opportunity created or Opportunity updated
  • Filter: Add conditions for the changes you care about, such as If Stage equals Proposal or If ARR Growth is greater than 100000.
  • Agent instructions: Tell the Agent to read the triggered Opportunity, check whether that Salesforce Opportunity ID already exists in the sheet, then update that row or add a new row.
Use a stable unique key, such as the Salesforce Opportunity ID, to match CRM records to spreadsheet rows. Names can change and are not always unique.
Event triggers react to future create, update, and activity events as Realm syncs them. They do not bulk-import every existing CRM record. For an initial backfill, run an Agent manually or on a schedule and instruct it to search Salesforce for the records to add before the event trigger handles future changes.

Based on a webhook

Webhook-based trigger
This trigger runs an Agent when it receives an HTTP request from an external system. This is a powerful way to integrate with internal tools or any third-party platform that can send webhooks, even if it doesn’t have a direct integration with Realm. To set up a webhook trigger:
  1. Select trigger type: Choose “Based on a webhook” when creating your trigger.
  2. Copy the webhook URL: Realm will generate a unique URL for this trigger. Copy this URL.
  3. Configure the external system: Paste the copied URL into the webhook configuration section of the external tool you want to trigger the Agent from.
  4. Choose authentication (optional): Select an authentication method to secure your webhook and ensure only authorized systems can trigger your Agent.
Example: A “Contact Us” form on your website could send a webhook to Realm for each new submission. An Agent could then analyze the submission, create a new lead in your CRM, and notify the appropriate sales representative in Slack.

Run history and monitoring

Trigger run history and monitoring
You can monitor a trigger from the Agents > Triggers list and from the trigger’s detail page. In the list view, each trigger shows its Last run and Status, which makes it easy to scan whether a trigger is active and when it last ran.

Trigger details page

Trigger details page
On the trigger detail page, the Execution history section shows individual runs for that trigger. Each run includes the run time, the trigger type shown as Scheduled run, and a Completed status.

What you can see

  • Trigger status in the list view, such as Active
  • Last run in the list view
  • Execution history on the trigger detail page
  • Configured timeout on the trigger detail page
  • Run status for each execution, such as Completed or Timed out

Why it is useful

Use run history to:
  • Confirm that a trigger is firing as expected
  • Check when the trigger last ran
  • Review whether recent executions completed successfully
  • Track trigger activity over time
  • Manually run a trigger with its normal input, a selected document, a webhook payload, or raw text input when testing

Monitoring tips

  • After creating a trigger, check its Status and Last run in the list view to confirm it is active and running
  • Open the trigger detail page to review Execution history
  • Use the history table to verify that scheduled runs are completing as expected

Troubleshooting a trigger

If a trigger does not run as expected:
  • Confirm the trigger is enabled
  • Check that the trigger conditions are correct
  • Verify that the source system is sending the event or webhook
  • Review the most recent run history for errors or skipped runs
Run history gives you visibility into how your Agents behave over time, making it easier to monitor, debug, and trust automated workflows.