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Trigger types reference

Every event Atender can trigger an automation on, grouped by the type of context it gives the rule (conversation, tag, case, SLA, schedule, business hours).

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Trigger types reference

Every automation has exactly one trigger. The trigger sets the type of context the rest of the rule works with — a conversation event gives you the conversation, contact, channel, and message; a case event gives you the case; a schedule event gives you a snapshot of everything matching the criteria.

This reference lists every trigger Atender supports, grouped by event type.

Conversation events

  • Conversation created — A new conversation is opened on any channel
  • Message received — A new inbound message arrives on an existing conversation
  • Status changed — Conversation moves between statuses — active, snoozed, done, archived
  • Agent assigned — An agent is set or reassigned on a conversation
  • Team assigned — A customer service team is set or reassigned
  • Channel updated — Conversation moves to a different channel (e.g. chat → email handoff)
  • Customer level changed — Contact’s customer tier changes (e.g. promoted to VIP)

Tag events

  • Tag added — Any tag — or a specific tag if you filter in conditions — is applied to a conversation
  • Tag removed — A tag is removed

Case events

  • Case created — A new case is opened
  • Case stage changed — Case moves between workflow stages
  • Case closed — Case is marked closed
  • Case reopened — A previously closed case is reopened
  • Case priority changed — Priority is set or changed

SLA events

  • SLA at risk — A target is approaching its deadline (configurable lead time)
  • SLA breached — A target’s deadline has passed without being met
  • SLA resolved — A target is met before breach

Schedule events

Cron-style time-based triggers. Useful for nightly cleanup, weekly digests, recurring outbound batches.

  • Schedule — “Every weekday at 09:00”, “Every day at 02:00”, “First of the month at 06:00”

A schedule trigger evaluates against historical data at run time — it gives the rule a snapshot of every conversation/case currently matching its conditions, then runs the action sequence against each one.

Business hours events

  • Business hours opened — The transition from outside-hours to inside-hours, per the opening hours for the workspace
  • Business hours closed — The transition from inside-hours to outside-hours

Picking the right trigger

The most common mistake is picking Conversation created when you actually want Message received. The first only fires once per conversation; the second fires on every inbound message. If your automation needs to react to ongoing back-and-forth (auto-tag based on content, escalate on a keyword, etc.), use Message received.

For after-hours auto-replies, prefer using Message received with a schedule restriction set to “outside business hours” rather than the Business hours closed trigger — the latter only fires on the transition itself, not on each message that arrives while closed.

See also

Tags

Reference
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