Automation Triggers

A trigger is what starts a Workflow run or automation job. LenserFight supports four trigger types: manual, scheduled, event-based, and API. Each type has different guarantees, latency characteristics, and configuration requirements.

Manual triggers

A manual trigger starts a run immediately on demand. This is the default and is available for every Workflow.

# Run a workflow manually from the CLI
lf run workflow <workflow-slug>

# Provide root inputs at run time
lf run workflow <workflow-slug> \
  --input topic="AI in healthcare" \
  --input tone="formal"

# Run and stream results to stdout
lf run workflow <workflow-slug> --stream

Use when: you want to run a Workflow on demand, test a pipeline, or trigger a one-off task without setting up a schedule.

Scheduled triggers

A scheduled trigger fires on a cron expression. The scheduler creates a new run at each interval and passes a pre-configured set of root inputs.

# Create a scheduled trigger
lf schedule create \
  --workflow daily-digest \
  --cron "0 9 * * 1-5" \
  --timezone "Europe/Istanbul"

# List all scheduled triggers
lf schedule list

# Pause a schedule
lf schedule pause <schedule-id>

# Resume a schedule
lf schedule resume <schedule-id>

# Delete a schedule (does not delete the workflow)
lf schedule delete <schedule-id>

Cron syntax reference:

┌───── minute (0–59)
│ ┌───── hour (0–23)
│ │ ┌───── day of month (1–31)
│ │ │ ┌───── month (1–12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───── day of week (0–7, 0 and 7 = Sunday)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

Common examples:

Expression	Meaning
0 9 * * 1-5	Every weekday at 09:00
0 */6 * * *	Every 6 hours
0 0 1 * *	First day of each month at midnight
*/15 * * * *	Every 15 minutes

Use when: the task should run on a recurring, time-based schedule without manual intervention.

Event-based triggers

An event trigger fires when a specific platform event occurs. LenserFight emits events from user actions, workflow completions, and external webhooks.

Event type	Fires when
workflow.completed	A workflow run finishes successfully
workflow.failed	A workflow run fails after all retries
lens.published	A Lens is published to the directory
community.joined	A Lenser joins a community
webhook.received	An external HTTP POST arrives at your webhook endpoint

# Register a webhook endpoint
lf webhook create \
  --url https://your-service.com/hooks/lenserfight \
  --events workflow.completed,workflow.failed

# List registered webhooks
lf webhook list

# View recent webhook delivery logs
lf webhook logs <webhook-id>

Event triggers are configured in the Automation Workspace and can be chained: a workflow.completed event from Workflow A can trigger Workflow B automatically.

Use when: downstream actions should happen automatically in response to platform activity, without polling or manual intervention.

API triggers

An API trigger fires a Workflow run via a REST or CLI call from an external system. This is how SaaS integrations, CI pipelines, and third-party automations start runs on LenserFight.

# Trigger a run via the REST API
curl -X POST https://api.lenserfight.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "workflow_slug": "my-workflow",
    "inputs": {
      "topic": "product launch",
      "tone": "marketing"
    }
  }'

API triggers require an organisation token or personal access token with runs:write scope. They return a run_id that you can poll for status.

# Check run status via CLI
lf run status <run-id>

# Stream logs for a run in progress
lf run logs <run-id> --stream

Use when: an external system needs to initiate a workflow run — CI/CD pipelines, SaaS hooks, Zapier-style automations, or custom integrations.

Trigger comparison

Trigger	Latency	Recurring	External access	Config required
Manual	Immediate	No	No	None
Scheduled	Cron-based	Yes	No	Cron expression + inputs
Event	Near-real-time	Yes	Optional	Event type + subscription
API	Immediate	No (per call)	Yes	Token + endpoint

Related

• Scheduling — Full scheduling configuration and management
• Automation Workspace Overview — Product layers and workspace structure
• Workflow Concepts — DAG model, nodes, edges, and runs
• Platform API: Tokens — API token scopes and management