Schedule Trigger

Automate workflows on recurring schedules using visual rules or standard cron expressions.

1. Operational Mechanics

The Schedule Trigger executes your workflows automatically at specified time intervals. It is fully managed by our background runner, supporting timezone offsets to ensure executions match your business hours.

2. Dual-Mode Builder Configuration

Double-click the Schedule Trigger node on the canvas to open settings. You can switch between two interface modes:

Visual Builder Mode

Quickly construct schedules using dropdown selections:

  • Interval: Every Minute, Every Hour, Every Day, Every Week, or Every Month.
  • Specific Time: Choose the hour and minute (e.g. 09:30).
  • Days List: Check active weekdays (Mon - Sun).
  • Month Date: Choose a monthly day (1 - 31).

Custom Expression Mode

Input a standard 5-part cron pattern (Minute, Hour, Day of Month, Month, Day of Week). Example expression:

0 9 * * 1-5

This resolves to: "At 09:00 AM, Monday through Friday."

3. Built-In Presets

Save time by selecting one of our pre-built scheduling shortcuts inside the node settings panel:

Preset LabelCron PatternDescription
Every minute* * * * *Fires once per minute. Useful for high-frequency checks.
Every 5 minutes*/5 * * * *Runs at minute marks divisible by 5.
Every hour0 * * * *Fires at the start of every hour.
Every day at 9am0 9 * * *Daily recurring task at 09:00 AM.
Every weekday 9am0 9 * * 1-5Runs Monday through Friday. Great for work hours sync.
First of month0 0 1 * *Fires at midnight on the first day of each calendar month.

4. Timezones & Active State

Timezone Alignment

By default, all schedules evaluate in UTC. You can change this behavior via the **Timezone** dropdown:

  • Supports standard offsets (e.g. Asia/Kolkata, America/New_York, Europe/London).
  • Automatically calculates daylight savings shift values to keep triggers aligned to local times.

Activating vs. Pausing

After configuring your schedule trigger, click **Save Schedule**. You must then toggle the state to Activate. If paused, the cron runner ignores the trigger events.

5. Output Context Variables

When the trigger fires, the following data context is injected into your workflow:

json
{
  "schedule": {
    "firedAt": "2026-06-04T01:18:46.000Z",
    "workflowId": "wf_sec_90812"
  }
}
Variable BindingDescription
{{schedule.firedAt}}The ISO timestamp of the trigger run event.
{{schedule.workflowId}}The ID of the current executing workflow.
{{json schedule}}Serializes the schedule trigger object data.

6. Real-World Execution Examples

Example 1: Daily CRM Sync & Backup (Daily 9am)

Ensure customer records from Notion are backed up into Google Sheets daily at start of business.

  • Set Schedule Trigger to **Every Day** at Hour: 09 Minute: 00.
  • Connect a **Notion Node** set to **Read Database** to retrieve active customer records.
  • Connect a **Loop Node** iterating over Notion results.
  • Within the loop, add a **Google Sheets Node** appending the contact rows.

Example 2: Weekly Invoicing Report Dispatch (Mondays 9am)

Query your payment gateway (Razorpay) for payouts and compile a report email for the finance department.

  • Set Schedule Trigger to **Every Week** checking **Mon** at Hour: 09 Minute: 00.
  • Connect a **Razorpay Node** set to **List Payouts** (filtering payouts from the past week).
  • Add a **Code Node** formatting payouts into an HTML summary table.
  • Add a **Gmail Node** sending the summary email to [email protected].

Example 3: 5-Minute API Endpoint Health Ping

Build a custom server monitoring tool checking system health status endpoints every 5 minutes.

  • Set Schedule Trigger to preset **Every 5 minutes** (*/5 * * * *).
  • Add an **HTTP Request Node** pointing to your microservice: https://api.company.in/health.
  • Add an **If/Else Node** checking: {{httpRequest.statusCode}} **Not Equals** 200.
  • Connect the **true** branch to a **Slack Node** to dispatch urgent developer notifications.
Webhook TriggerRazorpay Trigger