Triggers and Automations

Enable an agent, run it now, and trigger it on a schedule or from a webhook with automations

Once an agent is enabled, it can run without anyone pressing a button. People reach it through chat, channels and the Agent API; automations run it on a schedule or when another system calls a webhook.

Trigger	How it starts a run	Set up in
Chat	A message in Chat	Nothing to set up
Test run	Runs your unpublished draft	Agent Builder
Run now	Fires a saved automation once, on demand	Automations tab
Schedule	Fires an automation once at a set time, or on repeat	Automations tab
Webhook	Fires an automation when another system POSTs to its URL	Automations tab
Channels	A Slack, Teams or Discord mention, an email, a Linear issue, a public chat link	Channels
Agent API	Your code sends a message to the agent	Agent API

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Enable or disable an agent

An agent runs only while it is Enabled. The status pill at the top of the agent page shows Enabled or Disabled; click it to switch.

• Publishing from the Agent Builder enables the agent.
• Disabling stops it everywhere: chat, API calls, public links, email, chat apps, rooms and automations. Building and Test run in the builder keep working. Turn it back on to resume.

Only the Admin and Builder roles can enable or disable an agent.

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Automations

An automation is a saved invocation of the agent: a prompt, the triggers that fire it, and where its results go. Every firing is a real run of the agent, and each run starts a new conversation.

Create an automation

1. Open the Automations tab

   On the agent page, open Automations and click New Automation.

2. Name it and write the prompt

   Give it a Name (for example “Morning digest”) and describe the task under What should it do?, for example: “Summarize last week’s new leads and flag anything unusual.”

3. Add triggers

   Under Triggers, click Add trigger and pick Scheduled or Webhook. Add as many schedules as you need, plus one webhook. With no triggers, the automation runs only when someone presses Run now.

4. Choose where results go

   Open Advanced settings to pick Destinations, and optionally the Model, Run as identity and Max concurrent runs. The editor summarizes the choice as Results go to: ….

5. Save

   Click Create. A webhook URL appears once the automation is saved.

Setting	What it does
Destinations	Where each run’s result is posted: Web chat (a new private conversation in your Chat list, titled after the automation) and the Teams or Discord channels the agent’s chat apps operate in. See Channels.
Model	Overrides the agent’s default model for this automation. Blank uses the agent’s default, then the system default. An API-call model or a model pinned by the harness still takes precedence.
Run as	The API key that authenticates the run’s calls back into DataGen. The key’s owner is the run’s identity. Use account default picks your default key when the run is dispatched.
Max concurrent runs	How many runs of this automation can run at once.
Automation active	When off, none of its triggers fire, whatever their own state.

Run now

Every automation row on the Automations tab has a Run now button that fires it once immediately. Run now is available to the Operator, Builder and Admin roles.

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Schedules

A Scheduled trigger runs the automation at set times, in the Time zone you choose.

Frequency	Runs
Once	A single run at the Date and time you pick
Every hour	At the minute you pick, every hour
Every day	At the time you pick
Every weekday	Monday to Friday at the time you pick
Every week	On the day and time you pick
Custom (cron)	Any cron expression

Custom cron examples:

Schedule	Cron expression
Every day at 9 AM	0 9 * * *
Every Monday at 2 PM	0 14 * * 1
Weekdays at 8 AM	0 8 * * 1-5
Every 6 hours	0 */6 * * *

A paused schedule shows This schedule is paused. with a Resume button.

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Webhooks

A Webhook trigger gives the automation its own URL. Any system that can send an HTTP POST can run the agent: n8n, Make, Zapier, GitHub, meeting recorders, your own apps.

The URL has this shape, and the editor shows it with a Copy URL button under How to call this Automation:

https://api.datagen.dev/api/agents/<agent-name>/automations/<automation-id>/trigger

Protect the webhook

Under API key (Bearer token), click Generate to require callers to send Authorization: Bearer <key>. The key is shown once; DataGen stores only a hash, so save it immediately. Rotate issues a new key and stops the old one at once. Without a key, anyone with the URL can fire the webhook.

Max calls per hour limits how often the webhook can fire.

Use the payload in the prompt

The JSON body you POST is available to the prompt. Write {{ payload.foo }} in What should it do? to insert the request’s foo field:

Enrich the company {{ payload.domain }} and post a summary.

Call it and get the result

1. Trigger the run

   curl -X POST 'https://api.datagen.dev/api/agents/<agent-name>/automations/<automation-id>/trigger' \
     -H 'Authorization: Bearer <your-token>' \
     -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     -d '{"domain": "example.com"}'
   

   The response is 202 Accepted with { executionId, statusUrl }. The run starts asynchronously.

2. Poll for the result

   curl 'https://api.datagen.dev/api/agent/execution/<executionId>'
   

   Poll every 1-2 seconds until status is final. The agent’s answer is in result.content:

   {
     "executionId": "...",
     "status": "completed",
     "result": { "content": "<the agent's final answer>" },
     "startedAt": "...",
     "completedAt": "...",
     "durationMs": 10180
   }
   

Click Test fire in the editor to POST {} to the URL and confirm it is queued.

For a request-and-response conversation with an agent from your own code, use the Agent API instead of a webhook.

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Older repo-run automations

Some older automations use the one-shot repo run, which can commit and open pull requests (PR mode: Create PR, Auto Merge or Skip). The editor shows a notice on these with a Switch to conversation button. New automations always run as conversations.

A schedule did not fire

1. Check that the agent is Enabled.
2. Check that Automation active is on and the schedule is not paused.
3. Check the Time zone on the trigger.
4. Look for the run in Agent Logs, filtered by the Scheduled (Cron) trigger.

The webhook returns an error

• 401: the webhook has an API key. Send Authorization: Bearer <key>, or Rotate to get a new key if you lost it.
• 404: check the agent name and automation id in the URL, that Automation active is on, and that the automation has an active webhook trigger.
• 429: the webhook hit Max calls per hour, or you have too many queued or running runs. Retry after the time in the response.

Next

Channels

Reach the agent from Slack, Teams, Discord, email, web chat and public links

Versions and Logs

Roll back a version and inspect every run