Triggers

Now that we’ve defined what we want the automation to do, let’s start placing the components. For the first step, we need to check the Google Sheets file every day, which means our automation should run on a daily schedule.

The first component in any automation is a Trigger Component, which determines when the automation will run. In our case, we want the automation to run regularly based on time.

A common and important use case for automations is handling repetitive tasks on a set schedule, allowing you to focus on more important work without interruptions. Monkedo provides the Schedule Trigger component for this purpose. In the automation editor, click on the Trigger category and select the Schedule Trigger, as shown below.

Once selected, drag and drop the component into the editor. When a component is placed in the editor, the Info Panel appears, displaying the component’s inputs. It’s important to review the inputs and set the necessary values. If an input is optional, you can either set it or leave it empty. The Schedule Trigger component has a key input called Schedule Type, where you choose the type of schedule you need. Click the input box in the Info Panel, and a list of options will appear.

Since we want the automation to run daily, select the Daily Schedule option. After choosing this, additional inputs will appear, allowing you to set the time of day and your time zone. These are required fields, so be sure to set them. For example, if you want tweets to be posted every day at 10 AM, set the time input to 10:00.

Once you’ve placed a component and set its inputs, you can test it to ensure it works as expected. Trigger components run when an event occurs. The way to run them is to click the Listen to Events button in the info panel (marked as 1 in the image below).

This will cause the trigger component to wait for events and display them in the editor. For most trigger components linked to other apps, you would perform an action in the app to generate an event that the automation could respond to. However, the Schedule Trigger does not wait for external events—it activates based on the schedule you set.

Since our trigger is set to run daily, waiting for the next scheduled time wouldn’t be practical, especially if you’re testing an automation set to run once per day. Fortunately, the Schedule Trigger has a special feature that allows you to create an event immediately by clicking the Run button on the component block (marked as 2 in the image above).

Click the Run button to manually trigger the component. The Info Panel will automatically switch to the Values tab, where you’ll see the output of the component. For trigger components, the output typically contains data related to the event. In the case of the Schedule Trigger, it will provide the date and time when the component was activated, as shown below.

What’s Next?

We placed and set the first component of our automation, a Trigger Component. In the next article, we will place the next component and learn about another component type.