Start Node
2 minute read
Overview
The Start node is the entry point for every workflow. It defines when the workflow executes and what data is available to downstream nodes. Every workflow must have exactly one Start node.
Trigger types
Configure the Start node to respond to one or more trigger types.
Monitors
Run the workflow when a monitor fires an alert.
To connect a monitor:
- Click Add Monitor to see the connection instructions
- Navigate to the monitor you want to connect
- In the monitor’s notifications section, type
@and select this workflow
The monitor’s alert data becomes available as variables for downstream nodes.
Connectors
Run the workflow when events arrive from a configured connector.
Select the connector and event type that should trigger the workflow. The available event types depend on which connectors are configured in your organization. See Connectors for setup instructions.
Example connector events:
| Connector | Example events |
|---|---|
| GitHub | PR created, PR merged, issue opened, deployment status changed |
| PagerDuty | Incident triggered, incident resolved, incident acknowledged |
| Slack | Message received, reaction added |
| CircleCI | Build completed, build failed |
| Sentry | Issue created, issue resolved |
| Linear | Issue created, issue updated |
| LaunchDarkly | Flag changed |
| Jenkins | Build completed |
| GitLab | Pipeline completed, merge request created |
The connector event payload becomes available as variables for downstream nodes.
Periodic run
Run the workflow on a recurring schedule.
Configure the schedule using a cron expression. Examples:
| Schedule | Cron expression |
|---|---|
| Every day at 9:00 AM | 0 9 * * * |
| Every 6 hours | 0 */6 * * * |
| Every Monday at 8:00 AM | 0 8 * * 1 |
| Every 15 minutes | */15 * * * * |
Periodic workflows are useful for:
- Scheduled health checks
- Regular report generation
- Periodic cleanup tasks
- AI-assisted periodic reviews — pair with a Start AI Conversation action to create interactive review threads (see the Periodic AI review pattern)
Manual execution
You can trigger any workflow manually using the Run Manual button in the workflow editor toolbar. This is useful for testing workflows or running ad-hoc automation.
Viewing run sources
The workflow list displays the run source for each execution, showing whether it was triggered:
- Manually
- By a periodic schedule
- By a monitor event
- By a connector event
Related resources
- Workflows Overview - Learn about workflow concepts and node types
- Connectors - Configure connectors for workflow triggers