About Triggers

Triggers enable you to execute workflows automatically in response to specific events on your machine, such as file system changes, hotkey presses, or incoming emails. This allows you to orchestrate and automate execution without manual intervention.

The Event Trigger system consists of two primary components:

• Event Trigger Manager - The desktop user interface used to create, edit, enable, disable, and delete triggers.
• Event Trigger Server - The background process that monitors configured events and dispatches the associated workflow when conditions are met.

Typical use cases:

• Executing an invoice-processing workflow when a new file is saved to a shared directory.
• Launching a data-entry workflow when a specific hotkey combination is pressed.
• Processing incoming emails that match specified criteria automatically.
• Reacting when a specific application window opens or closes.
• Starting recovery workflows when a Windows service stops unexpectedly.

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Launching Event Trigger Manager

The Event Trigger Manager can be launched either from akaBot Studio or directly from the Windows Start Menu. The application executable is located at:

C:\Program Files\FPT Software\akaBot Platform\EventTriggerManager.exe

When started, the Event Trigger Manager automatically loads existing trigger configurations from the local settings file, triggerSettings.json, which is stored in:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\akaBot\

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User Interface Overview

The main application window, Desktop Trigger Manager, is divided into two main areas: the Ribbon Toolbar at the top and the Trigger List panel below.

Ribbon Toolbar

The ribbon toolbar groups actions on the Home tab:

Group	Control	Description
New Trigger	Drop-down Menu	Lists available trigger types (File, Folder, Hotkey, Email, Process, Service, Window, Interface). Select a type to launch the trigger creation wizard.
Manage	Edit, Enable, Disable, Delete	Performs actions on the currently selected trigger in the list.
Server	Refresh	Syncs the current configurations with the Event Trigger background server to apply changes immediately.
Action	Local Mode Toggle	Toggles execution between Local Mode and Center Mode.
Language	Drop-down Menu	Sets the application display language (English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese).

Trigger List

The main data grid displays all configured triggers:

Column	Description
Enabled	A toggle switch to active or deactivate the trigger without deleting its settings.
Name	The unique identifier assigned to the trigger.
Type	The category of event being monitored (e.g., File, Hotkey).
Description	User-defined details about the trigger purpose.

Double-clicking any row (or selecting a row and clicking Edit Trigger) opens the trigger settings wizard.

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Managing Triggers

Creating a Trigger

1. Click the New Trigger drop-down menu in the ribbon.
2. Select the desired trigger type.
3. In the Trigger Wizard, configure settings across the three tabs: Basic Info, Detail, and Action.

Step 1: Basic Info

Field	Required	Description
Trigger Name	Yes	A unique identifier for the trigger (maximum 50 characters).
Trigger Description	No	Optional details about the trigger (maximum 250 characters).

Step 2: Trigger Detail

Configure the specific conditions for the selected event type. For detailed property descriptions, see Trigger Types.

Step 3: Action

Define the operation performed when the trigger conditions are met.

Field	Required	Description
Action Type	Yes	Select Workflow to run an akaBot process, or None to register the event without executing a process.
Workflow	Yes (if Action Type is Workflow)	Select the published workflow to execute from the list of available processes.
Workflow Arguments	No	Pass custom variables or system-generated parameters to the workflow at runtime (see Using Workflow Arguments).

Click OK to save the configuration and register the trigger.

Editing a Trigger

1. Select the target trigger from the list.
2. Click Edit Trigger in the ribbon or double-click the row.
3. Modify the properties in the Trigger Wizard and click OK to save changes.

Enabling and Disabling Triggers

You can change the active state of a trigger in two ways:

• Use the toggle in the Enabled column of the grid.
• Select the trigger and click Enable Trigger or Disable Trigger in the ribbon.

Note: Disabling a trigger retains its configuration but suspends the background server from monitoring the associated events.

Deleting a Trigger

1. Select the trigger from the list.
2. Click Delete Trigger in the ribbon.
3. Confirm deletion in the confirmation dialog.

Caution: Trigger deletion is permanent and cannot be undone.

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Refreshing the Trigger Server

The background server automatically refreshes its configuration when triggers are created, edited, enabled, disabled, or deleted.

If you suspect the background service is out of sync, click Refresh in the Server group of the ribbon to manually restart the service with the latest settings.

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Local Mode vs Center Mode

The execution target of the triggered workflow is controlled by the Local Mode toggle in the ribbon.

Mode	Description
Center Mode (Toggle Off)	Dispatches execution jobs to akaBot Center, which assigns them to an available robot. This is the default mode when connected to a server.
Local Mode (Toggle On)	Runs the workflow directly on the local machine without routing through akaBot Center.

Note: If the robot agent is disconnected from akaBot Center, Local Mode is enabled automatically, and the toggle is disabled.

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Trigger History

To review execution history, edit the trigger and select the History tab in the wizard. The grid lists every instance the trigger was fired. Selecting a row displays detailed logs in the Details pane.

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Trigger Types

File Trigger

Monitors file events in a specified directory.

Field	Required	Description
Monitoring Folder	Yes	The directory path to monitor. Use the ellipsis (...) button to browse.
Include Subfolders	No	Enables monitoring of all child directories within the target folder.
Event	Yes	The file operations to monitor (Created, Changed, Deleted, Renamed). At least one must be selected.
File Filter	Yes	A wild card pattern to filter target files (e.g., *.xlsx, *.pdf, invoice_*.*).

Folder Trigger

Monitors directory-level changes within a specified parent folder.

Field	Required	Description
Monitoring Folder	Yes	The directory path to monitor.
Include Subfolders	No	Enables monitoring of nested child directories.
Event	Yes	The directory operations to monitor (Created, Changed, Deleted, Renamed).

Hotkey Trigger

Fires when a designated keyboard shortcut is pressed.

Field	Required	Description
Modifier	No	Keyboard modifiers to combine with the trigger key (Alt, Ctrl, Shift, Win).
Key	Yes	The primary key from the drop-down list.

Email Trigger

Fires when a new email matching configured rules arrives in the monitored inbox.

Field	Required	Description
Email Protocol	Yes	Select IMAP or POP3.
Host	Yes	The address of the mail server (e.g., imap.gmail.com).
Port	Yes	The port number (e.g., 993 for SSL/TLS IMAP).
Use SSL	No	Enables secure connection protocols.
Credential	Yes	The stored username and password profile for the mail account.
Interval	Yes	The polling frequency in seconds.
Mail Folder	No	The specific folder to monitor (defaults to INBOX).
From	No	Filters emails by sender email address.
Subject Contains	No	Filters emails by a string match in the subject line.
Attachment	No	Filters based on attachment status (Both, With Attachment, or Without Attachment).

Process Trigger

Monitors the state of specific Windows processes.

Field	Required	Description
File Path	No	The absolute file path to the executable file.
Process Name	Yes	The name of the process (supports regular expressions).
On Start	No	Triggers when the process launches.
On Stop	No	Triggers when the process terminates.

Service Trigger

Monitors state transitions of Windows background services.

Field	Required	Description
Service Name	Yes	The name of the Windows service (supports regular expressions).
On Start	No	Triggers when the service state changes to Started.
On Stop	No	Triggers when the service state changes to Stopped.
On Pause	No	Triggers when the service state changes to Paused.
On Resume	No	Triggers when the service resumes from a paused state.

Window Trigger

Fires based on window events for desktop applications.

Field	Required	Description
File Path	No	The absolute path to the application executable.
Window Title	Yes	The title string of the target window (supports wildcard characters).
On Open	No	Triggers when the target window opens.
On Close	No	Triggers when the target window closes.

Interface Trigger

Monitors user interactions with specific UI elements.

Field	Required	Description
Pick Element	Yes	Launches the element selector overlay. Hover and click to capture the target control. Press Escape to exit.
Selector	Yes	The generated XML selector string uniquely identifying the UI element. Can be edited manually.
Event	Yes	The UI event to monitor (Click, Selection Changed, Got Focus, Lost Focus).
Modifier	No	Optional modifier keys required to fire the event.

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Using Workflow Arguments

When configuring a workflow action, you can pass parameters from the trigger event to the workflow variables. Click New under the Arguments table to add a parameter mapping.

The following system-defined variables are supported:

Variable	Description
${TriggerOutput}	Returns the output payload of the event (e.g., the file path for File triggers, directory path for Folder triggers, or the email object for Email triggers).
${TriggerType}	Returns the category identifier of the trigger (e.g., File, Hotkey, Email).