---
sourceDocument: Australia Enable AI
sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/intelligent-experiences

 Release :

    - australia

ft:locale :

    - en-US

ft:publication_title :

    - Australia Enable AI

ft:clusterId :

    - platai

bundleId :

    - platai

workflow :

    - Platform


---

# Add a trigger

# Add a trigger to an agentic workflow {#ariaid-title1}

Release version: Australia  
Updated July 21, 2026  
![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 minutes to read  
In the guided setup for an agentic workflow, add triggers to run the agentic workflow automatically when certain conditions are met.

## Before you begin

Role required: sn_aia.admin

## About this task

Adding a trigger is optional. If you want your agentic workflow to be used only in chats such as in ServiceNow Otto for Virtual Agent or ServiceNow Otto panel, you don't need to add a trigger. Only add a trigger if you want to invoke the agentic workflow automatically when some event occurs.  
Note:  
Triggers contain instance-specific information. If you're moving AI agents or agentic workflows between instances using Update Sets, you must set the triggers to inactive before adding them to the update sets and then activate them on the new instance.

If you don't want to add a trigger, skip to the final step, [Select channels and access](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Xjl_5TutJf1M~TVoliRBXw "In the guided setup for an agentic workflow, activate the agentic workflow to use in the ServiceNow Otto panel or UI actions in the Core UI and workspaces.").

## Procedure

1. Select Add trigger.
2. On the form, fill in the fields.  
   {#add-trigger-aw__entry__2}

   | Fields | Description |
   |-|-|
   | Select trigger | List of triggers that are available in the instance. |
   | Name | Name of the trigger. |
   | Trigger objective | Additional user statements or sample utterances that help guide when to trigger this agentic workflow. |
   [Table 1. Create a trigger]

   {#add-trigger-aw__entry__10}

   | Fields | Description |
   |-|-|
   | Table | Name of the applicable table for your agentic workflow. |
   | Conditions | Conditions that you can add to control the trigger configuration. You must have at least one condition. Select + Add condition set to add conditions to your agentic workflow trigger. |
   | Active trigger toggle | Only enable the trigger once you're confident in the execution of your agentic workflow. Try testing the [agentic workflow execution](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/baKtFNhlJsMa26MSHYAVqg "Test your agentic workflow in AI Agent Studio to analyze how it functions while it executes the instructions that you defined.") and [user access](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/08sRjdHMCCuuBLnih199FQ "Run a manual test to verify that only the users you want to access the agentic workflow can do so.") first. To review overall trends over many executions, try an [automated evaluation](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/FVbxxoeAAPQLHkG3G7BqyA "Evaluate agentic AI assets against datasets to monitor performance and compare benchmarks."). |
   [Table 2. Define when this trigger occurs]

   {#add-trigger-aw__entry__18}

   | Fields | Description |
   |-|-|
   | Channel | Medium for the agentic workflow output: ServiceNow Otto panel or Virtual Agent. Note: To view the output from a triggered agentic workflow in the ServiceNow Otto panel, you need the now_assist_panel_user role. |
   | Show an alert to users | Alerts appear in the selected channel. |
   [Table 3. Select where to show this launch]

   If you choose a scheduled trigger, additional options are available, such as the day of the week and time when you want the trigger to run.  
   Note:  
   When running a scheduled trigger, not every record is included in the execution. By default, the value is 10. If you want to change this number, you must set the sn_aia.max_scheduled_trigger_query system property to a different value.

   If you choose an email trigger, the target emails must exist on the Reply \[sys_reply\] table. New emails
   aren't available as triggers.
3. Select Add.
4. Repeat the preceding steps for additional triggers.

## Result

You have added triggers to your agentic workflow to run it automatically under the specified conditions.

## What to do next

Select Save and continue to move to the final step, [Select channels and access](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Xjl_5TutJf1M~TVoliRBXw "In the guided setup for an agentic workflow, activate the agentic workflow to use in the ServiceNow Otto panel or UI actions in the Core UI and workspaces.").