Configure triggers to define when an automation runs. Each trigger responds to specific events like Slack messages, failed checks, GitHub activity, or scheduled times. When an event matches your trigger configuration, the automation executes with variables populated from that event.

Add a Trigger

Click Add Trigger in the automation editor.
Select the trigger type from the dropdown.
Fill in the filter fields to specify which events should match.
Review the available variables you can use in your prompt.

You can add multiple triggers to one automation. The first trigger that matches an incoming event will fire the automation.

Essential Variables

These variables work in every automation, regardless of trigger type:

{{now}}: Current timestamp (e.g., 2026-06-13T14:30:00Z)
{{today}}: Current date (e.g., 2026-06-13)
{{slack.channel.name}}: Slack channel where the trigger fired (Slack triggers only)
{{slack.message.text}}: Message content (Slack message triggers only)
{{check.name}}: Name of the failed check (check triggers only)
{{github.repository}}: Repository name (GitHub triggers only)

Tip

The prompt editor shows available variables as you type. Start typing {{ to see autocomplete suggestions for the selected trigger type.

When to Use Constants

Constants are custom values you define once and reuse across automation runs. Use constants for:

Environment names: {{environment}} set to production or staging
Default channels: {{alert_channel}} set to incidents
Team identifiers: {{team}} set to platform-team
Common timeframes: {{default_window}} set to 1h

To define constants:

Navigate to the Guardrails section in the automation editor
Find the Constants subsection
Click Add Constant
Enter a key (e.g., environment) and value (e.g., production)
Reference in your prompt: {{environment}}

Slack Message Trigger

Fires when someone posts a message containing specific text in a Slack channel where the Dash0 bot is a member.

Tip

For detailed Slack integration setup, trigger configuration, and usage examples, see Set Up Slack Integration, Configure Slack Triggers, and Use Slack Tools.

Configuration Fields

Message Keyword: Required. The text that must appear anywhere in the message (case-insensitive substring match). Examples: "investigate" matches "Let's investigate this issue", "checkout" matches "Please checkout service logs", "is down" matches "API is down"
Channel Names: Optional. Limit to specific channels (without #). Leave empty to match all channels.
User Handles: Optional. Only match messages from these users (without @). Leave empty to match all users.
Thread Only: Optional. Check this to only trigger on threaded replies, not top-level messages.

Available Variables

{{slack.channel.name}}: Channel name (e.g., incidents)
{{slack.message.text}}: Full message text
{{slack.user.handle}}: Username who posted (e.g., jane.doe)
{{slack.thread.timestamp}}: Thread ID if message was in a thread

Example Prompt

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{{slack.user.handle}} mentioned an issue in #{{slack.channel.name}}. 

Message: "{{slack.message.text}}"

Extract the service name, query Dash0 for error rate and latency over the last hour, and respond in thread with your findings.

Important

The Dash0 Slack bot must be a member of the channel. Invite it with /invite @dash0 in the channel.

Slack Reaction Trigger

Fires when someone adds a specific emoji reaction to a message.

Configuration Fields

Emojis: Required. Which emojis trigger the automation (without colons). Examples: eyes, rocket, white_check_mark
Channel Names: Optional. Limit to specific channels.
User Handles: Optional. Only trigger when these users add reactions.

Available Variables

Same as Slack message triggers, plus:

{{slack.reaction.emoji}}: The emoji that was added (e.g., eyes)

Example Prompt

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Someone reacted with :{{slack.reaction.emoji}}: to a message. Treat this as a request to investigate. 

Original message: "{{slack.message.text}}"

Parse the message for service names and query Dash0 for recent issues. Post your findings in thread.

Failed Check Trigger

Fires when a Dash0 check fails. Ideal for automatic incident response.

Configuration Fields

Check rule IDs: Optional. Only trigger for specific checks. Leave empty to trigger on any failed check.
Label filters: Optional. Filter by check labels (e.g., only checks with severity: high).
Annotation filters: Optional. Filter by check annotations.

Available Variables

{{check.name}}: Name of the failed check
{{check.id}}: Check's unique ID
{{label.service}}: Service name from check labels (if present)
{{label.*}}: Any other labels on the check

Tip

Use {{label.service}} to automatically target the affected service in your queries. For example: "Query error rate for service {{label.service}}".

Example Prompt

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Check "{{check.name}}" failed for service {{label.service}}.

Query the following for the last 30 minutes:
- Error rate and top 5 error messages
- p99 latency trend  
- Recent log errors

Post your analysis to #incidents with recommended next steps.

Schedule Trigger

Runs periodically based on a cron schedule.

Configuration Fields

Cron Expression: Required. When the automation should run. Supported formats:
- Standard cron: 0 9 * * MON-FRI (9am weekdays)
- Shortcuts: @hourly, @daily, @weekly
- Intervals: @every 15m, @every 2h

Available Variables

{{cron}}: The cron expression that triggered this run

Example Prompt

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Daily health report for {{today}}.

Query all services with error rate > 2% in the last 24 hours. For each service, include:
- Error count and error rate
- p99 latency
- Active check failures

Post the summary to #daily-reports.

GitHub Pull Request Trigger

Fires when pull requests are opened, updated, or closed in your connected GitHub repositories.

Configuration Fields

Actions: Optional. Which PR events to match (e.g., opened, ready_for_review, synchronize). Leave empty to match all actions.
Accounts: Optional. Only match repositories from these GitHub accounts or organizations.
Repositories: Optional. Only match specific repositories (format: owner/repo).

Available Variables

{{github.repository}}: Full repository name (e.g., dash0hq/dash0)
{{github.action}}: What happened (e.g., opened, synchronize)
{{github.account}}: GitHub account or organization name

Example Prompt

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Pull request {{github.action}} in {{github.repository}}.

Review the changes for services that might be affected. Query Dash0 for:
- Error rates over the last 7 days
- Latency trends
- Active check failures

If you find concerning patterns, summarize your analysis.

Important

Requires the GitHub integration to be connected. GitHub PR comments require Full Network access (use gh CLI via bash). Each Dash0 organization can connect one GitHub account.

Other GitHub Triggers

Dash0 supports additional GitHub trigger types:

Deployment: Fires when deployments are created or updated
Deployment Status: Fires when deployment status changes
Pull Request Review: Fires when reviews are submitted
Pull Request Review Comment: Fires on review comments
Release: Fires when releases are published

All use the same configuration fields and variables as pull request triggers.

Linear Comment Trigger

Fires when Dash0 is @mentioned or delegated on a Linear issue AND the comment contains a specific keyword.

Configuration Fields

Keyword: Required. Keyword that must appear in the comment (case-insensitive substring match). Only comments containing this keyword will trigger the automation.

Available Variables

{{linear.issue.title}}: Issue title
{{linear.issue.id}}: Issue ID (e.g., ENG-123)
{{linear.issue.url}}: Direct link to the issue
{{linear.comment.body}}: Comment text
{{linear.comment.user}}: Who added the comment

Example Prompt

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Comment added to Linear issue "{{linear.issue.title}}".

The comment contains the keyword indicating investigation is needed. Query the mentioned service's health in Dash0 and summarize your findings.

Note

The Linear connector is read-only. Agent0 can query Linear issues but cannot post comments back to Linear. Results can be posted to Slack or other integrations.

Webhook Trigger

Fires when an HTTP POST request is sent to the automation's unique webhook URL. Use webhooks to trigger automations from external systems, CI/CD pipelines, monitoring tools, or custom integrations.

Configuration Fields

No configuration fields required. Each automation with a webhook trigger gets a unique URL.

Webhook URL

After adding a webhook trigger to your automation:

Save the automation
The webhook URL appears in the trigger configuration
Copy the URL and configure it in your external system

The URL path format is /api/agentic-workflows/trigger/{webhookId} where {webhookId} is a unique opaque identifier for this webhook trigger. The full URL is region-specific and shown in the trigger configuration.

Available Variables

Webhook triggers accept a JSON payload with a variables map. Each key in the map becomes a variable accessible in your prompt.

Example webhook payload:

json

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{
  "variables": {
    "eventType": "deployment",
    "serviceName": "api-gateway",
    "severity": "high",
    "message": "Deployment v2.3.1 to production"
  }
}

Available in prompt:

{{eventType}} → "deployment"
{{serviceName}} → "api-gateway"
{{severity}} → "high"
{{message}} → "Deployment v2.3.1 to production"

Tip

Design your webhook payload structure to match the variables your prompt needs. Variable names can include letters, numbers, underscores, and dots (e.g., event.type).

Example Prompt

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Webhook received: {{eventType}} event for service {{serviceName}}.

Severity: {{severity}}
Details: {{message}}

Query Dash0 for {{serviceName}}'s recent metrics and logs over the last 30 minutes. 

If severity is "high" or "critical", post findings to #incidents with recommended actions.

Security

Webhook authentication uses a bearer token separate from the webhook URL.

Authentication mechanism:

The webhook URL is not secret — it's a stable endpoint identifier
Authentication happens via an Authorization: Bearer <secret> header
The bearer secret is shown once when you create the webhook trigger
Store the secret securely (e.g., in your CI/CD secrets manager)

Calling a webhook:

bash

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curl -X POST <webhook-url-from-trigger-config> \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <your-secret>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"variables": {"eventType": "deployment", "serviceName": "api"}}'

Rotating secrets:

Use the webhook regenerate endpoint to rotate the bearer secret
The webhook URL remains the same — only the secret changes
Regenerating invalidates the old secret immediately

Note

Webhook triggers require the sending system to make outbound HTTPS requests. Ensure your firewall and network policies allow connections to your Dash0 region's API endpoint (shown in the webhook URL).

Multiple Triggers and Variables

When an automation has multiple triggers, only variables from the firing trigger are populated. Other variables remain as literal {{...}} text in the prompt.

If you mix trigger types (e.g., Slack + Schedule), handle this in your prompt:

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If this is a Slack message, respond in #{{slack.channel.name}}.
If this is a scheduled run, post to #daily-reports.

Alternatively, create separate automations for each trigger type to keep prompts simpler.

Advanced Variables

These variables are available but less commonly needed:

{{dash0.dataset}}: Dataset the automation runs in
{{dash0.workflow.id}}: Automation's ID
{{dash0.workflow.name}}: Automation's display name
{{dash0.workflow.version}}: Automation's version
{{dash0.workflow.run.id}}: Unique ID for this specific run
{{dash0.trigger.kind}}: Trigger type that fired (e.g., slack_bot.message)

Slack-specific:

{{slack.channel.id}}: Slack channel ID
{{slack.user.id}}: Slack user ID
{{slack.team.id}}: Slack workspace ID
{{slack.message.timestamp}}: Message timestamp

GitHub-specific:

{{github.pull_request.number}}: PR number
{{github.deployment.environment}}: Deployment environment
{{github.release.tag}}: Release tag

Webhook-specific:

Custom variables from the webhook payload's variables map (e.g., {{eventType}}, {{serviceName}})

Use these when you need to reference the automation itself or track specific runs in external systems.

Troubleshooting

For common trigger issues, see:

Automation Doesn't Trigger — Why automations don't fire when expected
Variables Show as {{...}} — Why variables aren't resolving
Missing Integration Warnings — Connect required integrations

Configure Triggers

Add a Trigger

Essential Variables

When to Use Constants

Slack Message Trigger

Configuration Fields

Available Variables

Example Prompt

Slack Reaction Trigger

Configuration Fields

Available Variables

Example Prompt

Failed Check Trigger

Configuration Fields

Available Variables

Example Prompt

Schedule Trigger

Configuration Fields

Available Variables

Example Prompt

GitHub Pull Request Trigger

Configuration Fields

Available Variables

Example Prompt

Other GitHub Triggers

Linear Comment Trigger

Configuration Fields

Available Variables

Example Prompt

Webhook Trigger

Configuration Fields

Webhook URL

Available Variables

Example Prompt

Security

Multiple Triggers and Variables

Advanced Variables

Troubleshooting

Further Reading