Retool Workflows triggers

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You can automate workflows using a custom schedule or in response to webhook events. This enables you to build workflows that automatically perform actions on a regular basis or whenever a certain event occurs with an external service that supports webhooks.

Every workflow contains a Start block that contains Trigger settings for you to configure. Whenever these trigger conditions are met, the Start block triggers the workflow to run automatically.

Workflows are not triggered automatically by default. After verifying that a workflow runs as expected, toggle Enable.

Trigger workflows using a schedule

Select the Schedule trigger to configure a workflow to run periodically. You can use Interval mode to specify the frequency using a set of options or Cron mode to set a schedule with more granularity using cron syntax.

For either mode, you also specify a timezone so that the workflow schedule runs based on local time.

Interval

You can configure a schedule that triggers every n minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months.

Cron

Retool Workflows supports cron syntax when configuring a schedule. The block displays a human-readable version of the values you provide. You can also hover the cursor over the label for each input to display a tooltip with syntax reference.

Cron syntax enables you to define a schedule with more granularity. For example, you can schedule a workflow to trigger at 9.30am every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but only between January and September:

Trigger workflows with webhooks

Select the Webhook trigger to configure a workflow to run when it receives a webhook event. This trigger is useful if you need a workflow to run in response to a specific webhook event, such as a service monitoring alert or when a payment is received.

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Any request sent to the specified endpoint will trigger the workflow. Do not share or publicize this information.

Workflow endpoint

Every workflow has a unique webhook endpoint URL for receiving events. Use this URL when configuring webhook notifications from other services (e.g., Datadog or Stripe). Workflows can read data from a webhook event's JSON payload (e.g., error message or confirmation number) and make it available to your workflow. You can then use these parameters anywhere in your workflows with the startTrigger object.

Copy the Example cURL to manually invoke the webhook trigger as you build and test your workflow. This includes the endpoint URL to use. You can optionally provide an example JSON payload to use as you build your workflow.

Webhook responses

You can use a Response block to configure custom responses to webhooks. This is useful if you're programmatically triggering webhooks and enables you to receive data processed by workflows.

Trigger workflows in Retool apps

You can trigger workflows from a Retool app using a query configured with the RESTQuery resource. The Response block makes it possible for Retool apps to also receive data back.

To trigger a workflow using a Retool app:

1. Copy the example cURL command from the workflow and extract the URL.
2. In the Retool app, create a new query and select the RESTQuery resource.
3. Set the Action type to POST and insert the workflow's endpoint URL.

You can pass data to the workflow by setting the query body to JSON and including relevant values. The Response block returns data that is available at {{ query.data }}.