How this Helps

Event-based workflows are particularly useful for real-time automation, enabling workflows to respond to security threats, update records, or manage service incidents without manual intervention.
You can configure workflows to start automatically when a specified occurs.
Need help finding the right trigger type for your use case? See About Triggers.

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Event Types

Blink supports multiple event-based triggers, including:
Trigger TypeDescription
External event triggersEvents triggered by third-party integrations.
Custom WebhooksUser-defined webhooks that trigger workflows.
Web FormsCreate and share a secure, interactive web page designed to gather input.
Native Blink eventsBuilt-in events generated within Blink.
Case Management eventsEvents associated with case tracking and management.
You can configure triggers based on external vendor events, integrating third-party services into your automated workflows. This enables your workflows to respond dynamically to external system updates, ensuring seamless automation across your tech stack. By combining Blink system events with external vendor events, you can create workflows that respond efficiently to the most critical updates, optimizing your automation processes.
The remainder of this article describes External Event Triggers, polling, and how to configure an event-based trigger.Configuring webhook triggers is detailed in Configuring Event-Based Triggers with Webhooks.Learn more about Case Management here.
Blink offers built-in event triggers that help manage workflow execution and system monitoring. These include:
  • Blink Error Event: Used for handling workflow failures, allowing you to trigger another workflow to respond to errors. The error event payload contains details about the failure, ensuring you can design an appropriate response.
  • Tables - Used to trigger the workflow when the specified Blink table receives a new record or when an existing record is updated.
  • Blink Runner Notification: Enables notifications for runner-related events:
    • Runner has been disconnected - triggered when the runner has been off line for more than 10 minutes.
    • Runner failed to upgrade - triggered when auto upgrade is enabled but failed
    • Runner outdated - triggered when auto upgrade is disabled and a new version is released
See Blink Error Event and Blink Runner Notification for more information about Blink Events.

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External Event Triggers

Blink provides trigger events from external vendors, which are available in the list of event trigger options. These events are based on the cloud services offered by each vendor and cannot be modified. Many vendors use polling to detect changes, while others support webhooks—or a combination of both. Selecting the right event trigger allows your workflows to proactively handle errors, system changes, and third-party events, enhancing both efficiency and reliability.
The rest of this article explains how to configure event-based triggers with any available Blink connection, focusing primarily on events that do not include webhook configuration.For detailed information, use cases, and instructions about webhooks, see Configuring Event-Based Triggers with Webhooks.

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About Polling

For most predefined trigger events, Blink relies on polling to periodically check the external vendor system for updates at fixed intervals. This ensures that workflows stay up to date routinely. The polling interval defines how often Blink scans for new events, acting as a timer to ensure timely responses and efficient automation. When Blink receives an event, it processes the event payload, which contains the data sent by the event source. Each payload includes:
  • The event type
  • The event source
  • All relevant information about the event, such as timestamps, identifiers, and any other pertinent data fields provided by the external vendor system
This data is then used to trigger the configured workflow, allowing you to automate responses based on the specific details of the event. If multiple new scans are detected in a single polling cycle, Blink treats each scan as an individual event, triggering the workflow separately for each one. This ensures that every detected scan is processed independently, preventing any data loss even when multiple scans are received at once.
Your workflow should be designed to handle a single event per execution, as Blink triggers the workflow separately for each detected event.

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How Event-Based Triggers Work

Event-based triggers allow workflows to start automatically when a specified event occurs. These events can come from Blink’s internal system, third-party services, or custom webhooks. By configuring event-based triggers, you can automate responses to system changes, security alerts, or operational events in real time. The following diagram illustrates how event-based triggers work, from event detection to workflow execution:
1

An Event Occurs

This could be a system-generated event, an update from a third-party service, or an external webhook call.
2

Blink Detects the Event

Depending on the trigger type, Blink either receives a webhook payload or retrieves event data as a payload through polling at scheduled intervals.
3

Trigger Conditions are Evaluated

Blink checks if the event matches the configured trigger conditions. If the conditions are met, the event proceeds to the next step.
4

Trigger Fires & Passes Event Data

The workflow receives relevant event details, including timestamps, identifiers, and metadata.
5

Workflow Executes

Automated actions run based on the workflow logic.

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Configure an Event-Based Trigger

To configure an event-based trigger using a vendor connection or a Blink Event:
  1. Create a new workflow, and select Event-based Workflow when prompted.
    Once you click Create Workflow, the canvas loads with your initial configurations. The first part of the workflow is Trigger: Event-Based.
  2. Click Click to select an event.
    The Trigger Setup popup opens.
  3. Select an option from the list. The right panel opens with supported events for the selected connection.
    This example demonstrates a polling event. To configure webhook events, see Configuring Triggers with Webhooks for additional guidance.
  4. From the right panel, select a supported out-of-the-box event (any event that is not a Webhook) and click Continue. The Trigger Setup popup loads all relevant parameters based on the event you chose.
  5. Optionally click View next to Sample event. A popup opens with a sample event .
    Use the sample event payload to understand the data structure and fields available for your workflow.
  6. From the Connection dropdown, select an existing connection or create a new connection.
  7. Configure all mandatory parameters.
    Parameters are determined based on the source service and the event you selected. For assistance with any of the parameters, refer to the API documentation for the source service.
    For polling, the default interval is set to 5 minutes which can be adjusted accordingly. Optionally:
    • Open the Advanced accordion to configure additional parameters
    • Toggle Add condition to define conditions for the trigger. See Condition Builder for more details.
  8. Click Apply. The Trigger Setup popup closes and the trigger configuration is saved. Once you finish building the workflow and publish it, the workflow is triggered when the trigger event occurs and the conditions are met.

Creating a New Workflow

Set up a new workflow from scratch in BlinkOps.

Configuring Triggers with Webhooks

Use webhooks to trigger workflows dynamically.

Creating a Connection

Connect BlinkOps to external tools and services.

Condition Builder

Add conditional logic to workflows with ease.