Manual Trigger¶

Trigger

The Manual Trigger provides one-click workflow execution from the Pipelit UI. It is the simplest trigger type -- click a button and the workflow runs. This is useful for testing, administrative tasks, and workflows that should be run on demand.

Component type: trigger_manual

Ports¶

Outputs¶

Inputs¶

This component has no input ports. It is an entry point.

Configuration¶

The Manual Trigger requires no configuration. Add it to the canvas and connect it to downstream nodes.

An optional text field can be provided at execution time, which is included in the payload.

Usage¶

1. Drag a Manual Trigger onto the canvas from the Node Palette (under Triggers).
2. Connect its output to downstream nodes.
3. Execute the workflow by clicking the Run button in the workflow editor or by calling the API endpoint.

Accessing Manual Trigger Data¶

The manual trigger payload is available via Jinja2 expressions:

{{ trigger.payload }}       {# full payload object #}
{{ trigger.payload.text }}  {# optional text if provided #}

Running via the UI¶

In the workflow editor, when a Manual Trigger is present on the canvas, you can click the execute button to fire it. If the workflow has multiple Manual Trigger nodes, you can specify which one to target.

Running via the API¶

POST /api/v1/workflows/{workflow_slug}/execute/

Request body:

{
  "text": "optional input text",
  "trigger_node_id": "trigger_manual_abc123"
}

Both fields are optional. If trigger_node_id is omitted, the first trigger_manual node in the workflow is used. If text is omitted, it defaults to an empty string.

Example¶

A manual workflow for running a maintenance task:

graph LR
    MT[Manual Trigger] --> CD[Code]
    CD --> AG[Agent]
    AM[AI Model] -.-> AG

    style MT fill:#f97316,color:white
    style AM fill:#3b82f6,color:white

1. Manual Trigger is fired by clicking Run.
2. Code node runs a preparation script.
3. Agent processes the results and produces a summary.

Dual-entry workflow¶

A Manual Trigger can coexist with other triggers on the same workflow, providing a way to test the same pipeline manually:

graph LR
    MT[Manual Trigger] --> AG[Agent]
    CT[Chat Trigger] --> AG
    AM[AI Model] -.-> AG

    style MT fill:#f97316,color:white
    style CT fill:#f97316,color:white
    style AM fill:#3b82f6,color:white

Both triggers feed the same Agent. Use the Chat Trigger for interactive use and the Manual Trigger for quick test runs.