Triggers

Automations are currently in private alpha and only available to a limited number of users. APIs might change before GA.To use the methods on this page, you must upgrade your Resend SDK:

npm install resend@6.10.0-preview-workflows.3

A trigger is the first step in every Automation. It defines which event will start the Automation when received. When your application sends an event to Resend, every active Automation with a matching trigger will execute its workflow for that contact.

How triggers work

Each run has exactly one trigger that listens for a specific event name. When you send an event with that name, Resend matches the event to all active Automations listening for it.

Event names

Event names are strings you define to represent actions in your application.

Event name	Use case
`user.created`	Welcome email series
`payment.failed`	Payment recovery flow
`invite.sent`	Feature adoption nudge
`cart.abandoned`	Abandoned cart reminder
`trial.ended`	Trial expiration follow-up

Event names cannot start with the resend: prefix, which is reserved for system events.

Setting up a trigger

Using the dashboard
Using the API

When creating or editing an Automation, the trigger is the first node in the workflow canvas.Click the trigger node to configure it, then select the event name that will start the Automation.

Choose an existing event or type a new event name.

When creating an Automation via the API, the trigger is defined as the first item in the steps array with type: 'trigger'.

import { Resend } from 'resend';

const resend = new Resend('re_xxxxxxxxx');

const { data, error } = await resend.automations.create({
  name: 'Welcome series',
  steps: [
    {
      ref: 'trigger',
      type: 'trigger',
      config: { eventName: 'user.created' },
    },
  ],
  edges: [],
});

Identifying contacts

When sending an event to trigger an Automation, you must identify the contact using either a contact_id or an email address.

Using contact ID
Using email address

Use a contact ID when you already have the contact stored in your Audience:

import { Resend } from 'resend';

const resend = new Resend('re_xxxxxxxxx');

const { data, error } = await resend.events.send({
  event: 'user.created',
  contactId: '26e2b838-bf6d-4515-b6a7-17525b12b05a',
  payload: {
    plan: 'pro',
  },
});

Use an email address to trigger the Automation:

import { Resend } from 'resend';

const resend = new Resend('re_xxxxxxxxx');

const { data, error } = await resend.events.send({
  event: 'user.created',
  email: 'user@example.com',
  payload: {
    plan: 'pro',
  },
});

Event payload

You can include a payload object with your event to pass data into the Automation. This data becomes available as variables in subsequent steps in the Automation using the event.* namespace.

import { Resend } from 'resend';

const resend = new Resend('re_xxxxxxxxx');

const { data, error } = await resend.events.send({
  event: 'payment.failed',
  contactId: 'e169aa45-1ecf-4183-9955-b1499d5701d3',
  payload: {
    amount: 49.99,
    currency: 'USD',
    retryDate: '2026-11-01',
  },
});

In this example, event.amount, event.currency, and event.retryDate would be available in email templates, conditions, and other steps. View the Send Event API reference for the full endpoint specification.

Configuration

Field	Type	Required	Description
`eventName`	`string`	Yes	The name of the event that will start the Automation.

{
  "ref": "trigger",
  "type": "trigger",
  "config": {
    "eventName": "user.created"
  }
}

View the Create Automation Steps API reference.

Documentation

Quickstart

Learn

Resources

How triggers work

Event names

Setting up a trigger

Identifying contacts

Event payload

Configuration

Documentation

Quickstart

Learn

Resources

​How triggers work

​Event names

​Setting up a trigger

​Identifying contacts

​Event payload

​Configuration

How triggers work

Event names

Setting up a trigger

Identifying contacts

Event payload

Configuration