A trigger defines what starts an Agentic Journey. You select a trigger method when you create the journey, and then configure the settings that the selected method requires.
Choose a trigger method
Agentic Journey supports four trigger methods. The following table compares them by what starts the journey, what the journey depends on, and when to use each one.
Trigger method | Started by | Resources it depends on | Typical use |
An external system, through an OpenAPI call | An external system that calls the OpenAPI | Integrating a journey with an external system | |
An end user, by sending a message over a messaging channel | A channel account that you bind to the journey. See Supported channel types. | Responding automatically when a user sends a message on a supported messaging channel | |
The schedule of the audience plan | An audience group that you create in Audience Management > Group Management | Running marketing campaigns for an audience group on a regular basis | |
Another journey, through the Forward to Flow (New) component | Another journey that invokes it as a sub-journey | Reusing the journey as a sub-journey of another journey |
Common journey settings
All four trigger methods use the same journey settings. After you set Trigger Method and the settings that are specific to the trigger method, configure the following settings, and then click OK to create the journey:
Journey Name — Enter a name for the journey. This setting is required.
Description — Enter a description for the journey. This setting is optional.
Creation Method — Select how to build the journey: AI-assisted creation, a template, a custom canvas, or an imported journey.
API event trigger
An API event trigger starts the journey when an external system calls the OpenAPI. Use this trigger method when the journey must be started by an external system rather than by an end user or a schedule.
Procedure
Log on to the Chat App Message Service console.
On the Agentic Journey page, click Create Journey.
Set Trigger Method to API Event Trigger.
Configure the common journey settings, and then click OK to create the journey.
Configure trigger parameters
After you create a journey that uses an API event trigger, define the parameters that the journey receives:
On the journey editing page, click the Start node on the canvas.
In the configuration panel, use parameter mode to add the variable names that the journey receives.
The parameter names that you pass in through the OpenAPI must match the variable names that you define on the Start node. Otherwise, the journey discards the parameters.
Incoming message trigger
An incoming message trigger starts the journey when an end user sends a message over a messaging channel. Use this trigger method to respond to inbound messages automatically.
Supported channel types
An incoming message trigger starts the journey when a user sends a message to the channel account that is bound to the journey. The following table lists the supported channel types and what you bind for each one.
Channel type | What to bind |
A WABA account and a WhatsApp business phone number | |
A professional account | |
Messenger | A public page |
Viber | A ServiceID |
Telegram | A bot ID |
LINE | An LOA account |
Procedure
The following procedure uses WhatsApp as an example.
Log on to the Chat App Message Service console.
On the Agentic Journey page, click Create Journey.
Set Trigger Method to Incoming Message Trigger.
Select WhatsApp from the Channel Type drop-down list.
Configure Bind Account and the WhatsApp Business Phone Number.
Configure the common journey settings, and then click OK to create the journey and its trigger.
Modify the trigger configuration of an existing journey
To change the account binding of a journey that already uses an incoming message trigger, perform the following steps:
On the Agentic Journey page, find the journey that you want to change.
Click Edit. On the editing page, click Trigger Configuration in the upper-right corner.
In the trigger configuration panel, modify the account binding.
Click OK to save the configuration.
Audience plan trigger
An audience plan trigger starts the journey automatically for the users in an audience group at the times that the schedule defines. Use this trigger method for recurring marketing campaigns.
Procedure
Log on to the Chat App Message Service console.
On the Agentic Journey page, click Create Journey.
Set Trigger Method to Audience Plan Trigger.
Select the target audience group from the Audience Group drop-down list. Audience groups are created and maintained in Audience Management > Group Management.
Configure Schedule Date:
Start Date: the date and time when the audience plan starts.
End Date: the date and time when the audience plan ends.
Configure the Execution Plan: set the execution frequency.
Configure the common journey settings, and then click OK to create the journey.
Journey invocation trigger
A journey invocation trigger makes the journey available as a sub-journey. No external event starts a journey that uses this trigger method: only another journey can start it, through the Forward to Flow (New) component.
Procedure
Log on to the Chat App Message Service console.
On the Agentic Journey page, click Create Journey.
Set Trigger Method to Journey Invocation Trigger.
Configure the common journey settings, and then click OK to create the journey.
Invoke the journey from another journey
When you use the Forward to Flow (New) component in another journey, you can select this journey as the sub-journey.
The invoked journey receives the parameters that the invoking journey passes to it, and returns the result to the invoking journey after it finishes.