What are Automated Actions (Triggers)?
Triggers automate one-time actions in Shape. When something happens on a record, such as a status change, a portal submission, or a birthday, a trigger performs an action right away or at a scheduled time.
Triggers can automate productivity tools inside your CRM, like note popups, calendar popups, and record conversions. They can also automate communication, like sending your customers an email or text.
Triggers vs. drip campaigns
Triggers and drip campaigns are both automation, but they do different jobs.
| Triggers | Drip campaigns | |
|---|---|---|
| How often they run | Once per event | A sequence of steps over time |
| Started by | Many event types (status, date, portal activity, call outcome, and more) | A record reaching the Initiation Status |
| Best for | One-off actions: notifications, status updates, birthday and holiday messages, webhooks | Follow-up over days, weeks, or months |
| Who they apply to | Your whole database | Records that meet the campaign’s Advanced Conditions |
Quick start: create your first trigger
- Go to Settings › Automated Actions (Triggers).
- Open a folder, or create a new one.
- Create a new Automated Action from the table at the top of the folder.
- Choose the Action Trigger (the IF), such as Status.
- Choose the Automation Details (the THEN), such as Send Email.
- Fill in the details and set when the action should run.
- Make sure the folder is ON, then test with a sample record.
How to organize triggers with folders
Triggers live in folders. Folders keep your triggers organized and let you turn groups of triggers on or off at once.
Go to Settings › Automated Actions (Triggers)
Select the settings icon in the top navigation, then Automated Actions (Triggers) in the left sidebar. You’ll see your trigger folders. Quick link: https://secure.setshape.com/triggers
Create a new trigger or folder
At the top of the page, create a new Automated Action. Below it are the folders that hold your triggers. Open a folder to see all the triggers inside it.
Turn the folder on or off
If a folder’s status is OFF, none of its triggers run. Set it to ON to activate them.
Edit or delete folders
Use the … menu on the right side of a folder to rename or delete it.
Turning off a trigger with pending actions
Some triggers schedule their action for later, such as a Date trigger set for 7 PM or an action that runs a few days after a status change. Until it runs, that action waits in a queue.
When you turn off a trigger, Shape asks whether you want to cancel any pending actions already in the queue for it:
| You choose | What happens |
|---|---|
| Yes, cancel them | Queued actions for this trigger are canceled and won’t run |
| No, keep them | Actions already in the queue still run as scheduled. The trigger won’t queue any new ones while it’s off. |
Example: A trigger sends a birthday email at 9 AM, and today’s emails are already queued. If you turn the trigger off at 8 AM and choose to cancel pending actions, today’s emails won’t go out. If you keep them, today’s emails still send, but no future birthday emails are queued.
How do triggers work?
Every trigger is an IF/THEN statement. For example: IF an application has been sent to the customer, THEN Shape changes the status to “Application Sent.”
- Action Trigger (IF): the event that starts the trigger.
- Automation Details (THEN): the action Shape performs.
Both are dynamic lists. Once you choose a trigger type, Shape shows the matching options, such as specific days, actions, user assignment, and portal fields.
The folder view gives you a quick look at each trigger’s name, description, type, trigger, action type, action schedule, and priority, without opening each one.
Trigger types (the IF)
The trigger type decides what event starts the automation.
| Trigger type | Starts the trigger when… | Manage it in |
|---|---|---|
| Calendar Event | A calendar event occurs. Can also run before the event. | — |
| Call Outcome | A user selects a call outcome in the dialer slideout | Settings › Manage Call Outcomes |
| Call Status | An inbound or outbound call reaches a status, such as Connecting, Connected, or Completed. Statuses come from your phone provider and can’t be changed. | — |
| Check Mark Selection | A check mark in your template changes from unchecked to checked, in Shape or through the Open API, such as “Spanish Speaking” (Mortgage) or “HOA” (Solar) | — |
| Date | A date field in your template is reached, such as a birthday. Can also run before the date. | — |
| eSignature | An integrated eSignature document is sent or completed | — |
| Marketing Post | A field arrives through a marketing post, such as data from a lead provider. If the field isn’t sent in the post, the trigger won’t run. | — |
| Marketing Source | A record comes in from a specific lead source | Settings › Marketing Sources |
| Note Type | A user adds a note of a specific type | Settings › Manage Note Types |
| Portal Field Entry | A customer fills in a portal field and selects Next on the application | — |
| Portal Invitation Sent | A portal invitation is sent to a client | — |
| Portal Status | A portal event happens, such as a new registration, completed application, or uploaded document | — |
| Process Checklist Item | A checklist item is selected | Settings › Manage Checklists |
| Record Conversion | A record converts, such as a prospect converting to an account | — |
| Specific Date | A specific date and time arrives. Use this for newsletter blasts to your whole database. | — |
| Status | A record’s status changes. This is the most commonly used trigger type. | Settings › Manage Statuses |
| User Assigned | A specific user is newly assigned to a record | — |
How do date triggers work?
A Date trigger watches a date field on the record, such as a birthday or an Application Completed Date. When that date arrives, the trigger runs its action at the time you set in the trigger.
Shape checks date triggers at the start and end of each day. That way, a trigger still runs even when the date in the field is today.
| When the date field is filled in | What happens |
|---|---|
| Before the date | The trigger runs on that date, at the time you set |
| On the same day, before the set time | The trigger runs that day, at the time you set |
| On the same day, after the set time | The trigger runs at the end-of-day check instead |
Example: A trigger is set to change the status to Live Deal at 7 PM on the Application Completed Date. If the date is filled in at 2 PM that day, the trigger runs at 7 PM. If it’s filled in at 8 PM, the trigger runs at the end-of-day check.
How do check mark triggers work?
A Check Mark Selection trigger runs when a check mark field changes from unchecked to checked. It works the same way whether a user checks the box in Shape or another system updates the field through the Open API.
The trigger only runs when the value actually changes, so repeated updates don’t create duplicate actions or webhook calls.
| The check mark goes from… | Does the trigger run? |
|---|---|
| Unchecked (or blank) to checked | Yes, once |
| Checked to checked (the same value sent again) | No |
| Checked to unchecked | No |
Example: A trigger sends a webhook to a partner system when the Servicing check mark is checked. Your integration sends the record to Shape several times with Servicing checked. The webhook goes out once, the first time the box changes to checked.
Call Status vs. Call Outcome triggers
Both trigger types react to calls, but they start in different ways.
| Call Status | Call Outcome | |
|---|---|---|
| Set by | The phone system, automatically, as the call progresses | The user, by choosing an outcome in the dialer after the call |
| Calls covered | Both inbound and outbound calls | Calls where the user selects an outcome |
| Runs | As soon as the call reaches the status | As soon as the user selects the outcome |
| Examples | Connecting, Connected, Completed | Left Voicemail, Appointment Set, Not Interested |
Use Call Status when you want automation to run without the user doing anything, like sending a webhook every time a call is completed. Use Call Outcome when the action depends on what happened on the call, like changing the status after an appointment is set.
Example: A Call Status trigger set to Completed creates a follow-up task. It runs after every completed call on the record, whether the customer called in or your team called out.
How do duplicate merges affect triggers?
When an incoming lead merges automatically with an existing record through Duplicate Management, triggers only run if the merge changes the record’s status.
| After the merge, the status… | Triggers |
|---|---|
| Stays the same | Not evaluated |
| Changes (through Change Status Upon Merge) | Evaluated for the new status, the same as any other status change |
For example, if a Closed record receives a new duplicate submission and stays in Closed, triggers set to fire on Closed won’t run again. To control this, use Change Status Upon Merge in your duplicate rules. See Duplicate Record Management.
Action types (the THEN)
The action type is what Shape does once the trigger fires.
| Action type | What it does | Manage it in / requires |
|---|---|---|
| Add Tag | Adds a tag to the record, for organization and drip campaigns | Settings › Manage Tags |
| Add a Note | Opens a note popup so a user can add a note to the file | — |
| Add to Mailchimp List | Adds the contact to your connected Mailchimp audience | Mailchimp integration (Settings › Integrations) |
| Assign Department User | Round-robins the record to users in a department, like a distribution rule | — |
| Assign User | Assigns the record to a specific user, like a distribution rule | — |
| Calendar Event Popup | Opens a calendar popup so a user can create a calendar invite | — |
| Change Status | Changes the record’s status | Settings › Manage Statuses |
| Complete Checklist Item | Checks off a checklist item | Settings › Manage Checklists |
| Convert Record Type | Moves the record to a different record type | — |
| Create Task | Opens a task popup so a user can create a task | — |
| Portal Doc Action | Adds portal documents to the record. You can add several in one trigger. | — |
| Portal Invitation Sent | Sends a portal invitation with the document set you choose | — |
| QuickFire Connect Notification | Starts a QuickFire Connect phone popup notification | Settings › Manage QuickFire Connect; requires phone settings |
| Remove Portal Doc | Removes portal documents from the record’s needs list. You can remove several in one trigger. | — |
| Send Email | Sends a templated email | Settings › Email Templates |
| Send MMS | Sends a templated MMS | Settings › MMS Templates |
| Send SMS | Sends a templated text | Settings › SMS Templates |
| Send to LOS | Creates a new loan file and starts the two-way sync between Shape and your LOS. This is the automated version of “Sync to LOS” on the record details page. | LOS connection; mortgage templates only |
| Webhooks | Sends an outbound webhook from Shape to a third-party system | Settings › Manage Webhooks |
Triggers that send emails use the underlying template directly. If you edit the template, the trigger sends the updated version. (Drip campaign steps work differently: each step keeps its own copy.)
Frequently asked questions
Why didn’t my trigger go off?+
Start with these checks:
- Is the trigger’s folder turned ON?
- Did the record actually meet the trigger type, such as reaching the exact status?
- For Marketing Post triggers, was the field actually sent in the post?
- Did the record come in as a duplicate and merge automatically into an existing record? If the merge didn’t change the status, triggers don’t run.
- For Date triggers, was the date filled in after the trigger’s set time? If so, the trigger runs at the end-of-day check instead of the set time.
- For Call Status triggers, did the call actually reach that status? For example, a call that wasn’t answered never reaches Connected.
- Has the trigger already run 10 times on that record? (See below.)
Still stuck? Email support@setshape.com with the trigger’s name, an example record, and what you expected the trigger to do. We’ll look into it.
Do triggers run when duplicate records are merged?+
When an incoming lead merges automatically, triggers only run if the merge changes the record’s status. If your duplicate rule uses Change Status Upon Merge, triggers are evaluated for the new status. If the record keeps its current status, no triggers run because of the merge.
What if the date is filled in on the same day as the trigger?+
The trigger still runs. If the date is filled in before the trigger’s set time, it runs at that time. If it’s filled in after, it runs at the end-of-day check.
What time does a date trigger run?+
At the time you set in the trigger, on the date in the field. Shape also checks date triggers at the start and end of each day, so dates that are filled in late still run.
Do Call Status triggers work for inbound calls?+
Yes. Call Status triggers work for both inbound and outbound calls. For example, a trigger set to Completed runs after any completed call on the record.
What’s the difference between a Call Status and a Call Outcome trigger?+
Call Status is set automatically by the phone system as the call progresses. Call Outcome is chosen by the user in the dialer after the call. Use Call Status for actions that should happen on every call, and Call Outcome for actions that depend on what happened.
If I turn off a trigger, will actions that are already scheduled still run?+
That’s up to you. When you turn off a trigger, Shape asks whether to cancel any pending actions already in the queue. Choose to cancel them and they won’t run; keep them and they’ll still run as scheduled.
Do check mark triggers work with updates from the Open API?+
Yes. A Check Mark Selection trigger runs when the field changes from unchecked to checked, whether it’s updated in Shape or through the Open API.
Will a check mark trigger run again if the same value is sent more than once?+
No. The trigger only runs when the check mark changes from unchecked to checked. Sending the same checked value again, or unchecking the box, doesn’t run it.
How many times will a trigger run before it stops?+
To prevent infinite loops and protect the system, a trigger runs on the same record a maximum of 10 times. After that, it stops firing for that record.
Do you have pre-made holiday and birthday emails?+
Yes. Find them in the Marketing: Holidays and Marketing: Birthdays automation folders. When turned ON, they go out to your entire database, except contacts who have opted out of communications.
Can I filter triggers to only go to specific contacts?+
Triggers apply across your whole database. For that kind of filtering, use drip campaigns with Advanced Conditions.
Can Shape send data to another application?+
Yes. Create a webhook in Settings › Manage Webhooks, then create a trigger that sends it. Most teams base it on status: when the status reaches X, send the contact out of Shape by webhook.
Can I get a notification when a status changes?+
Yes.
- Create the notification in Settings › Email Templates or SMS Templates.
- Create a trigger: IF the status reaches X, THEN send an email or text.
- Choose your new template and save the trigger.
What’s the difference between a trigger and a drip campaign?+
A trigger runs one action once when an event happens. A drip campaign runs a sequence of steps over time after a record reaches a status. Use triggers for one-off actions and drips for ongoing follow-up.
Automate the moments that matter
Triggers handle the one-time actions that keep your pipeline moving: status updates, notifications, assignments, portal steps, and webhooks. Pair them with drip campaigns for longer follow-up, and use duplicate rules to decide when a returning lead should set them off again.
Need help? Email support@setshape.com or visit setshape.com/support.
Related guides: Drip Campaigns · Duplicate Record Management · Merge Tokens