---
title: About Flow triggers
description: >-
  Connect your app to Shopify Flow so that your app can send an event that
  starts a workflow.
source_url:
  html: 'https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/triggers'
  md: 'https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/triggers.md'
---

ExpandOn this page

* [How triggers work](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/triggers.md#how-triggers-work)
* [Next steps](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/triggers.md#next-steps)

# About Flow triggers

***

## How triggers work

A trigger is a task in Shopify Flow that starts the execution of a workflow. The trigger represents an event that happens in a store or in an app. You can [build a trigger](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/triggers/create) for Shopify Flow so that events in your app trigger workflows to run.

![A diagram that show how third party triggers interface with Flow ](https://shopify.dev/assets/assets/images/apps/flow/trigger_diagram-eJcDEZaq.png)

***

## Next steps

* To build a trigger, you need to [create a trigger extension](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/triggers/create) in your app. In that extension, you specify details about the trigger using a [TOML file](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/triggers/reference).
* Once you have published your extension, you can then test or use it by [calling the Shopify API](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/triggers/reference#mutation-api-reference) with the trigger payload.

***

* [How triggers work](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/triggers.md#how-triggers-work)
* [Next steps](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/flow/triggers.md#next-steps)