Triggers
Time it right. Fire a guide on page load, when the URL matches, when a custom event happens, or manually from your own code — so it shows up exactly when it's useful.
On load or URL match
Launch when a page opens or the path matches a rule.
On a custom event
Fire when your app reports that something happened.
Or call it yourself
Trigger a guide manually from your own code when you need full control.
Live in three steps.
Choose a trigger
Page load, URL match, event, or manual.
Set the condition
Match a path or name an event.
Publish
It fires at exactly the right moment.
An event-triggered guide that arrives exactly on cue.
Page-load guides reach people; event-triggered guides reach moments. The export-education flow is the pattern in miniature.
Fire the event
Your app calls Wakeline("track", "report_exported") where the export completes. One line of code, shipped once — every future guide can key off it.
Attach the guide
A slideout triggers on report_exported: "Nice — did you know you can schedule this export weekly?" with a button opening the scheduling settings.
Add breathing room
Set "show after 3 seconds" so the tip never lands on top of the download itself. Timing that respects the user's moment reads as helpful, not surveilled.
Scope and cap
Audience: logged-in. Page: /reports/*. Frequency: once — the user either adopts scheduling or was told once, and either way you are done.
What to expect: Feature adoption nudges convert best seconds after proven interest — the user just exported. Click actions in Reports tell you exactly how many took the scheduling path.
When not to use triggers.
No pattern fits every job. Here’s where we’d point you at something else — sometimes ours, sometimes not.
Events your app does not emit
Event triggers need the track() call shipped. Until engineering adds it, use URL triggers — visiting /reports/export is often a good-enough proxy for the same moment.
High-frequency events
Triggering on something users do fifty times a day (message_sent) is a nagging machine even with caps. Pick milestone events — first export, tenth project — not heartbeat ones.
When the moment needs no commentary
Not every action deserves a guide. If the export worked, silence is often the right response — save triggers for moments where a next step genuinely exists.
What trigger types exist?
Page load, URL match (with wildcards like /settings/*), custom events via Wakeline("track", "event_name"), and manual — your code starts the flow explicitly. Manual triggers are exempt from rate limits, since the user or your code asked.
How precise is URL matching?
Path-based with wildcards: /projects/* matches every project page. Pair a URL trigger with "only show on page" pinning on individual steps for multi-page tours that never fire on lookalike screens.
Can I delay a triggered guide?
Per step: "show after N seconds". The standard courtesy is 2–3 seconds after an event trigger, so your guidance never lands on top of the action that caused it.
What is a manual trigger for?
In-product help on demand: a "Show me how" button in your own UI calls the SDK to start the flow. The user asked, so it fires regardless of frequency history — the politest trigger there is.
Do triggers work with targeting?
They compose: trigger decides when, audience/segment decides who, frequency decides how often. "On report_exported, for trial admins, once" is one guide's configuration, not three features fighting.
Can one flow have several triggers?
A flow carries one trigger configuration — deliberately, so "when does this fire" has one answer. When two moments genuinely deserve the same content, duplicate the flow and give each copy its own trigger and frequency; Reports then tells you which moment actually performs.
See it on your own app.
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