Triggers and sources

The first two steps of a workflow say when it runs and what data it uses. The trigger starts a run. The source gives the rows, and each row becomes one render. To set them, open the workflow in the builder and click the Trigger or Source step.

Triggers

Pick one under Start in the trigger step.

Only active workflows run on their trigger. A draft runs only when you press Run Now or Test with 1 row, or when your code starts it through the API. See Active and draft.

Run Now

The workflow runs only when someone presses Run Now or Test with 1 row in the builder, or when your code calls POST /v1/workflows/{id}/run. See the Workflows API.

Schedule

1. Under How often, pick Every hour, Every day, Every week, Every month or Custom (cron).
2. Fill in the time:
   • Every hour: Minutes past the hour, from 0 to 59.
   • Every day: the Time.
   • Every week: the Day and the Time.
   • Every month: the Day of the month (1–28) and the Time. Days stop at 28 so every month has the day.
   • Custom (cron): a Cron expression (below).
3. Pick the Time zone. It starts with your computer’s time zone.
4. Save, then click Activate.

The builder shows the next run under its top bar, and the workflow card shows it too.

A cron expression has five parts: minute, hour, day of the month, month and day of the week. For example, 0 9 * * 1-5 runs at 9:00 on weekdays, and 30 8 1 * * runs at 8:30 on the first day of each month. A schedule can run at most every 15 minutes.

Schedules follow the clock of your time zone, also when daylight saving time starts or ends. A time that doesn’t exist that day (the clocks jump forward) runs just after. A time that happens twice (the clocks go back) runs once.

Incoming webhook

Your app, website or another service starts a run by sending JSON to the workflow’s secret URL.

1. Under Start, pick Incoming webhook. The source changes to Webhook payload if you haven’t set up a source yet.
2. Click Save. The trigger step now shows the URL.
3. Click Copy and use the URL in your app.
4. Click Activate. A draft refuses webhook calls.

The URL looks like https://app.jamframe.com/api/public/workflows/hooks/wfh_…. Send a POST request with a JSON body:

curl -X POST "$WORKFLOW_WEBHOOK_URL" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '[{"name": "Ada", "role": "Engineer"}, {"name": "Grace", "role": "Admiral"}]'

const res = await fetch(process.env.WORKFLOW_WEBHOOK_URL, {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify([
    { name: "Ada", role: "Engineer" },
    { name: "Grace", role: "Admiral" },
  ]),
});
console.log(res.status, await res.json()); // 202 and the run's id

import os
import requests

res = requests.post(
    os.environ["WORKFLOW_WEBHOOK_URL"],
    json=[
        {"name": "Ada", "role": "Engineer"},
        {"name": "Grace", "role": "Admiral"},
    ],
)
print(res.status_code, res.json())  # 202 and the run's id

How the body becomes rows is under Webhook payload. Limits:

• Up to 256 KB per call, and up to 1,000 rows. Extra rows are left out.
• Up to 60 calls a minute for one workflow.

Only people with editor access see the URL. Your code can also get a new URL with POST /v1/workflows/{id}/webhook-token; see the Workflows API.

You can use the incoming webhook trigger with another source too, such as a Google Sheet. A call then only starts the run, and the rows come from the source. The body must still be a JSON object or array that isn’t empty, such as {"start": true}.

New or changed rows

The workflow checks the source on a timer and renders only rows it hasn’t seen before.

1. Under Start, pick New or changed rows.
2. Under Check the source, pick how often: Every 15 minutes, Every 30 minutes, Every hour, Every 3 hours, Every 6 hours, Every 12 hours or Once a day.
3. Save, then click Activate.

How it decides what is new:

• The first check only notes the rows already there. Nothing renders, so switching it on doesn’t render your whole sheet.
• After that, each check renders the rows it hasn’t seen. A row whose values changed counts as new and renders again.
• A check that finds nothing new doesn’t count as a run for your plan.
• Rows left out because of your plan’s rows-per-run limit are marked as seen, so a later check doesn’t pick them up.

Because a changed row counts as new, a filter works well with this trigger. For example, filter on Status is Ready: when you change a row’s status to Ready, the next check renders it. See Filter rows.

This trigger works with a Google Sheets, CSV or XLSX, or Airtable source. It doesn’t work with a webhook payload.

Sources

Pick one under Read rows from in the source step. Every source gives rows with named columns:

• In a sheet or a file, the first row holds the column names. Every row after it is one row of data.
• Empty rows are skipped. An empty column name becomes Column 1, Column 2 and so on. A repeated name gets a number, such as Price (2).
• At most 5,000 rows and 100 columns are read, and up to 5,000 characters per cell.

To check what a source gives, click Load preview under Preview & mapping. See Mapping and transforms.

Google Sheets

JamFrame reads a Google Sheet that is shared by link. You don’t need to sign in to Google.

1. In Google Sheets, click Share.
2. Under General access, choose Anyone with the link, with the role Viewer.
3. Copy the sheet’s link from your browser’s address bar, or click Copy link.
4. In the source step, paste it under Sheet link.
5. Leave Google account set to None: read the public link.

The link looks like https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/…/edit#gid=0. The number after gid= is the tab, and that tab is read. To pick a tab by its name instead, paste the link without the #gid=… part and type the name under Tab (optional). With neither, the first tab is read. A link from File → Share → Publish to the web works too.

CSV or XLSX file

JamFrame downloads a CSV or Excel (.xlsx) file from a link each time the workflow runs.

1. Put the file somewhere it has a public, direct download link. The link must give the file itself, not a web page about it.
2. In the source step, paste the link under File URL.
3. Leave Format on Detect, or pick CSV or XLSX.
4. An XLSX file is read from its first sheet. To read another sheet, pick XLSX under Format and type the sheet’s name under Sheet (optional).

Details:

• The file can be up to 10 MB.
• CSV files can use commas, semicolons or tabs between values. JamFrame finds out which.
• Dates in an XLSX file come out like 2026-11-10.
• Each run downloads the file again, so update the file at the same link to change the rows.

If the link opens a web page instead of the file, the step says “The URL returned a web page, not a CSV or XLSX file.” Use the direct download link instead.

Airtable

JamFrame reads a table, or one view of it, with an Airtable personal access token.

1. In Airtable, go to airtable.com/create/tokens and create a token. Give it the scope data.records:read and access to your base.
2. In the source step, fill in:
   • Base id: it starts with app. Find it in the base’s address: airtable.com/app…/tbl….
   • Table name or id: for example Listings.
   • View (optional): a view’s name, such as Grid view, to read only its rows in its order.
   • Personal access token: paste the token. It is stored encrypted, and afterwards the box only shows Saved with its last characters. Type a new one to replace it.

Each record is one row. An attachment column gives the link to its first file, so you can map it to an image key. A collaborator gives the person’s name, and a list gives its items separated by commas.

Webhook payload

The rows are the JSON that was sent to the incoming webhook. Use this source with the Incoming webhook trigger.

The body can be:

• an array of objects, one row each: [{"name": "Ada"}, {"name": "Grace"}];
• an object that holds such an array under rows, records, data or items: {"rows": [{"name": "Ada"}]};
• one object, which is one row: {"name": "Ada"}.

Each key of an object is a column. A nested object becomes columns named parent.child: for example {"user": {"name": "Ada"}} gives the column user.name. A list of plain values becomes one text with commas.

To test without your app, press Run Now in the builder. A box asks for a Test payload. Type the JSON a call would send and click Run with this payload. Load preview uses the test payload, or the last call the webhook got.

What next

• Pick and order the rows, and match columns to keys: Mapping and transforms.
• Send each file somewhere and follow the runs: Delivery and runs.