Workflow triggers
A trigger is the event that kicks off your workflow automatically. Instead of manually processing every product photo, you set up a trigger once and let PixelFiddler handle the rest whenever new files arrive.
How triggers work
Section titled “How triggers work”Every workflow starts with a trigger node — the purple block at the top of the workflow editor. The trigger watches a storage location you choose and runs the workflow each time a matching file is uploaded.
One uploaded file equals one workflow run. If you upload ten product photos at once, the workflow runs ten times — once for each image.
Available trigger: File Uploaded
Section titled “Available trigger: File Uploaded”The File Uploaded trigger fires whenever a new file lands in a specific storage. This is the trigger you will use most often as an e-commerce seller — it lets you automate resizing, format conversion, watermarking, and more the moment you upload raw product images.
Configuring a trigger
Section titled “Configuring a trigger”To set up or edit a trigger, click the purple trigger node at the top of your workflow in the editor.
You will see two settings:
1. Select storage
Section titled “1. Select storage”Choose which storage the trigger should watch. This is the same storage where you upload your product images — for example, your hosted storage, an S3 bucket, or a Google Cloud Storage connection.
Only files uploaded to the selected storage will start the workflow.
2. File path pattern
Section titled “2. File path pattern”The file path pattern tells the trigger which files to react to. You write a short pattern using a few simple symbols, and the trigger only fires for files that match.
If you leave this field empty, the trigger fires for every file uploaded to the storage.
Understanding file path patterns
Section titled “Understanding file path patterns”File path patterns use a handful of special characters to describe which files you want to match. Think of them as simple filters — no programming knowledge required.
The star: *
Section titled “The star: *”A single star matches any characters within a file name. It does not reach into subfolders.
*.jpg— matches every JPG file in the root folderhero-*— matches any file whose name starts with “hero-”
The double star: **
Section titled “The double star: **”A double star matches any number of folders, no matter how deeply nested.
uploads/**/*.png— matches every PNG file anywhere inside the uploads folder, including subfolders like uploads/summer/sale/banner.png
The question mark: ?
Section titled “The question mark: ?”A question mark matches exactly one character.
photo-?.jpg— matches photo-1.jpg, photo-a.jpg, but not photo-12.jpg
Curly braces: {}
Section titled “Curly braces: {}”Curly braces let you list several options separated by commas.
*.{jpg,png}— matches all JPG and PNG files
You can combine any of these symbols together to build the exact pattern you need.
Practical examples for e-commerce
Section titled “Practical examples for e-commerce”Here are patterns you are likely to use in a real store workflow:
| Pattern | What it matches |
|---|---|
*.jpg | All JPG uploads in the root folder |
*.{jpg,png,webp} | All JPGs, PNGs, and WebPs in the root folder |
products/** | Everything inside the products folder and any subfolders |
raw-photos/*.jpg | Only JPG files directly inside the raw-photos folder |
uploads/2025/** | Everything uploaded to the 2025 folder and its subfolders |
new-arrivals/**/*.{jpg,png} | JPGs and PNGs anywhere inside new-arrivals |
Before your trigger will fire
Section titled “Before your trigger will fire”A workflow trigger only runs when two conditions are met:
- The workflow is enabled. Use the toggle at the top of the workflow editor or in the workflow list to turn it on. Disabled workflows will not react to uploads.
- The uploaded file matches the pattern. If the file path does not match your configured pattern, the trigger is silently skipped.
Next steps
Section titled “Next steps”Now that you know how triggers work, continue building your automation: