Create a keyword trigger in a few steps
If you just need the essentials, follow this:
- Open Triggers and click + New Trigger
- Select Create message keyword that launches a Flow
- Add your keyword(s) and choose how matching should work
- Select the flow to start and optionally restrict by channel and groups
- Save, confirm it’s active, and test with a real message
You’re done. The flow will start automatically when an incoming message matches your keyword rules.
Step-by-Step Process
- Go to the Triggers tab.
- Click + New Trigger.
[CAPTURE: Triggers page showing “+ New Trigger”.]
- Select Create message keyword that launches a Flow.
[CAPTURE: New Trigger options with “Create message keyword that launches a Flow” highlighted.]
- Enter one or more keywords in the keyword field (you can also add common misspellings).
- Choose whether the trigger should fire when the message starts with the keyword or contains only the keyword.
[CAPTURE: Keyword input field with multiple keywords added.]
[CAPTURE: Trigger options showing “starts with” vs “contains only”.]
- Select the flow to start when the keyword matches.
- Optional: Restrict the trigger to a specific channel, or leave it blank to allow any channel in the workspace.
- Optional: Add include/exclude group rules to control who can trigger the flow.
[CAPTURE: Flow dropdown showing a selected flow.]
[CAPTURE: Optional Channel dropdown (showing “None” vs a selected channel).]
[CAPTURE: Group include/exclude selector with sample groups chosen.]
- Save the trigger.
- Confirm the trigger appears in your list of active triggers.
- Send a real message using the keyword to verify the flow starts, and review logs if it doesn’t.
[CAPTURE: Triggers list showing the newly created keyword trigger.]
Example: Start the “Coupon Group” flow when members of “New Registrations” (but not “Completed Registration”) send a message starting with
promo, promotion, or prmo, and only when messaging via a specific Telegram channel.
[CAPTURE: Completed trigger configuration showing keywords + channel + include/exclude groups.]
Common Issues & Quick Fixes
Problem: The keyword doesn’t start the flow.
Fix: Check spelling and spacing (the keyword must be the first word), confirm the trigger is enabled, verify group include/exclude rules, and if the trigger is channel-restricted, confirm the message arrived on the selected channel.
Problem: The keyword starts the wrong flow.
Fix: Look for overlapping keywords across triggers, then simplify keywords or separate triggers by channel or group to avoid collisions.
Problem: Some contacts trigger it and others don’t.
Fix: Review group inclusion/exclusion rules and confirm contacts are using the correct channel when a channel restriction is set.