Scheduled Trigger Node

Start a workflow automatically on a recurring schedule.

The Scheduled Trigger node runs a workflow at regular intervals you define — hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or on a custom cron schedule. It is ideal for periodic tasks such as daily reports, hourly data syncs, weekly summaries, or any recurring automation. When triggered, the node outputs a timestamp of the current execution time and passes it to downstream nodes.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
schedule	string	Yes	0 9 * * * (daily at 9 AM)	Cron expression defining when the workflow runs
timezone	string	Yes	Browser timezone	IANA timezone in which the schedule is evaluated

Configuring This Node

When you select a Scheduled Trigger node, the configuration panel displays two main controls:

1. Timezone — A dropdown at the top of the panel where you select the IANA timezone for the schedule. It defaults to your browser's local timezone.

2. Cron Selector — A visual schedule builder below the timezone dropdown. Choose from five preset modes (Every Hour, Every Day, Every Week, Every Month, Custom Frequency) to configure when the workflow runs. The UI builds the cron expression for you — no manual cron syntax required unless you choose Custom Frequency.

A live preview at the bottom of the panel shows the generated cron expression and a human-readable description so you can verify the schedule before saving.

The default schedule is 0 9 * * * (daily at 9:00 AM) in the browser's local timezone.

Configuring the Schedule

The workflow builder provides a visual schedule selector with five modes. You do not need to write cron expressions by hand — the UI builds one for you.

Every Hour

Triggers once per hour at a specific minute you choose (0–59).

Field	Required	Description
Minute of hour	Yes	The minute past the hour when the trigger fires (0–59)

Example: Setting minute to 15 runs the workflow at 00:15, 01:15, 02:15, and so on.

Every Day

Triggers once per day at a specific time.

Field	Required	Description
Time	Yes	The time of day to trigger (HH:MM)

Example: Setting time to 09:00 runs the workflow every day at 9:00 AM in your selected timezone.

Every Week

Triggers on specific days of the week at a specific time.

Field	Required	Description
Days	Yes	One or more days of the week (Monday–Sunday)
Time	Yes	The time of day to trigger (HH:MM)

Example: Selecting Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 08:30 runs the workflow three times a week at 8:30 AM.

Every Month

Triggers on specific days of the month at a specific time.

Field	Required	Description
Days	Yes	One or more days of the month (1–31)
Time	Yes	The time of day to trigger (HH:MM)

Example: Selecting day 1 and day 15 at 10:00 runs the workflow on the 1st and 15th of every month at 10:00 AM.

Custom Frequency

Enter a raw cron expression for advanced scheduling needs not covered by the preset modes.

Field	Required	Description
Cron expression	Yes	A standard 5-field cron expression

The cron format is:

┌───────────── minute (0–59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0–23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1–31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1–12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0–7, 0 and 7 = Sunday)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

Common patterns:

Expression	Description
*/15 * * * *	Every 15 minutes
0 */2 * * *	Every 2 hours
0 9 * * 1-5	Every weekday at 9:00 AM
0 0 1 * *	First day of every month at midnight

Timezone

All schedule modes use the Timezone selector at the top of the configuration panel. The timezone determines when "9:00 AM" or "Monday" actually occurs. It defaults to your browser's timezone and uses standard IANA identifiers.

Examples: UTC, Europe/Berlin, America/New_York, Asia/Tokyo, US/Pacific

Preview

A live preview at the bottom of the configuration panel shows a human-readable description of the schedule alongside the generated cron expression, so you can verify the trigger timing before saving.

How It Works

1. Configure a schedule and timezone in the workflow builder using the visual selector or a custom cron expression.
2. Save and publish the workflow. Needle creates a cloud-based scheduled job that fires at the specified times.
3. At each scheduled time, the job sends an HTTP request to start a new workflow run automatically.
4. The trigger node outputs a timestamp and the workflow continues to the next node.
5. If you unpublish or delete the workflow, the scheduled job is paused or removed.

Examples

1. Daily Morning Report

Run every day at 9:00 AM Berlin time:

• Trigger event: Every Day
• Time: 09:00
• Timezone: Europe/Berlin

Generated cron: 0 9 * * *

2. Hourly Data Check

Run at minute 30 of every hour:

• Trigger event: Every Hour
• Minute of hour: 30
• Timezone: UTC

Generated cron: 30 * * * *

3. Weekday Business Hours Sync

Run every weekday (Monday–Friday) at 8:00 AM:

• Trigger event: Every Week
• Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
• Time: 08:00
• Timezone: America/New_York

Generated cron: 0 8 * * 1,2,3,4,5

4. Monthly Invoice Processing

Run on the 1st and 15th of each month at 6:00 AM:

• Trigger event: Every Month
• Days: 1, 15
• Time: 06:00
• Timezone: UTC

Generated cron: 0 6 1,15 * *

5. Custom — Every 15 Minutes

Run every 15 minutes around the clock:

• Trigger event: Custom Frequency
• Cron expression: */15 * * * *
• Timezone: UTC

Output Structure

The node outputs an object containing the current UTC timestamp at the time of execution:

{
  "timestamp": "2025-03-15T09:00:00.000Z"
}

Downstream nodes can reference this timestamp to include timing information in reports, filter data by date, or log when the workflow ran.

Important Notes

• Default schedule: New Scheduled Trigger nodes default to 0 9 * * * (daily at 9:00 AM) in your browser's local timezone, so a freshly added node is already configured to run once a day.
• Publishing required: The scheduled trigger only runs automatically after the workflow is published. In the builder, you can test the workflow manually using test runs.
• Timezone matters: Always verify the timezone setting. A schedule set to "9:00 AM" in UTC is different from "9:00 AM" in America/New_York. The default is your browser's timezone, not UTC.
• Cron validation: The UI validates cron expressions in real time. Invalid expressions prevent saving.
• Execution guarantee: Scheduled triggers are best-effort. Minor delays of a few seconds are possible depending on system load.
• No input data: Unlike Manual or Webhook triggers, the Scheduled Trigger does not receive external input — it only outputs the execution timestamp.
• One schedule per workflow: Each workflow supports a single Scheduled Trigger node. To run different schedules, create separate workflows.