When Started

Start a workflow by hand, whenever you choose to run it.

Try it

workflow · first-workflow.awf 3 steps

My first workflow: a workflow with 3 steps, starting with When Started and ending with Edit Fields.

1. 1 When Started(Trigger — open its doc page) Trigger
2. 2 Get Selected Text(In-page action — open its doc page) In-page action
3. 3 Edit Fields(Data — open its doc page) Data

Open in AWFlow Copy .awf

What it does

When Started waits for nothing. The workflow runs when you click Test Workflow in the designer, run it from the workflow list, or press the trigger’s own run button. The trigger has no settings and passes { "started": true } to the next node.

A workflow whose only trigger is When Started also appears in the browser’s right-click menu (under Personal Workflows), so you can run it on the page you are looking at.

If a workflow has several triggers, clicking Test Workflow asks you which one to start from. Only the branch after the chosen trigger runs.

When to use it

• Try out a new workflow while you build it.
• Run a workflow on demand: clean up tabs, export data, send a one-off message.
• Keep a manual entry point next to an automatic trigger, so you can test the same steps without waiting for the event.

To run on a timer, use Schedule. To run from a keyboard shortcut, use Hotkey.

Inputs and settings

This node has no settings.

Outputs

• Output

Each output item has these fields:

Field	Type	What it holds
started	Always true

Shape of an output item

{
  "started": true
}

The output carries no data of its own. The first real step after it usually fetches or reads something, for example the current page or an API.

Dependencies and credentials

None. This node needs no connection and has no slots for other nodes.

Example workflow

Save the text of the current page:

1. Add When Started.
2. Add Get All Text with Output field name text to read the page you have open.
3. Add Data Store with Operation set to Set, Key last-page-text and Value {{ $input.text }}.
4. Open the page you want, then click Test Workflow.

Common issues

• The workflow does not run on its own. That is expected: When Started only runs when you start it. Add an automatic trigger such as Schedule or Page Load and activate the workflow.
• A “Choose a trigger to run” dialog opens. The workflow has more than one trigger. Pick When Started to run the branch that follows it.
• The workflow is missing from the right-click menu. It also has an automatic trigger (such as Schedule or Page Load), or it is not activated. Right-click and choose Get / Refresh Workflows after changing it.

Recipes with this node

Copy any article as clean Markdown beginner · 3 min No setup Turn a list on a web page into structured data intermediate · 7 min No setup Copy any table on a page as CSV beginner · 3 min No setup Fill and submit a web form from saved values intermediate · 8 min No setup Summarize the page you're reading, on your device beginner · 5 min On-device

Related nodes

• Schedule: run at set times instead of by hand.
• Hotkey: run from a keyboard shortcut.
• Context Menu: run from the right-click menu, with details of what you clicked.