Triggers

To change the location of your flow configuration file, you must enable a feature flag. For more information, see the history.

A trigger determines when a flow or external agent runs. A trigger cannot be created for a custom agent or foundational agent.

For example, you can specify flows to be triggered when you mention them in a discussion, or when you assign them as a reviewer.

Create a trigger

Assign and Assign reviewer event types introduced in GitLab 18.5.
Pipeline events trigger event type introduced in GitLab 18.9 as an experiment with a flag named ai_flow_trigger_pipeline_hooks. Disabled by default.
Merge request ready trigger event type introduced in GitLab 19.0 with a flag named merge_request_ready_flow_trigger. Disabled by default.
Merge request code conflict trigger event type introduced in GitLab 19.1.
Merge request trigger event type with the Approved action introduced in GitLab 19.1.
Feature flag ai_flow_trigger_pipeline_hooks removed in GitLab 19.1.
Work item created trigger event type introduced in GitLab 19.1.
Merge request ready trigger event type generally available in GitLab 19.1. Feature flag merge_request_ready_flow_trigger removed.
Work item status changed trigger event type introduced in GitLab 19.2.
Merge request ready and Merge request code conflict event types consolidated into the Merge request event type as the Ready and Merge conflict actions in GitLab 19.2.

The availability of this feature is controlled by a feature flag. For more information, see the history.

Prerequisites:

To create a trigger:

In the top bar, select Search or go to and find your project.
In the left sidebar, select AI > Triggers.
Select New flow trigger.
In Description, enter a description for the trigger.
From the Event types dropdown list, select:
- One or more trigger event types.
- If needed for the trigger event type, a trigger event action.
From the Service account dropdown list, select a user to be the composite identity.
For Configuration source, select one of the following:
- AI Catalog: From the flows configured for this project, select a flow for the trigger to execute.
- Configuration path: Enter the path to the flow configuration file (for example, .gitlab/duo/flows/claude.yaml). To view this option, the ai_catalog_create_third_party_flows flag must be enabled.
Select Create flow trigger.

The trigger now appears in AI > Triggers.

Name	Description	Configuration
Mention	When the service account user is mentioned in a comment on an issue or merge request.	None
Assign	When the service account user is assigned to an issue or merge request.	None
Assign reviewer	When the service account user is assigned as a reviewer to a merge request.	None
Pipeline events	When a pipeline changes state.	From the Trigger when dropdown list, select one or more of the following: - Running - Passed - Failed - Canceled
Merge request	When a selected merge request action occurs.	From the Trigger when dropdown list, select one of the following: - Approved: When a merge request has all required approvals - Ready: When a draft merge request is marked as ready for review - Merge conflict: When a merge request can no longer be merged due to a code conflict
Work item	When a selected work item action occurs.	From the Trigger when dropdown list, select one of the following: - Created: When a work item is created - Status changed: When a work item’s status changes