Articles on: Automations

Getting started with Triggers

Learn how to use Triggers to show automated chatbox actions based on visitor behavior.


Triggers let you automate proactive chatbox actions, such as sending a message on a pricing page or opening the chatbox after a delay. They run when configured events match, helping you engage visitors at the right moment.


Triggers are available on the Crisp Mini, Essentials, and Plus plans.



Watch the video tutorial




Create your first trigger


A trigger combines events, which decide when it should run, and actions, which decide what happens in the chatbox.


Open Message Triggers


Open Crisp, then go to AI Agent → Automate → Message Triggers.


Message Triggers menu in Crisp


Configure the trigger


Create a new trigger, give it a clear name, and add an identifier. For example, you can name it My First Trigger and use my-first-trigger as the identifier.


Then enable Show a message and add your localized message. You can format the message with Markdown if needed.


Show a message action in Message Triggers


Choose where it should appear


Enable On Pages, then select the page or page pattern where the trigger should run. For example, use mywebsite.com/pricing for one page, or mywebsite.com/article/* for multiple pages under the same path.


On Pages condition for Message Triggers


You can also add a delay before showing the message. A short delay, such as 10 seconds, often feels more natural than displaying a message immediately.



Understand trigger actions and events


Triggers are easier to configure when you separate the action from the event.


Actions decide what happens


An action tells Crisp what to do in the visitor chatbox once the trigger runs.


Available actions:

  • Show a message → sends an automated message in the chatbox
  • Play a sound → plays a notification sound when allowed by the browser
  • Open chatbox → opens the chatbox for the visitor


Modern browsers enforce strict autoplay policies. A visitor may need to interact with the page before a sound can be played.


Events decide when it happens


An event tells Crisp when the trigger should run.


Available events:

  • Delay → runs after a defined time on the website
  • Leave intent → runs when the visitor appears to be leaving the page
  • Click on link → runs when the visitor clicks a specific link
  • Page → runs when the visitor opens a specific page or page pattern
  • User event → runs when a custom event is pushed with $crisp.push(["set", "session:event", ["your_event_text"]])
  • User data → runs when custom data is set with $crisp.push(["set", "session:data", ["your_key", "your_value"]])


When using User data to start a trigger, avoid true and false values. They are stored as boolean values, while the trigger condition expects a string match.


Combine events


You can combine multiple events to make a trigger more precise. For example, you can show a message after 1 minute on a specific page, or trigger a message on leave intent after a short delay.



Target pages with wildcards


Page targeting supports exact URLs, wildcards, double wildcards, and negated matches.


The URL matcher is strict. If your website uses www.example.com, configure www.example.com, not only example.com.


Simple wildcard


Use * to match one path segment. For example, https://example.com/*/pricing matches:



Double wildcard


Use ** to match deeper subdirectories. For example, https://example.com/product/** matches:



Negate match


Use ! to exclude matching pages. For example, !https://example.com/product/*/bbbbbb excludes:




Pause a trigger


You can pause a trigger by disabling it from its sidebar settings. This keeps the configuration saved, so you can re-enable it later without rebuilding it.



Troubleshoot triggers


If a trigger does not run as expected, review the conditions and safety options first.


Common reasons a trigger does not appear:

  • Website online condition → triggers only run when your website is online if Execute only if website online is enabled
  • Blocked chatbox → triggers are ignored if the chatbox is blocked for the current visitor, page, or locale
  • Existing trigger → triggers may be ignored if Execute only if no other trigger is used is enabled and another trigger is already active
  • Returning visitor → triggers may be ignored if Execute only upon first visit is enabled and the visitor already has a previous conversation
  • Already fired → a trigger starts only once per user, even if the conditions match again later


For practical ideas, read 25 live chat trigger examples for customer engagement.



Frequently Asked Questions


Still have questions which were not covered in this article? Here is a collection of the most frequently asked questions on this topic.


Can I trigger messages from custom events?


Yes, you can use custom user events or user data. Push the event or data from the Web Chat SDK, then configure the matching trigger condition in Crisp.


Use clear string values for custom data conditions so the trigger can match them reliably.


Can a trigger run more than once for the same visitor?


A trigger is remembered after it fires for a visitor. This prevents the same automated message from repeatedly appearing when the visitor meets the same conditions again.


Updated on: 03/05/2026

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