Trigger Types

Triggers are events that start your automation workflows. When a trigger fires, Fanbeam executes the connected conditions and actions.

Available Triggers

Comment Received

Fires when someone comments on one of your posts.

Event data available:

• Comment text
• Comment author (name, ID, username)
• Post ID the comment is on
• Parent comment ID (if it's a reply)
• Platform
• Timestamp

Use cases:

• Auto-hide spam comments
• Reply to questions
• Thank users for engagement
• Flag comments for review

Platform support: All platforms except Pinterest

Mention Received

Fires when your account is mentioned in a post, story, or comment.

Event data available:

• Mention source (post, story, comment)
• Author who mentioned you (name, ID)
• Platform
• Timestamp

Use cases:

• Track brand mentions
• Thank users for mentions
• Alert team about mentions
• Auto-respond to mentions

Platform support: Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, Threads, Bluesky

DM Received

Fires when you receive a direct message.

Event data available:

• Message text
• Sender (ID, name if available)
• Conversation ID
• Platform
• Timestamp

Use cases:

• Auto-reply to FAQs
• Welcome new message senders
• Route messages based on content
• Send acknowledgment replies

Platform support: Instagram, Facebook, X, Bluesky

Post Published

Fires when one of your scheduled posts successfully publishes.

Event data available:

• Post ID
• Channel ID
• Platform post ID (the ID on the platform)
• Platform
• Timestamp

Use cases:

• Trigger cross-platform actions
• Send notifications
• Update external systems
• Log publishing events

Platform support: All 9 platforms

Trigger Configuration

Platform Filtering

You can limit triggers to specific platforms:

Trigger: Comment Received
Platforms: Instagram, Facebook only

This is useful when you want different workflows for different platforms.

Channel Filtering

You can limit triggers to specific channels:

Trigger: Comment Received
Channels: @mybusiness, @myotherbrand

Useful for multi-brand accounts with different moderation rules.

Trigger Context

When a trigger fires, it creates a context object containing all the event data. This context is passed through the workflow and can be used in conditions and actions.

Comment Context

{
  "type": "trigger.comment",
  "platform": "instagram",
  "channelId": "ch_abc123",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "comment": {
    "id": "17891234567890",
    "text": "Great post! What's the price?",
    "authorId": "12345678",
    "authorName": "user_example",
    "postId": "17891234567891",
    "parentId": null
  }
}

Mention Context

{
  "type": "trigger.mention",
  "platform": "instagram",
  "channelId": "ch_abc123",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "mention": {
    "id": "17891234567890",
    "authorId": "12345678",
    "authorName": "user_example",
    "sourceType": "post"
  }
}

DM Context

{
  "type": "trigger.dm",
  "platform": "instagram",
  "channelId": "ch_abc123",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "message": {
    "id": "msg_abc123",
    "text": "Hi, I have a question about your product",
    "senderId": "12345678",
    "conversationId": "conv_xyz789"
  }
}

Post Published Context

{
  "type": "trigger.post_published",
  "platform": "instagram",
  "channelId": "ch_abc123",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "post": {
    "id": "post_abc123",
    "targets": [
      {
        "channelId": "ch_abc123",
        "platformPostId": "17891234567890"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Webhook Delivery

Triggers fire based on platform webhooks. This means:

1. Real-time — Most triggers fire within seconds of the event
2. Reliable — Fanbeam handles webhook retries automatically
3. Platform-dependent — Some platforms have webhook delays

Webhook Setup

Fanbeam automatically subscribes to platform webhooks when you connect a channel. You don't need to configure anything manually.

Webhook Renewal

Some platforms require periodic webhook renewal (e.g., YouTube). Fanbeam handles this automatically.

Best Practices

Be Specific with Filters

Use platform and channel filters to avoid triggering on events you don't want to handle.

Handle Edge Cases

Remember that trigger data may be incomplete. For example:

• Mention text might be empty (the post just @'s you)
• DM sender name might not be available on some platforms
• Comment author might be a deleted account

Rate Limiting

Workflows have rate limits (configurable per workflow). If you're receiving a high volume of events, some may be skipped to protect your account and API limits.

Test Triggers

Use the Testing feature to simulate triggers and verify your workflow handles them correctly.

Platform-Specific Notes

Instagram / Facebook

• Comments and mentions come via the Instagram Graph API / Facebook Graph API
• DMs require the instagram_messaging permission
• Real-time webhooks for most events

X/Twitter

• Comments (replies) come via the Twitter API v2
• DMs come via the Direct Messages API
• Mentions tracked via account activity webhooks

YouTube

• Comments via YouTube Data API v3
• Webhooks via PubSubHubbub (requires periodic renewal)
• Some delay possible between event and webhook

TikTok

• Comments via TikTok Content Posting API
• Limited webhook support—some events may have delays
• No DM API available

Threads

• Comments via Threads API
• No hide action (delete only)
• No DM API (uses Instagram DMs)

LinkedIn

• Comments via LinkedIn Marketing API
• Organization page permissions required
• No DM API for pages

Bluesky

• Comments via AT Protocol
• Real-time via firehose (when subscribed)
• DMs via Direct Messages API

Pinterest

• No comment API available
• Cannot automate comment moderation
• Post published trigger only