Triggers

Triggers are event-driven automations that respond instantly to guest lifecycle events. Unlike scheduled automations that run at specific times, triggers fire when something happens—a booking is created, a guest checks in, or a document is uploaded.

Overview

Requirements

Before setting up, ensure your HelloShift subscription includes:

• Guest+ plan (for all triggers)

• Staff+ plan (for room/cleaning triggers)

Accessing Triggers

1. Go to AI & Automation > Triggers

2. View all triggers with their status

3. Click New Trigger to create a custom trigger

Understanding Triggers

How Triggers Work

1. Event Occurs: Guest checks in, booking created, etc.

2. Condition Evaluated: Does the guest match the filter?

3. Delay Applied: Wait specified seconds (if any)

4. Action Executed: Send message, issue key, update room, create checklist or task

Trigger Components

Available Events

Triggers can respond to these guest lifecycle events:

Booking Events

Check-in/Check-out Events

Pre-Check-in Events

Guest Feedback Events

The score is parsed from the guest’s reply to the In-Stay message and fires at reply time — pair it with the score conditions below to send your review link the moment a happy guest answers, or start service recovery the moment an unhappy one does. Replies with no number in them do not fire the event.

Reservation Field Events

Most PMS systems let you put custom fields on a reservation — a deposit flag, a pet note, a VIP marker, an arrival time. HelloShift can watch those fields and act the moment one changes.

This event is different from the others in one important way: it fires on a change, not on a state. It fires once when a field actually moves, and stays quiet on every sync after that until the field moves again. A routine hourly sync that brings back identical data fires nothing.

The event is skipped for reservations that are cancelled, marked no-show, or already departed.

Digital Key Events

Use it to send an arrival message the moment the key exists instead of on a clock, for example Digital Key Issued → Send Snippet with your arrival snippet.

Available Conditions

Add conditions to control when triggers execute:

Guest Status Conditions

The score scale and cutoff are configured per property in Settings > Guest Surveys (defaults: 1-5 scale, cutoff 3 — so 4-5 counts as happy).

Pre-Check-in Conditions

Reservation Field Conditions

When the event is Reservation Fields Changed, the condition picker offers Reservation Field. Choosing it opens a small builder: pick where to look, name the field, choose a test, and (for some tests) type a value.

As you build the rule, a plain-English summary appears beneath it — Pet Fee is present — and that same sentence is what you will see later in the Condition column on the Triggers list.

Any action can follow a reservation-field condition. Create Task and Create Checklist are described under Checklist & Task Creation Actions; Send Snippet works the same way it does for lifecycle events.

The four tests

Checkbox and number fields match by their text: use equals with true, false, or the number itself. A checkbox the PMS sends as unchecked still counts as a filled-in field — it is set to false, not empty.

Note on "is cleared": it means emptied, not never filled in. It fires when a field that had a value loses it. A reservation where that field was never set at all does not fire — nothing changed, and a field the PMS sends with an empty value counts as not set. To chase a field that is still blank as arrival approaches, use a scheduled automation instead.

Typing your own labels: the field and value boxes suggest what your property has sent recently, but you can always type something else. A field your PMS has not synced yet, or a seasonal one that only appears in summer, can be typed in by hand — the rule simply waits for that field to appear. Any characters are allowed, so labels like Guest's Late C/O (%) work as written, and stray spaces around a label don't matter — HelloShift matches the trimmed name.

One exception: door and access-code fields cannot be watched. They belong to the digital-key flow, and HelloShift deliberately keeps them out of the reservation-fields list.

Where this condition is available: only on the Reservation Fields Changed event. On any other event it would read the field's current value rather than the change that caused the trigger to run, which makes "is cleared" meaningless — so the option only appears when the event supports it. Editing a rule's event away from Reservation Fields Changed clears its condition for the same reason; the form shows this as you do it, and what you see is what is saved.

Custom Conditions

Write custom logic using Liquid templates:

Note: Custom conditions require the custom_automation feature flag.

Available Actions

Key Management Actions

Guest Communication Actions

Also send the email version. Send Snippet actions have this checkbox: the same-name email snippet goes out alongside the text when one exists, otherwise the text itself is sent as the email. Not needed when Always send an email copy is on for the site.

Housekeeping Task Actions

Room Status Actions

Checklist & Task Creation Actions

Triggers can create staff work — not just send messages. Pick a checklist or task template, and HelloShift generates the work for the guest's room the moment the event fires.

Setting it up:

1. Go to AI & Automation > Triggers and click New Trigger

2. Choose the Event (e.g., Guest Checked Out, Guest Checked In, Guest Booking Confirmed)

3. Under Action, select Create Checklist or Create Task

4. Pick the checklist or task template in the dropdown that appears

5. Optionally add a condition or delay, then save

How generated checklists and tasks behave:

• Room-tagged and guest-linked: Items are tagged with the stay's room and linked to the guest, so they appear on the room page and the guest profile.

• One per room: Multi-room reservations get one checklist or task per room.

• Room resolved when the trigger fires: If no room is assigned yet (e.g., a booking confirmed before room assignment), nothing is created.

• No duplicates: If your PMS re-sends the same event — or a scheduled Room Automation already generated the same checklist or task for that room today — no second copy is created. Deduplication is per room, so reservations with several guests still get exactly one copy per room.

• Checklist skip threshold: If the room's recent copies of the same checklist are all still incomplete, a new one is skipped — the same rule scheduled checklist generation uses.

• Safe template handling: If the selected template is later deleted or archived, the trigger deactivates itself and warns once instead of failing silently.

Note: The Create Checklist action is available on the Staff plan.

The same two actions are also available as scheduled Room Automations (AI & Automation > Scheduled Automations > Room > New Room Automation). Use a Trigger when the work should follow a PMS event; use a Room Automation when it should be generated at a set time from reservation dates — for example, a checklist for every guest departing today, whether or not the PMS has checked them out.

Creating a Trigger

Step 1: Click New Trigger

1. Go to AI & Automation > Triggers

2. Click New Trigger

Step 2: Configure the Trigger

Step 3: Save and Activate

1. Click Create Trigger

2. Toggle the trigger On to activate

System Triggers

HelloShift creates these default triggers for common workflows:

Post-Booking-Message

Purpose: Send booking confirmation shortly after reservation is created.

Post-Checkin-Message

Purpose: Welcome guests after they check in.

Post-Checkout-Message

Purpose: Thank guests and request reviews after checkout.

Post-Booking-Key

Purpose: Immediately issue keys for walk-in guests booked after check-in time.

Post-Cancel-Key

Purpose: Revoke access for cancelled bookings if guest was in-house.

Post-Checkout-Room

Purpose: Alert housekeeping when guests check out.

Common Trigger Examples

Score-Based Review Routing

Send the review link the moment a guest replies 4-5 to the In-Stay survey, and open service recovery for low scores — two triggers on the same event:

Low scores also alert staff via the built-in low-score notification, independent of triggers. If you use these, deactivate any day-of-departure scheduled review request so guests aren’t asked twice.

Snippets sent by these triggers can include the number itself via {{ guest_stay.score }} (e.g. "Sorry to hear your stay is a {{ guest_stay.score }}/5").

Walk-in Key Issue

Issue keys immediately for same-day bookings:

Welcome After Check-in

Send welcome message 30 minutes after check-in:

Mark Room Dirty on Checkout

Update room status when guest checks out:

Revoke Key on Cancel

Remove access when booking is cancelled:

Assign Cleaner on Checkout

Assign default cleaner when guest leaves:

Issue Key After Payment

Issue key once pre-check-in payment is received:

Confirmation After Pre-Checkin

Confirm when all pre-check-in steps complete:

Checklist on Checkout

Generate a cleaning checklist for each departing room:

Pet Setup from a Reservation Field

Create a housekeeping task the moment a reservation is marked as bringing a pet:

Skip Housekeeping on Request

Many PMS systems bury service codes inside the special-requests line. Watch for the code rather than the whole sentence:

Tip: give each rule its own task template. Only one task is created per room, per template, per day — so if two rules share a template, the second rule looks like it did nothing.

Custom Conditions with Liquid

For advanced filtering, use custom Liquid conditions.

How Custom Conditions Work

1. Write a Liquid template

2. Template must return true or false

3. Trigger fires only if template returns true

Available Variables

Access guest and stay information through the guest_stay object:

Names defined in your Snippet Library and the message variables (roomNumber, roomGroup, guestLanguage, keyCode and the rest) can be used in a condition too, exactly as in a snippet.

Example: VIP Guests Only

{% if guest.guest_type contains 'VIP' %}true{% else %}false{% endif %}

Example: Direct Bookings Only

{% if stay.booking_source == 'Direct' %}true{% else %}false{% endif %}

Example: Long Stays (7+ nights)

{% assign nights = guest_stay.nights | plus: 0 %}{% if nights >= 7 %}true{% else %}false{% endif %}

Example: Exclude OTA Guests

{% unless stay.booking_source contains 'Expedia' or stay.booking_source contains 'Booking.com' %}true{% else %}false{% endunless %}

Managing Triggers

Enabling/Disabling

1. Find the trigger in the list

2. Click the toggle to switch On or Off

3. Change takes effect immediately

Editing a Trigger

1. Click Edit on the trigger

2. Modify settings as needed

3. Click Update Trigger

Note: For system triggers, Event and Action cannot be changed.

Deleting a Trigger

1. Click Delete on the trigger

2. Confirm deletion

Note: System triggers cannot be deleted, only deactivated.

Viewing Trigger History

The Triggers list carries two columns that tell you whether a rule is doing anything:

• Last Run — when the trigger's condition last passed

• Matched (30d) — how many times it passed in the last 30 days. This counts the condition matching, not the outcome; an action can still be skipped afterwards, for example when a reservation has no room assigned yet

A rule whose watched field has gone quiet shows a Field not seen recently badge next to its condition. That usually means the PMS renamed the field, or the label was mistyped when the rule was created. The rule is not broken — it simply has nothing to match.

For a single reservation, open Reservation Details and look at the Automations panel. It shows both halves of the story: which fields changed on that reservation, and which rules evaluated as a result.

Tasks and checklists created by a trigger say so on the task itself, naming the field, its value, and the rule responsible — for example Created automatically — reservation field 'Pet' was set to '1 dog' (trigger: Pet setup). Guest-facing messages never carry this line.

Delay Settings

How Delays Work

• Delay is in seconds

• Trigger waits before executing action

• Delay starts when event occurs

Common Delay Values

Why Use Delays

• Natural Feel: Instant messages feel automated

• Processing Time: Allow PMS data to sync

• Staff Response: Give staff time to intervene

• Batch Prevention: Avoid rapid-fire messages

Best Practices

Trigger Naming

Use consistent naming conventions:

• Post-Booking-Message - After booking is created

• Post-Checkin-Welcome - After guest checks in

• Post-Checkout-Review - After guest leaves

• Cancel-Key-Revoke - When booking cancelled

Delay Recommendations

Testing Triggers

1. Keep trigger Inactive initially

2. Create a test booking

3. Manually activate and verify behavior

4. Enable for production use

Avoiding Conflicts

• Don't create duplicate triggers for same event

• Check existing system triggers before creating new ones

• Use conditions to prevent overlapping execution

Triggers vs Scheduled Automations

Use Triggers for:

• Immediate responses to guest actions

• Key management on booking/checkout

• Room status updates on check-in/out

Use Scheduled Automations for:

• Pre-arrival messages (day before)

• Mid-stay check-ins (morning of day 2)

• Post-stay review requests (day after)

• Date-based checklists and tasks — e.g., create a checklist every morning for each guest departing today, independent of PMS checkout events

Checklist and task creation exists on both sides: the same Create Checklist and Create Task actions are available as event-driven Triggers and as scheduled Room Automations. If both cover the same room and template on the same day, only one copy is created.

Troubleshooting

Trigger not firing

Possible Causes:

• Trigger is inactive (Off)

• Condition doesn't match guest

• Event not occurring (PMS sync issue)

Solutions:

• Verify trigger is active

• Check condition matches expected guests

• Verify PMS is syncing properly

Wrong message sent

Possible Causes:

• Wrong action selected

• Snippet content incorrect

• Wrong trigger activated

Solutions:

• Verify action matches intent

• Check snippet content

• Review active triggers for conflicts

Delay not working

Possible Causes:

• Delay set to 0

• Background job queue delayed

• Trigger deactivated during delay

Solutions:

• Verify delay value in seconds

• Check job queue health

• Ensure trigger stays active

Key not issued

Possible Causes:

• Smart lock not configured

• Room not mapped to lock

• Condition blocked execution

Solutions:

• Verify smart lock integration

• Check room has lock assigned

• Review condition requirements

Multiple messages sent

Possible Causes:

• Multiple triggers for same event

• Trigger and scheduled automation overlap

• Duplicate booking events

Solutions:

• Review all active triggers

• Check scheduled automations for conflicts

• Investigate PMS for duplicate events

Reservation field trigger not firing

Possible Causes:

• The field label does not match what the PMS sends — check for a Field not seen recently badge on the Triggers list

• The field has not changed since the rule was created. The event fires on a change, so an existing value that stays put fires nothing

• The condition is is cleared but the field was never filled in to begin with

• The reservation is cancelled, a no-show, or has already departed

Solutions:

• Open Reservation Details and check the Automations panel — it will tell you whether the field change was seen at all

• Retype the field label to match the PMS spelling (stray spaces at the edges are forgiven, but the words must match)

• To act on a field that is still blank as arrival approaches, use a scheduled automation instead of a trigger

Only one task created when several rules should have fired

Possible Cause: the rules share a task template. HelloShift creates one task per room, per template, per day, no matter how many rules ask for it — this is what stops a room collecting duplicates.

Solution: give each rule its own template. The trigger form warns you when the template you pick is already used by another active rule.

Task not created before arrival

Possible Cause: task and checklist actions need a room. Many PMS systems do not assign one until close to check-in, so a rule that fires days ahead has nowhere to put the task.

Solution: use Send Snippet for pre-arrival rules, or let the rule fire again once the room is assigned. The Matched (30d) count will still increase in the meantime, which is the signal that the condition matched but the action had nowhere to land.

Related Articles

• Guest Automations - Scheduled message automations

• Snippets & Templates - Create message templates

• Contactless Check-in Setup - Pre-check-in configuration

• Smart Lock Integration - Key automation setup