Triggers and Automation
Triggers let your displays react to changing data automatically. When conditions are met, Inspire executes actions like switching scenes, showing alerts, or overriding element values.
How Triggers Work
A trigger consists of:
- Conditions — One or more rules that evaluate data
- Logic mode — ALL (every condition must be true) or ANY (at least one must be true)
- Actions — What happens when the conditions are satisfied
Triggers are evaluated server-side whenever the underlying data changes.
Creating a Trigger
Navigate to Triggers from the sidebar and click New Trigger.
Defining conditions
Each condition compares a DataPool field to a value:
| Setting | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Field | The DataPool field to monitor | weather.temperature |
| Operator | Comparison operator | >, <, =, !=, >=, <=, contains, starts with |
| Value | The comparison value | 30 |
| Type | Static value or another field | Static: 30, Field: targets.max_temp |
Dynamic comparisons — You can compare a field against another DataPool field rather than a static value. This enables triggers like “alert when actual sales fall below target sales”.
Logic modes
| Mode | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| ALL | Every condition must be true for the trigger to fire |
| ANY | At least one condition must be true |
Available actions
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Switch Scene | Change the active scene on an endpoint |
| Revert Scene | Return to the default scene |
| Override Element | Change an element’s property (text, colour, visibility) |
| Show Alert | Display an overlay alert message |
| Hide Alert | Dismiss a previously shown alert |
| Play Media | Play a specific media item |
| Navigate URL | Open a URL on the display device |
| Send Webhook | Send a webhook notification to an external URL |
| Set Variable | Set a variable value for use in other triggers or formulas |
| Emergency Broadcast | Activate an emergency message across all endpoints |
Trigger Examples
Temperature alert
When temperature exceeds 35 degrees, show a heat warning overlay.
- Condition:
sensors.temperature>35 - Logic: ALL
- Action: Show Alert — “High Temperature Warning”
Business hours content
Switch to the after-hours scene when the office closes.
- Condition:
system.time.hour>=18 - Logic: ALL
- Action: Switch Scene — “After Hours Welcome”
KPI threshold
Highlight KPI cards in red when a metric falls below target.
- Condition:
sales.actual<sales.target(field comparison) - Logic: ALL
- Action: Override Element — KPI card background colour to
#c0392b
Multi-condition emergency
When wind speed is high AND temperature is extreme, broadcast an emergency message.
- Condition 1:
weather.wind_speed>80 - Condition 2:
weather.temperature>40 - Logic: ALL
- Action: Emergency Broadcast — “Severe Weather Warning”
Trigger Priority and Conflicts
When multiple triggers fire simultaneously:
- Triggers are evaluated in priority order (configurable)
- Scene-switching actions from higher-priority triggers take precedence
- Element override actions stack — multiple overrides apply in priority order
- Alert actions always show (they overlay existing content)
Server-Side Evaluation
Triggers evaluate on the server, not on the display device. This means triggers work even if a display device is temporarily offline — when it reconnects, it receives the current state including any triggered changes.