Learn how to use the “When a form is submitted” trigger to kick off an automation run. Think of this automation trigger as the beginning step of the ability to automate custom workflows that will follow a form submission.
Introduction
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Setting up an automation to trigger when a form is submitted
To create an automation to trigger when a form is submitted:
Open your Airtable home screen.
Open the base where you want to create an automation.
Click Automations.
Click + Create new.
Click + Create automation.
Click + Add trigger.
Once clicked, the available triggers will be displayed for you to choose from. Choose the “When a form is submitted” option.
Under the “Table” section, select the table containing the view you want this automation to watch.
Under the “Form” section click Select a form.
From here, choose the standalone form or form view of your choice.
It’s important to test the trigger at this point so that you can utilize dynamic tokens in the automation action steps. This trigger allows you to pull in information from the record that triggered this automation such as record ID or created time (when the form was submitted). Those are just a few examples, but there is much more information that you can potentially use in later automation steps.
Again, be sure to test all of the steps in the automation that you are building. Once every part of the automation has tested successfully, you’ll likely be ready to turn the automation on. Find the red colored “OFF” toggle and click it so the automation now appears as “ON” in green.
Using the “When a form is submitted” trigger to categorize form submissions
After configuring the automation steps 1-3 listed in the section above, you can move on to adding action steps. In the example below, we’ll accomplish two things by adding an “Update record” action:
Identify new project ideas created via form (externally)
Categorize those records by updating the record with the automation action
Step 1: Add “Update record” action and match it to the submitted record
To set this up, add the “Update record” action. Select the same table that you used in the trigger step and populate the “Record ID” field with the Airtable record ID option like shown below.
Step 2: Categorize the submission by utilizing a select field option
Next, choose a field to categorize the record as being created from a form. In our case, the “Submission Type” field will be updated with the option “External (via form)”.
After selecting the field to update along with the value to update it, run a test to ensure the action is working correctly. Now, whenever a new form submission appears in the selected table, the automation will update the record with the values set in the action.
FAQs
Can multiple forms be selected in the trigger step?
No, each trigger is scoped to use 1 table at a time.
Is the "When a form is submitted" trigger needed for every form?
No, forms created in the standalone form builder or the form view can be submitted regardless of whether or not there is an automation containing this trigger. Instead, this trigger allows users to automate custom workflows after forms are submitted. In other words, this trigger is additive, but not mandatory.
Can this trigger be used with interface form layouts?
The “When a form is submitted” trigger allows both base form views and standalone interface forms to be selected.
When an automation isn't firing when a form is submitted, the wrong form is likely selected in the trigger step. As a first troubleshooting step, we recommend verifying that the correct form is chosen in the automation’s configuration and ensuring that users are filling out the corresponding form accordingly.
Can i include a timestamp of when the form was submitted?
Yes you can by utilizing an “Actual run time” token in one of the action steps of the automation you are building. To learn more about the “Actual run time” token as outlined in step 2 of this section in the timestamping automations article