Show an Appcues Flow immediately after a specific event occurs in your app — instead of waiting for a page load.

This feature is available on select plans and may be offered as an add-on. Contact our team at support@appcues.com for more information.

Prerequisites

• The Appcues SDK is installed in your application.
• At least one event is being sent to Appcues, either through application code or a Click-to-Track event.
• The event does not cause a page change. The event and the triggered Flow must occur within the same URL context (see below).

How event triggering works

By default, Appcues evaluates whether to show a Flow each time a page loads. Event triggering changes that — it displays a Flow the moment a specific event fires, regardless of page navigation.

This is useful when you want to respond to a user action in real time, like showing a contextual message right after someone clicks a button or completes a task.

Important: Event triggering only works if the event fires without causing a page change. The event and the Flow must occur in the same URL context. If the event also navigates the user to a different page, the SDK reloads and the triggered Flow will not display. In that case, use standard page-load targeting on the destination page instead.

Event triggering vs. event targeting: Triggering shows a Flow when an event happens. Targeting filters the audience based on whether an event has occurred in the past. For a full comparison, see Event Triggering vs Event Targeting.

Send events to Appcues

Event triggering requires that the event is sent to Appcues client-side. There are two ways to do this.

Application events

Add an Appcues.track() call wherever the event occurs in your code. Event attributes are optional:

Appcues.track('event name', { event attributes (optional) });

After the first instance fires, the event appears on your Events and properties page in Appcues. See the developer installation guide for more on sending events.

Click-to-Track events

Use Click-to-Track to define events visually — no code required.

1. Navigate to the page in your app where the event should fire.
2. Open the Appcues Extension and select Track Events.
3. Select the element to track, name the event, and test it.

For detailed steps, see Click-to-Track Events.

Set up event triggering on a Flow

1. Open your Flow and go to Settings.
2. Find the Trigger section.
3. Select When an event occurs.
4. Choose the event name from the dropdown. When a user performs that action, Appcues receives the track call and shows the Flow immediately.

Filter by event attributes

Use event attributes to trigger a Flow only when specific conditions are met on the event. For example, you might track all Clicked Purchase Button events but only trigger a Flow when the planName attribute equals Enterprise.

Here's how the event would be sent:

Appcues.track('Clicked Purchase Button', { planName: "Enterprise", buttonColor: "red" });

See Appcues.track() for full details on sending events with attributes.

To configure attribute filters:

1. In the Trigger section of your Flow settings, select the event.
2. Add attribute conditions below the event name. Type the attribute name and value manually — no dropdown is provided.
3. Use operators like equals, contains, or does not contain to define the match.

Note: You must type the attribute name and value exactly as they appear in your track call. Appcues does not auto-populate these fields.

Combine event triggering with other targeting

Event triggering works alongside other targeting conditions:

• Page targeting: Restrict the Flow to specific pages even when the event fires globally. See Page Targeting.
• Audience targeting: Limit the Flow to specific user segments. See Audience Targeting.

For example, you could trigger a Flow on a Clicked Upgrade event, but only show it to users on the pricing page who are admins.

Use event triggering with Segment

Event triggering requires a client-side Segment installation — events sent from a back-end server will not trigger Flows.

Supported setups

• Segment loads the Appcues SDK on your webpage, and you call Appcues.track("event!") for events.
• The Segment–Appcues integration is enabled, and you call Analytics.track("event!") from client-side code.

Unsupported setup

• Events are sent to Segment server-side using one of their server-side libraries.

For more on the difference, see Segment's guide to client-side vs. server-side tracking.

Confirm it worked

• Perform the tracked action in your app. The Flow appears immediately after the event fires.
• Check the Events and properties page to verify the event is being received.
• If using attribute filtering, confirm the attribute name and value in your track call match what you entered in the Flow's trigger settings.

Common questions

Can I use event attributes in event targeting?

No. Event attributes are used for triggering only. Appcues does not store nested event attributes, so they can't be referenced in audience targeting conditions. You can, however, use the event itself (without attributes) for targeting. See Events overview.

Does an event-triggered Flow interrupt other Flows?

Yes. An event-triggered Flow takes priority over any other Flow — including one currently being displayed. A Flow that gets dismissed because of an event-triggered Flow will not reappear unless its targeting conditions are specifically configured for re-display.

Can I trigger one Flow from multiple events?

No. A Flow can only be triggered by a single event. To trigger the same content from different events, clone the Flow and set a different event trigger on each copy.

Why doesn't my event-triggered Flow appear?

The most common cause is that the event also triggers a page change. Event triggering requires that the user stays on the same page (same URL context) when the event fires. If the action navigates to a new URL, the SDK reloads and the Flow never displays. Use standard page-load targeting on the destination page instead.

If it's still not working

Collect the following and contact support@appcues.com:

• The Flow ID and URL where the event should trigger
• The user ID of the user having issues
• The exact event name and any attribute key/value pairs from your track call
• Whether your installation is client-side or server-side (Segment installations)
• Whether the event causes a page change (event triggering requires the event and Flow to occur on the same page)
• A screenshot or screen recording showing the issue