5. Watch / Polling Triggers

What it is: The platform polls a data source (a website, an API, a file, a folder) and triggers the workflow when something changes.

When to use it: - A file is added to a folder → trigger a workflow - A website's price changes → trigger an alert - An API endpoint returns different data than last check → trigger an action - A new row appears in a Google Sheet → trigger a workflow

In Make and n8n: Available through native integrations and HTTP requests with polling.

The mindset: Polling is "checking for change." The platform checks periodically (every 5 minutes, every hour, whatever you configure). If something is different from the last check, the trigger fires. It's not real-time, but it's simple and reliable.