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For agents that use generative orchestration, the default topic trigger is The agent chooses. It activates when the agent determines that the topic's name and the description specified on the Trigger node match the incoming message from the user.
For agents that use classic orchestration, the default topic trigger is User says a phrase. It activates when one or more of the specified trigger phrases closely match an incoming message from a user. Other trigger types are available that determine when a topic should be executed.
Prerequisites
Be familiar with creating and editing topics.
Trigger types
Triggers make it possible for your agent to intercept and handle different events or incoming activities of different types. The following trigger types determine when a topic should trigger.
Tip
When a user sends a message to an agent, the payload is a message of type activity. Agents can receive activities of other types depending on what happens in the chat or other events.
For example, Microsoft Teams sends hidden invoke activities, which represent a user action, such as interacting with a message extension.
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| The agent chooses | Available for agents that use generative orchestration. Fires when the agent determines that the topic's name and description specified on the Trigger node match with the incoming message from the user. |
| User says a phrase | Available for agents that use classic orchestration. Fires when one or more of the trigger phrases match with the incoming message from a user. |
| A message is received | Fires when a message activity—the most common type of activity—is received. Received when a user types or says something to the agent. |
| A custom client event occurs | Fires when an event activity is received. By default, all event activities are responded to. Use the Event name property within the trigger properties to filter for a specific event. |
| An activity occurs | Fires when an activity of any type is received. You can optionally set the Activity type property in the trigger properties to filter for a specific activity type. |
| The conversation changes | Fires when a conversation update activity is received. For example, Teams sends an activity of this type when a user joins a conversation. |
| It's invoked | Fires when an invoke activity is received. Most commonly received from the Teams channel—for example, when the user interacts with a message or search extension in Teams. |
| It's redirected to | Fires when the topic is called explicitly by another topic. Set the desired inactivity time using the Inactivity duration property in the trigger properties. |
| The user is inactive for a while | Fires when the user hasn't interacted with the agent after a configured period of time. |
| A plan completes | Available for agents that use generative orchestration. Fires when the agent finishes executing all planned steps to respond to a user query or autonomous trigger. |
| An AI-generated response is about to be sent | Available for agents that use generative orchestration. Fires when the agent generates a response for a user after calling one or more topics, tools, or knowledge sources. Use the Response.FormattedText system variable to see the generated response. Set the ContinueResponse variable to false if you want to prevent the orchestration response being sent (that is, if you modify the message and send your own using a Message node). |
Change the trigger for a topic
Go to the Topics page for your agent, and open the topic you want.
Hover over the box of the Trigger node and select the Change trigger icon.
Select the appropriate type of trigger for your topic.
- For the The agent chooses trigger, describe when your agent should use this topic.
- For the User says a phrase trigger, enter the desired trigger phrases.
Select Edit on the trigger box. The properties panel for the specified trigger type appears.
Set the applicable properties for your trigger:
Trigger condition
Specify conditions that must be met for the trigger to fire. For example, you might want the trigger to fire only if the channel used by an employee is Microsoft Teams.
If you need more complex conditions, you can switch to the Power Fx formula editor: select Builder then select Formula.
Trigger priority
More than one trigger can fire for a single incoming activity, such as a message. The trigger type determines the order the triggers fire.
Order of execution:
- An activity occurs
- A message is received / A custom client event occurs / The conversation changes / It's invoked
- The agent chooses / User says a phrase
If there are more than one qualifying triggers of the same type, the system executes the triggers in the order of creation (oldest first).
You can set the Priority property to explicitly determine the order of execution.