Bindings in automations

Automations in Budibase often move data between triggers and actions. This guide shows how to work with that data inside an automation.

Trigger Data

Start with data coming in through a trigger. This example uses the Row Created trigger, but the same pattern works for other triggers too.

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Follow along

To follow along with our example, load the csv-data from the Quickstart guide.

First, define a Row Created trigger.

Select the Fleet table you want to monitor.

Next, add an action. This example uses a Condition action so the automation only continues for cars newer than 2015. You can also apply filters to the trigger instead.

Inside the Condition action, use the Reference Value field. Click the lightning icon and select Trigger.row, which contains the row data from the table.

Check the table to confirm the column name, then add it to the binding.

Compare it to the current year using the {{ now }} binding. This returns a UTC timestamp.

Set the value to 2015 and use the greater than condition.

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Trigger.row

Trigger.row always contains the row from the trigger when the action is row-related. The value remains available even after additional actions.

Querying data with trigger data as filter

Now query the Fleet table for the same year as the newly added car. Use the Trigger.row data to match the year.

Add the Query Rows action and select the Fleet table as the source. Then define a filter.

Click Define Filters in the Query Rows action to get started.

A modal opens where you can add a filter for Year. Use the binding property and enter {{ trigger.row.Year }}, or click the lightning bolt to use the Bindings overlay.

Click save and the filter is ready. Set the query limit to 1 and configure sorting as needed.

Test the automation to see what data is returned. In the output section, you should see a JSON representation of the returned Fleet data.

Using Automation Step Data

Every automation step generates data you can use, from booleans to query results. Each step adds an item to the bindable Steps object available throughout the automation. In the condition action from the Trigger Data step above, the boolean result is available under Steps.1.success.

Next, use the row returned in step 2. For this example, send a Discord notification with the Make and Model of the car you queried.

Enter the Discord Webhook URL and bot name, then bind data from the Query Rows step.

Step 2, or steps.2 in Bindings, contains a rows array. Because the query is limited to 1 item, use steps.2.rows.0 to reach the data.

Your {{ steps.2.rows.0.Make }} {{ steps.2.rows.0.Model }} {{steps.2.rows.0.[License Plate]}} was just automatically queried

And with that handlebars expression, I just received the following message in Discord:

Your Toyota FJ Cruiser CJE-7940 was just automatically queried

Using Query Result as a condition

The example above uses the "happy path". You might want to halt the automation if the query returns no results.

You can do this by adding a condition action between the Discord notification and the Query Rows action, then binding the Success state of Query Rows as a condition.

By comparing the success state of a query with true, you can continue the automation if you have a result or stop it if you do not.