Polling Triggers
Polling triggers watch an external source on a schedule and fire a workflow when new items appear. Unlike webhooks, polling triggers do not require any configuration on the external service - Aisle checks for new content periodically and handles deduplication automatically.
Available polling triggers
| Trigger | What it watches |
|---|---|
| Gmail | New emails in a Gmail inbox or label |
| Microsoft Outlook | New emails in an Outlook folder |
| Google News RSS | New articles matching a search query |
| SERP News Monitor | New search results for a keyword via SerpAPI |
Gmail
Watches a Gmail inbox for new messages.
Connector required: Connect Gmail from the Connectors page via OAuth.
Trigger settings:
- Label (optional) - A Gmail label ID to filter messages (e.g.,
INBOX, or a custom label ID). Leave blank to watch all mail.
Workflow variables per new email:
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
messages | Array of new message objects (headers, body, attachments, etc.) |
history_id | Gmail history ID used internally for tracking |
label_id | The label being monitored (if configured) |
Each item in messages includes standard Gmail message fields: id, subject, snippet, sender, recipients, body, labels, and attachments (array of file objects).
Microsoft Outlook
Watches an Outlook folder for new messages.
Connector required: Connect Microsoft Outlook from the Connectors page via OAuth.
Trigger settings:
- Folder (default:
inbox) - The Outlook folder to watch. Useinbox,drafts,sent, or a custom folder ID.
Workflow variables per new email:
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
messages | Array of new message objects |
folder_id | The folder being monitored |
Each item in messages includes standard Outlook fields: id, subject, bodyPreview, from, receivedDateTime, and attachments.
Google News RSS
Searches Google News for new articles matching a query and fires when new ones appear since the last poll.
No connector or credentials required. Uses the public Google News RSS feed.
Trigger settings:
- Query (required) - The search query (e.g.,
AI regulation,your company name) - Country (default:
US) - Google country code for regional results - Language (default:
en) - Language code for results
Workflow variables:
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
articles | Array of new article objects |
query | The configured search query |
article_count | Number of new articles found |
Each item in articles includes: title, link, source, snippet, published_at.
SERP News Monitor
Searches for new news articles via SerpAPI and fires when new results appear.
Connector required: Connect SERP from the Connectors page - requires a SerpAPI key.
Trigger settings:
- Query (required) - The search query
- Country (default:
us) - Country code - Language (default:
en) - Language code
Polls for articles published in the past 24 hours, returning up to 30 results.
Workflow variables:
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
articles | Array of new article objects |
query | The configured search query |
article_count | Number of new articles found |
Each item in articles includes: title, link, source (object with name), date, iso_date, snippet, thumbnail.
Deduplication
Polling triggers track which items have already been processed so they do not fire the same email or article twice. Gmail uses the Gmail history API to detect only truly new messages. News triggers maintain a history of seen URLs (up to 200 per trigger).
Polling frequency
The poll interval is configured when you set up the trigger as an entry point on your workflow. See Distributing and Scheduling Workflows for how to configure schedules.