ActionCircleCIUpdated May 2026

How do I trigger a CircleCI pipeline?

Short answer: Drop the "CircleCI → Trigger Pipeline" action anywhere in your workflow, map the inputs from upstream nodes, and publish.

Use this action All 4 CircleCI actions

Inputs

The fields this action accepts.

Every field can be mapped from an upstream trigger, AI step, table row, or hard-coded literal.

Field	Type	Required	Description
Project Slug project_slug	string	Required	Format: gh/org/repo or bb/org/repo
Branch branch	string	Optional	Branch to run the pipeline on
Tag tag	string	Optional	Git tag to run the pipeline on (alternative to branch)
Pipeline Parameters (JSON) parameters	string	Optional	Custom parameters defined in your .circleci/config.yml

Sample request

{
  "project_slug": "e.g. gh/acme-corp/my-project",
  "branch": "e.g. main",
  "tag": "e.g. v1.2.3",
  "parameters": "{\"deploy_env\": \"staging\"}"
}

Returns

{
  "id": "abc-123-def",
  "state": "created",
  "number": 42,
  "created_at": "2025-01-15T12:00:00.000Z"
}

Use these fields in downstream nodes for routing, logging, or error handling.

Triggered by

Apps that pair well as the trigger for Trigger Pipeline.

Any of these apps can fire this action as part of a workflow.

Google Sheets → CircleCI

2 Google Sheets triggers

HubSpot → CircleCI

18 HubSpot triggers

FAQ

Questions about Trigger Pipeline.

What does the Trigger Pipeline action do in CircleCI?

Starts a CI run with optional branch and parameter overrides. Useful for "Linear issue moved to deploy → trigger production pipeline" or "rollback requested → trigger pipeline with deploy_version=X parameter" patterns.

What inputs does Trigger Pipeline require?

Required: Project Slug. Every input accepts a static value or a variable from any upstream node in your workflow.

Can I use dynamic inputs from earlier workflow nodes?

Yes. Any field on this action can pull values from upstream nodes, whether that's a form response, a trigger payload, an AI output, or a lookup result.

What happens if CircleCI returns an error?

The workflow pauses on the failed node, the error message is captured in the run log, and you can retry the run with one click. Auto-retry policies are configurable per workflow with exponential backoff up to 5 attempts.

Does Trigger Pipeline support batch operations?

Yes. Run Trigger Pipeline inside a Loop node to process arrays. Tiny Command handles CircleCI's rate limits automatically so you don't have to throttle manually.

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