Two Notion triggers check a database on a schedule:

  • Notion · New database item — When an item is added to a Notion database.
  • Notion · Updated database item — When an item in a Notion database changes — a new item counts as a change.

Each item found since the last check starts a run, with its properties by their names.

Who can do this

Workspace Admins and Editors, on every plan. Viewers see the trigger and its status but cannot change it.

Before you start

A Notion connection — see Connect Notion — with the database shared with its integration.

Steps

  1. Open the workflow in the designer and open the trigger picker — Browse all triggers on an empty workflow, or select the trigger and Change how it starts.
  2. Under Notion, select New database item or Updated database item. Or type Notion in Search triggers.
  3. In Connection, choose your Notion connection.
  4. In Database, choose the database — Databases shared with the integration. For example Client onboarding.
  5. Under Checks, choose Every 5 minutes or Every 15 minutes — Every 5 minutes on paid plans, every 15 on Free. A check that finds nothing starts no run and costs nothing.
  6. Open the Output tab. Under Test with a real one, select Fetch a sample. The newest item — by when it was made, or last changed for Updated database item — comes in, and Test run starts with it. A toast says Sample fetched — Test run starts with it. Unpin it on Output to test with something else.
  7. Add the steps, test, then Publish.

What the trigger gives

id, url, createdAt, updatedAt, archived, and each property by its name — {{ trigger.Name }}, {{ trigger.Status }}. Properties come out by their type, as the Notion steps give them — see Create, update or find Notion pages.

What happens next

  • The first check after publishing only notes where the database is. Items already there never start a run — only items added or changed after you publish. Until then the panel says Starts with what arrives after you publish — nothing already there sets it off.
  • New database item finds items by the time they were made; Updated database item by the time they last changed.
  • Each item starts one run, named after it — New database item · Onboard Northwind Logistics. An item changed three times between two checks starts one run, with its latest values; changed again after that, it starts another.
  • Up to 100 items start runs in one check; the rest wait for the next check, in order.
  • A check that finds nothing starts no run and costs nothing.
  • The trigger's Settings show what it is doing — Checking every 5 minutes — Last checked 10:45 · next 10:50 — and its Recent checks: Nothing new, or 2 found · 2 runs.

Good to know

  • Every 5 minutes is for paid plans. On Free it checks every 15 minutes whatever is chosen.
  • Updated database item also hears new items, because adding an item is its first change. Use one trigger or the other, not both, for the same database.
  • Notion keeps these times to the minute, so a change made in the same minute as a check may come at the next one. Nothing is taken twice.
  • Changing the database or connection and publishing starts again from then.
  • Runs start in Production and count in the month's allowance.
  • Instant Notion triggers come with signing in with Notion, which is not offered yet.

If something goes wrong

What you see Why What to do
Nothing matches yet — add one, then fetch again. The database has no items. Add an item, then Fetch a sample.
Database is empty. Choose one from the list. or Choose the database from the list. No database is chosen, or a value from a step was typed. Choose the database from the list.
Not checking since 10:45 with Notion refused: … Check the connection's details on Connections. Nothing is lost — what arrives meanwhile is picked up by the first check that works. The secret was refreshed in Notion, or the integration was removed. Select Reconnect, then Check now. See When an app trigger stops checking.
Not checking since 10:45 with Notion refused: Could not find database with ID: … The database was unshared from the integration. Share it again in Notion, then Check now.
A run started for an item nobody seems to have changed A change by anyone counts — another integration, or a Notion step in a workflow. Add an If step to act only on the properties you care about.