# Moose / Workflows / Trigger Workflow Documentation – Python

## Included Files
1. moose/workflows/trigger-workflow/trigger-workflow.mdx

## Trigger Workflows

Source: moose/workflows/trigger-workflow/trigger-workflow.mdx

Start workflows from events, APIs, or external triggers

# Trigger Workflows

## Overview

Moose workflows can be triggered programmatically from various sources including APIs, events, external systems, or manual execution. This enables you to build reactive data processing pipelines and on-demand task execution.

## Manual Workflow Execution

The simplest way to trigger a workflow is using the Moose CLI:

```bash filename="Terminal" copy
# Run a workflow manually
moose workflow run example

# Run with input parameters
moose workflow run example --input '{"name": "John", "email": "john@example.com"}'
```

### Passing Input to Workflows

When triggering workflows, you can pass input data that will be passed to the starting task:

```bash filename="Terminal" copy
moose workflow run data-processing --input '{
  "sourceUrl": "https://api.example.com/data",
  "apiKey": "your-api-key",
  "batchSize": 100
}'
```

The input is parsed as JSON and passed to the workflow's starting task.

## API-Triggered Workflows

Trigger workflows directly via an HTTP POST endpoint exposed by the webserver.

- Endpoint: `/workflows/{workflowName}/trigger`

### Request

- Body: optional JSON payload passed to the workflow's starting task.

Example:

```bash filename="Terminal" copy
curl -X POST 'http://localhost:4000/workflows/data-processing/trigger' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "inputValue": "process-user-data",
    "priority": "high"
  }'
```

### Authentication

- Local development: no auth required.
- Production: protect the endpoint using an API key. Follow these steps:
  1. Generate a token and hashed key (see the Token Generation section in the API Auth docs):
     ```bash filename="Terminal" copy
     moose generate hash-token
     # Outputs:
     # - ENV API Key (hashed) → for environment/config
     # - Bearer Token (plain) → for Authorization header
     ```
  2. Configure the server with the hashed key:
     ```bash copy
     MOOSE_CONSUMPTION_API_KEY="<hashed_key_from_output>"
     ```
  3. Call the endpoint using the plain Bearer token from step 1:
     ```bash filename="Terminal" copy
     curl -X POST 'https://your-host/workflows/data-processing/trigger' \
       -H 'Authorization: Bearer <plain_token_from_output>' \
       -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
       -d '{"inputValue":"process-user-data"}'
     ```

For details, see the API Auth page under “Token Generation” and “API Endpoints”.

### Response

```json filename="Response"
{
  "workflowId": "data-processing-<hash>",
  "runId": "<id>",
}
```

In local development, the response also includes a `dashboardUrl` to Temporal UI:

```json filename="Response (dev)"
{
  "workflowId": "data-processing-<hash>",
  "runId": "<id>",
  "dashboardUrl": "http://localhost:8080/namespaces/<namespace>/workflows/data-processing-<hash>/<runId>/history"
}
```

## Terminate a Running Workflow

After triggering a workflow, you can terminate it via an HTTP endpoint.

- Endpoint: `POST /workflows/{workflowId}/terminate`

### Request

- Local development (no auth):

```bash filename="Terminal" copy
curl -X POST 'http://localhost:4000/workflows/data-processing-<hash>/terminate'
```

- Production (Bearer token required):

```bash filename="Terminal" copy
curl -X POST 'https://your-host/workflows/data-processing-<hash>/terminate' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <plain_token_from_output>''
```