Can't create workflow triggered by custom event

Smart CRM & Sales Hub CRM
1

I want to trigger a workflow off a change to a Line Item property value. I discovered you can’t do this with workflows.

So I tried creating a custom event, which is tracking the change. I understood you can trigger workflows on custom events, but when I try to do this, I just get an error:

JamesMH_0-1769778585656.png
JamesMH_0-1769778585656.png955×832 67.3 KB

Am I trying to get it do something it can’t do, or is there an issue?

2

Hey @JamesMH Thanks for your question!

I want to share with you this community thread that has a workaround for your issue (Check @karstenkoehler’s comments) https://community.hubspot.com/t5/Lists-Lead-Scoring-Workflows/Trigger-Deal-workflow-if-a-line-item-is-modified/td-p/543038

I also want to tag other community experts that can help us find a solution. Hey there @EugeneAtKiwi @RomyFuchs1 @Jonathan_Vaz Happy Friday! Do you have any insights that can help us out here?

Thanks

Victor

3

Hi @JamesMH

You’ve run into two separate limitations/quirks here:

  1. You’re right: you currently can’t trigger a workflow directly from a Line Item property change.
    Workflow event triggers cover contacts, companies, deals, tickets, and some integrations – but not line items as a first‑class event source. The “Property value changed” trigger is only available for CRM records, not for individual line items attached to them.

  2. Custom events can be used as workflow triggers – but only in specific ways.

    • There is a “Custom event occurs” trigger, but it only enrolls existing contacts when a custom event is logged on that contact.
    • Custom events are defined with a target object and properties, and occurrences must match that definition to be valid.
    • There are also actions like “Delay until event happens” that can wait for a custom behavioral event inside a workflow, but they don’t replace the initial enrollment trigger type.

So:

  • Conceptually, what you’re trying to do is allowed (triggering a workflow on a custom event), but
  • You still can’t make that event “about” a line item object in a way that HubSpot will treat as a Line Item workflow trigger, and
  • The error you see when choosing the custom event as a trigger is almost always due to a mismatch between:
    • the workflow type (e.g. contact vs deal workflow), and
    • the custom event’s target object and properties, or missing prerequisites (like the record not existing at the time of the event).

Regards