Intro to actions

Actions are user-defined interactivity that you can configure within and across workbook elements. By automating responses to specific user interactions, you can create efficient workbook workflows that produce quick and relevant data insights.

This document introduces action conditions, triggers, and effects. For information about using actions, see the Related resources section at the end of this page.

Understanding actions

An individual action consists of a condition (optional), a trigger, and an effect.


Trigger	A user interaction with a specific element (the trigger element) that initiates the response of one or more actions or sequences of actions.
Condition (optional)	A rule that determines when an action or sequence of actions1 executes.
Effect	The defined response to the user interaction.

1You can configure a single action on a workbook element or a sequence of multiple actions that execute in a specified order.

Action conditions

You can define an optional condition for any action sequence. The condition can be a custom formula or, if you are configuring an action for a control, the condition can be the value of the control.

For more information, see Make an action conditional.

Action triggers

Action triggers can be configured on most element types. The following table describes the supported trigger types.

Actions are not initiated when a trigger element is maximized. This behavior prevents users from triggering action effects that are not visible while the maximized element spans the full browser window.

Element type	Trigger type (user interaction)
Table, pivot table, or input table	On select: User selects a cell in a specific column. Cell context menu: User selects a custom context menu item on a cell.
Chart	On select: User selects a data point or category on the chart. Cell context menu: User selects a custom context menu item on a data point.
Repeated container	On select: User selects a card in the repeated container.
UI element (button or image only)	On click: User clicks the element.
Control element	On change: User changes the control value. Does not trigger when other actions or query string parameters change the control value
Modal	On click - primary: User clicks the primary button. On click - secondary: User clicks the secondary button. On close: User clicks the X or clicks outside the modal.
Plugin	User-configured interaction. See Configure plugins to use as trigger elements.

For table elements with an On select action trigger, you can customize the appearance of the column that triggers the action sequence to highlight interactivity. For more information, see Format action button columns.

Action effects

The following table lists the actions you can configure on a trigger element and describes the corresponding effect.

Category	Action	Effect
Navigation	Open link	Navigates to an external link or destination within Sigma.
	Open Sigma doc	Navigates to a different Sigma workbook.
	Navigate in this workbook	Shifts the focus to the top of a specific page or an individual element in the current workbook.
	Download and export	Initiates a direct download or an export to email, Slack, webhook, or cloud storage.
Controls	Set control value	Sets the value of a specific control element in the current workbook.
Controls	Clear control	Clears the values of a specific control element in the current workbook.
Elements	Modify element	Modifies an element’s columns, groupings, properties, or axis scale.
Elements	Refresh element	Refreshes the data of a specific element in the current workbook. This action doesn’t apply to materialized elements.
Layout elements	Open modal	Opens a modal in the current workbook.
	Close modal	Closes an open modal.
	Select tab	Displays a tabbed container opened to a specific tab.
	Set single row container	Updates the current value of a single row container.
Input tables	Insert row	Adds a new row to an existing input table.
	Update row	Updates row values in an existing input table.
	Delete row	Deletes a row in an existing input table.
Advanced	Call stored procedure	Calls a stored procedure.
	Generate iframe event (for embedding)	Generates an outbound iframe event.
	Trigger plugin	Triggers effects within a plugin.
	Call agent	Runs a Sigma agent from an automated action sequence.
	Clear chat element messages	Clears the current conversation with an agent in a chat element.

Action configurations

Actions feature versatile configurations to support responses that are highly relevant to your specific needs and preferences.

Examples:

Configure the Open URL action to open a static link, or utilize dynamic text to generate URLs that adjust to control or column values in the current workbook.
Configure the Set control value action to filter the trigger element itself, or create a cross-element action that filters a child element.
Configure the Open Sigma doc action to open another workbook in its published state, or pass values to control elements in the destination workbook to open a custom, drilled-down view.

For detailed information about configuring the different types of actions, see the Related resources section at the end of this page.