In this guide, you’ll learn how to create an automation that triggers when a custom metadata field changes — and more specifically, when it changes to a particular value.
With Custom Metadata Triggers, you can build automations like:
When Primary Channel changes to Social → Notify the social media team
When Region changes to EMEA → Move the asset to a regional folder
When Language Variant changes to “en-US” → Assign the asset to a US localization reviewer
This feature specifically introduces automation triggers for changes to custom metadata. ‘Standard’ metadata fields (e.g. Name, Description, Alt text, Workflow status, Tags, Legal) are not affected.
If you’re new to automations in Frontify, check out our introductory guide before getting started.
Please note: Automations is currently in Beta. It’s best suited for scoped, well-defined workflows rather than mission-critical, high-volume batch processing. We’re actively improving scalability and visibility.
What are Custom Metadata Triggers?
Custom Metadata Triggers allow automations to react to changes in specific metadata fields — including the exact value they change to. Instead of simply running when an asset is uploaded or updated, you can now define rules like:
When [Custom Metadata Field] changes to [Value] → Run this action.
This transforms metadata from passive information into an active governance tool.
For DAM librarians and content operations teams, this means:
No more manual follow-ups when asset statuses change
Reduced reliance on internal messages or email handoffs
Consistent workflows tied directly to asset data
Greater precision in automation logic
Step-by-step: Set up your automation
In your project or library backend, click Automation at the top of the screen. Then click New automation at the bottom to get started.
1. Name your automation
Choose a clear name that reflects the logic, such as:
Notify team when Status = Approved
Archive asset when Status changes to Expired
2. Select the trigger
Choose Asset custom metadata updated as your trigger.
This allows the automation to run whenever a specific custom metadata property is updated.
3. Configure optional trigger conditions
You can narrow down when the trigger should apply by adding conditions.
These act as filters — the automation will only run if all conditions are met (think of this as: “Run this automation when metadata is updated where…”).
You can filter based on:
A. Asset properties
Title (is, is not, contains, etc…)
Description
Extension
B. Custom metadata
Which field was updated (eg. Field is “Countries”)
What value it was updated to (e.g. Field “Countries” is updated to “Canada”)
Note: Conditions on custom metadata values are:
Supported for: Short text, Long text, Number, Single-select, URL, Catalog
Not supported for: Date, Multi-select
4. Define your actions
Now decide what should happen when the metadata change occurs.
Click the Add action button and choose the appropriate action from the dropdown menu. For more details on configuring actions, refer to the Frontify automations Help article.
The automation in action
Imagine a designer updates an asset’s Status field from In Review to Approved.
As soon as the metadata is updated:
The automation detects the change
Confirms the new value matches Approved
Automatically triggers the defined actions
No manual messages or governance gaps — everything runs based on structured metadata.
Common use cases
Manage approval workflows
Example: Trigger review stage
When: “Approval status” is updated to Ready for review
Then: Move asset to Review workflow status + notify reviewers
Regional content routing
Example: Route by market
When: “Countries” metadata is updated to Germany
Then: Assign asset to EMEA library and notify EMEA marketing team
Automatically tag campaign assets
Example: Auto-tagging based on metadata
When: “Campaign” metadata contains Black Friday
Then: Add tag Black Friday 2026
Tag assets by content type
Example: File type classification via metadata
When: “Asset type” is set to Social media
Then: Add tag Social
Notify stakeholders when assets are deprecated
Example: Alert on critical changes
When: “Brand status” is changed to Deprecated
Then: Notify brand managers
Why this matters
Custom Metadata Triggers help you:
Eliminate manual coordination
Reduce errors caused by missed updates
Scale governance without increasing workload
Create precise, value-based automation logic
Turn asset data into operational workflows
Instead of relying on people to notice changes, your DAM now responds automatically — ensuring your processes stay consistent as your assets evolve.