---
title: "Manage Test Trigger Methods - Plan Trigger"
language: "en"
url: "https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/managing-test-plan/"
markdown_url: "https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/managing-test-plan.md"
translation: "https://docs.testany.io/zh/docs/managing-test-plan.md"
last_updated: "2026-03-03T14:24:54+08:00"
---

# Manage Test Trigger Methods - Plan Trigger

## Overview

Plan lets you schedule one or more test pipelines to run automatically at fixed times or recurring intervals.

Use Plan when you want predictable, unattended regression runs, such as:

- daily smoke checks
- weekly cross-environment checks
- monthly compliance regression suites

## Key Concepts

| Concept | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| Plan Key | Unique key of a plan, format `P-{workspace_key}-{4 uppercase hex}` |
| Trigger ID | For Plan, Trigger ID is the plan key itself (for example, `P-WKS-7351`) |
| Trigger Instance ID | Sequence ID of one scheduled run under the same plan (for example, `00004`) |
| Trigger Instance | One concrete plan execution event (for example, `P-WKS-7351-00004`) |
| Plan Owner | Owner of the plan resource (can edit/manage the plan with proper permission) |

## Before You Start

Make sure you already have:

- a target workspace
- at least one runnable test pipeline
- permission to create/edit plans in that workspace

## Create a Plan

1. Open your workspace, then go to **Trigger** -> **Plan**.

![Plan list page](https://docs.testany.io/docs/images/en/plan-list-page.png)

2. Click **Create plan**.

![Create plan dialog](https://docs.testany.io/docs/images/en/plan-create-dialog.png)

3. Fill in:
   - **Name** (required)
   - **Description** (optional)
   - **Execution schedule** (required)
   - **Linked pipelines** (required)
4. Click **Create**.


> **Note**
>
> A Plan must always keep at least one linked pipeline. If no pipeline is linked, the plan cannot run.


## Configure Schedule by Target Time

If you are not familiar with cron syntax, configure schedule from your target first:

1. Start with a plain sentence:  
   `I want this plan to run ...`
2. Set recurrence in **Every** (`day`, `week`, `month`, `year`).
3. Set day constraints:
   - use **on** for day-of-month style targets (for example the 1st day)
   - use **and** for weekday style targets (for example Mon-Fri)
4. Set time using **at** and the **minute selector**.
5. Confirm in **Schedule preview**:
   - natural-language sentence matches your intent
   - cron expression is generated correctly
6. Save, then verify one real run in Execution history.

### Ready-to-Use Examples

| Goal | Recommended setup |
| --- | --- |
| Run every day at 09:00 | **Every**=`day`; keep **on/and** as default full range; **at**=`09`; minute=`00` |
| Run every Monday-Friday at 10:30 | **Every**=`day`; **and**=`Mon-Fri`; **at**=`10`; minute=`30` |
| Run on day 1 of every month at 00:15 | **Every**=`month`; **on**=`1`; **at**=`00`; minute=`15` |


> **Tip**
>
> Use a nearby time window for first-time verification (for example in the next 5-10 minutes), confirm one run in Execution history, then update to the final production schedule.


## Manage a Plan

Open the plan detail page to maintain configuration.

![Plan detail page](https://docs.testany.io/docs/images/en/plan-detail-page.png)

On this page you can:

- edit name, description, schedule, and linked pipelines
- view and update owner and labels
- review `created_at` and `updated_at`
- configure result notifications (Individual receiver, Group receiver, Webhook dispatch)
- view upcoming executions with timezone conversion

## Review Execution History

You can review execution history in two ways:

- **Plan detail -> Executions**: latest 10 trigger instances
- **Show all results**: jumps to Execution list with the plan filter applied (`triggered_by=<plan_key>`)

![Execution history filtered by plan](https://docs.testany.io/docs/images/en/plan-execution-history.png)

Each trigger instance can be expanded to inspect pipeline-level executions and statuses.

## Related Guides

- [Trigger Test Executions](https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/managing-test-executions.md)
- [How to Read Execution List and Pipeline Execution Detail](https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/how-to-read-execution-list-and-detail.md)
- [Manage Test Trigger Methods - Manual Trigger](https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/managing-test-manual-trigger.md)
- [Manage Test Trigger Methods - Gatekeeper Trigger](https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/managing-test-gatekeeper.md)

## Glossary terms on this page

- [Plan](https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/glossary.md#plan)
- [Test Pipeline](https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/glossary.md#test-pipeline)
- [Plan Key](https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/glossary.md#plan-key)
- [Trigger ID](https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/glossary.md#trigger-id)
- [Trigger Instance ID](https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/glossary.md#trigger-instance-id)
- [Trigger Instance](https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/glossary.md#trigger-instance)
- [Plan Owner](https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/glossary.md#plan-owner)
- [Workspace](https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/glossary.md#workspace)
- [Execution](https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/glossary.md#execution)
- [Webhook Dispatch](https://docs.testany.io/en/docs/glossary.md#webhook-dispatch)