Feature request: Link automation action events to triggering events

[zzstoatzz]

This discussion was created from a Slack thread conversation.

Original Thread: https://prefect-community.slack.com/archives/C04DZJC94DC/p1762928923126699

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Summary
In Prefect Cloud / Prefect 3.x, tracing an automation back to the originating event can be difficult because system-generated events like prefect-cloud.automation.action.triggered do not include a direct causal reference (follows) to the event that matched the trigger.

Impact
Users who have flows started from automations (e.g., RunDeployment actions) often need to trace failures back to the source event. Today this requires time-window searches and heuristics. A direct link would make debugging and audit workflows much easier.

Proposal

• Include a causal link from prefect-cloud.automation.action.triggered to the triggering event. Options:
  1. Set the follows field on prefect-cloud.automation.action.triggered to the id of the triggering event (ideal for causal chains).
  2. Add the triggering event id to the event payload (e.g., payload.triggering_event_id).
  3. Add the triggering event to related with a role like triggering_event.
• Ensure the Events UI surfaces this linkage (e.g., a “View triggering event” link) so users can click back to the source.

Context

• User report: Their automation is started by a custom event. The deployment fails; when tracing back, they reach prefect-cloud.automation.action.triggered which does not include follows. They’ve never seen a follows key on this event.
• This is consistent with current behavior: follows is optional. Many system events don’t set it, making tracing harder.

Benefits

• Faster troubleshooting and clearer audit trails
• Better UX consistency with event causal ordering
• Minimal API surface change if reusing existing follows semantics

Potential considerations

• Ensure that follows semantics are preserved only if events occur within the accepted timing window. If that’s too constraining, consider payload.triggering_event_id or a related role instead.

Thanks for considering! Happy to provide more examples or test cases.

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