diff --git a/src/test/java/io/cryostat/agent/triggers/TriggerParserTest.java b/src/test/java/io/cryostat/agent/triggers/TriggerParserTest.java
new file mode 100644
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+++ b/src/test/java/io/cryostat/agent/triggers/TriggerParserTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,217 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright The Cryostat Authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package io.cryostat.agent.triggers;
+
+import java.time.Duration;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import io.cryostat.agent.FlightRecorderHelper;
+import io.cryostat.agent.triggers.SmartTrigger.TriggerState;
+
+import org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert;
+import org.hamcrest.Matchers;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtendWith;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.MethodSource;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.NullSource;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.Mockito;
+import org.mockito.junit.jupiter.MockitoExtension;
+
+@ExtendWith(MockitoExtension.class)
+class TriggerParserTest {
+
+    @Mock FlightRecorderHelper helper;
+
+    TriggerParser parser;
+
+    @BeforeEach
+    void setup() {
+        this.parser = new TriggerParser(helper);
+    }
+
+    @ParameterizedTest
+    @MethodSource("emptyCases")
+    @NullSource
+    void testEmptyCases(List<String> args) {
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                parser.parse(args == null ? null : args.toArray(new String[0])),
+                Matchers.equalTo(List.of()));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testSingleSimpleTrigger() {
+        Mockito.when(helper.isValidTemplate(Mockito.anyString())).thenReturn(true);
+        String[] in = new String[] {"[ProcessCpuLoad>0.2]~profile"};
+        List<SmartTrigger> out = parser.parse(in);
+
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(out, Matchers.hasSize(1));
+        SmartTrigger trigger = out.get(0);
+
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger.getExpression(), Matchers.equalTo("ProcessCpuLoad>0.2"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger.getRecordingTemplateName(), Matchers.equalTo("profile"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger.getDurationConstraint(), Matchers.emptyString());
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger.getTriggerCondition(), Matchers.equalTo("ProcessCpuLoad>0.2"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger.getState(), Matchers.equalTo(TriggerState.NEW));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger.getTargetDuration(), Matchers.equalTo(Duration.ofSeconds(0)));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger.getTimeConditionFirstMet(), Matchers.nullValue());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testSingleComplexTrigger() {
+        Mockito.when(helper.isValidTemplate(Mockito.anyString())).thenReturn(true);
+        String[] in =
+                new String[] {"[ProcessCpuLoad>0.2;TargetDuration>duration(\"30s\")]~profile"};
+        List<SmartTrigger> out = parser.parse(in);
+
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(out, Matchers.hasSize(1));
+        SmartTrigger trigger = out.get(0);
+
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger.getExpression(),
+                Matchers.equalTo("ProcessCpuLoad>0.2;TargetDuration>duration(\"30s\")"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger.getRecordingTemplateName(), Matchers.equalTo("profile"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger.getDurationConstraint(),
+                Matchers.equalTo("TargetDuration>duration(\"30s\")"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger.getTriggerCondition(), Matchers.equalTo("ProcessCpuLoad>0.2"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger.getState(), Matchers.equalTo(TriggerState.NEW));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger.getTargetDuration(), Matchers.equalTo(Duration.ofSeconds(30)));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger.getTimeConditionFirstMet(), Matchers.nullValue());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testSingleComplexTriggerWithWhitespace() {
+        Mockito.when(helper.isValidTemplate(Mockito.anyString())).thenReturn(true);
+        String[] in =
+                new String[] {
+                    "[ProcessCpuLoad > 0.2 ; TargetDuration > duration(\"30s\")]~profile"
+                };
+        List<SmartTrigger> out = parser.parse(in);
+
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(out, Matchers.hasSize(1));
+        SmartTrigger trigger = out.get(0);
+
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger.getExpression(),
+                Matchers.equalTo("ProcessCpuLoad > 0.2 ; TargetDuration > duration(\"30s\")"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger.getRecordingTemplateName(), Matchers.equalTo("profile"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger.getDurationConstraint(),
+                Matchers.equalTo("TargetDuration > duration(\"30s\")"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger.getTriggerCondition(), Matchers.equalTo("ProcessCpuLoad > 0.2"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger.getState(), Matchers.equalTo(TriggerState.NEW));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger.getTargetDuration(), Matchers.equalTo(Duration.ofSeconds(30)));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger.getTimeConditionFirstMet(), Matchers.nullValue());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testMultipleComplexTriggerWithWhitespace() {
+        Mockito.when(helper.isValidTemplate(Mockito.anyString())).thenReturn(true);
+        String[] in =
+                new String[] {
+                    "[ProcessCpuLoad>0.2 ; TargetDuration>duration(\"30s\")]~profile,"
+                            + " [(HeapMemoryUsagePercent > 50 && NonHeapMemoryUsage > 1) ||"
+                            + " SystemCpuLoad > 4 ; TargetDuration > duration(\"2m\")]~default.jfc"
+                };
+        List<SmartTrigger> out = parser.parse(in);
+
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(out, Matchers.hasSize(2));
+
+        SmartTrigger trigger1 = out.get(0);
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger1.getExpression(),
+                Matchers.equalTo("ProcessCpuLoad>0.2 ; TargetDuration>duration(\"30s\")"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger1.getRecordingTemplateName(), Matchers.equalTo("profile"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger1.getDurationConstraint(),
+                Matchers.equalTo("TargetDuration>duration(\"30s\")"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger1.getTriggerCondition(), Matchers.equalTo("ProcessCpuLoad>0.2"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger1.getState(), Matchers.equalTo(TriggerState.NEW));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger1.getTargetDuration(), Matchers.equalTo(Duration.ofSeconds(30)));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger1.getTimeConditionFirstMet(), Matchers.nullValue());
+
+        SmartTrigger trigger2 = out.get(1);
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger2.getExpression(),
+                Matchers.equalTo(
+                        "(HeapMemoryUsagePercent > 50 && NonHeapMemoryUsage > 1) || SystemCpuLoad >"
+                                + " 4 ; TargetDuration > duration(\"2m\")"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger2.getRecordingTemplateName(), Matchers.equalTo("default"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger2.getDurationConstraint(),
+                Matchers.equalTo("TargetDuration > duration(\"2m\")"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger2.getTriggerCondition(),
+                Matchers.equalTo(
+                        "(HeapMemoryUsagePercent > 50 && NonHeapMemoryUsage > 1) || SystemCpuLoad >"
+                                + " 4"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger2.getState(), Matchers.equalTo(TriggerState.NEW));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger2.getTargetDuration(), Matchers.equalTo(Duration.ofMinutes(2)));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger2.getTimeConditionFirstMet(), Matchers.nullValue());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testMultipleComplexTriggerWithWhitespaceWhenOnlyOneTemplateValid() {
+        Mockito.when(helper.isValidTemplate(Mockito.anyString()))
+                .thenReturn(true)
+                .thenReturn(false);
+        String[] in =
+                new String[] {
+                    "[ProcessCpuLoad>0.2 ; TargetDuration>duration(\"30s\")]~profile,"
+                            + " [(HeapMemoryUsagePercent > 50 && NonHeapMemoryUsage > 1) ||"
+                            + " SystemCpuLoad > 4 ; TargetDuration > duration(\"2m\")]~default.jfc"
+                };
+        List<SmartTrigger> out = parser.parse(in);
+
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(out, Matchers.hasSize(1));
+
+        SmartTrigger trigger1 = out.get(0);
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger1.getExpression(),
+                Matchers.equalTo("ProcessCpuLoad>0.2 ; TargetDuration>duration(\"30s\")"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger1.getRecordingTemplateName(), Matchers.equalTo("profile"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger1.getDurationConstraint(),
+                Matchers.equalTo("TargetDuration>duration(\"30s\")"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger1.getTriggerCondition(), Matchers.equalTo("ProcessCpuLoad>0.2"));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger1.getState(), Matchers.equalTo(TriggerState.NEW));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(
+                trigger1.getTargetDuration(), Matchers.equalTo(Duration.ofSeconds(30)));
+        MatcherAssert.assertThat(trigger1.getTimeConditionFirstMet(), Matchers.nullValue());
+    }
+
+    static List<List<String>> emptyCases() {
+        List<List<String>> l = new ArrayList<>();
+        l.add(List.of());
+        l.add(List.of(""));
+        l.add(List.of(" "));
+        return l;
+    }
+}