A test and measurement instrument and method of detecting an anomaly in a test and measurement instrument are disclosed. The test and measurement instrument includes an input terminal configured to receive a signal. An acquisition engine is coupled to the input terminal, the acquisition engine being configured to digitize the signal and store the digitized signal as a signal history in an acquisition memory based on initial trigger settings. An anomaly detector is coupled to the acquisition memory, the anomaly detector being configured to detect an anomaly in the signal history. An analysis engine is coupled to the anomaly detector, the analysis engine being configured to analyze the anomaly detected in the signal history and generate modified trigger settings for detecting the anomaly. Trigger circuitry is coupled to the analysis engine, the trigger circuitry being configured to trigger based on the modified trigger settings.