The ATLAS hadronic tau trigger

With the high luminosities of proton-proton collisions achieved at the LHC, the strategies for triggering have become more important than ever for physics analysis. Inclusive single tau lepton triggers now suffer from severe rate limitations, due to the high production of QCD jets. To allow for a large program of physics analyses with taus, the development of topological triggers that combine tau signatures with other measured quantities in the event is required. These combined triggers open many opportunities to study new physics beyond the Standard Model and to search for the Standard Model Higgs. We present the performance of the ATLAS hadronic tau trigger in 8 TeV pp collisions at the LHC. We discuss the optimization of the tau trigger in the lead up to 2012 LHC operation and the experience gained from the 2012 run.