Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. Autonomous transmissions between a user equipment (UE) and a base station may be configured that include at least one of a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) or resources for the transmissions. In some cases, a trigger may be detected that changes the MCS or resources to be used for the autonomous transmissions. The trigger may include the presence or absence of retransmissions or the value of a channel measurement falling below or exceeding a threshold value. Accordingly, the base station and UE may adjust the MCS or resources to be used for the autonomous transmissions based on detecting the trigger and then communicate using the adjusted MCS or resources. In some cases, the configuration for the autonomous transmissions may be signaled via a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).