Platform docs how to#
Platform docs update#

Anything to watch for new data, find existing data, or add new data would likely fit in well. Next, decide which parts of your app fit best with Zapier.

The same goes for users: Once they’ve authenticated your app in Zapier, they can use any of its triggers and actions without authenticating again (unless they wish to add a second account). Set this once and Zapier will use the same authentication scheme for every API call it makes.

Platform docs how to#

When building a Zapier integration, first tell Zapier how to authenticate your apps’ users. Most apps require authentication, from API keys or usernames and passwords to OAuth login flows. Zapier integrations require three core things: Authentication, curated API features, and forms. And the API calls for settings, deleting data, or seldom-used features would likely be best left out-they’re not things users would want to automate on a regular basis.

Platform docs update#

The API calls to create or update things in your app would make great actions. Those that surface new data would be great for triggers if they support lookups and filtering, they may also make great search actions. Your app’s Zapier integration will be the same. Extra Gmail API calls to see the mailbox history or check IMAP settings wouldn’t be nearly as useful, and couldn’t fit well into a Zap. Those core features would let users automate their inbox and fit it into their ecosystem of apps. You would want to add a search action to find email messages. Users would want to send email messages, and likely also want to create new labels and draft messages. Then add actions, API calls that let Zapier do something with Gmail. Users would want to watch for new emails, and might also want to watch for new draft emails, labels, and attachments. You then would add triggers, the API calls that would tell Zapier when new items came into Gmail. You first would add Gmail authentication, likely using Zapier’s OAuth v2 tool to quickly let users connect their Gmail account through a Gmail standard login experience. What should go in Gmail’s Zapier integration? It includes API calls to check forwarding and IMAP settings, see the history of a mailbox, undelete messages, and more-along with the more popular options to watch mailboxes for new emails, create new draft messages, and send emails. Zapier runs in the background, automatically watching for new or updated items in connected apps then using that data to find, create, and/or update items in apps. Instead of a complete application for every part of an API, Zapier integrations are instead a curated set of an API’s most important features.

It would need to support every core feature an email service like Gmail offers. Your app would likely need a database to store every email message, a UI to manage folders, and an editor to write or view HTML email messages. You would either use Gmail and Exchange’s APIs to connect to their services, or would build in support for IMAP, SMTP, and/or POP3 protocols. Zapier integrations are different from standalone apps. One Zapier integration connects your app to every other Zapier integrated app, with more added every day.Īnd it’s not much harder than building a form. You don’t need to build custom integrations with every app. Zaps let your app rely on other best-in-class tools to do the extra things your users want, freeing your app to focus on its core features.īuild a Zapier integration, and you’ll clear dozens of your app’s top feature requests at once. Using Zaps, what we call automated Zapier workflows, Zapier watches for new or updated data in connected apps, then use that data to do tasks in that or other connected apps. Zapier is the most popular way to automate tasks through customized workflows with 5,000+ web apps. Despite every new feature request, the best thing is a clear focus on what makes your app unique.įor everything else, there are Zapier integrations.