Zapier is a third-party service that connects Airtable to many other apps and services, including Slack, Twitter, Gmail, MailChimp, Github and more. This article is specifically designed to teach you how to design zaps where Airtable is the trigger (i.e. creating a new record in Airtable triggers an automated action), and where Airtable is the action (i.e. doing something in another app/service will automatically trigger the creation of a new record in Airtable).
If you wish to learn how to make more sophisticated Zaps which can both update and create new Airtable records, please read this support article.
If you wish to read a tutorial on how to use Zapier to create an email notifications system, please read this support article.
Zapier basics
Example 1: Creating a Zap with Airtable as the trigger
Step 1: Set up the trigger (Airtable)
Step 2: Set up the action
Example 2: Creating a Zap with Airtable as the action
Step 1: Set up the trigger
Step 2: Set up the action (Airtable)
Embedded below are some of the most popular Zaps that have been made using Airtable—simply click the "Use this Zap" button to get started!
Zapier basics
The basic structure of a Zap is that there is a trigger app and an action app. Whenever a specified event happens in the trigger app (e.g., for YouTube this might be "A video was uploaded to a specified channel," or for Tumblr this might be "I liked a post") it automatically triggers an action in the action app.
Some examples of Zaps might include:
- Whenever a new record is created in Airtable (the trigger app), create a corresponding event in Google Calendar (the action app).
- Whenever a new subscriber is added in a MailChimp (the trigger app), create a new record for that subscriber in Airtable (the action app).
- Whenever you get a new follower on Instagram (the trigger app), create a new record in Airtable for that follower (the action app).
To make a Zap with Airtable, you'll need to login to Zapier (or create a account). From the home page, click the "Make a Zap!" button.
When making the Zap, you can decide whether you want Airtable to be the trigger app or the action app. In either case, you'll need to connect your Airtable account to Zapier. To do this, you'll need to copy your API key from your Airtable account page and paste it into Zapier when prompted.
For more detailed examples of how to create Zaps yourself, read on!
Example 1: Creating a Zap with Airtable as the trigger (Send an email notification whenever a new record is created)
Let's say we have an Airtable base of sales deals, and we want to be notified via email whenever a new deal record is created in the "Deals" table of our "Sales CRM" base.
After connecting your Airtable account and your email account with Zapier, you will create a Zap that makes Zapier regularly look for new records in a specified Airtable base and table. For each of those new records, the Zap sends you an email.
From the Zapier dashboard, under the "My Zaps" tab, click the "Make a New Zap" button:
You'll then be brought to the Zap configuration page, where you can name your Zap.
Step 1: Set up the trigger (Airtable)
The first step of any Zap is to set up a trigger. In this case, we would like Airtable to trigger an action (sending an email)—so Airtable would be considered the trigger app.
After selecting Airtable as the trigger app, you will be prompted to choose the specific conditions for activating the trigger. In this case, we want the Zap to run whenever a new record is available.
The next step is to connect your Airtable account to Zapier (or to select an already connected Airtable account). Note that if you want to connect your Airtable account, you will need to have your API key.
After selecting the appropriate account, you'll then be prompted to configure the trigger-specific setup options. For Airtable as a trigger, we'll need to specify the base and table by clicking the dropdown menu and selecting the appropriate options (in this case, we want the "Sales CRM" base and the "Deals" table).
For the last part of the first step, Zapier will ask you to test your trigger. If everything works, then you'll be prompted to move onto the next step of your Zap.
Step 2: Set up the action
For the second step, you'll be asked to pick an action app. You can pick Gmail, Email by Zapier (which will send an outbound email from a custom @zapiermail.com email address), Mailgun, or another mail service supported by Zapier. For this example, let's pick Gmail as the action app.
You'll then be asked to select an action for Gmail to take. There are a variety of potential options, but for our purposes, we want to pick Send Email.
The next step is to connect your Gmail account to Zapier (or to select an already connected Gmail account).
After that, you'll need to set up the template for the email. There are several customization options here, but at a minimum, you'll need to specify an email address to which the email notifications can be sent, a subject line, and some body text.
When composing the email template for your action step, you can incorporate specific parts (variables) of the incoming data from Airtable into the template. These variables can be added into the Zapier fields by clicking on the variable button next to each Zapier field (which resembles some lines with a circular plus button inside it). When in the Zapier fields, each variable appears in a gray rounded rectangle shape.
In our example, let's say that for every new record created, you want to have an email notification sent to you and to the specific sales rep who's been assigned to the new deal. Since every email notification will always be sent to you, your email address will be static, and all you need to do is type it directly into the "To" field.
To add another email address, click the + button. Next, we'll want to put in the email address of the sales rep who's been assigned a given deal. This email address will be a variable (because it'll vary depending on the selection of sales rep). Click on the variable button, then you can select one of the fields from the "Deals" table of our Airtable base—if we pick the "Rep's Email" field, then the email notification will be sent to whomever's email is in that field for the new record.
You can also use variables in other parts of the email template. In constructing the email's subject line, for example, you can have it say the name of the new deal record that was just created by using the Name variable.
Once you're done creating the email template, click the blue Continue button. Zapier will create a test email for you before you're done completing the step so you can check to see if everything looks good.
Once everything's set, then just click the blue Create & Continue button, and then the orange Finish button.
If you haven't already done so, Zapier will prompt you to give your Zap a name. Then you can turn it on. Congrats! You've set up email notifications!
Example 2: Creating a Zap with Airtable as the action (Record your Instagram likes in an Airtable base)
Let's say that we're compiling a base of travel photos, and you want to make it so that every picture you like on Instagram automatically gets logged to a record in an Airtable base.
After connecting your Airtable account and your Instagram account with Zapier, you will create a Zap that makes Zapier regularly look for new liked photos, take the data from those liked photos, and turn that data into Airtable records in a specified base and table.
From the Zapier dashboard, under the "My Zaps" tab, click the "Make a New Zap" button:
You'll then be brought to the Zap configuration page, where you can name your Zap.
Step 1: Set up the trigger
For this example, we would like an app other than Airtable (Instagram) to trigger an action within Airtable—so Instagram is considered the trigger app.
After selecting Instagram as the trigger app, you will be prompted to choose the specific conditions for activating the trigger. In this case, we want the Zap to run whenever you like a new photo or video.
The next step is to connect your Instagram account to Zapier (or to select an already connected Instagram account).
For the next step, Zapier may ask you to configure some trigger-specific setup options. (For example, if your trigger was "New Tagged Media," you would have to specify the tag.) In this example, however, there are no additional setup options. So, for the last part of the first step, Zapier will ask you to test your trigger. If everything works, then you'll be prompted to move onto the next step of your Zap.
Step 2: Set up the action (Airtable)
For the second step, you'll be asked to pick an action app. In this case, the action app is Airtable.
Next, you'll be asked to select an action for Airtable to take. Since we want a new record to be created for every Instagram like, select Create Record.
The next step is to connect your Airtable account to Zapier (or to select an already connected Airtable account). Note that if you want to connect your Airtable account, you will need to have your API key.
After that, you'll need to set up the template for the new record. Before doing anything else, you are required to select a specific base and table within that base—this table is where your new records will go.
Once you've selected the base and table into which you'd like your records to go, Zapier will automatically fetch all of the different fields from that base and table.
You can incorporate specific parts (variables) of the incoming data from Instagram into the template for the Airtable record. The variables can be things like the liked photo itself, the username of the person who posted the liked photo, or the tags from the liked photo. These variables can be added into the Zapier fields by clicking on the variable button next to each Zapier field (which resembles some lines with a circular plus button inside it). When in the Zapier fields, each variable appears in a gray rounded rectangle shape.
Once you're done creating the Airtable record template, click the blue Continue button. Zapier will create a test Airtable for you before you're done completing the step so you can check to see if everything looks good.
Once everything's set, then just click the blue Create & Continue button, and then the orange Finish button.
If you haven't already done so, Zapier will prompt you to give your Zap a name. Then you can turn it on. Congrats! You've integrated Instagram and Airtable!
