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Hi,

There are multiple threads here asking about multiple triggers and the answers, IMHO, have not been able to tackle the main issue in all of them.

I do understand implementing multiple triggers natively on Zapier would require a massive effort, and understand if it is not in the dev team priorities list at this time. What I (and I believe others) would like to know is what is the recommended work around for this limitation.

Conceptually, it would make sense for a Zap to be triggered from multiple sources and it would be very practical in multi-step Zaps, since the user wouldn't need to re-implement all action steps on multiple zaps. Replicated code is always bad, as I know you know. For instance, if the user needs to update something on the workflow, it can be very troublesome and error-prone to have to replicate the change across multiple Zaps.

Duplicating the Zaps and changing the trigger app helps, but not much, as you still have to go through all action steps correcting the reference to the values from step 1.

In my use case, we have a multi-step and multi-path zap triggering from a Alchemer form. We are implementing new functionalities in this workflow that will require it to be triggered by another Alchemer form, as well as from Trello.

What is the best way to achieve this behavior without having to duplicate all action steps.So far, the workaround I have come up with would be to create multiple “trigger zaps” that simple add data to a centralized location and have the single “action zap” trigger as data is added to such location.

Would this be a recommended implementation? If so, what would be a reliable and safe app to use as such centralized hub?

Google spreadsheet rows? Entries in storage by Zapier? Trello cards?

It would be great to have someone from Zapier to help go through the pros and cons of each.

As I write this, an idea came to mind. It would be great if Zapier provided a native app to implement this easily (this could even be an intermediary step towards an actual multi-trigger solution), even if it is just an envelope over Storage by Zapier. Call it “Shared Trigger by Zapier”.

Here's how it'd work:

1- User would create a zap with a trigger step from any app he wants and an action step from the Shared Trigger, where he would populate key-value pairs with data from the first step.

2- One could have as many of such zaps as needed, all centralizing data on a Shared Trigger, identifiable by a master key (pretty much like Diggest)

3- User could then implement a single zap triggering when “New Data” is added to the Shared Trigger 

Hope this is somehow useful

Thanks in advance

Hi @Ricardo B 

Try leveraging Webhook in Zaps to receive/send: https://zapier.com/apps/webhook/integrations

NOTE: This is a more technical approach to a solution.

Concept would be to create dynamic Zaps that are daisy chained together.

e.g. Multiple Zaps that funnel to 1 Zap.

Check out this help article about triggering multiple Webhooks from 1 request: https://zapier.com/help/create/code-webhooks/trigger-zaps-from-webhooks#trigger-multiple-zaps-with-webhooks

@Ricardo B 

To elaborate more on this setup…

 

Inbound Zap(s)

NOTE: 1 Zap per Source.

  1. Trigger: gApp] - ]Event]
  2. Action: Webhook - POST Webhook (URL comes from Outbound Zap - see below)

 

Outbound Zap

NOTE: 1 Zap that funnels data from multiple Sources via the Inbound Zap(s).

  1. Trigger: Webhook - Catch Hook (provided URL is used in the Inbound Zaps Step 2)
  2. Action: nApp] - pEvent]

@Troy Tessalone , this is a great suggestion! Thanks! 

I have never used Zapier Webhooks, but it should work.

My scenario requires the trigger zaps to pass along a pdf file (ranging from a few Mb to about 50 Mb, so I cant serialize them into Zapier Storage), so I am thinking of using Dropbox as a temporary holding place for the files. 

I also need to pass some data on (including the download url for the dropbox file), which I believe I could pass as a JSON object through the webhook, right?

So it'd be something like this:

Inbound Zap(s)

NOTE: 1 Zap per Source.

  1. Trigger: >App] - Event]
  2. Action: Upload file to Dropbox
  3. Action: Webhook - POST Webhook passing JSON data (URL comes from Outbound Zap - see below)

 

Outbound Zap

NOTE: 1 Zap that funnels data from multiple Sources via the Inbound Zap(s).

  1. Trigger: Webhook - Catch Hook with JSON data
  2. Action: Get file from Dropbox (url received in JSON data)
  3. Action: gApp] - ]Event]

 

Cheers

 

@Ricardo B Yep, you got it.

Once you grasp the power of webhooks, it opens a lot of possibilities with Zaps.

Plus webhooks are instant!

Hi, wouldn’t this approach create 1 unnecessary extra task (the webook POST in general, for Ricardo’s example that would be +3 considering Uploading to and Getting the file from Dropbox)?

Depending on the complexity of the multi-step Zap this might still be a better approach than copy-pasting multiple Zaps, but I’m just trying to make sure I got it right.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Hi @Parachute Digital 

The POST Webhook as step 3 in a Zap is used to trigger a different Zap.

Hi @Ricardo B!

We just published an article today (including a brief video at the very bottom) explaining how to use Sub-Zaps in order to have multiple triggers for the same Zap:

Hopefully this helps!

Holly sh*t @nicksimard 

This is a freaking game changer! You guys are amazing!

Keep it up

That’s great to hear @Ricardo B :)

I set up the Zaps and recorded that quick video then tasked Clint with writing a post around it. Seems like you’ve found it helpful!

@Troy Tessalone Hey, I ended up on this post trying to search for a solution to my current problem, & I don’t think i’m quite grasping the solution that you shared just above.

 

I don’t quite see how the Webhook resolves the issue, because In order to catch the Webhook, it takes the place of the Trigger. Is there a way to use an Action webhook, to retrieve information coming from another Action webhook in another Zap?

 

To provide further clarity, I am trying to do something quite simple, yet it has proven immensely difficult: Send a Stripe Receipt after a Payment & Form Submission from QuestionScout.

 

1st ZAP

  1. I have a Zap setup with the Trigger: New Submission in QuestionScout
  2. I have an Action: Send Email in Gmail

 

  • Between those two things, I would need to identify the Stripe transaction, & have the Email & Receipt URL parameters made available as a variable. The email would be used as a filter.

2nd ZAP

  1. I created a second Zap, with the Trigger: New Charge in Stripe
  2. I have the Action: Post (Webhook) to send the data parameters for email & receipt_url​​​​​​​

 

  • That’s two Zaps, two Triggers. The problem is, Catching a Hook, is a Trigger, & I cannot add that to the 1st Zap to pull the data from the second Zap that’s posting it. 
  • That’s also an issue because QuestionScout has no Actions that can follow up with submitted form data. It ONLY has the Trigger.
  • I tried to use the Get (Webhook) Action, however, the only thing it said was that the request was successfully sent, & the data it retrieved was just the id, request_id, attempt, & status of the actual Webhook request, not the data that was posted from the other Webhook in the 2nd Zap.
  • To make matters worse, there are no clear identifiers coming from the data submitted from QuestionScout, that allows me to identify the Stripe transactions with a simple filter (for instance, can’t just filter for “QuestionScout”, the Stripe Charge ID or any Stripe details for that matter], or “Juneteenth Sponsor App” tName of the form].)

I’ve been corresponding with everyone from QuestionScout, Stripe & other developers & have still not yet found a proper solution for this. It’s been over a week of me corresponding & trying. The only thing Stripe said was to use their receipt_email Webook, but even with that I don’t know how to identify it or input that webhook into Zapier to make it send!

If you can, please, help me. 

@MrWildenfree 

Mind creating a new topic with your commentand tagging me in that one?

For anyone looking for multiple triggers in a single Zap, what I’d consider the current best solution is outlined here:

This solution is similar, in that you can have multiple Zaps triggered by one thing (it essentially elaborates on what Troy posted above):

I can’t get into too much detail, but we’re exploring better approaches to the “multiple triggers for one Zap” workflow :)

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