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Zap for Replying to Labeled Emails

  • 12 January 2021
  • 12 replies
  • 458 views

Hello, I’m trying to create a Zap where a manually labeled email in Gmail triggers an automatic reply from Gmail (with the previous email showing in the reply as normal reply messages appear).

Some issues that I’m running into is:

  1. The trigger starts off with me selecting email A, email B, email C, etc as a reference email, which doesn’t work if each incoming email is new / different
  2. The required thread field in the actions portion seems to limit the subject reply and content to only one email instead of replying to a new thread each time I label an email with a different subject line
  3. I’m running into an ID invalid error, which is likely from the above

Has anyone successfully created this type of Zap? 

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12 replies

ForYourIT
Userlevel 7
Badge +7

Can you please share some more details what you have done so far? Screenshots help a lot


~Bjorn

M

Sure, the trigger appears to be working fine. You can see that already had a label created in Gmail where i am going to put emails I want to reply to.

 

Then, the tricky part is the Action. You can see in the photos below, the fields I actually filled out. The main focus of where I noticed variability is in the required Thread field. I’ve tried Subject Line, To Email, the custom field…

And then each time I test it, the following error pops up.

 

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

The Gmail trigger will return a data point called threadId, which should be mapped into the Thread field in the action step.

 

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
M

So, I see the threadId, but what does it mean for Email A, B, C, and so on? Does that mean for each new email I put under the label, there will be a new threadId or is the threadId associated to the label itself?

 

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Each email has a Thread ID, which is unrelated to the Label.

Emails A/B/C are sample records that you use to configure the Zap steps.

FYI: 1 email could have multiple labels.

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
M

Great! So I put the Thread ID under the Thread field and that seems to work. During a test, the Labeled Email received my auto reply to their email.

Now a new issue has come up - Zap loops, which the Action already warned me on.

I’m following the instructions for the New Labeled Email part - selecting INBOX for the Label//Mailbox field. However, here is what’s happening.

  1. My email is getting a copy of the auto email I created almost by 10x+ per Labeled Email
  2. If the recipient replies to my auto email, they get another auto email, which leads me to get another copy of the email again

Thoughts / suggestions? Thank you!

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Please provide screenshots of how your Zap trigger step is configured.

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
M

Here is what I have for the Zap Trigger.

 

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Since it’s redacted in the screenshot I’m unable to tell if you’ve selected INBOX

 

Otherwise, you may need to play around with changing the Zap trigger to be New Email Matching Search and specify multiple labels as the criteria.

label:inbox label:XXX

 

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
M

Hello, part that I entered in that portion is the Label itself.

The part where I selected Inbox for the Label/Mailbox field is under Action as seen below.

If I change the redacted part to INBOX, then there’s no option for me to select which label I want the replies to go to. If that makes sense?

M

Or.. should that have been reversed?

Trigger has the INBOX for Label/Mailbox and then the Action is the Label I want to use?

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

This Zap warning relates to the Gmail trigger step

 

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
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