Best answer

Zap still held even using filter action


Userlevel 1

 

I have a Zap called 'ABC' (fictitious name) that is used to count a new conversion on Facebook (through the action 'Facebook Conversions') every time a new row is added to a specific Google Sheets spreadsheet.

Every time the spreadsheet in question is updated with the desired data, it automatically gets a lot of empty and unwanted rows, and these empty rows are causing the 'held zap' problem in Zap ABC, because ABC returned too many items at once.

Trying to solve it, I created, between the Google Sheets trigger and the Facebook Conversions action, two actions:
1. The first returns the default value 'empty' if the worksheet row has no data;
2. The second makes zap only be executed if the default value is different from 'empty'.

In the tests I did, zap behaved as expected: it only pushed a conversion on Facebook when the spreadsheet row had data (that is, it was not empty).

Even so, the 'held zap' problem keeps happening. Does anyone have any solution for this?

I accept all help, even if it is some data organization configuration in Google Sheets useful for this case, or something that prevents it from automatically creating blank lines.

 

Screenshots below:

 

Zap configuration

Trigger configuration

 

Default value action configuration
Filter action configuration

 

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Best answer by Troy Tessalone 23 May 2022, 16:23

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3 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi @gabriel.bonfim 

Good question.

Best way to troubleshoot is to check your Zap Runs to see the DATA IN/OUT for each Zap step:

Have your reviewed the available help article for using GSheets in Zaps: https://zapier.com/apps/google-sheets/help

Userlevel 1

Hi @Troy Tessalone 

Yes, I've looked at that article, but I couldn't find anything that could help me. In fact, there's a tip about using the default value action on the page https://zapier.com/help/doc/google-sheets-error-the-spreadsheet-row-could-not-be-sent-to- google-sheets-unable-to-get-a-value-when-looking-for-rows, but I'm already doing that and it still didn't work.

As you can see in the screenshots below, the data out is empty. Theoretically, this should make zap run up to the filter part, right? Because I have the default value action there that returns a string when the fields are empty, but that doesn't even happen. Zap doesn't even get to the filter stage, as it is paused before that.

 

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

@gabriel.bonfim

Looks like you’ve caused the flood protection checks and balances to kick in with this Zap.

It’s likely because you made some sort of bulk change to the GSheet tab being used. (e.g. adding a formula in a column for all rows)

This is one of the reasons, I recommend using Airtable instead of GSheet in Zaps.

Flood protection and held items

 

If you have a large number of items (100+) that trigger a Zap at once, Zapier holds them for you and sends you an email requesting your confirmation. This helps to prevent a large number of actions from running by mistake and protects your task limit.