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Zapier Application Lifecycle Management - How do I manage Dev and Production versions?

Has anyone got a solution for managing Zaps between Dev and Production environments?

I’m preparing to deploy several Zaps into Production and need to plan the cutover AND for managing ongoing changes after that.

Whilst Zaps have versions and folders can be made, that doesn’t allow me to seamlessly point Zaps between Dev and Production (or Test) Environments without manually changing each Zap.

What I’d really like is to have environment variables per folder (Dev, Test, Prod) so that the different versions of the Zaps know which data sources to point at and then have a mechanism for migrating between Dev and Production without interruption.

Does anyone have a solution for this?

7 replies

SamB
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +11

Hi @Andrew Recruit10! 👋

We don’t have that sort of functionality available at present but it’s a really great idea! I’ve gone ahead and passed your suggestion over to the Product Team for consideration. I can’t make any promises around when/if it’ll definitely get implemented but we’ll be sure to let you know if it is. 

If you have any further questions or if there's anything else we can help with in the meantime do let us know! 🙂

S
Userlevel 1

Hey, @Andrew Recruit10 - I would love to get a few folks engaged in this conversation and get some better ideas.  I’ll explain what I’m doing today - it is - at best - clunky.  That said, I have made some improvements based on some learnings.  

 

So, here goes:

  1.  I have folders named Dev / Test / Prod as well as archive folders for each.  When I’m going to do a new release, I rename the (for example) Prod folder “Prod Archive 1”.  Then I create copies of the latest version and move them to a new Prod folder. 
     
  2. Once the Zaps are in the new prod folder, I have to point them at the right environments / accounts (e.g., switch from a Sandbox account to a live account).  <SoapBox>It would be a HUGE enhancement if Zapier enabled me to link accounts at the folder level instead of the step level.  I have one system that’s probably used in a dozen steps across 5 zaps.  Manual changes are error prone and high risk - not what you want when going to production.  My preference would be that all I had to do was copy the Zap into the Prod folder and it would inherit the “accounts” of the folder.  They’re also very repetitive if the same system is used in multiple steps and Zaps. </SoapBox>
     
  3. I am working with a primary system that drives many of my Zaps.  For that system I have Dev/Test/Prod, but for other 3rd party systems I only have Dev/Prod.  One thing that I’ve done is started passing an environment parameter from the “driver” system that specifies what environment is being used.  That is helpful, because instead of having to change code “in production” I just handle the various environments in code/conditions.  E.g., Some downstream systems need to know a URL and the URLs are prefixed by the envt code.

Like I said - clunky.  Also - oops - soapbox again - the newish Zapier UI isn’t great because I see the names of Zaps but can’t tell whether it’s the dev / test / prod version.  So I waste a lot of time navigating around… I’d ideally want the Zap to have the same name across environments and some notation of what folder it’s in on the “home screen”.

I’m also trying to figure out how to engage a team to work on Zapier and feeling a healthy anxiety on managing roles and access.  It’s a big jump from Pro to Team.  We’ll see.

 

A
Userlevel 2
Badge +1

Hi @soz 

What you’ve described is exactly what I was thinking about implementing. However I’ve realised that it’s too clunky and too error prone, exactly as you’ve pointed out, so I’ve put it on the backburner but I’m going to have to do something soon.

Your comment about working a team into this is another related issue too.

This really is a Zapier product development issue. @SamB I’d love to know if there was appetite in the product development team for this?

This is really a bigger CI/CD/DevOps thing, but I suspect that Zapier is less often used by large teams with lots of resources to manage that kind of thing, however something is definitely needed to address this.

I like the simple way that Microsoft does this with what they call “Environments” and “Solutions” for Power Platform Apps and Dataverse Databases, but Zaps with multiple systems and their authentication is a little more complex.

Surely this must have been raised a thousand times. Surely someone out there has a solution.

Andrew

S
Userlevel 1

Right @Andrew Recruit10 .  I’m a solopreneur right now and this barely works at my scale - about 6-8 active Zaps and a handful more in development.  I don’t understand how any serious company with more than a couple of Zaps can live with this. I’m all about automation and love the ease and simplicity of setting up Zaps. This is a real obstacle. I haven’t (yet) looked at competitors to see if they do it better, but this approach is unlikely to work for me beyond the next 6 months. 

SamB
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +11

Apologies for missing your replies here previously, @Andrew Recruit10 and @soz.

@SamB I’d love to know if there was appetite in the product development team for this?

I can’t confirm whether it’s something that’s definitely going to be built in the near future but we’ll definitely let you both know if it is! 
 

I’m also trying to figure out how to engage a team to work on Zapier and feeling a healthy anxiety on managing roles and access.  It’s a big jump from Pro to Team.  We’ll see.

Not sure if you’ve already taken a look at this but I wanted to share our Manage team roles and permissions guide here in case it’s helpful to see what different levels of access/permissions can be applied to team members. 


I agree, you’re likely not the only ones interested in these types of functionality, I expect there’s a lot of folks that would also be interested. Please know that I’ve sent all the comments and ideas you’ve both shared over to the Product Team so that they’ve definitely been put on their radar! 🙂

S
Userlevel 1

Thanks, @SamB - I’m impressed with Zapier and intrigued by all the new functionality (tables, ai, etc) but can’t imagine using it all if there’s not a better way to manage/deploy it.  

SamB
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +11

Really pleased you’re liking the new functionality, @soz. 🤗 

We totally hear you on the need for better management and deployment of Zaps. And I do hope that we’ll be able to deliver on that side things in the near future! 🤞

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