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TL;DW: Today we’re beta / soft launching a new “Sub-Zap” capability in Zapier. This makes it easy to build much more manageable Zaps whenever you find yourself reusing or recreating the same actions across many Zaps. You can define inputs and outputs, then use the same functionality across as many Zaps as you like. Try it in your Zaps today! https://zapier.com/apps/sub-zap-by-zapier/integrations

 

TL;DR: Watch the video demo showcasing 2 Zaps reusing a Sub-Zap that looks up a customer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsunZFwGIQM.

 

Hi folks! Over the years we’ve watched customers just like you build incredibly powerful and deeply interconnected systems of Zaps. In some cases, folks spent a lot of time updating the actions they share across those Zaps. For example, if a spreadsheet was used in a couple dozen Zaps, updating a single column might entail updating a couple dozen Zaps to match. That was incredibly tedious and totally counter to our mission to democratize automation.

So today we’re introducing a new primitive we hope will make it easier to share those actions and employ an “update once, use everywhere” sort of workflow. We call it “Sub-Zap by Zapier”. You can start using it today! Here’s how it works:

 

First, you’ll create a Sub-Zap using the “Start a Sub-Zap” trigger and the “Return from a Sub-Zap action.

In the Sub-Zap’s “Start a Sub-Zap” trigger, you’ll define the input fields like this:

In the Sub-Zap’s “Return from a Sub-Zap action, you’ll define the output fields like this:

 

Second, you’ll go to a different Zap and use the “Call a Sub-Zap” action.

You’ll be prompted for the input fields like this:

And you’ll receive the output fields like this:

 

Finally, you’ll enable both Zaps and let them run like normal!

 

If you’d like to see a live demo, check out our 10 minute example where I showcase a 3 Zap system where 2 Zaps reuse the functionality present in a single Sub-Zap: 

 

If you’d like to give it a try, we’ve opened it up to the public here: https://zapier.com/apps/sub-zap-by-zapier/integrations

 

If you have any feedback, feel free to respond here or email us at contact@zapier.com!

Hey @nicksimard 

 

I do not have a specific use case. I am just wondering about the fundamentals of how the sub-zap is set up. If multiple zaps are calling the same sub-zap will the sub-zap queue the requests in the order it received them (first in first out) or does it execute all these requests in parallel?

Hi there,
First let me tell you I am using SubZap intensively since day 1. And for a beta, folks, it is just an amazing achievement already.
Here are a few challenges that I am facing:
1- When the subzap execution is filtered before the return subzap, the parent zap is stuck waiting.

2- When the subzap execution is errored, the parent zap is stuck waiting.

3- When the execution is a bit complex and require a lot of fileds, there is no other convenient option than passing the id of an object and retrieve the object in the subzap, it would be great to be able to pass the full object payload to the subzap (I have a cascade of 4 subzap, each of them retrieving 2 objects, ==> 8 call to the API while 2 should be enough)

4- When you have branches in the child subzap, it is not really easy to make sure you set up the return zap output the same way, output field name could be defined from the start 

PS: i am using combinations of subzap, approval and loops (all beta) and it works fine !!!

Hey @tpretori and @Reno! :)

@tpretori - We can’t guarantee that each request made to the Sub-Zap would be run in the exact same time or order that they are received. In cases, where multiple requests come in at the same exact time either one could be processed first.


@Reno - Really pleased to hear you’re making good use of Sub-Zaps! It sounds like it may be best for you to reach out to our Support Team about these challenges. They’ll be better able to dig into the setup and logs for your Zaps to investigate and troubleshoot further. The best way to reach them is via the Get Help form.

That said, I have passed on your comments from points 3 and 4 over to the relevant teams here. We’re always looking to make improvements and really appreciate you taking the time to share this feedback here. While I can't promise anything specific, all feedback is reviewed for potential future implementation.

@MarijnVerdult you wrote:

@Jeff Thorns what you can do is fire the return only on the last iteration of the loop like I build in this Zap:

 

I am not finding that I can do this in a sub-zap.  Even with adding a filter to check for the last iteration of the loop, if I add the return from sub-zap after that I am seeing the error “You cannot have a looping step before a return step.”

Hi @Eric Alderman 

Sub-Zap help: https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496308527629-Build-reusable-Sub-Zaps#h_01HMC6C572F2VF31DV5HANQJQB

 

Adding Loop actions within a Sub-Zap:

  • Loop actions can't be added before a Return from Sub-Zap step within a Sub-Zap.

 

@Troy Tessalone Thanks, yes I saw that - that’s why I’m asking @MarijnVerdult about their comment:

what you can do is fire the return only on the last iteration of the loop like I build in this Zap:

 

As this does not seem to be allowed in loops.

@bryanhelmig Can you clarify, when it says in the documentation “Loop actions can't be added before a Return from Sub-Zap step within a Sub-Zap.” -- does this mean in fact that Looping can’t be used at all in a Sub-Zap?  If so I think the documentation should be updated to be clearer about that.

 

Thanks.

Sub-zaps have been a game-changer for me. Thank you for creating this feature. The ability to create modular solutions has been great for complex processes, reusability, and unit testing. 

Hey @Eric Alderman and @bryjo 👋 

@Eric Alderman - so sorry we’ve not responded sooner here! It is possible to use Loops in Sub-Zaps but you would need to have the Return from Sub-Zap action run before the loop. A Return from Sub-Zap action can’t be placed within the loop itself as only the first Return from Sub-Zap would be used. So, the Sub-Zap would need to send information back to the main Zap before it then loops through the other necessary actions. I agree that it’s not super clear in the documentation though and have submitted an internal request so we can get the documentation updated to make things clearer. 

If you need information from each loop iteration to be made available to the main app, perhaps the information from each loop could be stored in a Zapier Table? If it was, then you could add a Delay action to the main Zap to give the Sub-Zap a little time to process all the looped actions and add records of the desired information into the table. Then you could use a Find Records (Output as Line Items) action to search the table and retrieve the desired information. Suggesting Zapier Tables here as any Zapier Tables actions don’t could towards your task usage. Do you think that approach might work for you?

@bryjo - thanks for letting us know. I’m so glad to hear you’re enjoying using Sub-Zaps! 😁

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