Bloomerang integration “Error while hydrating data” + timeouts

Hi ​@rachbear 

Try opening a ticket with Zapier Support: https://zapier.com/app/get-help

As a workaround, you can try using the Bloomerang API for the Zap action step to see if the issues persist.

Options for how to use app APIs in Zaps: 

Summary

I’m running into ongoing issues with the Bloomerang <> Zapier integration, including hydration errors and step timeouts that don’t surface enough diagnostic detail in Zapier to clearly identify what’s failing.

Please note:

• I’m an experienced Zapier user working across multiple client accounts and I’ve done literally everything I can think of to diagnose the issue

• I’ve also been in contact with Bloomerang support and their engineering team, and they’ve indicated they’re not receiving sufficient Zapier-side diagnostic information to identify the root cause.

So, I’m here. Asking the community if you have any ideas.

 

What we’re seeing

Across multiple Zaps using Bloomerang, we’re seeing two specific errors:

1. Frequent “Error while hydrating data” on trigger steps (New Transaction Payment)
2. Consistent 30-second timeouts on actions such as Find Constituent

Other notes

• This issue started around November 19
• Find Constituent times out in testing, so unable to publish
• When removed, Zaps may succeed in test mode but fail once turned on live (hydrating error on the trigger step)
• Partial data sometimes appears (e.g., raw notes or transaction metadata), but standard fields fail to hydrate
• Retrying or replaying failed runs does not succeed due to incomplete information being received
• “Help me fix it” provides no actionable diagnostic information

Troubleshooting already completed 

 

To rule out configuration and permissions issues, we have already:

• Reconnected Bloomerang in Zapier multiple times
• Tested with multiple Bloomerang admin users
• Tested from multiple Zapier accounts
• Rebuilt Zaps from scratch, including very minimal test Zaps
• Confirmed Bloomerang-side permissions and settings
• Removed and rebuilt Find Constituent logic entirely
• Verified Zapier connection tests return as “successful”

Despite this, the same hydration and timeout errors persist.

Why this appears Zapier-side or integration-layer related

• The issue is isolated to this one Bloomerang users (I work withing multiple Bloomerang and Zapier accounts for multiple clients)
• It appears tied to the Bloomerang database + Zapier interaction, not credentials
• Bloomerang support has confirmed they receive limited error detail from Zapier, making it difficult for them to diagnose further without Zapier’s help
• Zapier logs visible to us do not expose enough information to determine whether this is a timeout, throttling, payload, or API response issue

Request

 

 

If anyone here has run into similar behavior or has insight into the Bloomerang ↔ Zapier integration, I’d really appreciate your thoughts on:

1. Whether these hydration errors or step timeouts are a known or recurring issue

2. If there are common causes you’ve seen

3. If there’s somewhere to get additional Zap run details or request IDs to help diagnose issues like this 

Even directional guidance on where to dig next would be helpful. Thanks in advance to anyone willing to share their experience.

Hello ​@rachbear 

Thanks for laying this out so clearly. Based on what you’ve shared and the depth of troubleshooting you’ve already done this does not read like a configuration or user error issue.

The combination of trigger hydration failures partial payloads and hard 30 second timeouts on actions like Find Constituent strongly suggests a failure at the integration layer rather than something you can resolve inside the Zap editor. When Zapier throws hydration errors it is usually timing out while expanding or normalizing a complex API response which aligns with what you’re seeing where raw metadata comes through but standard fields never fully hydrate.

The fact that Find Constituent times out even in test mode is especially telling. That points to the underlying API request being slow or expensive to process before the Zap ever runs live. In similar cases this has been tied to very large Bloomerang databases or specific records with heavy relationships such as long notes many transactions or extensive custom fields. Zapier’s 30 second hard timeout can be hit even if the API technically responds.

Since this is isolated to a single Bloomerang account and began around mid November it may be worth checking whether there were any unannounced API changes schema expansions or performance shifts on either side around that time. Even small changes can push responses over Zapier’s hydration or timeout limits.

From a diagnostics standpoint you’re unfortunately correct that Zapier’s UI does not expose enough detail. The only path I’ve seen work in cases like this is opening a Zapier support ticket and asking them to inspect internal logs for specific Zap run IDs and the request IDs you’re already seeing. Zapier support can sometimes see response size timing and where hydration fails and that information can then be shared back with Bloomerang engineering.

At this point your instincts are right. This looks like a Zapier and Bloomerang interaction issue rather than something you can fix by rebuilding or reconnecting. Hopefully others can confirm similar behavior but pushing for deeper Zapier side log inspection is likely the most productive next step.

Dr. Tanvi Sachar
Monday Certified Partner, Monday Wizard

​@rachbear 

Ask Zapier Support if there were any changes to the Bloomerang Zap app or triggers/actions around Nov 19, 2025.

Ask Bloomerang Support if there were any changes to the Bloomerang API around Nov 19, 2025.

Some Zap app integrations have triggers/actions that are a series of API requests (2+), so it may be that a secondary API request to fetch additional data is failing or timing out.

Info about hydration/dehydration limits in Zapier:

https://docs.zapier.com/platform/build/hydration-limits

Info about timeouts in Zapier: 

https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496246377357-Error-The-app-did-not-respond-in-time

https://docs.zapier.com/platform/build/troubleshoot-trigger-timeouts 

​@Troy Tessalone Yes, I’ve done this as well! (The one thing I left off)

​@drtanvisachar so you’ve just summarized my post?

​@rachbear I have run into this exact pattern before and in every case it ended up being an integration boundary issue rather than a Zap configuration problem.

When you see hydration errors on the trigger combined with partial fields and consistent 30 second timeouts on actions like Find Constituent it usually means Zapier is timing out while expanding a large or complex API response from Bloomerang. Zapier will sometimes surface raw IDs or notes but fail while normalizing nested objects which produces the behavior you’re describing.

The key signal here is that Find Constituent is timing out in test mode. That eliminates task load and retry logic and points to the underlying API call itself being slow or returning a payload that exceeds what Zapier can fully hydrate within its hard timeout. In Bloomerang accounts with large constituent histories heavy notes or long transaction chains this can happen even when the same Zap works elsewhere.

Two things that helped us isolate the root cause in similar cases
First test lookups against a known lightweight constituent versus one with a lot of history to see if timeouts correlate with record size
Second temporarily remove or minimize any fields that cause Bloomerang to return related objects where possible and see if hydration stabilizes

For diagnostics Zapier does have deeper internal logs but they are not exposed in the UI. Opening a Zapier support ticket and explicitly providing Zap run IDs and the Bloomerang request IDs is the only way we were able to get visibility into response size and timing. Once Zapier confirmed the timeout was happening during hydration we were able to give Bloomerang engineering something concrete to trace on their side.

Given the timing in mid November I would also ask both Zapier and Bloomerang whether there were any API schema or performance changes around that period even if not formally announced. That has been the trigger in a few similar cases I have seen.

Based on what you’ve already tested this does not look like something you’re missing. It looks like a real edge case where dataset size or response complexity is pushing the integration past Zapier’s limits.

Dr. Tanvi Sachar
Monday Certified Partner, Monday Wizard