Digest by Zapier error: The app returned "Every secret can only have 1000 records, this call attempts to create a total of 1001."

Hi @jbtx, so sorry to hear of the troubles with the Digest app here!

Hmm, judging by that error it sounds like the digest hasn’t been released successfully.

Are the Zaps all using the same name for the Digest? Just wondering if perhaps you’ve got multiple Zaps all adding to the same digest and it’s only erroring now as it’s hit that 1000 record limit. Though it’s odd that when creating a new digest under a different name that the same error occurred as would suggest that the 1000 limit includes the total number of entries across all digests. However the error states - “Every secret can only have 1000 records” which suggests that each digest can have up to 1000 records.

Can you also confirm what frequency has been selected for the release of the digest? E.g. which option has been selected in the Frequency field on the affected Zaps:


Looking forward to hearing from you on this!

Thanks for the reply, @SamB. I don’t think it’s an actual error count. 

I made a simple two-step Zap: Chrome push → Make Digest Zap to test this out. The Zap failed to create a Digest for the same error even though the Digest name was timestamp — unique, new, with 0 records! 

I tried again with Digest name “test123943798239” and append record “test” — also fail.  

So, I don’t think it has to do with actual record counts because both of these Digests were new and empty. I use Digest actions across Zaps, so maybe account-wide record limit? That could be the case. But I remember reading somewhere there was no limit to total Digests. 

Thanks for your reply @SamB  — does this error occur on your end as well? If I can either isolate as my account problem or a systemic Zapier problem, that will help!

Thanks for getting back to me and for sending over those helpful screenshots, @jbtx!

I’ve done testing on my end but wasn’t able to replicate the error. So I expect the amount of digests stored (I’ve got no where near 1,000) is likely the issue here. I see you’ve got the Frequency set to Manual. Do you have a Zap that’s clearing the digest items regularly?

If not, can you try adding a Release Existing Digest action to a Zap, for the digest that’s storing the largest number of items and test it. I’m hoping that will help to force it to clear the stored digest items and allow the Append Entry and Schedule Digest actions to run without error. 

Keen to help get to the bottom of this so please keep me updated on how that goes!

That might be the case, @SamB — Digests have accumulated across Zaps to total 1000+ records. I often used Release, but sometimes I would just pull up the current Digest and never release.

That being said, I primarily used temporary (i.e. one day) Digests, almost always named with a timestamp D/M/Y HH:SS, so at this point I would have hundreds (or more) of unique Digests. I’m not sure how I would go back and “release” them if I could. 

Ah, I see @jbtx! Using a timestamp in the name is creating far too unique a value. With digests the idea is that you’ll have multiple entries stored to a digest not a new digest for every entry which is what’s happening when the timestamp is used in the digest name.

Your best bet here will be to reach out to the Support team on this. They’ll be able to investigate the digests you’ve got on your account and hopefully help to get them released or removed from your account. 

Keep me in the loop on how it goes with them, want to make sure this gets sorted!

I have had this issue too, I am using a digest to build a list of line items to run through an API due to the async nature of loops. I am creating thousands of products and it seems once I approached the 1000 mark it has started to throw this error even though I only have about 5-9 items in each digest (but 1 digest per product). I always release the digests however so I am surprised it is not cleaning them up clearly it is accumulating records and for some reason throwing this error when entries across multiple digests reaches 1000. Poor show….support are investigating for me but without the ability to ensure that old digests are cleaned up not sure how this will get fixed. Also .. is it normal when in test mode for a digest to not clear out after a release? I am debugging this case and no matter how many times I test the release digest manual step it always returns the same content e.g. it is not clearing out? Digest was scheduled as manual and released in the same zap? 

Hi @keithturley 👋

Sorry to hear you’re facing similar issues on this. As you’re releasing the digests but they aren’t being cleared I suspect that you’re running into a bug where the digests are not always clearing. This was issue was previously discussed in the Community here: 

So I’ve gone ahead and added you to the list of folks being impacted by that bug which will help to increase it’s priority and allow us to send you an email notification once it’s been fixed. In the meantime, I’d recommend continuing the conversation with our Support team to see if they’re able to help with getting the digests released from their side.

I had a response from Zapier support stating that the error indicates there is more than 1000 records in my digest and thats why it could not process it, they were asking if there was a possibility I had multiple zaps contributing to the digest and could that be the problem? I wrote back as I was not impressed given that they had the online chat script and zap link to the debug data so they could see that was not the case… not a great advert for Zapier support. 

So I got into it myself. The error message made no sense and I have concluded this is a red herring. I believe there is an account limit of 1000 digests at any one time. I dug into my Zap with a fresh pair of eyes this morning and realised that I had not released the digest at the end of my loop, I had used the digest content output from my last add to digest task and forgot to add the release step! MY BAD. So I built a clean up Zap that released all of the digests that had built up and that solved the problem. There were approx 1000 digests active hence my conclusion that once you reach 1000 digests you will get this misleading error message whenever you try to add to a digest. I have put it to support that they need to clarify that error message to make it meaningful. 

Ah, I see! Thanks so much for the update here @keithturley. Glad you’ve got the digest releasing correctly now. Great work on that! 🙌 

Very sorry to hear that the Support team weren’t as helpful as hoped. Really appreciate you flagging the need for the error message to be improved with our Support team, it could definitely be made clearer! I’ll remove you from the list of affected users on that bug report so you don’t get any unnecessary notifications from us.

Sounds like you’re all set for the moment but if you run into any further issues please do reach back out to the Community. In the meantime, happy Zapping! ⚡

From Zapier Support: 

There is a known issue with Digest where the app is not correctly releasing the digest entries and the unreleased entries are triggering the record limit error. 

Upon further investigation, I've identified a bug report opened recently where Digests are not deleted even after entries are released. This situation can lead to reaching the maximum limit of storage keys, which may be contributing to the problem you're experiencing.  Our engineer has indicated that they expect to have your digests cleared by tomorrow.

Regarding your query about the record limit, typically, once a digest entry is manually released, it should not count against the 1,500 record limit. However, due to a recently identified bug, released digests are not being removed as they should, which is causing the errors you're experiencing. Our team is aware of this and is working to address it.

From what you've described, it appears the error with the "Digest by Zapier" step is due to exceeding the 1500 records limit. This limit applies to all digests stored in your Zapier account. Here are some steps to help you manage the records effectively:

1. Release the Current Digests: Ensure that the digest release step is executed properly to clear existing records. Double-check your Zap history to confirm that the release action is completing without errors.

2. Create a New Digest with a Different Name: If you have multiple Zaps that rely on the same digest, consider using a new digest name to avoid accumulating too many records in one digest.

3. Utilize Zapier Tables: This feature allows you to store up to 2500 records for free. It's task-free for triggers and actions, which could be a more efficient solution for holding temporary data.

4. Set the Frequency to Manual: Adjust the digest frequency to "Manual" and employ a separate Zap to release the digest at specific times using the Schedule by Zapier trigger. This can help you control when batches are processed.

5. Avoid Dynamic Titles for Digests: Ensure that your digest step does not inadvertently create new digests with dynamic titles unless necessary, as this can quickly lead to numerous digests being created.