Zapier lets you connect over 7,000 apps and automatically sync data between them using a simple visual interface — no coding required. Millions of users use this platform to automate a good part of their daily workflow ¹.

In Zapier, automated connections are called Zaps, and they allow you to create workflows between apps that would otherwise not be possible. Each Zap is started by a trigger, an event that starts in one app, and triggers one or more actions in other apps, automatically sending the data along.

For example, you could create a Zap that triggers when a new task is created in your Asana or Todoist account and immediately captures that task in your FacileThings inbox, so you can integrate it in your normal workflow. We’ll explore this example in detail below:

Which triggers and actions are available depends on how each app’s Zapier integration is implemented. At FacileThings we have created these triggers:

• New Action: Triggered when a new item is captured in FacileThings.
• Action Updated: Triggered when an action is modified (only the text field and the notes are taken into account).
• Action Moved: Triggered when an action has been moved from one list to another (except for those moved to the Done list).
• Action Set to Done: Triggered when an action has been marked as done and moved to the Done list.
• New Project: Triggered when a new project is created in FacileThings.

Depending on how the triggers are designed, they can be instantaneous or have a 15-minute delay. FacileThings triggers are all instantaneous.

These are the available actions:

• Capture Action: Captures a new action in the FacileThings inbox.
• Update Action: Updates the data of an existing action (text and notes).
• Set Action to Done: Marks an existing action as done and sends it to the Done list.
• Create Project: Creates a new project in FacileThings.
• Add Action to Project: Creates a new action within an existing project (in its Next Actions list).

Here are a couple of practical examples:

Use case: Gmail integration

Imagine you get a notification in Gmail whenever someone contacts you through your website. You want to capture the notifications so you can reply and track follow-up.

You can create a Zap that starts with Gmail. For example, use New Email Matching Search if all emails share a common trait, or New Labeled Email if you want the task to be captured in FacileThings when you assign a certain label to the email.

Let’s assume that all those emails come from the same address, “queries@mywebsite.com”. For the integration to be completely automatic, it’s better to use the New Email Matching Search trigger:

Next, define the search so only the relevant emails are captured in FacileThings by adapting the search to the from section of the email:

The next step is to capture a new item in FacileThings with the information from that email, so we select the FacileThings application and connect the Capture Action action:

The only required field when capturing an action is text. We configure the task so that text is filled with the subject of the email and notes with the body of the email. The external ID field is not necessary in this case.

Once you publish the Zap , a new item will be created whenever you receive an email from that address in your Gmail account (within 15 minutes due to the Gmail trigger delay).

Use case: Integration with Asana

Now let’s look at a practical example of integration with another task and project management application. I’ve used Asana for this example, but the case can be extended to other tools such as Todoist, Trello, ClickUp, etc.

Let’s suppose that your work team uses Asana to share projects and tasks, but you prefer to manage your own tasks through the workflow provided by FacileThings and, of course, you don’t want to have to duplicate work in both applications.

A basic integration uses two Zaps, one that allows you to capture in FacileThings the new tasks that arrive in Asana. And another that allows tasks to be completed in Asana when you have finished them in FacileThings.

This means you can work entirely in FacileThings without switching back to Asana, and your colleagues would know which tasks you have completed and when.

Zap 1: Capturing Asana tasks in FacileThings

Choose Asana as the trigger app and select New Task trigger, since we want it to start every time a task is created in Asana.

To set up the Asana New Task trigger you need to specify the Workspace and Project the task belongs to. Let’s assume that work tasks are created in the Work project:

Next, connect that trigger to the FacileThings Capture Action action.

Set up the action by mapping Asana task fields to FacileThings fields. It’s easy to see that the text field should contain the name of the task and the notes field the associated notes. But what is the external ID field for?

The external ID field allows you to pass to FacileThings the identifier that the other app uses for the task (usually it’s a number, and the field is usually called id or something similar). This will allow the system to know which Asana task needs to be updated when you complete the task later in FT.

You only need to use this field when you are designing a two-way integration, with data updates in both apps.

Once the zap is published, every time a new task is created in the specified Asana project, a new task will be created in FacileThings with the relevant data.

Zap 2: Updating tasks in Asana from FacileThings

This Zap updates Asana tasks when you mark them done in FacileThings.

Now FacileThings will be the starting application, and the trigger we need is Action Set to Done. This trigger doesn’t need any configuration, it’s just triggered every time an action is marked as done.

In Asana, the Update Task action marks a task as complete. Therefore, this action should be the second step of the zap.

Set the Task ID to the stored external ID, then mark “Complete”. Set the “Mark Task as complete?” question to true, and set the text field to Name, to update the task description in case it has been modified. Also set the Workspace and Project values:

Your integration is now active.

¹ Zapier has a free Basic plan that only allows you to run 100 tasks per month and create two-step Zaps, and a paid Professional plan with unlimited tasks and multi-step Zaps.