8 Unknown (but powerful) Zapier features

“I feel like I’m not making the most of Zapier.”

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I hear this all the time. It’s true, there’s always more you could build and automate. 

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But oftentimes you don’t know if the juice is worth the smash, squeeze, or slap (let’s be honest, building can quickly turn into a frustrating rabbit hole).

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Today, I’ll show you the 8 most underused Zapier feature lemons that I think are worth squeezing.

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Let’s listicle. 

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8 unknown Zapier features

We’ll look at Zapier Interfaces, Tables, Zaps, and Chatbots in this list. Away we go!

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Interfaces: URL Params

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Put simply, you can show custom text on an Interfaces page by using something called URL params. 

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Forms are the easiest example where you can give each field a “reference” name. Then, when you configure the action to navigate to something like a thank you page, you can “send data” to the page by checking a box. 

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This updates the URL, and boom diggity boom you see text from the form show up in the displayed text. If you look at the URL, you’ll see how it works and you can build these URLs yourself. Or in a Zap. 

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Some ideas on how to use URL params:

• Build them within a Zap to create URLs to send customers an email linking to a personalized page.
• Use forms as "selectors" that navigate to another page and filter information (since URL params can be used in filters).
• Send someone to a page with pre-filled information in a form (use the URL Param as the default field value)

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Canvas AI: Create a system.

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Describe a system, any system, and Canvas will diagram it for you and create the Tables, Interfaces, and Zaps needed. 

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This gets you from zero to 80% for any system you need to build. You still need some chops to edit Zaps and make sure the system works as you want, but if you already know your way around Zapier this is the ultimate time saver.

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Zaps: Webhooks

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At first, webhooks feels like a scary word. But, let me demystify it for you.

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Think of webhooks like an email address. You send messages to it. It can receive messages. Like email. Easy!

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Most apps use these webhook “email addresses” and likely power their Zapier integrations behind the scenes.

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So, Zapier created a Webhooks app that gives you a dedicated address you can send things to from almost any app out there. In fact, if you can’t find an app that directly integrates with Zapier, there’s a good chance that app can send data to a webhook address. 

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Now, your webhook trigger in a Zap can work with anything.

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You can even trigger another Zap from another Zap by using webhooks. Remember, it’s just like email so it’s like one Zap sending a message to another Zap. 

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Simple. Flexible. Underused. 

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Tables: AI field

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Zapier gives you their own OpenAI account for this so go wild. Add an AI field and prompt it using data from any of the fields within the table.

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When you update the prompt, it will update the AI field for every single record in the table automatically. 

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Like with any AI field, sometimes the simplest things like extracting data (i.e. state name from an address) produce the best, most reliable results.

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Zaps: AI by Zapier and its prompt assistant

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Just like with Tables, Zapier is giving you access to its OpenAI account so you don’t need one. Use AI by Zapier and then take advantage of its prompt assistant. 

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You give it a sentence or two of direction and it will generate a comprehensive prompt along with mapped fields from previous steps in your Zap. 

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I wish I had this assistant available outside of the Zap editor for when I want to prompt anything with AI. It’s so useful.

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Tables: Right-click trigger any Zap

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I often run into the issue of needing to manually trigger a Zap. Instead of deleting a row in a Google Sheet an then pasting it back in to “fire off a Zap,” Tables gives you a secret weapon hidden behind a right-click.

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You can select any record or records, right-click, and then choose which connected Zaps to manually trigger. This is so freakin’ handy and nobody knows about it.

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Chatbots: Logic

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Chatbots get more powerful by the day. What started as a chatbot on your website is now a well-oiled machine rivalring any cutting edge AI app out there.

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The logic options keep expanding. You can:

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• Run a Zap at the end of a conversation
• Use Chatbots within a Zap just like you would ChatGPT
• Automatically collect leads and information from users and store in a Zapier table

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It’s often easier to create a Chatbot than it is to create an OpenAI assistant.

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Zaps: Free tasks within the Zapier ecosystem

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Admittedly, Zapier must not be doing a good job of communicating this. Part of it is probably because Zapier pricing is already hard to understand (A task? What exactly is task?).

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But, in an effort to make their products more sticky, Zapier made automation in Tables, Interfaces, and most Zapier-owned apps completely free.  

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This means you can take data within Zapier Tables and manipulate it, transform it, bend it, display it, enrich it, and automate it to your heart’s content without counting against your task limit. 

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This is your Zapier Mario fire flower, you just have to remember to jump and get it. 

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Wrapping it up

It’s hard to keep up with products and their features. But there’s one thing I’ve seen with Zapier: they are doubling down on releasing new features quickly. 

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Two big things are coming that will change the game:

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1. Tables formulas
2. Interfaces Zaps that update components like a text field

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… 2025 will be fun!

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That’s all for this week!

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Happy Building,

Bryce