Hey everyone,
I’m working on syncing Google Contacts with Podio. I’ve set up a Zapier zap that fires when a contact is updated in Google Contacts. But here’s my issue:
I’m using the Google Contacts API to update contacts programmatically. Does anyone know if this API update will set off my Zapier zap? If it does, is there a way to stop it from happening?
I really need to keep things in sync without causing an endless loop of updates. Any tips or workarounds would be super helpful!
Thanks in advance for your help!
I’ve encountered a similar issue when working with API updates and Zapier triggers. In my experience, API updates to Google Contacts do indeed trigger Zapier zaps. To prevent this, you might consider implementing a flag or custom field in your Google Contacts.
Before making an API update, set this flag to a specific value. Then, modify your Zapier zap to only trigger when this flag is not set. After the API update, clear the flag. This way, your zap will ignore API-driven changes but still catch manual updates.
Alternatively, you could explore using Zapier’s ‘Filter’ step to exclude certain types of updates based on criteria specific to your API calls. This approach requires careful planning but can be quite effective for maintaining sync without creating loops.
I’ve actually tackled this exact problem in a project recently. What worked for me was implementing a time-based solution. In your API calls, include a timestamp of when the update occurs. Then, in your Zapier zap, add a filter step that checks if the last modified time is within a certain threshold, say 30 seconds.
This approach assumes that API updates happen faster than manual ones. By setting a short time window, you can effectively ignore the rapid API-driven changes while still catching manual updates that typically take longer.
Just be sure to test thoroughly and adjust the time threshold as needed for your specific use case. It’s not foolproof, but it’s been quite reliable in my experience and doesn’t require adding custom fields to your contacts.
hey there, i’ve dealt with this before. one trick is to add a custom field in ur contacts, like ‘last_updated_by_api’. set it when u do api updates. then in zapier, add a filter step to ignore updates where that field changed. that way zapier only fires for manual edits. hope this helps!