Display user-friendly field labels in Zapier triggers while keeping unique IDs

Other Questions Zapier
1

I’m building a Zapier integration for a form creation platform. Our users create forms with automatically generated field identifiers that are quite lengthy.

I have a trigger named “Form submission received” that fetches data from our API and returns responses like this:

[
    {
        "id": "507b9c1a2f8a4b0012345678",
        "contact_459123847502941": "[email protected]",
        "mobile_672041958374826": "98765",
    },
    {
        "id": "507b9c1a2f8a4b0087654321",
        "contact_459123847502941": "[email protected]",
        "mobile_672041958374826": "13579",
    },
]

The problem is that users see these ugly auto-generated field identifiers in the Zapier UI instead of readable names.

How can I make Zapier show human-readable labels to users while still using the unique field identifiers internally?

I’m considering returning data structured like this, but I need guidance on implementing the “displayName” and “content” properties:

[
    {
        "id": "507b9c1a2f8a4b0098765432",
        "input_284759163840572": {
            "displayName": "What is your preferred programming language?",
            "content": "JavaScript"
        }
    }
]

Any help would be appreciated!

2

Here’s another approach: use Zapier’s sample data mechanism more strategically. When your trigger does its initial sample call, intercept that moment and return a modified response with both machine IDs and human-readable versions. Don’t change your core API structure - just create a transformation layer for Zapier samples. During the sample phase, grab your form definition metadata and temporarily rename fields to something like “Email Address (contact_459123847502941)”. This gives users context while keeping the technical identifier. For actual trigger execution, return the raw field names as usual. I used this hybrid approach with a survey platform integration where field names were cryptic, and it worked great. The trick is making your sample data user-friendly while keeping your production data flow untouched.

3

You’re on the right track with displayName, but there’s a cleaner way to do this in Zapier. Use output field definitions - they let you map your internal field IDs to readable labels without restructuring your whole response. Skip changing your API response structure. Just define an outputFields array in your trigger config. Set a ‘key’ (your auto-generated ID) and a ‘label’ (the readable name) for each field. Zapier shows the friendly labels in the UI but still uses your unique identifiers behind the scenes. I did this exact thing for a CRM integration with UUID-based field names. The outputFields approach kept our existing API structure while making the UX way better. You’ll need to fetch the form schema separately for display names, but it keeps your API logic and UI presentation properly separated.

4

Honestly, just go with the nested object approach. Set your trigger to return {“fieldId”: {“displayName”: “readable label”, “content”: “actual value”}}. Zapier handles nested objects fine and users see the displayName in the UI. You’ll need to tweak how the receiving end processes data, but it’s way simpler than dealing with outputFields config.