I’m working on an automation where Google Sheets connects to Zapier to create new entries in my Firebase products collection whenever someone adds a row to my spreadsheet. Everything works fine except I can’t figure out how to make unique identifiers for each new Firebase entry.
Right now when Zapier creates the Firebase nodes, they don’t have proper unique keys. I need each entry to have its own distinct ID so they don’t overwrite each other.
I thought about adding a timestamp column in my Google Sheet that would generate automatically when a row gets added, but that seems like extra work and might not guarantee uniqueness if multiple rows get added quickly.
What’s the most reliable method to create unique identifiers for Firebase children when using this Google Sheets and Zapier workflow? Are there any built-in functions or workarounds that would handle this automatically?
I generate UUIDs directly in Google Sheets before the data hits Zapier. Just add a column with =CONCATENATE(TEXT(NOW(),"yyyymmddhhmmss"),RANDBETWEEN(1000,9999)) - it creates a timestamp-based ID with random numbers. You get unique IDs every time and can control the format. Plus you can see the IDs in your spreadsheet and catch problems before they reach Firebase. Zapier just passes the pre-generated ID through to Firebase as the document key. I’ve been using this for over a year - no duplicates or overwrites.
definitely use the push() method in Firebase, it’ll auto-generate keys for ya! It’s usually in Zapier’s settings under “auto generate key”. super easy way to ensure each entry is unique.
Had this exact problem six months ago with a similar setup. The cleanest fix is using Firebase’s built-in push() functionality - but skip Zapier’s auto-generate option since it’s unreliable. Instead, configure the Zapier action to send data to Firebase without specifying a document ID. This forces Firebase to create its own unique identifier using the push key algorithm. You’ll get those standard Firebase keys that look like -KJHGFDSAmnbvcxz and they’re guaranteed unique even with rapid-fire additions. Just set up your Zapier Firebase action to use “Create Child” instead of “Set Value” - Firebase handles the ID generation internally and you won’t have collision or timing issues.