I’m working with a Zapier automation that uses a Python code step. The trigger comes from a Twitter integration and sends me data that should be an array of strings. Specifically, I’m getting a field called “Entities URLs Display URL” which contains the display text for all URLs found in a tweet.
The problem is that Zapier is sending this data as one long string with commas between each item. I could use split(',') to break it apart, but this creates issues when the original text already has commas in it.
Is there a way to configure Zapier so it sends this type of data as an actual list or array to my Python script instead of joining everything together with commas? I need to preserve the original structure of the data without losing information due to comma conflicts.
I’ve hit this exact problem working with social media integrations in Zapier. The issue is how Zapier handles arrays between workflow steps. Here’s what worked for me: handle the preprocessing in Python instead of relying on comma splitting. I use regex patterns and string manipulation to find natural boundaries between array elements. For URL display text, you can usually spot patterns like protocol prefixes or domain structures to separate items correctly. Another trick that works well - if you can JSON encode the data in an earlier step, then parse that JSON string in Python to get back the original array structure. This completely sidesteps the comma issue and keeps your data intact.
zapier’s webhook is the way to go! it retains the array format better than the usual triggers. just set up a webhook and then handle the json directly in python. trust me, it skips all that flattening mess. helped me tons with my instgram api stuff!
Indeed, this issue with Zapier is quite common. Unfortunately, it flattens data into comma-separated strings by default, and there isn’t an option to alter this behavior. A solution I found useful involves utilizing the raw data provided in the input bundle. You can access it in your Python code like this: input_data = bundle.get('inputData'), which retains the original data structure more effectively than the simplified output. Alternatively, if that approach doesn’t yield the desired results, consider inserting a Formatter step before the Code step to manage the array data, albeit this might complicate your workflow.