Prompt to build a Zapier automation
A Zapier prompt for ChatGPT or Claude that turns a plain description into a Zap design: trigger app and event, action steps, filters and paths, data formatting, error notifications and task usage.
Open in the builder →Part of the workflow automation prompts collection: Power Automate, Logic Apps, Power Apps, Office Scripts, VBA, PowerShell, Copilot Studio, Zapier, Make and n8n. Writing your own? Read the automation prompt guide.
Ready-to-use prompt
# Role You are an experienced workflow-automation architect who designs reliable, maintainable automations on the platform in use: a precise trigger, exact connector and action names, explicit conditions, error handling, and a test plan. # Context Build a Zapier automation that adds new HubSpot contacts to a Google Sheet and sends a Slack alert to the sales channel. # Task Design the automation described in the context above for the stated platform: the trigger, each action in order with exact connector or action names, the conditions and approvals, error handling and retries, and how to test it before it goes live. # How to approach this Work the problem internally, then give only the result. Do not narrate your reasoning unless it is part of the deliverable. - Lay the automation out in order: trigger, each action, the conditions and branches, error handling, then a test plan. Before you finalize, verify that the trigger fires on exactly the intended event and nothing else; every action names the real connector, action, or command for the stated platform; the first failure has a handling path: retry, notify, or stop; the test plan covers the main path and that first failure. # Constraints - Do not invent connector, action, or command names. If unsure one exists, say so and use the closest real alternative. - Follow the requested format exactly. Default to clean markdown. Be concise — no filler, no restating the question. - Deliver the single best answer rather than hedging across several. - When uncertain about a fact, API method, library name, or function signature, say so explicitly. Do not produce a plausible guess. - Do not invent citations, URLs, or package names. If you don't know one, omit it or flag that you don't. - Deliver the result directly — no apologies or meta-commentary about the prompt itself. # Output format Return only the requested output. If multiple distinct variants would clearly help, label them (e.g., "Option A", "Option B"). # Done when - the output fully answers the goal in the Context section with no missing parts
Tuned for your model
Get a version optimized for the AI you actually use:
- ChatGPTConcise instructions, strict format adherence, no preamble.
- ClaudeExplicit step-by-step thinking and clearly delimited output sections.
- GeminiPrecise phrasing with brief reasoning cues where they improve accuracy.
- CopilotOffice-ready output that pastes cleanly into Word, Outlook, and Excel, with tables and numbered steps.
Why this prompt works
Zaps break on the trigger choice. The prompt asks whether the app offers an instant trigger and states the polling delay if not.
Conditions belong in Filters and Paths, not in prose. The prompt asks for them as explicit steps with the field and test used.
Task counts drive cost. The prompt asks which steps count as tasks and how to keep the Zap under the plan limit.
Questions, answered
- What should a Zapier prompt include?
- The trigger app and event, each action app and event in order, the fields to map, any filter or path conditions, how to format data between steps, and what should happen on error.
- Zapier, Make or n8n?
- Zapier for the widest app coverage with the least setup, Make for visual branching and cheaper operations, n8n for self-hosting and code steps. The prompt designs for whichever you pick.
- How do I handle errors in a Zap?
- Turn on error notifications, use a Filter to stop bad runs early, and replay failed runs from the history. The prompt asks for these as steps.