Set up behaviors for a Central assistant

Beta

This product is in open beta. It’s available for use but still in active development and may change.

Behaviors are automated processes your assistant can do on your behalf. They are composed of:

• Instructions: a description of what you want the assistant to do.
• Trigger: an app that will kick off the behavior.
• Actions: apps the assistant will use to perform tasks.
• (Optional) Data sources: documents the assistant can use to answer questions and complete tasks. Data sources are shared between all behaviors of an assistant. 

An assistant can have multiple behaviors, each with its own set of instructions, a trigger, and actions. Each time a behavior runs, it consumes one activity. 

Create a behavior

You can start by adding triggers and actions, or by writing instructions. If you start with instructions, the assistant will suggest relevant options for the trigger and action fields.

1. From your assistant Chat screen, click Behaviors to display the Behaviors screens.
2. Click Create behavior. A dialog box will open.
3. In the Instructions to follow field, describe what you want the assistant to do. It will suggest the most likely trigger and action events.
4. Click the suggestion button, or the plus icon on the Trigger section to select a trigger.
5. Click the suggestion button, or click the plus icon on the Behavior actions section to select actions. You can add multiple actions.

Each assistant must have instructions, a trigger, and at least one action. Below you'll learn more about each of these fields.

Instructions

Instructions tell the assistant what to do, and you should include what triggers it and what actions it should take on your behalf. 

Example

If your instructions say, “When I add a star to an email in Gmail, look at the body of the email and determine if it contains something for me to do. If so, create a task assigned to me in Asana with the relevant details and due date. If there’s nothing I need to do, send me a private message in Slack with a summary of the email.” 

Whenever you mark an email in Gmail with a star, the assistant will be alerted through its trigger, and will then analyze the content to identify possible tasks for you. If there are any, it'll create tasks for you in Asana. If it cannot identify any tasks for you, it will send a Slack message with a summary of the content. 

Search and browse with an assistant

Your Central assistant can search the internet for specific queries and browse websites for general information to complete your requests and tasks. You do not need to add a behavior to do this. Whenever you provide instructions that require accessing an external website, the assistant will complete them and return the results.

Note

The assistant cannot log in to websites or interact with them. Any information you want it to retrieve needs to be publicly available.

Behavior triggers

Behavior triggers are events that start the assistant. If you already use Zapier, the assistant trigger works similarly to a Zap trigger.

Unlike Zap triggers, assistant behavior triggers can also be triggered on demand, as well as automatically. You can trigger the behavior: 

• When new data comes through an app.
• Whenever you message the assistant.
• Whenever you message the assistant using a specific keyword or phrase. 

You can define how to trigger an assistant by entering that information in the Instructions to follow field. Then, select one of the assistant's suggestions for the trigger, or select any other trigger. To set up a trigger:

1. In the Behavior dialog box, click + Add trigger. A dialog box will open.
2. In the Trigger field, search for and select an app.
3. Select the trigger you want to use.
   • Click Clear to remove the selected trigger.
4. If required, in the Connection dropdown menu, select an account to connect to. Certain apps do not require a connection.
   • You can create a new connection by clicking the Settings icon .  
5. Fill out any required fields for your trigger.
6. Click Add trigger.

Behavior actions

Once you write your instructions, the assistant will try to find the most appropriate actions. An assistant can use multiple actions.

To add an action:

1. In the Behavior dialog box, click + Add action.
2. In the Action field, search for and select the app or action name. 
   • Click Clear to remove the selected action.
3. In the Connection dropdown menu, select an account to connect to. 
   • You can create a new connection by clicking the Settings icon .  
4. Fill out all required fields. 
   • To see optional fields, click Show all options. For these fields, you can let the assistant decide the content of certain fields. 
5. Click Add action.

Note

Private apps will not appear in the list of options for triggers and actions.

Activity limits for behaviors

Each behavior run has a limit on how many activities it can use. These limits depend on your plan:

• Free plan: 10 activities.
• Paid plans: 40 activities.

Learn more about what counts as an activity.

Test your behavior and enable it

After setting up your behavior, you should test it to ensure the assistant is working as expected. You can test a behavior from the Behavior dialog box, by clicking the Test behavior link.

When you’re testing a behavior, your assistant will show you a preview before taking actions in your connected apps, so you can ensure it is sending the correct information.

Correct a behavior

During testing, if you'd like the assistant to do something differently, just send a message telling it what to do. If your assistant recognizes that it should update its instructions, it will show that the feedback has been saved and the instructions for the behavior will be updated.

When you're happy with the results, enable the behavior by clicking the Enable behavior toggle, on the top right of the Behavior dialog box.

Define how the assistant will use action fields

The assistant can take different actions depending on the field type.

Required fields

You must enter a value or make a selection in a required field. Required fields have the following options:

• Have AI generate a value for this field: the assistant will automatically determine the best value to use for the field.
• Set a specific value for this field: you manually select a value for the field.
  • If you select this option, a new field will appear, where you can enter a value that will be used whenever the behavior runs.

Optional fields

You do not have to enter a value or make a selection in optional fields. They have the same options as required fields, and you can also tell the assistant to not include a value for that specific field.

Multiple selection fields

In multiple selection fields, you can enter more than one value or make more than one selection. Besides the options available for required fields, these fields have the option Have AI select a value from one of these choices. If you select this option, a dropdown menu will appear below with all possible values for the field. You can then select the options the assistant will be allowed to use.

Provide feedback and get help

Submit a feature request, provide feedback on existing features, or get help from the Zapier Central team. You can also discuss Central with other users on Zapier's Early Access Program Slack.