Get started with Next Gen Zaps

Next Gen Zaps turn the work you describe to an AI tool into a workflow that keeps running on Zapier. You can build one from an MCP client, an AI tool that supports Model Context Protocol (MCP), such as Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor. You can also build one on Zapier with the AI assistant in the Workflow Manager. Your AI chooses the right app connections, wires up the steps, and deploys the workflow to Zapier for you.

Next Gen Zaps run alongside your Classic Zaps. Your Classic Zaps keep running unchanged, and you choose if and when to import one.

A Next Gen Zap also differs from a Code step in a Classic Zap. Whereas a Code step replaces a single step, a Next Gen Zap is a complete workflow that Zapier runs from start to finish.

By the end of this tutorial, you'll have used an MCP client to build and deploy your first Next Gen Zap.

Available on plans:

Free

Professional

Team

Enterprise

Early Access

Next Gen Zaps is in early access by request. Sign up at https://zapier.com/workflow/early-access. If you’re on a Team plan, the request must come from an account owner or admin. If you’re on an Enterprise plan, contact Support for access. This feature has limited availability and is in active development.

Note

If your Enterprise account uses workspaces, you can turn on early access for individual workspaces, such as a sandbox. Your account must still be added to the early access list first. After that, the owner or a super admin of your account goes to the early access page while in each workspace they want to grant access to. To turn on early access for all workspaces at once, contact Zapier support.

Before you begin

• You need a connected account for each app you want to use in your workflow.
• Familiarity with Zapier MCP is helpful but not required.

Set up Zapier MCP

Next Gen Zaps works through Zapier MCP. On its own, Zapier MCP lets your MCP client run actions in your apps when you ask. Next Gen Zaps adds the ability to build and deploy a Zap that keeps running on its own afterward.

If you've never used Zapier MCP:

1. Follow the Zapier MCP quickstart to create an MCP server and connect it to your MCP client.
2. Tell your MCP client to use the zapier:build-workflows skill.
   • This skill installs the tools your workspace needs and confirms your Zapier account has early access to Next Gen Zaps.
3. When you’re done, refresh your MCP tools list.

If you already use Zapier MCP:

1. Tell it to use the zapier:build-workflows skill.
2. You may need to refresh your MCP tools list.

Note

Claude can take 3 to 12 hours to refresh its tools list on its own. If you use Claude Desktop, restart the app to refresh the list right away.

Build and deploy your workflow

1. In your MCP client, describe the Zap you want to create in plain language.
2. Review your MCP client's suggestions. It will walk you through choosing the right app connections, creating and testing the workflow, and deploying it to Zapier.
3. Once your workflow is deployed, go to the Zapier Workflow Manager to review its history and any activity, or ask your MCP client for a direct link to the workflow it created.

Your Next Gen Zap runs in Zapier, not inside your MCP client. This makes it different from an automation that runs inside an AI chat. A Next Gen Zap runs on its trigger or schedule without a chat window open, and you can also run it on demand at any time from your MCP client, the API, or the Workflow Manager. It keeps a full history of its runs, follows your Zapier account's permissions, and can use any app you connect to Zapier. It can also send custom API requests through your existing app connections, so you do not need to add separate credentials. It runs the same way no matter which MCP client you used to build it.

Use cases to try

Not sure where to start? Try one of the following ideas. Each one highlights something Next Gen Zaps can do that a Classic Zap cannot.

Security considerations

Use judgment about which Zapier account, app connections, and data you make available while testing Next Gen Zaps. If an agent has access to private data, is exposed to untrusted instructions, and is allowed to send data elsewhere, it could take actions you did not intend, including sharing sensitive information.

Start with low-risk workflows and app connections. Avoid connecting accounts that contain highly sensitive data, such as legal documents, financial records, or private company files.

If you want a stricter safety boundary, use a separate Zapier account, less-sensitive app connections, or a dedicated test workspace.

When the Agentic Management agent applies a fix, it publishes the change as a new version of your workflow. You can review exactly what changed in the version history.

Pricing during early access

Next Gen Zaps are free during early access on Professional, Team, and Enterprise plans. Building, testing, and running Next Gen Zaps does not use tasks, and Zapier does not bill you for them.

Note

If your MCP client runs app actions through Zapier MCP while it builds, such as fetching sample data, each successful tool call uses 2 tasks at the standard Zapier MCP rate. Your AI tool may also charge you for the tokens it uses.

When billing begins

When billing begins, Next Gen Zaps will use the same task-based pricing as Classic Zaps:

• Each app action costs 1 task, the same as in a Classic Zap.
• AI by Zapier steps follow your plan's tiered task pricing.
• Each fetch call costs 1 task. A fetch call is a custom API request that your workflow makes to an outside app or API.
• Only successful actions and successful fetch calls count toward your task usage. Failed actions do not use tasks.
• Logic inside your workflow, such as filters, formatting, loops, and branching, does not use tasks.
• Composing, editing, testing, and publishing a Next Gen Zap does not use tasks.

After billing begins, the tasks your Next Gen Zaps use count toward your monthly task usage and are billed according to your plan.

Advance notice

Zapier will share full pricing details and a start date by email and in-product messages before billing begins. Building in the Workflow Manager, testing, and running Next Gen Zaps during early access will not generate a bill.

Limitations

• Next Gen Zap's TypeScript code has a 200,000-character limit.
• A run can last up to 1 year, including any time it spends paused.
• A wait for a callback from another system times out after 30 days by default.
• Next Gen Zaps do not support Sub-Zaps. One Next Gen Zap cannot call another.
• Next Gen Zaps do not have an editor role yet. Only the workflow's owner, a super admin, or the account owner can edit a workflow, including through an AI tool.
  • To fix someone else's workflow without them, such as to replace an expired app connection, ask one of these people to turn it off. Then duplicate it, connect your own app accounts in the copy, and turn the copy on.
• You can only import Zaps that you own.
  • If you want to import someone else's Zap, duplicate it or change ownership of it to yourself first.

Enterprise customers

You cannot limit early access to specific users. To turn off early access, contact Zapier support.

Do not run your most sensitive workflows through Next Gen Zaps during early access.

Some Enterprise features are not supported in Next Gen Zaps during early access, and some are not yet confirmed to work the same way:

Learn more about these features on the Zapier pricing page.

Next steps

You installed Zapier MCP, connected your apps, and used an MCP client to build and deploy your first Next Gen Zap. Now:

• Share feedback or book time with a product manager to help shape Next Gen Zaps.
• Check your workflow's activity anytime in the Zapier Workflow Manager.
• Read What is Zapier MCP? to understand how your MCP client connects to your Zapier apps.
• Read Use the Workflow Manager to build and view your Next Gen Zaps to understand the Workflow Manager layout.
• Read Create Next Gen Zap drafts and versions to publish your changes and review earlier versions.
• Read Agentic Management in Next Gen Zaps to let an agent monitor a workflow and fix it when a run fails.