Field mapping is a way to connect two fields so data flows between them. When you map fields, your Zap will automatically take the output of the first field and enter it as an input in the second field. This is how you enter dynamic values in the second step.
Field mapping is a powerful tool to build dynamic and flexible workflows. Learn more about how field mapping works.
Map fields
To map fields when you set up your Zap action:
- Click the plus sign icon in the field you want to map a field to. A dropdown menu will open.
- In the dropdown menu, select one or more fields from a previous step that has the information you want to use.
Whenever you create a new customer in your spreadsheet, you want to create a new lead in your customer relationship management (CRM) app and use the info from the spreadsheet to fill out the fields in the CRM step. When you click on the phone number field in the CRM action, the dropdown menu will show all fields received from the spreadsheet that triggered the Zap. Clicking any of those fields will map them to the phone number field in the CRM action. So, when someone fills out the phone number field in your signup form, the Zap will send their phone number to your CRM.
Best practices for field mapping
- Make sure to select a field from a previous step rather than typing a value directly. When you type text into a field, every Zap run uses that same static value. When you select a mapped field (shown as a colored pill), the Zap uses the actual data from each trigger event, so every run processes the correct record. Learn more about static and dynamic values.
- You can use both static and dynamic values in an action.
- You can map variables to any field.
- If the apps refer to a field differently (e.g., one uses a name, the other uses an ID number), you can create a lookup table to send the correct value.
- The fields available for mapping come from the sample or test data in previous steps. If you do not see a field you expect, re-test the trigger or use a recent Zap run as your test record to load the latest fields.
- Some triggers return multiple fields with similar names (e.g., "Email 1" and "Email 2", or fields with different letter casing). Verify you selected the field that contains the data you need by testing the step and checking the output.
- Make sure the data you map matches the field type the destination field expects. For example, a date/time field requires a date value, and a number field requires a numeric value without currency symbols or text.
- All steps return the entire output of a step in a single value via the Step Output field. This field is helpful to map to AI-powered, Tables, and any other steps and features that prefer full context and structured data.
Limitations
- You can only map fields from a previous step to a subsequent step. You cannot map fields from a later step to a previous step.
- If you change any of the following, you will have to re-map your fields:
- The trigger or action app used in a step used in your mapped fields.
- The app version used in a step used in your mapped fields.
- Reorder or duplicate action steps or paths within a Zap.
- Copy and paste triggers and actions across Zaps.
- Fields with outdated mappings display a yellow warning indicator in the Zap editor.
- When a step errors, it will not generate any output.
- Any fields in subsequent steps that are mapped to the errored step will not receive any data, including any error handlers.
- Error handler steps cannot map fields from the step they are monitoring for errors. Doing so creates a circular dependency that will prevent you from publishing the Zap.