Zapier - Dovetail

Overview

The Zapier source receives data points that your Zaps send to Dovetail. Use it to bring in feedback from any app that Zapier connects to, such as form responses, reviews, or messages, including tools that don’t have their own source in Dovetail. Dovetail doesn’t fetch anything from Zapier. Each time a Zap runs the Add Data Point to Source action, it sends one data point to the source. Each dataset in the source is a separate destination that Zaps can send to.

To	Who	See
Connect Zapier to Dovetail	A workspace admin	Create the Zapier source
Send data to the source from a Zap	Users with Can use on the source	Send data points from a Zap
Add Zapier data to a channel	Users with Can use on the source who can edit the channel	Channel setup
Use Zapier when it isn’t available to you	Any user	Request a source

A workspace admin creates the Zapier source once for the whole workspace, and channels then add its datasets. Learn more about Sources → The Dovetail app in Zapier also has actions that add docs and data to projects, add contacts, or add data points directly to a channel. Its triggers start a Zap when a project is created or updated. These actions and triggers don’t use a source. See Other Zapier actions and triggers.

Before you start

In Dovetail

A workspace admin creates the source. Other users can request it.
A Zapier source has no credentials of its own. Each Zap connects to Dovetail with a user’s Dovetail account, which needs Can use on the source. See API and Zapier sources.

In Zapier

A Zapier account. See Zapier’s pricing page for its plans.
A Dovetail connection in Zapier. The first time you add a Dovetail step to a Zap, Zapier asks you to sign in to Dovetail and approve access. A connection covers one workspace.

Create the Zapier source

Open Sources and select Zapier

In the sidebar, select Sources, then select Zapier. If your workspace already has a Zapier source, add datasets to it instead. See Datasets.

Name the source

Enter a Name, for example the app or form the data comes from. The name becomes the name of the source’s first dataset, and you can change it later.

Choose who can use the source

Choose who can use the source, then select Next. See Create a source.

Create the source

Choose whether to auto-redact sensitive information in the data the source receives, then select Create source. See Redact data from sources. Then build the Zap in Zapier, as described in Send data points from a Zap.

Authentication and permissions

A Zapier source has nothing to authenticate. Zaps connect to Dovetail through the Dovetail app in Zapier, which uses OAuth. Each Zap sends data as the Dovetail account it’s connected with, and its Source field lists only the datasets in Zapier sources that account can use.

Send data points from a Zap

In Zapier, create a Zap and set up its trigger: the app and event the data comes from, for example a new form response.
Add an action step, choose Dovetail, then choose the Add Data Point to Source event.
If Zapier asks, connect your Dovetail account.
In Source, choose the dataset to send to.
Map Text and Timestamp from the trigger, and any other fields you want to keep.
Test the step, then turn on the Zap.

The action has these fields:

Field	Required	Description
Source	Yes	The dataset to send to. The list shows each dataset in the Zapier sources that the connected Dovetail account can use.
Text	No	The text Dovetail analyzes, up to 5,000,000 characters.
Timestamp	Yes	When the feedback was created, for example when the form was submitted.
The dataset’s fields	No	After you choose a source, the action shows one field for each field the dataset already has, so you can map values to them.
Source Title	No	A title for the original item. It’s stored in a field named Source Title.
Source URL	No	A link to the original item. It’s stored in a field named Source URL and used as the data point’s link.
Custom fields	No	Key and value pairs for any other values you want to keep. Each new key becomes a field on the source.

Datasets

Each dataset in a Zapier source is a separate destination. A Zap sends to one dataset, and a channel can include any of the source’s datasets. Use separate datasets to keep data from different apps or Zaps apart, for example one for form responses and one for app reviews. The Source field in Zapier lists datasets by name, so give each one a name that says what it holds. To add more datasets later, open the source and select Add dataset. See Add datasets.

What gets imported

Each time a Zap runs Add Data Point to Source, Dovetail creates one data point in the dataset the Zap sends to.

Always imported

Item	What Dovetail imports
Timestamp	The Timestamp value, used as the data point’s date
Dataset	The dataset the Zap sends to, chosen in the Source field

Imported when present

Item	What Dovetail imports
Text	The Text value, which is the text Dovetail analyzes
The dataset’s fields	Values mapped to the fields the dataset already has
Source Title	A Source Title field
Source URL	A Source URL field, also used as the data point’s link to the original item
Custom fields	One field for each key

To rename these fields or change their types, see Source fields.

Not imported

Anything the Zap doesn’t map. Dovetail receives only the values you map in the action.
Files and attachments. The action sends text and field values only.
Contact links. Data points from a Zapier source aren’t linked to contacts, even when a field holds an email address.

Scores and field types

A key in Custom fields becomes a field the first time Dovetail receives it, and Dovetail sets the field’s type from that first value. A score can arrive as a Text or Number field, depending on how the Zap sends it, so check the type of any score field after the first data points arrive. To chart scores in Dashboards, the field must use the NPS or CSAT type. See NPS and CSAT scores for Dashboards.

Sending data

No import period or sync. A Zapier source has no import period, and there’s nothing to sync or pause. Data arrives each time a Zap runs the action.
Data before a channel. Data sent before any channel uses the source is kept. A channel that adds the dataset later gets everything sent to it.
Repeated items. Each run of the action creates a new data point. Dovetail doesn’t merge repeats, so a Zap that sends the same item twice creates two data points.
Limits. A data point’s text can be up to 5,000,000 characters. A data point can have up to 50 fields, including Source Title and Source URL.

Troubleshooting

The Source field in Zapier shows “No Zapier sources found in this workspace.” The Dovetail account connected to the Zap can’t use any Zapier source in that workspace. Ask a workspace admin to create a Zapier source or give you Can use on the existing one. Also check that the Zap is connected to the right Dovetail workspace. See Request a source. The Zap fails with an error that the source may not exist or has been deleted. The dataset the Zap sends to, or its source, was deleted. Choose another dataset in the Source field, then test the step again. Data from a Zap doesn’t appear in a channel. Check that the channel includes the dataset the Zap sends to. New datasets aren’t added to channels automatically. See Missing or outdated data. Zapier isn’t available when I set up a channel. See Troubleshoot sources.

Stop sending data

To stop sending data, turn off or delete the Zap in Zapier. To remove Zapier’s access to your Dovetail account, delete the Dovetail connection in your Zapier account. Zaps that use that connection can then no longer send data to Dovetail. Data the source has already received stays in Dovetail. To delete a dataset or the source in Dovetail, see Manage a source. To take its data out of one channel, see Channel setup.

Other Zapier actions and triggers

These actions and triggers work with projects, contacts, and channels directly. They use the same Dovetail connection in Zapier and don’t need a Zapier source. Zapier acts with the access of the connected Dovetail account. Zapier connects to thousands of apps. To find the ones you use, see Zapier’s app directory.

Add Doc to Project

Adds a doc to an existing project.

Input field	Type	Description
Project	Selected from a list	The project to add the doc to. Required.
Title	Plain text	The doc’s title. If it’s blank, the doc is titled ‘Untitled doc’.
Content	Plain text or HTML	The doc’s content. You can use HTML to format it. If it’s blank, the content reads ‘No content’.
Published	Boolean	Whether to publish the doc.
Doc fields	Varies	The project’s doc fields.
Append content if doc exists	Boolean	If a doc with the same title already exists, adds the new content to the end of it. Default is false.

Add Data to Project

Adds data to an existing project.

Input field	Type	Description
Project	Selected from a list	The project to add the data to. Required.
Title	Plain text	The data’s title. If it’s blank, the data is titled ‘Untitled note’.
Content	Plain text or HTML	The data’s content. You can use HTML to format it. If it’s blank, the content reads ‘No content’.
Data fields	Varies	The project’s data fields.
Append content if data exists	Boolean	If data with the same title already exists, adds the new content to the end of it. Default is false.

Add Contact

Adds a contact to the contacts database.

Input field	Type	Description
Name	Plain text	The contact’s name. If it’s blank, the contact is named ‘Untitled person’.
Contact fields	Varies	Your workspace’s contact fields.

Add Data Point to Channel

Adds a data point directly to one channel, without a source. It has the same fields as Add Data Point to Source, with Channel in place of Source. For new Zaps, use Add Data Point to Source, so the data goes to a source that more than one channel can use.

Triggers

New Project triggers when a project is created. Updated Project triggers when a project is updated. Both return the project’s ID, title, link, readme, and created and updated dates. They only include projects the connected Dovetail account can view. New Published Insight (Deprecated) triggers when a doc is published. You can’t add it to a new Zap, but Zaps that already use it keep running.

Send data from another app to a project

In Zapier, create a Zap and choose the trigger app and event, for example Google Forms and New Form Response.
For the action, choose Dovetail and an action event, for example Add Data to Project.
If Zapier asks, connect your Dovetail account.
Choose the Project, then map values from the trigger to Title, Content, and any fields.
Test the step, then turn on the Zap.

Send Dovetail updates to another app

In Zapier, create a Zap with Dovetail as the trigger app, and choose New Project or Updated Project.
Choose the action app and event, for example posting a message to a Slack channel.
Map the project’s title and link into the message.
Test the step, then turn on the Zap.

Sources

What a source is, and how its data reaches channels.

Channel setup

Create a channel from your sources and choose its datasets.

Manage a source

Add datasets to a source, change its fields, or delete it.

Voice of customer

Centralize feedback, make sense of it, and close the loop.

​Overview

​Before you start

​In Dovetail

​In Zapier

​Create the Zapier source

​Authentication and permissions

​Send data points from a Zap

​Datasets

​What gets imported

​Always imported

​Imported when present

​Not imported

​Scores and field types

​Sending data

​Troubleshooting

​Stop sending data

​Other Zapier actions and triggers

​Add Doc to Project

​Add Data to Project

​Add Contact

​Add Data Point to Channel

​Triggers

​Send data from another app to a project

​Send Dovetail updates to another app

​Related guides