Triggering a Flow: Using an External Application to Start a Flow

Create or update the spreadsheet (or other app data source) containing the values you want to send to RapidPro.

In this example, your sheet includes:

• name
• address
• phone (used as the contact URN)

Important: The phone number must include the country code.

Tip: Column headers become variable names in Zapier and can be referenced later as @trigger.params.name, @trigger.params.address, etc.

[CAPTURE: Show a Google Sheet with column headers for Name, Address, and Phone Number (including country code).]

Create the flow that will be started by Zapier. Inside the flow, reference external values using:

@trigger.params.variable_name

Example variables:

• @trigger.params.name
• @trigger.params.address

[CAPTURE: Show a flow message node referencing @trigger.params.name and @trigger.params.address.]

Save external values to contact fields (optional)

To persist external values beyond the flow run:

1. Add an Update the Contact action.
2. Assign the external variable to a contact field (for example, set Name = @trigger.params.name).

[CAPTURE: Show an Update the Contact action saving @trigger.params.name to a Name field.]

Important: If you don’t save external values to contact fields, they only exist for the duration of the flow run.

In Zapier:

1. Create a new Zap.
2. Choose your source app (example: Google Sheets) as the trigger.
3. Select New or Updated Spreadsheet Row.

[CAPTURE: Show Zapier with Google Sheets selected and the trigger set to New or Updated Spreadsheet Row.]

Configure the trigger step

Next:

• Connect your Google account.
• Select the Spreadsheet and Worksheet (often Sheet 1).
• Leave the trigger column as any_column unless you have a specific need.

[CAPTURE: Show the trigger configuration screen with spreadsheet and worksheet selected.]

Pull sample data

Test the trigger to pull a sample row. This makes column values available for mapping in the Start Flow step.

[CAPTURE: Show Zapier displaying sample data pulled from the spreadsheet.]

After the trigger step, add an action step:

1. Choose RapidPro (or Rapidpro App) as the action app.
2. Select Start Flow.

[CAPTURE: Show Zapier with RapidPro selected and the action set to Start Flow.]

Connect your RapidPro account

If this is your first time using RapidPro in Zapier, authenticate your RapidPro account when prompted.

[CAPTURE: Show the RapidPro account connection screen in Zapier.]

In the Start Flow action step, you must:

• Select the flow to start.
• Provide the contact URN (phone number with country code).
• Add any extra fields you want to pass into the flow (for example: Name, Address).

In this example:

• URN comes from the spreadsheet’s Phone column.
• Extra fields (Name, Address) come from the spreadsheet’s corresponding columns.

[CAPTURE: Show the Start Flow template with Flow selected, Phone number mapped, and Extra fields populated from spreadsheet data.]

Tip: If you don’t see a field in the dropdown, confirm that sample data was pulled successfully in the trigger step.

Optional settings

Depending on your workflow, you may also:

• Restart contacts who have already run the flow.
• Start the flow for specific groups or contacts (if available in your setup).

Important: Restarting flows enables repeat participation but should be used intentionally (for example, annual updates).

Before going live:

1. Send a test from Zapier to RapidPro.
2. Confirm the flow starts successfully.
3. Verify messages and saved contact fields (if you used Update the Contact actions).

[CAPTURE: Show Zapier confirming a successful test run.]

Verify the result in RapidPro

After the test:

• Open the flow’s Results to confirm the contact run.
• Check the contact’s Message History.
• Confirm external variables appear correctly (and persisted fields are updated if configured).

[CAPTURE: Show a contact message history displaying values passed from Zapier.]