Building Basic Zaps

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Building Basic Zaps

In this course, you’ll learn the core building blocks of a Zap—triggers, actions, field mapping, and app connections—and put them into practice by building and publishing simple automations\.

You’ll start by creating a Zap from scratch \(like getting an email when someone fills out a form\), then use Zapier Copilot to build another Zap with natural\-language prompts\.

Along the way, you’ll understand how Zap workflows run, how data flows between steps, and how tasks and billing work, giving you a solid foundation to move on to more advanced workflows, AI agents, and chatbots\.

35 min

8 lessons

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Also available as part of:

AI Builder Path

20 min

Build reliable AI workflows for your own work\.

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What's in this course

Components of a Zap — the anatomy of a workflow before you build one\.

Triggers and Actions — the events that start a Zap and the work it does in response\.

Field Mapping — how data flows from one step to the next\.

App connections — link your apps to Zapier securely\.

Build a simple Zap from scratch — like getting an email when someone fills out a form\.

Build a simple Zap with Copilot — describe what you want in natural language and let Copilot build it\.

Sharing and managing Zap workflows — keep your workflows organized and share them with others\.

Task history and billing — understand how Zap runs are counted and billed\.

Who this course is for

Anyone ready to build their first automations\. If you're new to Zapier, take Jumpstart first for a quick orientation — this is course 2 of 4 in the AI Builder Path, and it's free with a Zapier account\.

Building Basic Zaps FAQ

What will I actually build?

Two working Zap workflows: one built from scratch \(like getting an email when someone fills out a form\) and one built with Zapier Copilot using natural\-language prompts\. You'll publish both\.

How long will it take?

About 35 minutes across eight short video lessons\. You can pause and resume anytime — your progress is saved to your Zapier account\.

What should I take next?

Continue with Building Intermediate Zaps to make your workflows smarter with utility steps like AI by Zapier, Formatter, Search, and Paths\.

Continue the AI Builder Path: Building Intermediate Zaps \(course 3 of 4\) · Building AI Agents \(course 4 of 4\) · Or start from the beginning with Jumpstart \(course 1 of 4\)