Zapier MCP

Zapier MCP

Connect your AI agent to 8,000+ apps via Zapier's MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration. This skill provides:

• Full UI Dashboard — Configure your MCP URL, test connections, browse available tools
• No OAuth Complexity — Zapier handles all authentication flows
• MCP Integration — Tools are accessible via mcporter

Overview

Zapier MCP exposes your configured Zapier actions as tools your agent can call. Unlike Pipedream (which requires OAuth token management), Zapier MCP uses a simple URL-based authentication — just paste your MCP URL and you're connected.

Prerequisites

1. Zapier Account — Sign up at zapier.com
2. mcporter — MCP tool runner (npm install -g mcporter)
3. Clawdbot Gateway — v2026.1.0 or later with UI enabled

Quick Start

Step 1: Get Your Zapier MCP URL

1. Go to zapier.com/mcp and sign in
2. Configure which actions to expose (e.g., "Send Slack message", "Create Google Sheet row")
3. Copy your personalized MCP URL (looks like https://actions.zapier.com/mcp/...)

Step 2: Configure in Clawdbot UI

1. Open Clawdbot Dashboard → Tools → Zapier
2. Click Configure
3. Paste your MCP URL
4. Click Save

That's it! Zapier will validate the URL and show how many tools are available.

Step 3: Use Your Tools

Once connected, tools are available via mcporter:

# List available tools
mcporter list zapier-mcp --schema

# Call a tool
mcporter call zapier-mcp.<tool_name> --args '{"instructions": "your request"}'

Usage Patterns

The instructions Parameter

Every Zapier tool accepts an instructions parameter. Zapier's AI interprets this to fill in missing parameters:

# ❌ Vague - may prompt for clarification
mcporter call zapier-mcp.slack_send_message \
  --args '{"instructions": "Send a message"}'

# ✅ Specific - AI can resolve parameters
mcporter call zapier-mcp.slack_send_message \
  --args '{"instructions": "Send \"Hello team!\" to the #general channel"}'

The output_hint Parameter

Control what data is returned:

mcporter call zapier-mcp.google_sheets_find_row \
  --args '{
    "instructions": "Find row where email is bob@example.com",
    "output_hint": "name, email, phone number"
  }'

Common Tool Patterns

# Slack
mcporter call zapier-mcp.slack_send_message \
  --args '{"instructions": "Send \"Build complete!\" to #deployments"}'

# Gmail
mcporter call zapier-mcp.gmail_send_email \
  --args '{"instructions": "Send email to bob@example.com with subject \"Meeting\" and body \"See you at 3pm\""}'

# Google Sheets
mcporter call zapier-mcp.google_sheets_create_row \
  --args '{"instructions": "Add row with Name=John, Email=john@example.com to Sales Leads spreadsheet"}'

# Notion
mcporter call zapier-mcp.notion_create_page \
  --args '{"instructions": "Create page titled \"Meeting Notes\" in the Team Wiki database"}'

# Calendar
mcporter call zapier-mcp.google_calendar_create_event \
  --args '{"instructions": "Create meeting \"Team Standup\" tomorrow at 10am for 30 minutes"}'

Architecture

How It Works

1. You configure actions in Zapier's MCP dashboard
2. Zapier generates a unique MCP URL for your account
3. Clawdbot stores the URL in mcporter config
4. When you call a tool, mcporter sends a JSON-RPC request to Zapier
5. Zapier executes the action and returns results

Files Modified

Backend Endpoints

The skill uses these gateway RPC methods:

SSE Response Format

Zapier MCP uses Server-Sent Events format:

event: message
data: {"result":{"tools":[...]},"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1}

The backend automatically parses this format.

UI Features

The Zapier page in Clawdbot dashboard provides:

• Connection Status — Shows if configured and tool count
• MCP URL Configuration — Paste and validate your URL
• Test Connection — Verify the URL works
• Tool Browser — Expandable groups showing all available tools by app

Tool Grouping

Tools are automatically grouped by app:

• QuickBooks Online (47 tools)
• Google Sheets (12 tools)
• Slack (8 tools)
• etc.

Comparison: Zapier vs Pipedream

Use Zapier when: You want simple setup and already use Zapier.

Use Pipedream when: You need fine-grained OAuth control or prefer Pipedream's pricing.

Troubleshooting

"Connection test failed"

• Verify the URL is correct (should start with https://actions.zapier.com/mcp/)
• Check that you've configured at least one action in Zapier's MCP dashboard
• Try regenerating the MCP URL in Zapier

"No tools available"

• Go to zapier.com/mcp and add some actions
• Click "Refresh" in the Clawdbot UI after adding actions

"followUpQuestion" in response

• Zapier needs more information. Be more specific in your instructions parameter.
• Example: Instead of "find customer", use "find customer named Acme Corp"

Tool not found

• Run mcporter list zapier-mcp to see available tools
• Tool names use underscores: quickbooks_online_find_customer
• You may need to add the action in Zapier's MCP configuration

Adding App-Specific Skills

Once Zapier MCP is connected, you can create app-specific skills for commonly used integrations. See:

• zapier-quickbooks — QuickBooks Online tools with detailed parameter documentation

These skills provide deeper documentation for specific apps while using the same underlying Zapier MCP connection.

Reference Files

This skill includes reference implementations:

• reference/zapier-backend.ts — Gateway RPC handlers
• reference/zapier-controller.ts — UI controller logic
• reference/zapier-views.ts — UI rendering (Lit)

These are for reference when building custom integrations or debugging.

Security Considerations

Best practices:

• Don't share your MCP URL publicly
• Regenerate the URL if compromised (in Zapier dashboard)
• Review which actions are exposed in Zapier's MCP settings

Support

• ClawdHub: clawdhub.com/skills/zapier-mcp
• Zapier MCP: zapier.com/mcp
• Zapier Help: help.zapier.com
• Clawdbot Discord: discord.com/invite/clawd