Zapier
Give Zapier a connection key so your other business apps can watch Joby for new jobs, clients, invoices and payments — and file new jobs and clients into Joby without anyone typing them twice.
You'll need Owner or Admin access for this.
What it is
Zapier is an outside service that joins apps together without anybody writing code. You build a little rule — Zapier calls it a Zap — that says "when this happens over here, do that over there". Joby has its own Zapier connection, so your jobs, clients, invoices and payments can flow into the other tools you already pay for.
You set it up on one screen: Settings›Connections & AI›Integrations, then click the Zapier card. The page heading reads Zapier with the line "Connect Joby to 6,000+ apps — no code". Pressing Connect Zapier creates a connection key — a long password that you paste into Zapier once so the two accounts trust each other.
Video walkthrough — coming soon
A short screen recording of this setup, from the Connect button through to a working Zap, is on the way and will appear here. Until then, the step-by-step below names every button in the order you meet it.
Once connected, the link works in both directions.
Joby tells Zapier what happened
Eight starting points: New Lead, New Client, New Appointment, New Task, New Invoice, Invoice Paid, New Payment and Lead Status Changed. See the full list.
Zapier files records into Joby
Two things Zapier can create for you: Create Lead and Create Client. Everything else is read-only — Zapier cannot change or delete anything that already exists in Joby.
Wording: inside Zapier the names are always Lead and Client, even if your Joby account renames "Lead" to "Job" or something else. A Zapier trigger called New Lead means a new job in your account.
When to use it
- Posting every new job into a Slack or Microsoft Teams channel the moment it lands.
- Copying new jobs, clients or payments into a Google Sheet your bookkeeper watches.
- Turning form submissions from another tool — a website form builder, Facebook, a survey app — into real jobs in Joby.
- Emailing or texting the owner when an invoice is marked paid.
- Adding every new client to your mailing list app.
- Starting a to-do in your project tool when a job moves into a particular status.
Reach for something else when:
- You only want rows in a spreadsheet. Joby has a built-in Google Sheets connection on the same Integrations page — no Zapier account needed. See Integrations.
- The work stays inside Joby — sending a text, changing a status, creating a task. That is Visual Workflows, and it happens instantly rather than on Zapier's timetable.
- Someone is writing code. Your developer can create their own key with exactly the permissions they need — see Developer API.
- You need it within seconds. Zapier checks Joby on a schedule (every 1 to 15 minutes, depending on your Zapier plan), so it is not the right tool for dispatching an emergency call.
Before you start
- You must be the owner or an admin. Anyone else pressing Connect Zapier gets a red Something went wrong message reading "Only an owner or admin can connect Zapier".
- Your role needs Integrations switched on. That is set per role under Settings›Team Roles. Without it the Integrations page will not open at all.
- You need a Zapier account. Sign up at zapier.com first. The free plan is enough to try this; paid plans simply check for new records more often.
- Know which app you are joining Joby to, and be signed in to it, because Zapier will ask you to connect that side too.
- Have somewhere to paste the key for a minute. The key is shown once. If you lose it you cannot look it up again — you have to generate a new one.
- Tidy your setup lists first if Zapier will be creating jobs. Statuses, service types, ad sources and service areas come from Settings›Lead Statuses, Settings›Service Types, Settings›Ad Sources and Settings›Service Areas, and Zapier has to spell them the same way.
What the connection is allowed to do
Joby builds the key with a fixed, sensible set of permissions so every Joby trigger and action works straight away:
- Read — jobs, clients, appointments, tasks, estimates, invoices and payments.
- Create — jobs and clients only.
- Never — editing or deleting existing records, and no access at all to calls, recordings, text messages or your team's logins.
Step-by-step
1. Get your connection key from Joby
- Go to Settings›Connections & AI›Integrations.
- Find the Zapier card. Type "Zapier" into the search box at the top right of the page, or click the Automation & data chip under the heading. The card shows a small Connect label on the right while it is not connected.
- Click the card. The Zapier page opens with the heading Zapier and the line "Connect Joby to 6,000+ apps — no code".
- Press Connect Zapier. A confirmation reading Zapier connected appears.
- An amber warning appears: "Copy your connection key now — you won't see it again", with the key in a grey box and a Copy button beside it. Press Copy — the button changes to Copied. Keep the tab open until Zapier has accepted the key.
2. Paste the key into Zapier
A Finish in Zapier card now appears on the same page with these four steps and an Open Zapier button underneath.
- Press Open Zapier. It opens Zapier's Zap editor in a new tab, so your Joby tab stays where it is.
- Start a Zap and search the app list for Joby.
- Pick your starting point — for example New Lead, which fires whenever a new job is created in Joby.
- When Zapier asks to connect an account, paste your key into the box labelled Joby API Key and continue. Zapier checks the key straight away and, if it is good, names the connection Joby followed by the first part of the key in brackets.
- Use Zapier's Test button. It pulls a few of your real, most recent records back so you can see the information Zapier will have to work with.
- Choose the app on the other side — Slack, Google Sheets, Gmail, whatever you are using — drag the Joby fields into it, test once more, and switch the Zap on.
3. (Optional) Let Zapier create jobs in Joby
To send information the other way, put Joby on the action side of a Zap instead.
- Build a Zap that starts somewhere else — a form, a spreadsheet row, an email.
- For the action app, choose Joby.
- Pick Create Lead (a new job) or Create Client (a customer record).
- Match the incoming details to the Joby boxes — at the very least First Name, Last Name and Phone or Email, so the job is contactable. The full field list is further down this page.
- Test it, then check the job really landed in Work›Leads.
On a phone
The same page opens with a Zapier header and a back arrow to Integrations. All the buttons are there, but building the Zap itself is far easier on a computer — you have a lot of field matching to do on Zapier's side.
How to check it worked
- On the Zapier page: it reads Zapier is connected with a line underneath showing the first part of your key followed by dots, and two buttons — Generate new key and Disconnect. On a computer a green Connected badge also sits in the top right of the heading.
- On the Integrations page: the Zapier card now says Connected with a green tick, and its button reads Manage instead of Connect. The Connected filter at the top right includes it in the count.
- In Zapier: the connection test passes and the trigger test returns real names and job numbers from your account — not blank sample data.
- Proof that Zapier is really talking to Joby: go to Settings›Developer Reference›API Keys. Under Secret keys there is a key named Zapier marked active, listing what it may read and create. Its Last used column updates every time Zapier checks in.
- The request list: on that same tab, Recent requests shows the latest checks with Time, Request, Status and Request ID. A green status number means Joby answered normally; a red one means Zapier was refused.
- A Zap that creates jobs: the new job appears at the top of Work›Leads with its own job number. If you supplied a phone number or an email, Joby also creates the matching client record and links the two.
Tip: connecting Zapier switches on the API Keys tab under Settings›Developer Reference if it was not showing before. That tab is where you go to prove a Zap is running, and it is worth bookmarking.
Common mistakes
Closing the page before copying the key
The key is shown once and nowhere else — the page only ever shows its first few characters afterwards. Press Generate new key to get a fresh one, and copy it this time.
Generating a new key and stopping there
The warning is exact: "Your current key stops working immediately." Every Zap stays broken until you paste the new key into the Joby connection inside Zapier.
Expecting it to be instant
Zapier looks for new records on a timer — every 1 to 15 minutes depending on your Zapier plan — so a new job can sit for a few minutes before the Zap runs. Nothing is broken. Use Visual Workflows when timing matters.
Duplicate jobs from a form
Create Lead files a brand-new job every single time it runs. It never looks for a matching customer first. If people submit your form twice you get two jobs — add a filter step in Zapier if that is a problem.
- Pressing Connect Zapier again to get the key back. It will not mint a second one. You get a message reading "Already connected — Use 'Generate new key' if you need a fresh one."
- Trying it from a non-admin login. The red message names the reason exactly: "Only an owner or admin can connect Zapier". Ask the owner to press the button.
- Revoking the key from the other page. The key named Zapier on Settings›Developer Reference›API Keys is the same key. Revoking it there disconnects Zapier just as surely as pressing Disconnect.
- Typing a status or service that does not exist. The Status, Job Type, Ad Source and Service Area boxes on Create Lead are free text. Spell them exactly as they appear in your settings pages, or the job arrives labelled with something your status tabs do not recognise.
- Hunting for triggers that are not there. There is no Zapier starting point for calls, text messages, estimates being signed, or a job being finished — and nothing in Zapier can edit or delete a Joby record. Use Visual Workflows for those.
- Very busy accounts. Each check looks at the 100 newest records of that kind. If you take on more than 100 jobs between two checks, put the Zap on a faster schedule.
- Zapier says your key was rejected. That is the message you get after a Generate new key, a Disconnect, or a key that was pasted with a stray space on the end. Reconnect in Joby, copy carefully, and update the connection in Zapier.
More detail (4)
What Joby can tell Zapier
These are the starting points you can pick after searching for Joby in Zapier. All of them are checked on Zapier's schedule, and each record only ever fires once.
- New Lead — a new job was created in Joby.
- New Client — a new customer record was created.
- New Appointment — a new appointment was created.
- New Task — a new task was created.
- New Invoice — a new invoice was created.
- Invoice Paid — an invoice has been fully paid. It fires once, on the first check after the invoice is settled.
- New Payment — a payment was recorded against a job or an estimate.
- Lead Status Changed — a job moved to a different status. It has one optional box, Status, listing your own statuses from Settings›Lead Statuses. Leave it blank to fire on every status change, or choose one to fire only when a job reaches that status.
What comes across
Each trigger hands Zapier the everyday details of the record — names, phone, email, address, status, job number, amounts and dates as they apply. Press Zapier's Test button to see the exact list for your own account before you start matching fields.
What Zapier can create in Joby
Create Lead
Files a new job. The boxes Zapier offers you are:
- First Name, Last Name, Company, Phone, Email
- Address, City, State, Postal Code
- Status, Job Type, Job Source, Ad Source, Service Area
- Notes
Zapier's Job Type box is the one your account calls a service type — fill it with a name from Settings›Service Types.
If the job carries a phone number or an email address, Joby also creates a matching client record and links the job to it, so your customer list stays complete.
Create Client
Files a customer record without a job attached. The boxes are:
- First Name, Last Name, Company Name, Customer Type (individual or business)
- Phone, Email
- Address, City, State, Postal Code, Country
- Lead Source, Note
Worth knowing: these two are the only things Zapier can write into Joby. There is no Zapier action for creating an estimate, an invoice, a payment, a task or an appointment, and nothing in Zapier can change or delete a record that already exists.
Managing your connection
Once connected, the Zapier page keeps two buttons next to the shortened key. Both ask you to confirm first.
Generate new key
The box asks "Generate a new key?" and warns that your current key stops working immediately. Use it when the key was seen by the wrong person, when someone who had it leaves, or when you lost it. Copy the new key and paste it into the Joby connection in Zapier straight away.
Disconnect
The box asks "Disconnect Zapier?" and explains that any Zaps using the key stop working until you reconnect. Nothing in Joby is deleted — your jobs, clients and invoices are untouched. You get a Zapier disconnected confirmation and the page returns to the Connect Zapier button.
Good habits
- Treat the key like a password — never paste it into an email, a text or a group chat.
- One key covers your whole company, so you do not need one per person.
- Generate a new key whenever someone who set up your Zaps leaves the business.
- Check Last used on Settings›Developer Reference›API Keys now and then. If it has gone quiet, a Zap has been switched off.
- Disconnect if you stop using Zapier altogether — an unused key is a loose end.
Zaps worth building first
New job into the team chat
New Lead in Joby, then a message in Slack or Microsoft Teams with the customer name, phone and town. The whole office sees new work without watching the screen.
Paid invoice to the bookkeeper
Invoice Paid in Joby, then a row in a Google Sheet or an email to whoever does your books, with the invoice number and the amount.
Website enquiries into Joby
Your form tool as the starting point, then Create Lead in Joby. Set Ad Source to something like "Website" so your reports show where the work came from.
Review request when a job is done
Lead Status Changed with the Status box set to your finished status, then whatever review or follow-up tool you already use.