Resources · Zapier integration

Hex Zapier integrationAutomate Hex with Zapier.

The Hex Zapier integration gives you 4 triggers, 9 actions and 3 searches. All four triggers are polled, none is instant. Below: what each step does for a data team, what it costs on your plan, and what breaks before it works.

See the 16 operations

Verified Trustpilot reviews · AI, automation & growth agency

Overview

What the Hex Zapier integration actually does for you

Hooking Hex up to Zapier lets an automation keep an eye on your Hex workspace and act on it without anyone clicking: run a published project, hand a chart to people who never log in, open a project to the right team, or find out how a run ended. Hex stays the place where your notebooks and dashboards live. Zapier only pushes the buttons.

Three uses stand out once a data team wires Hex this way.

A fresh run without opening Hex. Run Project starts a published project, and Get Run Status holds the Zap until that run has finished, errored, been killed or failed to get a kernel. The next step only moves once the answer is final.

A chart as a picture. Get Chart Cell Image turns one chart cell of a run into a PNG, and it waits for the run to settle before rendering. That is the piece you hand to people who will never open a notebook.

Access that follows your teams. Share Project With Users and Share Project With Groups grant an access level on a project, and the same actions take it back with the Remove Access level.

Now the limits, because they shape every Zap you will draw. None of the four triggers is instant: Zapier checks Hex on a timer, so on the free plan a new project or group can wait up to 15 minutes before anything moves. There is no trigger for "a run just finished"; New Project Run only notices runs that were started through the API. No action edits a cell, a query or a SQL result. And none of the three searches can create what it fails to find.

If you are still weighing tools, the n8n vs Zapier comparison is there if you want to weigh the two tools.

Vocabulary

Zapier words in one minute

Eight terms come back on every line of this page. Here they are in plain English, once.

Zap
The automation you build on Zapier: one trigger, then one or more actions that run each time that trigger event happens.
Trigger
The event in an app that starts the Zap. Once the Zap is switched on, Zapier sits and waits for it to happen.
Action
What the Zap does after it starts: the step that creates, shares, runs or changes something in an app for you.
Task
The unit Zapier bills. One task is one action your Zap completed successfully, and your plan counts those.
Polling vs instant
A polling trigger is checked on a timer and keeps only what is new. An instant trigger is reported by the app the moment it happens.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap carry on only when what arrived matches a condition you set, and quietly stops it otherwise.
Search step
A step that looks up something already in an app, so the steps after it can use what it found, like a run's status.
Multi-step Zap
Any Zap beyond one trigger and one action. A second action, a filter or a search turns it into one, and that needs a paid plan.
Cost

What a Hex Zap really costs

Zapier bills completed actions, not checks. Watching Hex for new projects costs nothing, however often Zapier looks. Every action that goes through counts as one task, and an action that fails is not counted.

  • Trigger checksFree, whatever the plan
  • Each successful action1 task
  • Free plan100 tasks a month, unlimited two-step Zaps
  • Filter or search in the ZapMulti-step Zap, paid plan
  • Hex on ZapierNot a premium app

The catch is the free plan: it builds two-step Zaps only, one trigger and one action. The Run Project, then Get Run Status, then Get Chart Cell Image chain is a multi-step Zap, so it needs a paid plan, and in that Zap the two actions are billed one task each. Hex itself is not a premium app, so it works on the free plan for simple Zaps. Keep the free-plan version to one trigger and one action, such as List Users followed by Share Project With Users.

Connect

Connect your Hex account to Zapier

  1. 01

    Start from the Apps page

    In your Zapier account, open the Apps page and click + Add connection. A connection is your Hex account linked once, then reused by every Zap that touches Hex.

  2. 02

    Pick Hex

    Type Hex in the search box of the dialog, select it, then click Add connection. Zapier then opens a new browser tab where Hex asks you to sign in with your own credentials.

  3. 03

    Sign in and grant access

    Log in with the Hex account the Zaps should act as, then let Zapier reach it. You need an account on Hex, and read or write access to any project you do not own but want a Zap to run or share.

First Zap

Your first Hex Zap: a chart image for every completed API run

GoalEach time an API-triggered run of a project appears, Zapier waits for its final status and, only if it completed, renders a chart cell as a PNG.

  1. 01

    Build: choose the trigger

    In the editor, under Build, choose Hex as the trigger app and New Project Run as the event, select your Hex connection, then pick the project to watch in the mandatory Project field.

  2. 02

    Test the trigger

    Under Test, Zapier pulls the three most recent items of the connected account. Pick a real run that was started through the API, so the next steps are mapped on true values.

  3. 03

    Wait for the final status

    Add Get Run Status, map the same project and the run the trigger brought in. The step holds the Zap until the run is completed, errored, killed or unable to allocate a kernel, so the status it hands on is final.

  4. 04

    Filter, then render

    Add a Filter on that status so only completed runs go on. Then add Get Chart Cell Image with the project, the run and the Cell Static ID copied from the cell menu in Hex.

  5. 05

    Test, then publish

    Test each step and read what came back. When it looks right, click Publish. With a search, a filter and an action, this Zap is multi-step: it needs a paid plan, and only Get Chart Cell Image is billed as an action.

Triggers

Hex triggers on Zapier

4 events start a Zap when something happens in Hex. Zapier checks for them at the interval your plan allows.

1

List Groups

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a group is found in your Hex workspace.”

Any group Zapier spots in your Hex workspace that it has not seen before starts the Zap, once, with that group in hand. Paired with a sharing action, a new team gets its projects without a trip through the settings.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
your head of data sets up a Finance group and wants the revenue dashboard opened to it the same day.
Watch out
groups that existed before you published the Zap never start it, so share those once by hand.
2

List Projects

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a project is found in your Hex workspace.”

This one reacts when a project appears in the workspace for the first time in Zapier's eyes. It is the natural start for anything you want done to every new notebook: a share with the right group, a message to the team.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
analysts spin up projects freely and each new one should be opened to the analytics group straight away.
Watch out
the Zap writes nothing back as a project, so it does not set itself off; a Create Project step in the same Zap would.
3

List Users

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a user is found in your Hex workspace.”

When a new user turns up in your Hex workspace, this trigger hands that person to the next step. It is the onboarding hook of the integration: whoever joins gets the right projects without waiting for an admin.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a product manager joins and should see the product metrics project straight away, at the access level you pick.
Watch out
on the free plan the welcome share can lag the invitation by up to 15 minutes, which is normal and not a broken Zap.
4

New Project Run

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new API-triggered run appears for a Hex project.”

Pick one project, and this trigger starts the Zap each time a new run of it shows up, as long as that run was launched through the API. Runs started by hand in Hex are not what it watches.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
another system starts your churn model through the API and you want Zapier to pick up behind it.
Watch out
the Project field is mandatory, so one Zap follows one project; three projects means three Zaps.
Actions

Hex actions on Zapier

Hex gives you 9 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Cancel Run

Action

In Zapier“Cancels an in-progress Hex project run.”

Stops a run that is still in progress. It needs the project and the Run ID, which Run Project gives you when it starts the run.

When to use it
a second run of the same heavy model was started by mistake and should be stopped.
Watch out
without a Run ID from an earlier step there is nothing to cancel, so plan the mapping before you test.
2

Create Group

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new group in your Hex workspace.”

Adds a new group to your workspace, named as you choose. Groups are what you later share whole projects with.

When to use it
a new department gets its own group the moment it exists, ready for Share Project With Groups.
Watch out
do not run it from List Groups, or every group created sets off one more run of the Zap.
3

Create Embed URL

Action

In Zapier“Creates a presigned URL to embed a published Hex project.”

Produces a presigned link that lets you embed a published Hex project somewhere else. You only choose the project.

When to use it
a customer success team wants an embed link ready for each new account report, without asking a data person.
Watch out
the description speaks of a published project, so publish it in Hex before the Zap reaches this step.
4

Create Project

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new Hex project.”

Spins up a Hex project with the title you give it, which is the only field it insists on.

When to use it
a client is signed and the analytics team wants a workspace project waiting with the client's name on it.
Watch out
paired with the List Projects trigger in one Zap, it creates the very thing the trigger watches and loops.
5

Get Chart Cell Image

Action

In Zapier“Renders a chart cell from a Hex project run as a PNG image, automatically waiting for the run to reach a final state first.”

Renders one chart cell of a run as a PNG image, after waiting for that run to reach a final state. You can include the cell title or not.

When to use it
the stakeholders who never log in still want to see the conversion chart.
Watch out
it needs the Cell Static ID, which you copy from the cell menu in Hex, plus a Run ID.
6

Run Project

Action

In Zapier“Triggers execution of a published Hex project.”

Starts a published project, with options to refresh its published results, reuse cached SQL results or update the cache once it is done.

When to use it
a deal closes elsewhere and the forecast project should rerun with the new numbers.
Watch out
if a later step needs to know how the run ended, add Get Run Status, which waits for a final state.
7

Share Project With Groups

Action

In Zapier“Shares a Hex project with one or more groups at a specified access level.”

The team-sized version: one project shared with whole groups at a given access level, instead of person by person.

When to use it
the sales operations group should always be able to open the pipeline project, whoever joins it later.
Watch out
you need groups to exist first; Create Group or List Groups upstream keeps that in order.
8

Share Project With Users

Action

In Zapier“Shares a Hex project with one or more users at a specified access level.”

Opens one project to one or several people at the access level you pick. Project, Users and Access Level are all required.

When to use it
every new user found by List Users gets the onboarding notebook at the access level you choose.
Watch out
the Remove Access level does the opposite and revokes the share, so double-check the level before you publish.
9

Update Project Status

Action

In Zapier“Updates the status of a Hex project (or removes it).”

Changes the status of a Hex project; Zapier's own description adds that it can also remove it. Only the project is mandatory.

When to use it
once a run has completed, the project is flagged so reviewers know it is ready to read.
Watch out
read the options of the step before publishing, so a status change does not turn into a removal.
Searches

Hex searches on Zapier

3 search steps look for data that already exists in Hex, so a later step can use it.

A search step looks something up in Hex instead of changing it. You find these three at the bottom of the Action event list, under SEARCH, and some fields also offer a + Add search step button that slots one in just before the step you are on. Three settings decide what happens when the answer is not the one you expected.

1

Get Project

Search

In Zapier“Retrieves metadata about a specific Hex project.”

Fetches the metadata of one specific project so later steps can reuse it. You select the project and the search does the rest.

When to use it
before sharing, you want the project's details at hand to write a clear message.
Watch out
Hex decides whether the match is exact or close, not Zapier.
2

Get Project Runs

Search

In Zapier“Retrieves the run history for a Hex project, optionally filtered by status.”

Brings back the run history of a project, and you can narrow it to runs of a given status.

When to use it
before starting a heavy model, check whether one is already running, then cancel or skip.
Watch out
several runs often match, so look at the multiple-results setting, which keeps only the first by default.
3

Get Run Status

Search

In Zapier“Retrieves the status of a Hex project run, automatically waiting until the run reaches a final state (completed, errored, killed, or unable to allocate a kernel).”

Tells you how a run ended, and it waits for a final answer: completed, errored, killed, or unable to allocate a kernel.

When to use it
right after Run Project, so a filter can let only completed runs go on to the chart image.
Watch out
it needs the Run ID; map it from Run Project rather than typing one in.

The three settings every search exposes

  1. Successful if no search results are found?
    Left on its default, a search that comes back empty stops the Zap there and skips the steps that needed it. Switch it on and the Zap carries on with nothing.
  2. Create X if it doesn't exist yet?
    This box turns a search into a find-or-create. None of the three Hex searches offers it, so a missing project stays missing.
  3. If multiple search results are found?
    Three ways out: keep the first match, which is the default, stop the Zap, or pass every match along at once.
When it breaks

When a Hex Zap breaks

Zapier lists one help article for Hex, How to get started with Hex on Zapier, and its title points at getting started. The cases below come from Zapier's general rules and from the fields Hex insists on.

Six cases follow. If one of them still leaves you stuck, the Zapier troubleshooting service takes over from there.

  • Old projects never show up

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after you publish it. Projects, users and groups that already existed are not picked up; moving that backlog is a separate job.

  • The Zap keeps restarting itself

    Create Project behind List Projects, or Create Group behind List Groups, writes into the place the trigger watches. Each run sets off the next and burns tasks fast.

  • A bulk import is held back

    When a trigger suddenly returns a huge batch, after a migration of many projects for instance, Zapier's flood protection can hold the Zap back instead of firing for each item.

  • The same project never runs twice

    Zapier remembers what it already saw on a polling trigger. A project that was found once does not start the Zap a second time.

  • Run ID is empty

    Cancel Run, Get Run Status and Get Chart Cell Image all need a Run ID. It comes from Run Project; without that step upstream, there is nothing to map.

  • The chart image step fails

    Get Chart Cell Image needs the Cell Static ID, copied from the cell menu in Hex. A cell title or a guessed value is not that ID.
Need help

Need help automating Hex with Zapier?

A person reads every message.

FAQ

Hex Zapier integration: your questions

01Is the Hex Zapier integration free?
Yes, for simple Zaps. Hex is not a premium app on Zapier, so the free plan can use it, with 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps. The limit is the shape of the Zap: the free plan only builds two steps, one trigger and one action. As soon as you add a second action, a filter or one of the three Hex searches, it becomes a multi-step Zap and needs a paid plan. A Zap that runs a project and then waits for its status is already in that case, so plan for it before you build.
02How many tasks does a Hex Zap use?
One task per action that succeeds, and nothing else. The trigger never costs a task, and the checks Zapier makes on Hex are free however often they happen. A Zap with Run Project then Get Chart Cell Image therefore spends two tasks for each project it handles. An action that fails is not counted against your plan. A few apps and actions do take more than one task when they complete, so read your task history after the first real runs rather than guessing from the number of steps.
03Does Hex trigger Zaps in real time?
No. All four Hex triggers are polling triggers, which means Zapier checks Hex on a timer instead of Hex calling Zapier. On the free plan that timer is 15 minutes, on Professional it is 2 minutes, and on Team and Enterprise it drops to 1 minute. On the paid plans you can also change how often a trigger checks, or run a check by hand from the editor. Nothing in the Hex integration fires instantly, so a Zap built on it never shows the lightning bolt.
04What does it take to connect Hex to Zapier?
An account on Hex, and access to the projects you want the Zap to touch. The connection starts on the Apps page of Zapier with + Add connection, then you search Hex, sign in in the tab that opens and grant Zapier access. If a project belongs to someone else, the account you connect still needs read or write access to it. Without that, the Project field, which is mandatory on almost every Hex step, cannot point at it.
05Why does New Project Run miss some Hex runs?
Because it only watches runs launched through the API. The trigger fires when a new API-triggered run appears for the project you selected, so a run started by hand inside Hex is not what it looks for. If you want every run of a project to start a Zap, launch those runs through Zapier with Run Project or through another API client. Also remember that the Project field is mandatory, so one Zap follows one project only.
06What if the Hex operation you need is not on Zapier?
Then the integration simply does not offer it, and no setting will add it. The Hex app exposes 16 operations on Zapier: four triggers, nine actions and three searches. If the step you need is not among them, for example editing a cell or a query, look at whether a search plus an existing action gets you close. When it does not, a team that builds Zaps every day can tell you quickly whether another route exists, which is the job of a Zapier agency.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Hex?
Decide on criteria, not on a ranking. Start with the operations: list the steps your process needs and check that each tool offers them for Hex; on Zapier that list is four polling triggers, nine actions and three searches. Then look at how the tool counts usage, since Zapier bills one task per successful action. Finally weigh who maintains the automation: a no-code team and a developer team will not pick the same tool for the same Hex process.
Same platform

Other docs you might need on this stack.

Browse all integrations