Locu Zapier integrationAutomate Locu with Zapier.
Locu Zapier integration: 2 triggers, 2 actions and 1 search to move tasks, notes and focus sessions between Locu and the rest of your tools. Here is what each one does, what it costs on each plan and where it tends to break.
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What the Locu Zapier integration actually does
Locu combines a focus timer, a short to-do list and a notes space. Plugged into Zapier, it can start an automation when a task is created or when a timer starts or stops, and it can receive tasks and notes sent from your other tools, plus look up a task it already holds.
Three things people typically build with it. First, a record of focus time: each time a session starts or stops, Timer Started or Stopped sends the event out, and a spreadsheet keeps the log without anyone writing it down. Second, one inbox for to-dos: a request that lands in a form becomes a Locu task through Create Task, filed in the section you choose. Third, notes that collect themselves: Create Note turns text from another tool into a Locu note, written in markdown so headings and lists survive.
Now the limits, because the list is short. Both triggers are instant, which is good news on the free plan, but nothing else in Locu starts a Zap: a task you complete or a note you write sends nothing. There is no update or delete action, so a Zap can add tasks and notes, never edit or remove them. The only search, Get Task, needs the task's ID; it cannot find a task by its name.
To get comfortable building Zaps like these, see the Zapier training, or read the Zapier review first.
Zapier vocabulary, in one minute
Eight words come back throughout this page. Here they are in plain terms, once.
- Zap
- The automation you build on Zapier: one trigger, then one or more actions that run every time that event happens.
- Trigger
- The event that starts a Zap. Locu offers two: a new task, and a timer that starts or stops a session.
- Action
- What the Zap does once it has started: the step that writes something for you, such as a new note in Locu.
- Task
- The unit Zapier bills: one action your Zap completes successfully. Not to be confused with a task in your Locu list.
- Polling vs instant
- Polling: Zapier asks the app for news on a timer. Instant: the app calls Zapier as soon as the event happens. Both Locu triggers are instant.
- Filter
- A step that lets the Zap go on only when what arrived meets your condition, and stops it there otherwise.
- Search step
- A step that looks up something that already exists, like a Locu task, so the later steps can use what it found.
- Connection
- Your Locu account linked to Zapier once, then reused by every step of every Zap that touches Locu.
What it really costs
Short version: the Locu triggers cost nothing, and each action that succeeds costs one Zapier task. Locu is not a premium app, so it works from the free plan.
- Trigger0 tasks
- Each successful action1 task
- Free plan100 tasks a month, 2-step Zaps
- Premium appNo
An action that fails is not counted, and looking for new data is free. The free plan gives 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps, but only two steps per Zap: one trigger, one action. A timer event that becomes a note fits. Add a filter, the Get Task search or a second action and it becomes a multi-step Zap, which needs a paid plan. The grid below shows how often Zapier checks a polling trigger on each plan. It does not apply to Locu's triggers, which are both instant.
Connect your Locu account in 3 steps
- 01
Add Locu from the Apps page
In your Zapier account, open the Apps page and click + Add connection. Type Locu in the dialog, pick it from the results, then click Add connection.
- 02
Sign in to Locu
A new tab opens on Locu. Sign in with the account whose tasks, notes and timers the Zaps will use. If some of what the Zap touches is not yours, you need read or write access to it first.
- 03
Grant Zapier access
Approve the access Zapier asks for. The connection then shows on the Apps page, and every Locu step offers it in a dropdown, so the account is linked once for all your Zaps.
Your first Zap: log your focus sessions in a spreadsheet
GoalEach time a Locu timer starts or stops, a filter keeps only the events that meet your condition, and a new row lands in your spreadsheet.
- 01
Create the Zap
From your Zapier dashboard, create a new Zap. The editor opens with an empty trigger card on top: a Zap always starts with its trigger, never with an action.
- 02
Set the Locu trigger
Choose Locu and Timer Started or Stopped, then your connection. The trigger is instant, so the editor shows a lightning bolt next to it.
- 03
Test on a real session
Run the test. Zapier brings back the three most recent items from your account. Pick one, so every field you map afterwards shows real data instead of a blank.
- 04
Add the filter
Click the plus icon, add a Filter step and fill its three boxes: the field to look at, the rule, the value. Use a text rule on text and a number rule on numbers.
- 05
Add the spreadsheet row
Add your spreadsheet as the last step and map the session fields into its columns. Test this step as well and check what came back before going further.
- 06
Publish
Click Publish to switch the Zap on. The filter makes it multi-step, so it needs a paid plan. Without the filter, the same Zap fits the free plan.
The 2 Locu triggers
2 events start a Zap when something happens in Locu, and 2 of them are instant: the app calls Zapier straight away, whatever your plan.
New Task
Instant triggerIn Zapier“Triggers when a new task is created.”
Starts your Zap as soon as a task appears in your Locu list. The task you just typed can then show up somewhere else: a shared board, a message to a colleague, a calendar entry you fill by hand later.
Timer Started or Stopped
Instant triggerIn Zapier“Triggers when a timer starts or stops a session.”
Reacts to the focus timer: one event when a session starts, another when it stops. It is the only way to get Locu's time tracking out of Locu and into a report, a log or a status somewhere else.
The 2 Locu actions
Locu gives you 2 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.
Create Note
ActionIn Zapier“Creates a note in Locu”
Writes a new note in Locu from a single required field, its text. The content is read as markdown, so headings, bold and lists come through formatted.
Create Task
ActionIn Zapier“Creates a task in tasks list.”
Adds a task to your Locu list. It needs two things: a name for the task and the section of the list it belongs in.
The Locu search
1 search step looks for data that already exists in Locu, so a later step can use it.
A search step reads what already exists in Locu and passes it to the steps after it. In the editor, searches sit at the bottom of the Action event list, under SEARCH. Locu has no find-or-create variant, so this search only ever finds. Three settings decide what happens when the result is not what you expected.
Get Task
SearchIn Zapier“Gets a task in the Locu”
Fetches one Locu task from its Task ID and makes its details available to the steps that follow.
The three settings every search exposes
- Successful if no search results are found?Left on its default, a search that finds nothing stops the Zap and skips the steps that relied on it. Switched on, the Zap carries on without the result.
- Create X if it doesn't exist yet?On apps that offer it, this box turns a search into a find-or-create. Locu offers none, so you will not see it on Get Task.
- If multiple search results are found?Three ways out when several items match: keep the first one, which is the default, stop the Zap, or pass all of them on at once.
When it breaks
Zapier attaches no help article of its own to Locu, so what breaks here are the limits every Zap shares.
None of them is specific to Locu, and each leaves a symptom you can spot: a Zap that ran less than expected, or far more. If yours does something these cards do not explain, the Zapier troubleshooting page is the next stop.
Nothing from before the Zap was on
A Zap only reacts to what happens after it is published. Tasks already in your list and past sessions are not picked up; moving them is a separate job.A Zap that keeps setting itself off
New Task plus Create Task in the same account is a loop: each task created starts the Zap again, and the task count drops fast.A sudden flood held back
When a trigger suddenly sends a huge batch, after a bulk import or a migration, Zapier's flood protection can hold those runs back instead of firing them all.
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