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PassEngine Zapier integrationAutomate PassEngine with Zapier.

The PassEngine Zapier integration gives you 4 triggers and 6 actions, with 0 searches. All four triggers are instant, so a new client, a new pass, a scan or a status change starts your automation without waiting, even on the free plan.

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Overview

What the PassEngine Zapier integration actually does

PassEngine runs virtual membership cards and QR passes for events, venues and organizations. Plugged into Zapier, it reports what happens to clients and passes (a new client, a new pass, a scan, a status change) and lets your other tools create clients, issue passes, revoke or reactivate them, and record scans.

Three results come up again and again. A pass for every new member, with no manual step: a signup in your form tool or shop triggers Create Client, then Create Pass, and the person has a card before you look. Access that follows payment: when a subscription lapses elsewhere, Revoke Pass switches the card off; when the person pays again, Activate Pass brings the same card back. An attendance log you did not have to build: Pass Scanned fires on every successful scan, so check-ins at a gym, a coworking space or a conference land in a sheet or a CRM.

Now the limits. There is no search step, so a Zap cannot look up an existing pass or client by email: the pass has to come from an earlier step. Nothing deletes a pass either; revoking is the strongest move available. And no trigger reads the past, because a Zap only sees what happens after it is switched on.

If you are still choosing a tool, the Zapier review is a good first read, and Make vs Zapier is the next one.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary, the short version

Seven words do most of the work on this page. Here they are in plain terms.

Zap
The automation you build on Zapier: one trigger, then one or more actions that run every single time that trigger event happens.
Trigger
The event that starts the Zap, here something happening to a PassEngine client or pass. Once the Zap is on, Zapier waits for it.
Action
What the Zap does after it starts: the step that writes or changes something for you, like issuing or revoking a pass.
Task
What Zapier bills: one action your Zap completed successfully. The number on your plan is a count of those, nothing else.
Polling vs instant
Zapier checks a polling trigger on a timer. An instant trigger is pushed by the app itself, so nothing waits for the next check.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap go on only when the incoming data meets your condition, and stops it right there otherwise.
Connection
Your PassEngine account linked to Zapier once, then offered to every PassEngine step in every Zap you build afterwards.
Cost

What PassEngine on Zapier really costs

PassEngine is not a premium app, so it runs from the free plan. The trigger never costs a task; every action that goes through costs one, and an action that fails is not counted against you.

  • TriggerNever costs a task
  • Each successful action1 task
  • Failed actionNot counted
  • Free plan100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps only
  • PassEngine triggers4 instant, 0 polling

The free plan gives 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps, but each Zap stops at two steps: one trigger, one action. The signup flow above, with Create Client then Create Pass, is already three steps, so it needs a paid plan, and so does any Zap with a filter. The polling grid below never applies here: all four triggers are instant. Note too that a few apps and actions take more than one task each.

Connect

Connect your PassEngine account in three steps

  1. 01

    Start from the Apps page

    In your Zapier account, open Apps and click + Add connection. In the dialog that opens, type PassEngine in the search field and select it from the results.

  2. 02

    Sign in to PassEngine

    Click Add connection. A new tab opens and asks you to sign in to PassEngine. Choose the account that holds the clients and passes your Zaps will read and change.

  3. 03

    Grant access

    Allow Zapier into the account. The connection is saved and every PassEngine step offers it in a list. For clients or passes managed by someone else, get read or write access on them first.

First Zap

Your first Zap: issue a pass to the right new clients

GoalWhen a client is created in PassEngine, keep only the ones your rule selects, then create a pass for them.

  1. 01

    Set the trigger

    Create a Zap, pick PassEngine as the app and New Client as the event, then choose your PassEngine connection from the list.

  2. 02

    Test it on real data

    Run the trigger test. Zapier brings back the three most recent clients of the account, so the next steps are mapped on a real record, not on a blank one.

  3. 03

    Add a filter

    Click the plus icon and add Filter. Set the field to look at, the rule and the value. A filter makes the Zap multi-step, so it needs a paid plan.

  4. 04

    Add Create Pass

    Add PassEngine with Create Pass. Fill the Type field, which is mandatory, then map the client data from the trigger into the other fields you need.

  5. 05

    Test and publish

    Test each step and read what came back, checking that the new pass carries the client data you mapped. When it looks right, click Publish to switch the Zap on.

Triggers

The 4 PassEngine triggers

4 events start a Zap when something happens in PassEngine, and 4 of them are instant: the app calls Zapier straight away, whatever your plan.

1

New Client

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new client is created.”

Starts the Zap whenever a client record appears in PassEngine. A client is the person or member behind the passes, so this is the natural entry point for anything that should happen once per new person, before any pass exists.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan
When to use it
copying each new member into your CRM or newsletter tool, or issuing a first pass automatically.
Watch out
if another Zap uses Create Client, those clients start this trigger too.
2

New Pass

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new pass is created.”

Goes off each time a pass is created in PassEngine, whether someone made it by hand in the app or a Zap issued it. The new pass travels to the next steps, which is handy for anything that should follow the issue of a card or ticket.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan
When to use it
logging every pass you issue in a sheet, or telling a venue manager that a guest pass now exists.
Watch out
a Zap that both watches this and creates passes will keep setting itself off.
3

Pass Scanned

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a pass is successfully scanned.”

Reacts to every successful scan of a pass. That is the moment someone actually walks in, so it is the trigger for attendance, visits and check-ins rather than for admin work.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan
When to use it
counting gym visits per member, or marking a conference attendee as present in your event tool.
Watch out
it reports successful scans only, so a pass refused at the door leaves no trace in this Zap.
4

Pass Status Changed

Instant trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a pass status changes (active, used, expired, revoked).”

Fires when a pass moves from one status to another: active, used, expired or revoked. One trigger covers the whole life of a card, which saves you from building a Zap per state.

How it fires
the app tells Zapier the moment it happens, so the Zap starts right away, whatever your plan
When to use it
sending a renewal email when a membership pass expires, or alerting staff when a pass gets revoked.
Watch out
it fires on every change, so add a filter on the status you care about, which makes the Zap multi-step.
Actions

The 6 PassEngine actions

PassEngine gives you 6 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Activate Pass

Action

In Zapier“Re-activates a revoked pass.”

Brings a revoked pass back to life. It is the same pass that comes back, not a new one, so no new pass has to be issued.

When to use it
when a lapsed subscription is paid again, or a suspension ends.
Watch out
it works on revoked passes; Pass is mandatory, so the Zap needs the exact pass it once switched off.
2

Create Client

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new client.”

Adds a new client to PassEngine from data gathered elsewhere, such as a signup form or an online order. It gives the passes you issue next a person to belong to.

When to use it
as the first step after a membership purchase.
Watch out
Name is the only mandatory field, so map it from a step that always has one.
3

Create Pass

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new single or multi-use pass.”

Issues a new pass, single-use or multi-use. A single-use pass suits a one-off event ticket; a multi-use one suits a membership card scanned again and again.

When to use it
right after a payment, or after Create Client in the same Zap.
Watch out
the Type field is mandatory; set it before mapping anything else.
4

Revoke Pass

Action

In Zapier“Deactivates a pass.”

Switches a pass off. It stays in PassEngine but stops being valid, which is the closest thing to removing access this integration offers.

When to use it
when a payment fails, a membership is cancelled or a guest is banned.
Watch out
Pass is mandatory, and revoking changes the status, so a Zap on Pass Status Changed will hear about it.
5

Scan Pass

Action

In Zapier“Scans a pass by its code.”

Records a scan from another system, using the pass code. A gate, a kiosk or a ticketing tool can then count as a PassEngine check-in without a scanner app in the loop.

When to use it
when entries are validated outside PassEngine but must show up in it.
Watch out
Pass Code is mandatory, so the code has to come from the system that read it.
6

Update Pass

Action

In Zapier“Updates fields on an existing pass.”

Changes fields on a pass that already exists, without issuing a new one. The holder keeps the same card while its details move.

When to use it
after an upgrade or a change of details recorded in another tool.
Watch out
the Pass field is mandatory, and with no search available, the Zap must already carry that pass from its trigger.
When it breaks

When a PassEngine Zap breaks

Zapier attaches no help article to PassEngine and lists no limit specific to it. What goes wrong comes from the way Zaps work in general, and PassEngine has a few ways to hit those walls.

These four cases cover most of the surprises. When a Zap stops and you cannot see why, the Zapier troubleshooting page goes through the checks.

  • Existing members never come through

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after it is switched on. Clients and passes created before that stay out; moving the backlog is a separate job.

  • The Zap feeds itself

    A Zap that writes where its own trigger watches, such as Create Client under a New Client trigger, fires again and again and burns through your tasks fast.

  • A bulk import stalls the trigger

    When a trigger suddenly returns a huge batch, after importing a whole member list for instance, Zapier's flood protection can hold it back.

  • The same item does not run twice

    On polling triggers Zapier remembers what it has already seen, so an item never starts the Zap twice. All four PassEngine triggers are instant, so that safeguard is not what governs them.
Need help

Need help automating PassEngine with Zapier?

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FAQ

PassEngine and Zapier: common questions

01Is the PassEngine Zapier integration free?
Yes, it runs on the free Zapier plan, because PassEngine is not a premium app. The free plan includes 100 tasks a month and unlimited Zaps. The limit is their size: one trigger and one action. A flow that creates a client and then a pass, or that filters on a status, is multi-step and needs a paid plan. A single step, such as issuing a pass for each new client, fits on the free plan.
02How many tasks does a PassEngine Zap use?
One task for each action that succeeds, and none for the trigger. Issuing a pass for every new client costs one task per client. A Zap that creates a client and then a pass costs two per signup, twice a one-action Zap. If an action fails, for instance because the Pass field points to a pass the account cannot see, it is not counted. Waiting for scans or status changes is free, however many arrive.
03Does PassEngine trigger Zaps in real time?
Yes. All four PassEngine triggers are instant: PassEngine itself tells Zapier when a client is created, a pass is created, a pass is scanned or a status changes, and the Zap starts at once. The interval grid of the plans (15 minutes on the free plan) only concerns polling triggers, and PassEngine has none. A Zap built on an instant trigger shows a lightning bolt in the editor. There is nothing to tune: the type is set by the app.
04What does it take to connect PassEngine to Zapier?
A PassEngine account, plus read or write access to the clients and passes you do not own yourself but want the Zap to touch. In Zapier, open the Apps page, click + Add connection, pick PassEngine, sign in in the tab that opens and grant access. The connection is then saved and reused by every PassEngine step. Use the account that actually manages the passes you plan to revoke or update.
05Why can't a PassEngine Zap find an existing pass?
Because PassEngine has no search step on Zapier. Update Pass, Revoke Pass and Activate Pass all need a mandatory Pass field, and Scan Pass needs a Pass Code, but nothing in the integration looks a pass up by email or name. The pass has to reach the Zap through its trigger, for example Pass Status Changed or New Pass, or through a value another app already stores. Plan the Zap around that before you build it.
06What if the PassEngine operation you need is not listed?
Then Zapier cannot do it with this app today, and no setting will make it appear. The visible list is 4 triggers and 6 actions, with no search and no way to delete a pass. Sometimes existing steps get close: Revoke Pass stands in for removal, and Activate Pass undoes it. Otherwise the job has to be done in PassEngine itself, or in a tool that offers that operation. Better to know that before you build.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for PassEngine?
Choose on criteria, not on a winner. On Zapier, PassEngine gives four instant triggers and six actions, and it runs on the free plan as long as each Zap stays at two steps. If your flows chain several actions or filter on a status, plan for a paid plan. Then check whether the other tool offers the PassEngine operations you depend on, starting with the missing search, and whether its triggers are instant too.
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