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Phraseanet Zapier integrationAutomate Phraseanet with Zapier.

The Phraseanet Zapier integration gives you 0 triggers, 5 actions and 0 searches. Another app starts the Zap, and Phraseanet receives the result: a new record with its properties, updated metadata, a status change, or a record filed into a basket or a story.

See the 5 operations

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Overview

What the Phraseanet Zapier integration does

It lets Zapier write into your Phraseanet media library from other tools: upload a file as a new record, set its metadata, flip a status, or file an existing record into a basket or a story. Phraseanet never starts the automation itself, because it has no trigger on Zapier; the starting point is always another app.

Three results teams build with it. An intake that files itself: a file arrives in a shared folder and Create record and apply properties uploads it into the right collection with its properties set. A status that follows the workflow: an approval in a project tool runs Set record statusBit on the matching record. A selection ready to share: Add record to basket or Add record to story groups records picked elsewhere.

Now what Zapier does not do here. It cannot tell you that something changed in Phraseanet, since there is no trigger. It cannot look up a record either, since there is no search. That matters, because four of the five actions want a record identifier: it has to come from an earlier step or be typed in. And the upload action is meant for files under 50 MB.

To learn to build these flows yourself, there is a Zapier training; to hand them over to someone else, there is a Zapier agency.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary in one minute

Eight words keep coming back in the Zapier editor. Here they are once, in plain English.

Zap
The automation you build: one trigger, then one or more actions that run each time the starting event happens.
Trigger
The event in an app that starts the Zap, such as a new file in a folder. Once the Zap is on, Zapier waits for it.
Action
What the Zap does after it starts: the step that writes, sends or changes something, here inside Phraseanet.
Task
The unit Zapier bills: one action your Zap completes successfully. Your plan sets how many you get each month.
Polling vs instant
Zapier checks a polling trigger on a timer. An instant trigger is reported by the app itself, the moment it happens.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap carry on only when what arrived meets the condition you set, and stops it otherwise.
Search step
A step that looks up something already stored in an app, so later steps can reuse what it found.
Multi-step Zap
Any Zap past one trigger and one action. A second action, a filter or a search makes one, and it needs a paid plan.
Cost

What a Phraseanet Zap really costs

Phraseanet is not reserved for paid plans, so it runs on Zapier's free plan. The limit is how many steps you chain.

  • Free plan100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps
  • BilledEach Phraseanet action that succeeds
  • Upload capFiles under 50 MB

The trigger in the other app never costs a task, and neither do Zapier's checks for new items. Each Phraseanet action that succeeds counts one task; a failed one is not billed. The free plan gives 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps only: one trigger, one action. Uploading a file as a record fits. Chaining a second Phraseanet action, adding a filter or a search makes the Zap multi-step, which needs a paid plan.

Connect

Connect your Phraseanet account

  1. 01

    Open your connections

    In Zapier, go to Apps and click + Add connection. A connection is your Phraseanet account linked to Zapier once, then reused by each of the five actions.

  2. 02

    Pick Phraseanet

    Search Phraseanet in the dialog, select it, then click Add connection. You need an existing Phraseanet account, with access to the collections the Zap will write to.

  3. 03

    Sign in and grant access

    Log in to Phraseanet in the tab that opens and allow Zapier to use the account. The connection then shows in your list, ready for every Phraseanet step.

First Zap

Your first Phraseanet Zap

GoalEach new file in a shared Drive folder that meets your condition becomes a Phraseanet record with its properties.

  1. 01

    Set the starting app

    Create a Zap and pick the app and event that start it, here a new file in a Drive folder. Phraseanet has no trigger, so it never takes this first slot.

  2. 02

    Test the trigger

    Run the test: Zapier brings back the three most recent items of the connected account. Choose a real file, ideally a small one, to build the next steps on.

  3. 03

    Add a filter

    From the plus icon, add Filter and set the field, the rule and the value. Use a text rule on text, a number rule on numbers, or it never passes.

  4. 04

    Add Phraseanet

    Add Create record and apply properties, map the file into its file box and choose the target collection. Test the step and check the record in Phraseanet.

  5. 05

    Publish

    Click Publish. With the filter this is a multi-step Zap, so it needs a paid plan, and only files added after publishing are uploaded.

Actions

Phraseanet actions on Zapier

Phraseanet gives you 5 actions. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Add record to basket

Action

In Zapier“Add existent record to an existent basket”

Puts a record that already exists into a basket that also already exists, which is how a selection gets built from outside Phraseanet.

When to use it
a client picks images in a form and the chosen assets should land in one basket for the account manager.
Watch out
the action does not create the basket; set it up in Phraseanet first.
2

Add record to story

Action

In Zapier“Add existent record to an existent story”

Attaches an existing record to an existing story, grouping it with the other assets of the same subject.

When to use it
an editor tags a photo for an article, and it should join that article's story in the library.
Watch out
it needs three identifiers at once: the record, its collection and the story ID.
3

Create record and apply properties

Action

In Zapier“Use these chained actions for files size lower than 50 Mo”

Uploads a file, or a link to one, into the collection you choose and sets its properties in the same step, so the new asset arrives already described.

When to use it
a photo agency that wants every delivered shoot filed in the library without manual upload.
Watch out
it is meant for files under 50 MB; heavier videos or archives need another route.
4

Set record metadatas

Action

In Zapier“Set metadatas to an existent record”

Writes metadata onto a record that already exists, using the metadata structure of the collection you select.

When to use it
a rights clearance is logged in another tool and the caption or credit of the asset should follow.
Watch out
it needs the record's ID; with no search on Zapier, that ID has to come from an earlier step or be typed in.
5

Set record statusBit

Action

In Zapier“Set statusBit to an existent record”

Changes a status flag on an existing record, following the status structure of the chosen collection.

When to use it
an approval in a review tool should mark the matching asset as validated in Phraseanet.
Watch out
the record ID and the collection are both required, and the collection must be the one whose status setup you expect.
When it breaks

When a Phraseanet Zap breaks

Zapier attaches no help article to Phraseanet, so what follows mixes Zapier's general limits with the required inputs and the size cap of the actions.

Most failures here come from missing identifiers rather than from Phraseanet itself. Check what the failing step received before anything else; the Zapier troubleshooting guide shows how.

  • The record ID is missing

    Four actions need a record ID, and Zapier has no Phraseanet search to find one. If no earlier step carries it, the action has nothing to target and fails.

  • The file is too heavy

    Create record and apply properties is meant for files under 50 MB. Large videos or archives from the starting folder need another way in.

  • Existing files are skipped

    A Zap only reacts to what arrives after it is switched on. Files already sitting in the source folder are never uploaded; that backlog is a separate job.

  • A bulk drop gets held

    If the starting app suddenly returns a huge batch, after a migration for example, Zapier's flood protection can hold it back instead of uploading everything.
Need help

Need help automating Phraseanet with Zapier?

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FAQ

Phraseanet Zapier integration: questions

01Is the Phraseanet Zapier integration free?
Yes, Phraseanet works on Zapier's free plan, because Zapier does not reserve it for paid plans. The free plan limits the shape of the Zap, though. It gives 100 tasks a month and only two-step Zaps: one trigger and one action. A file arriving in a folder and uploaded as a Phraseanet record fits. Chaining a second action, such as setting a status after the upload, or adding a filter, makes it multi-step and needs a paid plan.
02How many tasks does a Phraseanet Zap use?
One task per Phraseanet action that succeeds. The trigger in the starting app is free, and so are Zapier's checks for new items. A failed action is not billed. A Zap that uploads each file as a record uses one task per file; one that uploads and then adds the record to a basket uses two. On the free plan, the 100 monthly tasks cover 100 single-action uploads before the allowance runs out.
03Does Phraseanet on Zapier work in real time?
It depends on the app that starts the Zap, since Phraseanet has no trigger. If that app has an instant trigger, it tells Zapier itself and nothing waits. If it uses a polling trigger, Zapier checks on a timer set by your plan: 15 minutes on Free, 2 on Professional, 1 on Team and Enterprise. The Phraseanet action runs right after the trigger fires. The starting app's page shows which kind it offers.
04What does it take to connect Phraseanet to Zapier?
An existing Phraseanet account with access to the collections you want to write to. In Zapier, open the Apps page, add a connection, pick Phraseanet in the dialog, then sign in to Phraseanet in the tab that opens and grant Zapier access. The connection is made once and used by all five actions. If the Zap also reads files you do not own in another app, you need read access there too.
05Where does the record ID come from in a Phraseanet Zap?
From an earlier step, or from you typing it in, because Zapier offers no Phraseanet search. Set record metadatas, Set record statusBit, Add record to basket and Add record to story all require a record ID and a collection. So the value has to travel with the data, for example in a form field or a spreadsheet column that already holds it. Without it, these actions have no target and fail at the first run.
06What if the Phraseanet operation you need is missing?
Then Zapier does not offer it today. The integration has five actions: create a record with properties, set metadata, set a status, add a record to a basket or to a story. There is no trigger, so nothing in Phraseanet can start a Zap, and no search to find a record. The workaround is to keep the starting point in another app and make sure it carries the identifiers the Phraseanet steps need.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Phraseanet?
Choose by criteria, not by brand. On Zapier, Phraseanet offers five actions, no trigger and no search, runs on the free plan within two-step Zaps and 100 tasks a month, and its upload action is meant for files under 50 MB. Compare whether the other platforms can react to Phraseanet events or look up records, and how each counts a run. Then weigh which tool already holds the files your team feeds into the library.
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