Setup Guide

This guide walks you through setting up a Zapier integration with Vacation Tracker.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• A Vacation Tracker account on the Core or Complete plan
• A Zapier account (free or paid)

Step 1: Find the Vacation Tracker app in Zapier

1. Log in to your Zapier account
2. Click Create a Zap (or go to zapier.com/app/zaps/create)
3. In the Trigger section, search for Vacation Tracker
4. Select the Vacation Tracker app

Step 2: Choose a trigger event

Select which leave request event should trigger your Zap:

• New Leave Request Created — when an employee submits a new leave request
• New Leave Added — when a manager adds leave for an employee (automatically approved)
• Leave Request Approved — when a leave request is approved by a manager or automatically
• Leave Request Denied — when a leave request is denied by a manager
• Leave Updated — when a leave or leave request is updated
• Leave Cancelled — when a leave or leave request is cancelled
• Leave Deleted — when a leave or leave request is permanently deleted

See Triggers for detailed descriptions of each event.

Step 3: Connect your Vacation Tracker account

1. Click Sign in to Vacation Tracker
2. You will be redirected to the Vacation Tracker OAuth2 authorization page
3. Log in with your Vacation Tracker account
4. Authorize Zapier to access your Vacation Tracker data
5. Once connected, your account will appear in the Zapier connection dropdown

For details on the authorization flow, see OAuth2 Authorization.

Step 4: Test the trigger

1. Click Test trigger
2. Zapier will fetch sample leave request data from your Vacation Tracker account
3. If you have recent leave requests, real data will be used; otherwise, a sample payload is generated
4. Review the sample data to see the available fields for your Zap actions

Step 5: Configure your action

1. Choose an action app (e.g., Google Sheets, Slack, email)
2. Map the Vacation Tracker fields to your action fields
3. Available fields include employee name, email, leave type, dates, status, and more
4. See Webhook Payloads for the complete list of available fields

Step 6: Turn on your Zap

1. Test the complete Zap to verify it works end-to-end
2. Click Publish to activate your Zap
3. The Zap will now trigger automatically when the selected event occurs in Vacation Tracker

Common use cases

• HRIS & Payroll: Sync approved leave data with BambooHR, Gusto, Rippling, or other HR and payroll systems
• Google Sheets: Log leave requests to a spreadsheet for custom reporting or auditing
• External notifications: Notify people outside of Vacation Tracker (e.g., clients, contractors, external teams) via Slack, email, or SMS when someone is on leave
• Project management: Update Jira, Asana, or Monday.com when team members go on leave
• Custom workflows: Trigger internal processes like backup assignment or workload redistribution when leave is approved

Troubleshooting

Zap is not triggering

• Verify the Zap is turned on (published)
• Check that the correct event type is selected
• Ensure your Vacation Tracker plan is Core or Complete (Zapier is not available on the free plan)
• Re-authenticate if your connection has expired

Missing fields in the payload

• Some fields are only present for certain events. For example, approver fields are not included in LEAVE_REQUEST_CREATED events. See Per-event field differences.
• Enrichment fields (userName, leaveTypeName, etc.) may be missing if the related entity was deleted after the leave request was created.

Webhook delivery failures

• Webhooks are retried up to 3 times on failure
• If a webhook URL returns 410 Gone, the subscription is automatically removed
• Check your Zapier task history for error details