I have written quite a few posts now about automating Knack databases with Integromat. In those, I have given examples of several methods of triggering Integromat scenarios including:
Using New Event triggers when a Knack record is added, updated or deleted
Using Search Records to look for one or more records which may be processed together
Using Webhooks sent from Knack Javascript (sometimes even waiting for a response)
However, there is another technique which I use a lot on projects, that has not been covered. This is to trigger a Scenario with an email from a Knack form, Action Link or Task. Using this technique gives you a lot of control over how and when a process should run.
By way of example, one of my client's systems has a process where a user can request a certificate and this is produced via Integromat and Eledo (the latter produces the PDFs) and when produced, the client is emailed the PDF.
How to Set this Up in Integromat
The start of the process is to create a new Integromat Scenario and choose Webhooks as the first module:
Next, choose the Custom Mailhook option and you will see the configuration options:
You will see the unique email address which can be copied and you can then send an email to it with whatever content you like.
Configuring the Knack End...
Once you have the 'mail hook' set up, use the Run Once option to run the scenario (so that it is 'listening' for an email) and turn to the Knack Builder and set it up to send a message to that address:
Note that the address from the 'mail hook' should be entered into the Recipient address field in Knack.
Retrieving the Data
Generally, when I am using this technique, I am wanting Integromat to select a specific record to work with - so in the email you need to send a UNIQUE value to Integromat so that it can then retrieve the record. In this case I created an {Auto Increment} field in Knack for this purpose - although you could send the record ID.
The reason I used an auto increment here is simply because for some reason you can't put the record ID in the Subject line and if you add it to the Body you then have to remove html in the received email to extract the actual ID on it's own.
The next step in Integromat is to use a Knack Search for Records module to find the relevant record and then the process can continue to do whatever you need:
In this specific example, this process runs several hundred times a day and the actual Integromat Scenario contains some 35 or so modules (it actually produces two certificates and also allows for just emailing them to the client if the PDF has already been produced).
Summary
This is quite a simple technique but gives you much more control over exactly when a process in Integromat is run - and you can build this in to anyplace in Knack where you can send a custom email.
If you want to find out more about Knack click here.
or Integromat click here.