Zapier, Make, n8n and Zoho Flow

Freesbe works with the big automation tools, so you can connect it to thousands of other apps without writing code:

• Zapier: Zaps, with Freesbe as a trigger or an action.
• Make: scenarios on Make’s visual canvas.
• n8n: workflows on n8n’s cloud or your own server.
• Zoho Flow: flows between Freesbe and Zoho’s own apps, like Zoho CRM, Zoho Books and Zoho People, and hundreds of others.

Some flows you can build: post every new Acme Corp deal from your CRM into #sales, file a ticket when someone mentions the bot with a problem, add new teammates to your HR system the day they join, or send the notes of every recorded meeting to a shared folder.

Connect a tool

Only owners and admins can connect a tool.

1. Open Workspace settings → Integrations & apps → Integrations → Automation.
2. Click Connect next to Zapier, Make, n8n or Zoho Flow. Freesbe shows an API key, once.
3. In the tool, add Freesbe and paste the key when it asks for it:
   • Zapier: pick Freesbe as a trigger or action app, and click Sign in.
   • Make: add a Freesbe module, then Create a connection.
   • n8n: install the n8n-nodes-freesbe community node (self-hosted n8n: Settings → Community nodes → Install), then add a Freesbe API credential.
   • Zoho Flow: add a Freesbe trigger or action to a flow, then Connect and paste the key.

Each tool connects through an app of its own, with a bot named after the tool. The bot posts the tool’s messages, so nobody’s account is borrowed, and it keeps working when the workspace requires single sign-on or multi-factor authentication. You’ll see it in Workspace settings → Integrations & apps → Apps too.

If the key leaks, or you lost it before pasting it, click New API key. The old one stops working right away, so paste the new one into the tool’s connection.

Add the bot to channels

The bot only hears what’s said in channels it’s in, the way a person would.

• Public channels: pick the channel in a trigger or an action, and the bot joins it by itself.
• Private channels and DMs: add the bot from the channel’s member list first, like a person.

Triggers

A trigger starts a flow when something happens in Freesbe. Freesbe sends the event to the tool the moment it happens, so flows start right away instead of checking every few minutes.

Trigger	Starts the flow when
New message	Someone posts in a channel or DM the bot is in
New mention of the bot	Someone @mentions the bot, such as @Zapier file this
New reaction	Someone adds an emoji reaction to a message the bot can see
New file	Someone shares a file in a channel the bot is in
New channel	Someone makes a public channel
New person	Someone joins the workspace
Meeting scheduled	A meeting the bot is invited to is scheduled
Recording ready	A huddle or meeting recording is ready, where the bot is or was invited

Make’s Watch events, n8n’s Freesbe Trigger and Zoho Flow’s Something happens in Freesbe can start on any of the app events too, such as an edited message, a huddle starting or a transcript being ready.

Message triggers can be limited to one channel; leave the channel empty for every channel the bot is in. The bot never hears its own messages, so a flow that posts back can’t start itself again.

Each trigger gives the flow plain fields to use in later steps: the message’s text, a link to it, the channel’s name, who sent it, and the Reply to ID for answering in its thread. Email addresses are only included when the app may see the people in the workspace, as the Automation apps can.

See what’s listening

Turning a flow on makes a trigger in Freesbe, and turning it off removes it. Triggers listening, under the tools, lists each one: the event, the tool, the channel and since when.

To stop one, click its bin. Turn the flow off in the tool too, or it makes the trigger again the next time it’s turned on. Turning off or deleting the tool’s app in Workspace settings → Integrations & apps → Apps stops all of its triggers.

Actions

Actions are what a flow does in Freesbe, as the tool’s bot:

• Send a message in a channel, with Slack-style formatting. Give it a Reply to ID to answer in a thread, or Block Kit blocks to post a card with headers, facts and link buttons.
• Send a direct message to someone, picked by name or found by email.
• Add a reaction to a message, such as ✅ when a ticket is closed.
• Create a channel, public or private, with a topic and people in it.

And searches, to find what a later step needs:

• Find a person by email address.
• Find a channel by name.
• Find messages that match some words, in the channels the bot is in.

Make also has Make an API call, for anything else in the API the app may do. In Zoho Flow, the searches are actions too (Find person, Find channel and Search messages), and Zoho Flow asks for a channel’s or person’s ID, which a search gives you.

What a tool’s app can do

The app Freesbe makes for each tool can see the workspace and its people, see and join channels, make channels, read and send messages in the channels it’s in, start DMs, react, open files, search, and hear about meetings and recordings it’s part of. It’s a member of the workspace, never an admin, and only sees what a member in the same channels would.

For developers

The apps are built on REST hooks: a bot token asks Freesbe to send one event to a URL with POST /api/apps/hooks, and deletes the hook with DELETE /api/apps/hooks/{id}. Any tool, or your own server, can use them the same way. Each delivery is signed with the app’s signing secret, like the app’s events, and answering 410 Gone deletes the hook.