Migrate from Zapier
Move scheduled Zaps into bounded, inspectable routines — concept mapping, schedule translation, validation, cutover, and rollback.
This guide moves schedule-driven Zaps — the recurring digests, reports, and review jobs — into Work on Repeat routines. Event-driven Zaps that react to a single record change are usually better left in Zapier; see Limitations.
Prerequisites
- A Work on Repeat account and, for each tool a Zap touches, an available integration or your own MCP server.
- Zapier admin access, to read each Zap's steps and history.
Concept mapping
| Zapier | Work on Repeat |
|---|---|
| Zap | Routine |
| Schedule trigger | Five-field cron schedule with an IANA timezone |
| Action steps | Connected tools with per-tool permissions |
| Paths, filters, formatters | Written instructions the model follows |
| Task history | Run traces (every model step and tool call) |
The structural difference: a Zap encodes control flow in steps, while a routine states the outcome and constraints in prose and grants the model a bounded tool list. Migrate the responsibility, not the flowchart.
Export and back up
Before changing anything, export each Zap's structure (Zapier's editor shows every step and field mapping) and keep task history for the last month as the behavioral reference. Leave the Zaps on while you validate.
Connections and permissions
Connect each provider from the Connections page. Every discovered tool starts disabled; enable only the reads the routine needs, and grant automatic execution only to tools you would let run unattended. A Zapier connection often holds broad write access — this is the step where you narrow it.
Routine setup and schedule translation
Create one routine per Zap responsibility. Zapier schedule triggers translate
directly: "every Monday 9am" becomes 0 9 * * 1 with your timezone. Work on
Repeat schedules are timezone-aware, so daylight-saving behavior is explicit
rather than account-global.
Validate, cut over, roll back
Run the routine manually and compare its result against the Zap's last runs. When outputs agree for a full cycle, turn the Zap off — do not delete it. Rollback is turning the Zap back on; nothing in the migration destroys it.
Limitations
- Nothing migrates automatically; each Zap is recreated deliberately.
- Instant (webhook/event) triggers are limited to the API trigger today.
- Multi-app write chains should stay approval-gated until you trust the routine's judgment; several managed integrations are read-only or connection-only previews.
The Zapier alternatives guide covers when Zapier remains the right tool.