We have automation rules configured in Zendesk Sell that automatically advance opportunity stages when certain custom field values change. This works perfectly when users update fields through the UI, but when we update the same fields via REST API, the stage automation doesn’t fire at all.
Our API call looks like this:
PUT /api/v2/deals/12345
{"custom_fields": {"qualification_score": 85}}
The field updates successfully via API (we can see the new value in the UI), but the automation rule “Move to Qualified stage when qualification_score >= 80” never triggers. The exact same field update through the UI triggers the automation immediately.
Is there a difference in how API-triggered field changes are processed versus UI updates? Do we need to explicitly call a webhook or automation endpoint after updating custom fields via API?
I tried adding run_automation: true to the request body, but still no luck. The API documentation doesn’t mention webhook-based triggers for custom field changes. How do I configure a webhook to fire when a specific custom field is updated? Is this a separate webhook configuration in the automation rules, or something I set up through the API?
API updates in ZS 2021 don’t trigger automation rules by default - this is intentional to prevent infinite loops when integrations make bulk updates. You need to add a trigger flag to your API request to enable automation processing for that specific update.
The trigger flag Tanya mentioned is run_automation: true in your request payload. However, this only works for certain automation types. Stage transition automations specifically require webhook-based triggers rather than inline automation. You might need to set up a webhook that fires when the custom field changes, then have that webhook call your stage update logic.