If you want to share files and folders in Copilot whenever a client is activated or a company is created, it is possible to do so using Zapier a no-code automation tool. Once you've completed the following steps, you'll be able to automatically share files with new clients and companies!

Requirements

To start setting up powerful Files automations you'll need to have the following:

• A Zapier account
• Hosted files in Google Drive, Dropbox, or another file hosting service that is available on Zapier

Zap Overview

The basic steps in this Zap are listed here and described in detail below. The app or service for each step is noted in square brackets, e.g. [Copilot].

1. Trigger (choose one: Client Created, Client Activated, or Company Created) [Copilot]
2. Find a File Channel [Copilot]
3. Find a File [Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.]
4. Create a Folder [Copilot]
5. Create a File [Copilot]

From your Zapier dashboard, click + Create in the top-right corner to begin creating your Zap.

1. Trigger [Copilot]

Each Zap requires the first step to be a trigger that will fire the automation once the specified event occurs.

1. Choose app and event:

Choose Copilot as the App.

For the Event, you will want to use one of the following:

• Client Created: Triggers when a client is created in Copilot
• Client Activated: Triggers when a client is activated in Copilot (i.e., logs in for the first time)
• Company Created: Triggers when a company is created in Copilot

Note: You will want to choose a trigger that matches your default channel type, which can be individual client channels or company channels. For information on the differences between default channel types, see here.

2. Connect your account:

Choose a connected Copilot account, or connect a new one. To connect a new Copilot account, you'll need to have your API key handy. For information on how to create your API key, see here.

3. Test your trigger:

Once your account is connected, you'll need to test your trigger. Testing the trigger will return sample data about a client or company recently created or activated in your portal. This sample data will be used in subsequent steps.

Actions

Any steps added after the trigger are called actions in Zapier. You'll need to add a few actions to accomplish this workflow. We will describe each action step in detail below.

2. Find a File Channel [Copilot]

In order for your Zap to know which file channel to target, you'll need to use the Find a File Channel step by Copilot.

Add a new step, choose Copilot as the app, and Find a File Channel as the event. Make sure you're using the same connected Copilot account as in previous steps. Now you are ready to configure the action!

The only inputs needed for this step are Membership Type and The ID of the membership entity.

Membership Type

Choose individual if you're triggering file uploads for clients, or company if you're triggering file uploads for companies.

The ID of the membership entity

Here you will want to pull the ID of the entity from the trigger event. Do not manually enter data here, this is how Zapier will find the specific clients and companies from the trigger. 

Click once and a dropdown will appear where you can select various properties. In this case, you will want to select the ID from the trigger event data.

After filling out the 2 fields above, click Continue and the test the action. If no errors occur, you are ready to add the next step.

If you receive an error stating the file channel is not found, please ensure the file channel for your trigger client or company exists- channels are automatically created based on your default channel settings in Settings > General. See here for more information, and feel free to contact support@copilot.com with any questions!

3. Find a File [Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.]

This step will vary based on where your file resides. Choose the app (your file hosting service) and event (Find a File), and then connect your account for the specific app and configure the action according to your file structure in the file hosting service.

If you want to upload multiple files with this workflow, you will need (1) Find a File step for each file you wish to upload.

In this example, we will use Google Drive, but the configurations for Dropbox and other services are quite similar. Refer to your chosen service's Zapier documentation for more information.

To locate the file you want to upload to Copilot in your file hosting service, enter the File Name and then any other information requested in the action that is relevant.

Here we are looking for a file in Google Drive that has the name of Sample File, is in our personal Google Drive, and is located in a folder called Sample Company.

Once you've entered in the relevant information, click Continue and test the action. If everything works as expected, you should see the data for the file and various properties. If an error is returned, the service couldn't find the file. Refer to the service's Zapier documentation for troubleshooting information.

4. Create a Folder [Copilot]

This step is only needed if you wish to create folders in Copilot. If you just want to add documents to the root of the file channel, you can skip to the next section.

If you want to create multiple folders with this workflow, you will need (1) Create a Folder step for each folder you wish to create.

To create a folder in the client or company channel in Copilot, you will need to specify the Channel ID and the Path.

Channel ID

The channel ID is made available from the Find a File Channel step we set up earlier. Click the input and select Custom, then 2. Find a File Channel in Copilot:

Then, select the ID returned from the Find a File Channel in Copilot step, it will begin with us- :

Path

The path is name of the folder and the relative location from the channel root for this folder.

If you want to create a folder in the root, simply type the name of the folder you want created. In the example above, we're creating a folder called Parent Folder in the root of each new company file channel.

If you want to create multiple folders in the root of the file channel, you will want to use multiple Create a Folder [Copilot] steps, with a different folder name entered into the Path for each folder.

If you want to create nested folders, you will need to use multiple Create a Folder [Copilot] steps, where the outer folders are created before the inner folders.

For example, you would first create a folder with the path as Parent Folder, and then in the next create a folder step, the path would be Parent Folder/Child Folder.

You will receive an error if you try to create a folder that already exists or if a parent folder doesn't yet exist, so please be mindful of the order of these steps. Typing Parent Folder/Child Folder if Parent Folder wasn't created yet will not create both folders and you will receive an error.

Once you've entered the Channel ID and Path, click Continue and test the action. Zapier will create an actual folder in the Copilot file channel when testing, feel free to hop over to your Copilot dashboard to confirm the folder was created in the channel of your trigger data!

5. Create a File [Copilot]

Finally, we're ready to add the file from your file hosting service into your Copilot file channel!

Here, you will need to enter data for (3) fields: Channel ID, Path, and File Content.

Channel ID

Refer to the instructions under the Create a Folder [Copilot] section.

Path

This input is the same as Path in the Create a Folder [Copilot] section, but you will also need to enter the file name and extension (.txt, .pdf, .png, etc.).

Here, we've pulled the Name of the folder we created in step 4, typed a `/`, and pulled in the Title of the file from Google Drive (step 3). This will create the file inside of the Parent Folder created in step 4.

If you didn't create a folder and just want to put the file in the root of the channel, simply pull in the name of the file from the Google Drive or other file hosting service step and be sure it includes the extension.

You can also manually type the file name, since it doesn't have to be the exact title. For example, typing Parent Folder/Sample File.pdf here will work just as well as pulling data from other steps.

The most important thing when creating a file is to make sure the file name includes the extension (.txt, .pdf, .png, etc.) that denotes they type of the file.

File Content

This is the most important input, since this is where we can import the actual file content from Google Drive or other file hosting service.

Click the input and select the Google Drive or other service's Find a File step and select the File. Most services will call the file content File, but refer to the service's Zapier documentation if you're not sure. Often, the file will have a description similar to above, Exists but not shown.

Once you've entered data for the 3 fields, click Continue and test the action. If everything goes well, Zapier will create a file in the Copilot file channel during the test. Hop over to your Copilot dashboard and check out the file channel that was used as the sample trigger for the Zap to ensure everything looks good.

Publish & Turn On

If you've confirmed the folders and files appear in Copilot as expected, you are now ready to Publish & Turn On your Zap! Now, every time the trigger event happens (Client Created, Client Activated, or Company Created), the default folder(s) and file(s) you've configured here will automatically be created.

Happy Zapping!