Build Automated Printful-Connected Workflows in Zapier

Zapier is an online automation tool that connects your apps and services. When paired with CData Connect AI, you get access to live Printful data for your workflows. This article shows how to connect to Printful and build workflows with live Printful data in Zapier.

Connect to Printful from Zapier

To work with Printful in Zapier, we need to connect to Printful from Connect AI, provide user access to the connection, and create a Workspace for the Printful data.

Connect to Printful from Connect AI

CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select "Printful" from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Printful.

   Start by setting the Profile connection property to the location of the Printful Profile on disk (e.g. C:\profiles\Printful.apip). Next, set the ProfileSettings connection property to the connection string for Printful (see below).

   Printful API Profile Settings

   In order to authenticate to Printful, you'll need to provide your API Key. To get your API Key, first go to 'Settings' then 'Stores'. Select the Store you would like to connect to, then click the 'Add API Access' button to generate an API Key. Set the API Key in the ProfileSettings property to connect.

   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Printful Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Configure Printful Endpoints for Zapier

After connecting to Printful, create a workspace for your desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace).
2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
3. Select the Printful connection (e.g. API1) and click Next.
4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm.
5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to Printful data from Zapier.

Connect to Printful Data in Zapier Workflows

To establish a connection from Zapier to CData Connect AI using the OData protocol, follow these steps.

1. Log into Zapier.
2. Click Create Zap.
3. In the dialog that appears, search for "Webhooks by Zapier", and click the option underneath.
4. Under Event, select Retrieve Poll.
5. Fill in the connection details:
   • URL: Enter the OData URL (e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}).
   • Key: Enter "value.name."
   • Authentication details: Fill in the Basic Auth or Headers. The basic option requires a user (your Connect AI username, e.g. [email protected]) and password (the PAT you've previously created) separated by a pipe symbol: |. The headers option requires a request type header with encoded credentials.
   
6. Click Test. If the connection is set up properly, sample records will appear.

Simplified Access to Printful Data from Cloud Applications

At this point, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Printful data from Zapier. For more information on gaining simplified access to data from more than 100 SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources in cloud applications like Zapier, refer to our Connect AI page.