Push Ideas to Linear using Zapier

Connecting ProdPad to Linear allows you to create and link a new Issue by pushing an Idea from ProdPad. 

Note: This guide uses premium Zapier tools. 

Create the Zap to Push ProdPad Ideas to Linear as Issues

In this step, you'll set up a Zap that pushes an Idea from ProdPad and creates a new Issue in Linear. In this Zap, a new Issue will be created in your Linear account when a ProdPad Idea is pushed. 

Create the Trigger:

• To begin with, create a new Zap in Zapier.
• Select ProdPad as the app for the Trigger and connect your ProdPad account. To quickly find your ProdPad API key, navigate to your ProdPad account and simply click Settings > Profile Settings and click the API key tab. 
• Once your account is connected, choose “Pushed Idea” as the event.
• Name the integration in accordance with your Linear account. In my example, I named the integration "Push Ideas to Linear", as this is what will display in the ProdPad UI. 
• Test the Trigger to ensure it works correctly.
• Click Continue to move to the next step

Next, we’ll create the Action:

• Click the + button in Zapier to add an action.
• Select Linear and connect your account.
• Once you’ve connected your account, set the event to Create Issue.
• In the Action menu, select the Team from your Linear account.
• Click into the Title field and select "Title". This will be the Title of the pushed Idea. 
• Click into the Description field and select "Description". This will be the Description of the pushed Idea.
• Press Enter to create a space and click into the field again and select App URL. This will create a link in the Linear Issue that will take you back to the pushed Idea in ProdPad. The reason why we create a space between the Description and App URL selections is so the formatting looks nice in the created Linear issue. 
• The result should look like the below:

• Test the action to ensure it works correctly.

In the final step for this Zap, we’ll create the Webhook. This will allow us to use a PUT API request to find the pushed ProdPad Idea and add the external URL details of the Linear Issue. 

Create the Webhook: 

• Add another action and choose Webhooks by Zapier.
• Select Custom Request for the Event.
• In the Method dropdown field, select PUT.
• In the URL field, enter the URL: https://api.prodpad.com/v1/ideas/. Next, click into the field on the right-hand side of the URL you entered and select the ProdPad Uuid option. The result should look like this:

For the Data field, head on over to our ProdPad API documentation and navigate to Ideas on the left-hand side (numbered in the below screenshot as 1). From here, click PUT /ideas/{id} and copy the following example value (numbered below as 2).

• Paste the example value into the Data field in Zapier

Replace the "string" text in the Example Value with the following appropriate values:

•  "name" - change the “string” text to the label you’d like to give the external link in ProdPad (this will appear in the external link name on the Idea in ProdPad, so in my example I simply named it Linear Issue - ). In the same line, after the hyphen, click into the field. Select the Linear Title. It should look like the below example:

• "url" - delete the “string” value and click into the field. Make sure to click in between the  double quotes “” and select the Url from Linear. It should look like the below example:

• "external_id" - delete the “string” value and click into the field. Again, make sure to click in between the  double quotes “” and select the ID from Linear. It should look like the below example:

When finished, the Method, URL and Data fields should look like the below example:

• Scroll down and in the Headers section, type in Authorization in the first field. In the below field, type in Bearer followed by your ProdPad API key. To find your ProdPad API key, navigate to your ProdPad account and simply click Settings > Profile Settings and click the API key tab.
• Click the + button to add a new header, and in the first field type in Contect-Type followed by application/json in the second field. When you’re finished, click the Continue button.

• Make sure to test this action to ensure it works correctly. When finished, press Publish to Publish the Zap.

How to use the Zap

To push an Idea to Linear using the Zap, simply head on over to an Idea in ProdPad that's in the Backlog and click on the Push button on the right-hand side of the Idea attributes menu. 

From the Slide-out menu, select the Push Idea to Linear Zap you have created. The Idea will then appear in Linear as an Issue.