App Action Node

The App Action node lets you do things in other apps — send emails in Gmail, post messages to Slack, add rows to Google Sheets, create contacts in HubSpot, and much more. It works with 2,700+ apps through our integrations. Think of it as your workflow reaching out and clicking buttons in other apps for you.

When to Use

Emails - Send, reply, organize, or move emails in Gmail/Outlook
Team chat - Post messages to Slack, Teams, or Discord
Spreadsheets - Add rows to Google Sheets, update Airtable
CRM - Create contacts in HubSpot, update Salesforce
Project tools - Create tasks in Asana, update Jira tickets
Any integrated app - If it’s in the list, you can automate it

This is for apps already connected with CogniAgent. For websites or services not in the list, use the HTTP Request node instead.

Common Actions by App

Gmail

Action	Description
Send Email	Send a new email
Reply to Email	Reply to an existing thread
Forward Email	Forward an email to new recipients
Add Label	Apply a label to an email
Move to Folder	Move email to a specific folder
Mark as Read/Unread	Change read status

Slack

Action	Description
Send Message	Post to a channel or DM
Reply in Thread	Reply to a specific message
Upload File	Share a file in a channel
Add Reaction	Add emoji reaction to a message
Create Channel	Create a new channel
Invite to Channel	Add users to a channel

Google Sheets

Action	Description
Append Row	Add a new row at the end
Update Row	Update an existing row
Get Row	Retrieve row data by number
Find Row	Search for rows matching criteria
Clear Range	Delete data from a range
Create Spreadsheet	Create a new spreadsheet

HubSpot

Action	Description
Create Contact	Add a new contact
Update Contact	Modify contact properties
Create Deal	Add a new deal
Create Task	Create a task
Add Note	Add a note to a record

Example: Support Email Workflow

Automatically respond to support emails and log them:

Receive the email

Use Event from App (Gmail) to trigger on new emails to [email protected].

Classify the email

Use an LLM node to categorize as: billing, technical, general.

Log to spreadsheet

Add an External API node:

App: Google Sheets
Action: Append Row
Spreadsheet: Support Log
Values:

Date: {{timestamp}}
From: {{event_from_app_1.email.from}}
Subject: {{event_from_app_1.email.subject}}
Category: {{llm_1.response}}

Send auto-reply

Add another External API node:

App: Gmail
Action: Reply to Email
Thread ID: {{event_from_app_1.email.threadId}}
Body: Thank you for contacting support. We've received your {{llm_1.response}} inquiry...

Notify the team

Add a final External API node:

App: Slack
Action: Send Message
Channel: #support
Message: New {{llm_1.response}} ticket from {{event_from_app_1.email.from}}

Example: Lead Capture to CRM

When a form is submitted, add the lead to your CRM:

Workflow: Lead Capture
├── Webhook (form submission)
├── LLM (score and qualify lead)
├── External API (HubSpot: Create Contact)
│   Parameters:
│   - email: {{webhook_1.body.email}}
│   - firstName: {{webhook_1.body.firstName}}
│   - lastName: {{webhook_1.body.lastName}}
│   - leadScore: {{llm_1.response.score}}
├── Condition (score > 70?)
│   ├── Met: External API (HubSpot: Create Deal)
│   └── Unmet: External API (HubSpot: Add to Nurture List)
└── External API (Slack: Notify sales team)

Example: Automated Reporting

Generate and distribute a daily report:

Workflow: Daily Report
├── Recurrent Event (daily at 9 AM)
├── External API (Google Sheets: Get data from "Metrics" sheet)
├── LLM (generate summary and insights)
├── External API (Google Docs: Create document with report)
├── External API (Gmail: Send to stakeholders)
└── External API (Slack: Post summary to #reports)

Connecting Your Apps

Before you can use this node, connect your apps:

Go to Settings > Integrations
Find the app you want to connect
Click Connect and log in to authorize it
Give the connection a name (helpful if you have multiple accounts)

Make sure the account you connect has permission to do what you want. For example, a “read-only” Gmail account won’t be able to send emails.

Using Data from Previous Steps

You can use information from earlier in your workflow:

To: {{webhook_1.body.email}}
Subject: Order Confirmation #{{webhook_1.body.orderId}}
Body: |
  Dear {{webhook_1.body.firstName}},

  Your order for {{webhook_1.body.productName}} has been confirmed.

  Total: ${{webhook_1.body.total}}

What If Something Goes Wrong?

Things can fail because:

Your login expired and needs reconnecting
You’re sending too many requests too fast
Some required information is missing
The internet had a hiccup

You can check if it worked and handle failures:

├── External API (send email)
├── Condition (did it work?)
│   ├── Yes: Continue
│   └── No: Alert the team on Slack

Most External API actions automatically try again if there’s a temporary problem. You usually don’t need to handle these yourself.

Rate Limits

Different apps have different rate limits:

App	Typical Limit
Gmail	100 emails/day (free), 2000/day (Workspace)
Slack	1 message/second per channel
Google Sheets	100 requests/100 seconds
HubSpot	100 requests/10 seconds

CogniAgent handles rate limiting automatically when possible, queuing requests to stay within limits.

Tips

Use the “Fill by AI” feature when configuring parameters. It can suggest values based on your workflow context.

When building emails or messages, use the LLM node first to generate content, then External API to send it. This separates content creation from delivery.

For bulk operations (adding many rows, sending many messages), use a Loop node to iterate and process items one at a time. This avoids rate limits and makes debugging easier.

Settings

name

string

default:"External API"

What to call this node (shown on the canvas).

key

string

default:"external_api_1"

A short code to reference what this node returns.

app

string

required

Which app to use (Gmail, Slack, Google Sheets, etc.).

action

string

required

What you want to do in that app. The options change based on which app you choose.

connection

string

required

Which account to use (if you’ve connected multiple accounts for the same app).

parameters

object

The details for your action. The form shows you what’s needed based on what you’re doing.

Outputs

Outputs vary by app and action. Common patterns:

success

boolean

Whether the action completed successfully.

response

object

The full response from the API, structure depends on the action.

Email Actions

messageId - ID of the sent/modified message
threadId - Conversation thread ID

Slack Actions

ts - Message timestamp (used for threading)
channel - Channel ID
permalink - Link to the message

Google Sheets Actions

updatedRange - Cells that were modified
values - Row data (for get/find actions)

HTTP Request

For APIs not in the integration list.

App Trigger

Trigger workflows from app events.

Integrations

See all 2,700+ available integrations.

Channels

Communication channel details.

Overview

Triggers

Actions

Logic

App Action Node

App Action Node

When to Use

Common Actions by App

Gmail

Slack

Google Sheets

HubSpot

Example: Support Email Workflow

Example: Lead Capture to CRM

Example: Automated Reporting

Connecting Your Apps

Using Data from Previous Steps

What If Something Goes Wrong?

Rate Limits

Tips

Settings

Outputs

Email Actions

Slack Actions

Google Sheets Actions

HTTP Request

App Trigger

Integrations

Channels

Overview

Triggers

Actions

Logic

​App Action Node

​When to Use

​Common Actions by App

​Gmail

​Slack

​Google Sheets

​HubSpot

​Example: Support Email Workflow

​Example: Lead Capture to CRM

​Example: Automated Reporting

​Connecting Your Apps

​Using Data from Previous Steps

​What If Something Goes Wrong?

​Rate Limits

​Tips

​Settings

​Outputs

​Email Actions

​Slack Actions

​Google Sheets Actions

​Related Nodes

HTTP Request

App Trigger

Integrations

Channels

App Action Node

When to Use

Common Actions by App

Gmail

Slack

Google Sheets

HubSpot

Example: Support Email Workflow

Example: Lead Capture to CRM

Example: Automated Reporting

Connecting Your Apps

Using Data from Previous Steps

What If Something Goes Wrong?

Rate Limits

Tips

Settings

Outputs

Email Actions

Slack Actions

Google Sheets Actions

Related Nodes