Using Recurly actions in action flows

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Summary: ◀▼

You can connect action flows to Recurly to automate customer account and subscription management. Actions include creating, updating, and looking up accounts and subscriptions, as well as canceling subscriptions and retrieving invoice or transaction details. Use a dedicated service account for connections and provide Recurly API credentials. This integration helps streamline billing and subscription workflows within your support processes.

By connecting the action builder to external systems, such as Recurly, admins can integrate Zendesk with external systems in automated workflows, improving collaboration and maintaining a seamless experience across multiple platforms.

Note: The steps associated with external systems in action flows are referred to collectively as external actions.

This article contains the following topics:

Connecting Recurly to action builder
Using Recurly actions in action flows

Connecting Recurly to action builder

Before you can include external actions in your action flows, you must connect the action builder to the external system.

When connecting to external systems for use in action flows, the following best practices are recommended:

All external actions performed by an action flow are attributed to the user who connected the external system. Therefore, it's a best practice to use a dedicated service account rather than personal credentials when connecting to each external system.
All integrations request access to necessary scopes. However, it's important that you review and validate the scopes before authorizing the connection to the external system.
When managing credentials for API key-based tools, such as OpenAI, it's best to store keys in a secure vault or credential manager.

To locate your Recurly domain and API key

The Recurly connection requires an API key for authentication. You'll need to provide:

Recurly subdomain: The subdomain portion of your Recurly URL (for example, "yourcompany" from yourcompany.recurly.com).
API Key: Your Recurly private API key, found in Recurly under Integrations > API Credentials > Private API Key.

See the Recurly documentation for more information.

To connect action builder to Recurly

In Admin Center, click Apps and integrations in the sidebar, then select Actions > Action flows.
Create or edit an action flow.
Open the step sidebar.
Under External actions, click Recurly.
Click Connect.
Follow Recurly's prompts to enter your Recurly API key and complete the connection.
Important: All external actions performed by an action flow are attributed to the user who connected the external system. Therefore, it is a best practice to use a dedicated service account rather than personal credentials when connecting to each external system.

After you've connected to the system, you'll see an indicator that it's connected and details about the instance you're connected to, as well as the actions available for Recurly.

Using Recurly actions in action flows

The following Recurly actions are available:

Create account
Update account
Lookup account
Create subscription
Update subscription
Cancel subscription
Lookup subscription
Lookup invoice
Lookup transaction

Creating an account

Use the Create account action to create a new customer account in Recurly.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

Variables

Inputs

	Variables
Inputs	Required: `Account Code` The Account Code is a unique account identifier with a maximum of 50 characters. Use a Zendesk user or organization ID for easy cross-referencing. Optional: `Email`, `First Name`, `Last Name`, `Company`, `Tax Exempt` Tax Exempt can be set to Yes or No.
Output	Account details including id, code, email, state, created_at, and hosted_login_token.

Required: Account Code

The Account Code is a unique account identifier with a maximum of 50 characters. Use a Zendesk user or organization ID for easy cross-referencing.

Optional: Email, First Name, Last Name, Company, Tax Exempt

Tax Exempt can be set to Yes or No.

Output Account details including id, code, email, state, created_at, and hosted_login_token.

Updating an account

Use the Update account action to modify an existing customer account in Recurly.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

Variables

Inputs

	Variables
Inputs	Required: `Account Code` Account Code can be either the account code or UUID. Optional: `Email`, `First Name`, `Last Name`, `Company` Only provide values for fields you want to update. Existing values for fields you don't specify will remain unchanged.
Output	Account details including id, code, state, and updated_at timestamp.

Required: Account Code

Account Code can be either the account code or UUID.

Optional: Email, First Name, Last Name, Company

Only provide values for fields you want to update. Existing values for fields you don't specify will remain unchanged.

Output Account details including id, code, state, and updated_at timestamp.

Looking up an account

Use the Lookup account action to retrieve account details by account code or UUID. Use this action to retrieve comprehensive information about a customer account, including subscription status and billing details.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Required: `Account Code` The Account Code can be either the account code or UUID.
Output	Account details including id, code, email, first_name, last_name, company, state, balance, has_active_subscription, has_past_due_invoice, created_at, and updated_at.

Creating a subscription

Use the Create subscription action to create a new subscription for a Recurly account.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

Variables

Inputs

	Variables
Inputs	Required: `Account Code`, `Plan`, `Currency`, `Collection method` Optional: `Quantity`, `Trial End Date`, `Start Date`, `Billing Info ID` Consider the following when using the Create subscription action: The Plan field dynamically populates with available subscription plans from your Recurly account. Currency options include USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, JPY, and INR. Collection Method determines billing behavior: automatic charges on renewal, manual sends an invoice. Trial End Date and Start Date should be in ISO 8601 format (for example, 2026-12-31T00:00:00Z). Quantity defaults to 1 if not specified. Billing Info ID is not currently supported and requires Recurly's "Wallet" feature.
Output	Subscription details including uuid, account_code, account_email, plan_code, plan_name, state, quantity, currency, current_period_started_at, current_period_ends_at, trial_ends_at, activated_at, and created_at.

Required: Account Code, Plan, Currency, Collection method

Optional: Quantity, Trial End Date, Start Date, Billing Info ID

Consider the following when using the Create subscription action:

The Plan field dynamically populates with available subscription plans from your Recurly account.
Currency options include USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, JPY, and INR.
Collection Method determines billing behavior: automatic charges on renewal, manual sends an invoice.
Trial End Date and Start Date should be in ISO 8601 format (for example, 2026-12-31T00:00:00Z).
Quantity defaults to 1 if not specified.
Billing Info ID is not currently supported and requires Recurly's "Wallet" feature.

Output Subscription details including uuid, account_code, account_email, plan_code, plan_name, state, quantity, currency, current_period_started_at, current_period_ends_at, trial_ends_at, activated_at, and created_at.

Updating a subscription

Use the Update subscription action to change an existing subscription's plan, quantity, or timeframe.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

Variables

Inputs

	Variables
Inputs	Required: `Subscription UIID` Optional: `New Plan`, `Quantity`, `When to Apply` The New Plan field dynamically populates with available subscription plans. When to Apply determines whether changes take effect immediately (Now) or at the next billing cycle (At renewal). Only provide values for fields you want to update.
Output	Subscription details including uuid, state, plan_code, plan_name, quantity, and updated_at timestamp.

Required: Subscription UIID

Optional: New Plan, Quantity, When to Apply

The New Plan field dynamically populates with available subscription plans. When to Apply determines whether changes take effect immediately (Now) or at the next billing cycle (At renewal). Only provide values for fields you want to update.

Output Subscription details including uuid, state, plan_code, plan_name, quantity, and updated_at timestamp.

Canceling a subscription

Use the Cancel subscription action to cancel an active subscription at term end or immediately.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

Variables

Inputs

	Variables
Inputs	Required: `Subscription UUID` Optional: `When to Cancel` When to Cancel determines the cancellation timing: "At term end" (recommended) cancels at the end of all billing cycles, while "At next billing cycle" cancels at the next billing date. Choose the option that best fits your business policy.
Output	Subscription details including uuid, state, canceled_at, and expires_at timestamps.

Required: Subscription UUID

Optional: When to Cancel

When to Cancel determines the cancellation timing: "At term end" (recommended) cancels at the end of all billing cycles, while "At next billing cycle" cancels at the next billing date. Choose the option that best fits your business policy.

Output Subscription details including uuid, state, canceled_at, and expires_at timestamps.

Looking up a subscription

Use the Lookup subscription action to retrieve detailed subscription information by UUID. Use this action to retrieve comprehensive subscription information, including billing periods, pricing, and cancellation status. The output includes both current state and historical timestamps.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Required: `Subscription UUID`
Output	Subscription details including uuid, account_code, account_email, plan_code, plan_name, plan_interval_unit, plan_interval_length, state, quantity, currency, unit_amount, subtotal, current_period_started_at, current_period_ends_at, trial_ends_at, activated_at, canceled_at, and expires_at.

Looking up an invoice

Use the Lookup invoice action to retrieve invoice details by invoice number or UUID. The output includes pdf_url, which provides a direct link to download the invoice PDF.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Required: `Invoice ID` Invoice ID can be either an invoice number (for example, 1234) or UUID.
Output	Invoice details including id, number, account_code, state, type, subtotal, tax, total, balance, currency, created_at, due_at, closed_at, and pdf_url.

Looking up a transaction

Use the Lookup transaction action to retrieve payment transaction details by UUID. Use this action to retrieve detailed payment transaction information, including payment method, gateway response, and transaction status. The output includes timestamps for voids and refunds if applicable.

This action has the following inputs and outputs:

	Variables
Inputs	Required: `Transaction UUID`
Output	Transaction details including uuid, account_code, invoice_number, subscription_uuid, type, status, amount, currency, payment_method, gateway_code, gateway_message, created_at, voided_at, and refunded_at.