How to Connect Wrike and Zendesk with Automated 2-Way Sync

Published in Use cases on 28/03/2024, last updated 05/04/2024.

This guide will show you how to sync Zendesk tickets with Wrike tasks automatically without writing a single line of code. It’s as simple as setting a few simple triggers in a workflow automation platform such as Unito. From there, you’ll have eyes in Wrike on any new Zendesk tickets that need support from other teams. Triggers can include specific events, assignees, customers, request types, even custom fields you’ve set up yourself. That’s the real value at the end of the day: being able to sync work between tools, including your own unique, specific fields that may vary from project to project or team to team.

New to Unito? Here’s an overview of our Zendesk-Wrike integration. But if you’re ready to start syncing tickets and tasks, read on below.

Here’s a quick peek at our demo sync between Wrike and Zendesk:

Zendesk ticket synced to Wrike task — 1) Task Title to Ticket Subject
2) Description to Description
3) Our custom field: “dev support required?” as a trigger – in this case, only tickets with checked boxes in this custom field will sync through Unito

Watch a Unito product demo sync Zendesk tickets

(optional) read an overview of our Zendesk + Wrike integration to learn about other use cases and which fields are compatible between these powerful tools.
Wrike users with a Business plan or higher can actually build flows through the Wrike Sync add-on directly within the Wrike interface.
Zendesk users should be logged in to their account before connecting it to Unito the first time. Be sure to use the same browser for both accounts.

Step 1. Connect Zendesk and Wrike to Unito

Navigate to the Unito App (or continue from Wrike after installing the add-on if you prefer) and select +Create Flow. On the next screen, select Start Here to connect Zendesk and Wrike. Choose the accounts you wish to connect to Unito. Then, specify a single Wrike folder or project, and Zendesk group.

connecting a Zendesk group of tickets to a Wrike project or folder with tasks through Unito's flow builder — *Note: The accounts you connect must have access to the folder and group you want to integrate.*

When you’re ready, select Confirm.

Step 2. Create new tasks or tickets automatically with flow direction

This step tells Unito where to automatically create new work items (tickets or tasks). With a two-way flow, you can set rules to create Zendesk tickets based on Wrike tasks and vice versa.

In our demo, we chose a one-way flow from Zendesk to Wrike so that only new tickets will create new tasks, and not the other way around. Later, we’ll be able to set a two-way flow between the individual fields of our tasks and tickets.

Setting a flow direction in Unito for Zendesk and Wrike so that new tickets or tasks will automatically be created by Unito

Select Confirm when you’ve chosen a flow direction.

Learn more about flow directions.

Step 3. Filter unrelated tasks or tickets with rules

This is where we can set up triggers to determine how, which, and where tickets or tasks will be created. If you wish, you can even include custom fields as triggers for work item creation, as we did below:

Set conditions for how and which Zendesk tickets sync with Wrike tasks — In this set of rules, only Zendesk tickets created after the specified date with “Dev support required?” checked will sync to newly created Wrike tasks.

Select Add a new trigger to begin setting your rules. There can be some variability here depending on your particular setup in each tool. If you select Add a new action you can also decide where those new Wrike tasks will appear, who they should be assigned to, and more.

Find out more about setting rules.

Step 4. Link fields between Wrike and Zendesk

Next, you’ll be asked whether you want to set up your fields from scratch or let Unito do so automatically. If you select auto-map, you can change any mappings you want or add custom fields. If you’d rather DIY and know exactly how you want your fields mapped, start from scratch.

Your fields will be automatically mapped for two-way updates. That means any changes in one tool will be applied to the other. You can adjust any or all fields to sync one-way in either direction if you prefer. That would mean only the source field will change information in the destination field.

Select + Add mapping, then Select a field in both Zendesk and Wrike to pair two fields together.

Choosing fields allows you to carefully select which details are synced between Zendesk and Wrike. Each field can be synced one-way in either direction or bidirectionally. Here’s what Unito’s auto-mapped set of fields looks like:

Choose which field mappings to sync between Zendesk tickets and Wrike tasks — As you can see above, Unito knows which fields should be synced together between Zendesk and Wrike. You can add more, including custom fields.

The above example shows you a range of fields that can be mapped between Zendesk and Wrike, but those are only the beginning. As we’ve mentioned before, Unito truly shines when it comes to custom fields. Here are a few examples of custom field mappings you could consider, just to give you some inspiration:

Custom field: Branch – office locations for specific teams

Custom field: Ticket type to type – these are multi-select fields created to help provide additional context to the task.

Learn more about Field Mappings

Click Confirm to proceed.

Step 5. Launch your Wrike Zendesk integration

And that’s it! You’ve just completed a flow between Zendesk and Wrike. Congratulations! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know.

Now that you’ve set up your integration between Wrike and Zendesk, you can duplicate this workflow to sync ticket or task information for other use cases within your organization.

What’s next after integrating Wrike and Zendesk with Unito?

Power your reporting workflows by syncing Wrike tasks to Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel
Connect Wrike with Jira or Trello to collaborate across project management tools
Send Wrike task details to Airtable and back
Learn more about Wrike Sync by Unito
Set up a CRM integration by syncing Wrike tasks with Salesforce.
Send Miro cards to Wrike to save time copy-pasting your favourite ideas from a brainstorm.

Why sync Zendesk tickets with Wrike tasks?

Provide customers with faster, more efficient support

The biggest benefit to automatically syncing Wrike tasks with Zendesk tickets is to save time when your team needs it the most.

Let’s face it: if your customers have issues, they need to be resolved as quickly as possible. If a customer success representative needs help from other teams, it takes time to reach out, file a request, explain the situation, etc.

Dispatch tasks based on tickets automatically based on criteria selected by you

Unito cuts through that tedious process by enabling you to assign tasks immediately based on the conditions of your flow (the specific steps implemented, rules, and chosen fields of your personalized integration).

You could tell Unito to assign tasks in Wrike to specific users in specific folders or projects instantly if a Zendesk ticket meets certain conditions you select in your flow.

It’s hard to express how much freedom you have to customize and specify what those conditions might be, especially when custom fields come into play.

In our demo, we kept things simple – we just created a checkbox as a custom field in Zendesk labelled: “dev support required?” Only tickets with that box checked can then sync to a specific Wrike folder instantly. That’s just one example of how and why Unito’s flexibility and versatility can come in handy.