Custom actions and Info_extractors

Last updated: July 3, 2025

  1. What are Custom Actions and Information Extractors?

Custom Actions

  • What they are: They allow you to connect Synthflow to platforms, which allows you to interact with it using APIs.

  • What they do:

    • Reach out to external APIs or services (e.g., sending data to a CRM, fetching real-time inventory).

    • Integrate with databases or third-party systems.

  • Example use case:
    A “Calculate Tax” Action that takes an order subtotal and shipping address, calls a tax-calculation API, and then returns the final tax amount.

Information Extractors

  • What they are:
    Information Extractors parse call transcripts to pull out specific pieces of data using patterns or rules.

  • What they do:

    • Scan the call transcript to identify the data based on set rules.

  • Example use case:

    Extract the order subtotal from the call.

  1. Key Differences & When to Use Which

Aspect

Custom Actions

Information Extractors

Purpose

Connect Synthflow with an external platform.

Parse and extract information from the call transcript.

Output

JSON Object

Typed fields (strings, Boolean, and numbers)

Typical use cases

Integrations

Information Extraction

When to use them?

Before or During the Call

Available only after the call

  1. Common Errors:

4xx Errors:

These are client-side errors, meaning you could be passing the incorrect security key or breaching API limits, or that you don't have access to the resource you are trying to access.

Here are some examples:

401 - Unauthorised

Fix: It is recommended to ensure you are passing the right API key or that you have connected the right GHL or Hubspot account to the custom action.

404 - Not Found

Fix: Try to create the resource (example: contact) since it doesnt exist.

405 - Method Not Allowed

Fix: Change the request type and try again.

429 - Too Many Requests

Fix: Avoid calling this action multiple times within a call script. Also, make sure no simultaneous calls are triggering this custom action multiple times. If it's needed, then work with the relevant API endpoint vendor to increase the limits.

5xx Errors:

500 - Internal Server Error

Fix: Verify if the platform operating the endpoint is up. Try again later.

504 - Gateway Timeout

Fix: Verify if the platform operating the endpoint is up. Try again later.

Other Errors:

The agent is repeating the response

Fix: Call the custom action by name in the script.

Ex.: Action which is supposed to calculate the offer on a call can be called by saying something like 'after gathering make, model, and year of the car, call #get_offer.."

The agent says, 'We are experiencing network issues at the moment...'

Fix: Ensure the custom name is not too long. Also, verify if the response is being used inside the prompt.