Zola automation
Record Zola RSVPs from phone calls and paper RSVP cards
Your invitations went out with paper RSVP cards, and a few arrive every day next to the calls from relatives who never open the wedding website. Each reply has to be typed into Zola before the head count is right.
Cotlet does it in your own Zola account with list_guests, list_events, record_rsvp and track_rsvps, called by your AI agent, an n8n workflow or a script.
Hosted · nothing to install or maintain
Official options
Can Zola do this on its own?
Zola has no API for RSVPs (checked 12 Oct 2026). Replies made on your Zola wedding website are recorded automatically, and any RSVP can be edited from Track RSVPs or the app. We found no import or bulk entry for paper or phone replies in Zola's help center, so each one is entered guest by guest.
By hand
How you do it in Zola today
- Open Guest List in Zola on a computer and go to the Track RSVPs tab.
- Find the guest, click the name to open the Edit Guest pop-up, and click into the RSVP Status tab.
- Change the guest's RSVP there for each event the card answers, then save.
- In the Zola app the same edit sits under Guests + RSVP > the guest > the RSVPs tab.
- Repeat for every card in the pile. A card signed with a nickname, a plus-one written in by a guest who was not given one, or a reply to an event the guest is not invited to has nowhere to go until you fix the guest list first.
With an agent
How to record Zola RSVPs from phone calls and paper RSVP cards
Prompt
Here are this week's RSVP cards: the Morales family is coming to the reception, two chicken and two kids' meals; Uncle Pete declines everything; Grace Liu called and is coming, vegetarian. Record them in Zola. - 01
Match the card to a guest
The agent searches list_guests by surname, not by the name as written, because cards often say "Aunt Mary" or "The Moraleses". Two possible matches stop the run for that card, and the agent asks which guest you mean.
- 02
Check the invitation before writing
A reply counts only for events the guest is invited to. When a card answers for the rehearsal dinner and the guest is not on it, the agent reports the conflict instead of inviting them, because who comes to which event is your call.
- 03
Map the meal to the event's options
Cards say "veggie" or "the fish". The agent maps that to the options set on the event when only one fits and asks when two could, since record_rsvp accepts only a meal that exists on that event.
- 04
Treat plus-ones and families carefully
Zola keeps couples and families as one party. The agent records each named party member separately, and when a card adds a plus-one Zola does not have, it flags the name for you instead of recording a reply for a guest who is not on the list.
- 05
Read the counts back
After the batch, track_rsvps for each touched event confirms the new totals, so you see the effect of the pile before you tell the caterer anything.
What you get back
Example data
Recorded 7 replies from 4 cards and 1 call.
Morales family (4): attending the reception. Meals: Chicken 2, Kids 2.
Uncle Pete (Peter Hale): declined ceremony, reception and welcome drinks.
Grace Liu: attending the reception, Vegetarian. Phone reply, entered as given.
Not recorded: "Ben + guest" on the Tran card. Ben Tran has no plus-one in Zola; add one first or confirm he comes alone.
Reception now: 91 attending, 10 declined, 19 no reply. Other ways to ask
- Mom took three RSVPs by phone tonight; here is her note. Record them and tell me what you could not match.
- Grace Liu called back: she can't make the reception after all. Change her RSVP to declined.
- Enter these 12 RSVP cards, but only for the ceremony and reception; skip anything about the after-party.
Before you automate it
What Zola allows, and what to know first
- Zola uses a closed guest list: a guest can RSVP only if the couple added them beforehand, every plus-one and additional guest included, and guests cannot add their own plus-ones while replying.
- A Zola family entry holds at most two adults; other adults in the household are entered as "children", so one card can answer for guests listed in two different ways.
- Zola lets the couple change an RSVP that a guest already submitted online, under Track RSVPs > Edit Guest > RSVP Status, so a phone call that overrides a web reply is a normal edit.
- Zola sells RSVP cards only bundled with an invitations order, with the quantity set on the RSVP tab of the draft.
- A plus-one set to "Name Unknown" in Zola can be declined by the guest without a name, but a plus-one who attends needs a name in the field, even "Guest Unknown".
record_rsvp changes only your own Zola data and reach no one else, so it runs without asking first.
Sources: Zola Help: Can I edit RSVPs that were collected online? · Zola Help: How do I add plus-ones? · Zola Help: How do I add a family to my guest list? · Zola Help: If a guest will not bring their plus one, can they still RSVP? · Zola Help: Can I order RSVP cards separately?
REST
Call record_rsvp from a script
curl
curl https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/zola/record_rsvp \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"event_id":"evt_reception","guest_id":"gst_a41c07","status":"attending","meal_choice":"Vegetarian"}' Example response
{
"guest_id": "gst_a41c07",
"event_id": "evt_reception",
"status": "attending",
"meal_choice": "Vegetarian",
"recorded": true
} MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the tool is zola_record_rsvp. Example data.
Schedule it in n8n, Make, Zapier or cronTools
Zola tools this automation uses
| Tool | Parameters |
|---|---|
| list_guests | list, include_contact, search |
| list_events | none |
| record_rsvp | event_id, guest_id, status, meal_choice |
| track_rsvps | event_id, status |
Frequently asked questions
Can the agent add a plus-one that a guest wrote on the card?
Not to an existing guest. add_guest sets a plus-one only when it creates a new guest. Add the plus-one in Zola with "Add Plus One" on the guest, and the agent can then record that person's reply.
Give your agent access to Zola.
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