Hash Value Tool

When an API, advertising platform, or webhook requires a hashed identifier, the Hash Value tool prepares that value directly inside your automation. It transforms source data into a consistent hash that the receiving system can use for matching or validation without receiving the original value in that field.

This lets you meet a destination platform's technical requirements without preparing hashes manually or adding custom code to every automation.

Hashing is commonly required when working with advertising platforms, APIs, webhooks, and systems that handle sensitive information. A hash is not encryption and should not be treated as complete anonymization, so always follow the destination platform's data-handling requirements.

When to use it

Use Hash Value whenever an external service asks for a hashed value instead of the original one. The tool is especially useful when you need to standardize this transformation across every automation run.

Typical examples include:

• sending an email address, phone number, or customer identifier in hashed form;
• preparing user data for platforms such as Facebook Conversions API;
• generating verification values for webhooks;
• creating signatures or tokens that another system can validate.

If the receiving platform expects the original value, hashing should not be used.

How it works

The tool receives a value from a previous step and applies the hashing algorithm you select. The generated result can then be mapped directly to an API request, webhook, or action in another app.

The process is straightforward: input value -> hashing algorithm -> hash result.

One important thing to remember is that hashing is predictable. The same input will always generate the same hash. This is what allows another system to compare records without receiving the original value in that field.

At the same time, even a small change in the source value — an extra space, a different character, or a modified phone number — will produce a completely different result. Normalize the source data before hashing it whenever the destination platform requires a specific format.

Tool fields

Algorithm

Select the hashing algorithm required by the destination system.

The most common options are:

• sha256 — the most widely used modern hashing algorithm and the standard choice for many advertising and analytics platforms;
• md5 — still used in some legacy systems, webhooks, and custom integrations;
• hmac-* algorithms — used when a hash must also include a secret key.

Whenever possible, rely on the documentation of the service you're connecting to. If a specific algorithm is mentioned there, use that one.

Value

The value that should be hashed.

This can be:

• data received from a trigger;
• the output of another tool;
• a string prepared earlier in the automation.

Salt before value

An optional text value added before the main value before hashing.

Formula:

hash(salt_before + value)

This setting is only needed when the receiving system explicitly requires it.

Salt after value

An optional text value added after the main value before hashing.

Formula:

hash(value + salt_after)

Most integrations don't use this option, but some custom validation mechanisms do.

Key

Used only with HMAC algorithms.

For regular hashing algorithms such as sha256 or md5, this field should remain empty.

Example 1. Sending a hashed phone number to Facebook Conversions API

In this example, a new or updated subscriber in BotHelp triggers the automation. The subscriber's phone number is prepared and sent to Facebook Conversions API as a SHA-256 hash together with the event data.

Facebook can compare the hash with identifiers that have been processed in the same way on its side. When a match is available, the identifier can help associate the server-side event with the relevant customer record. This can improve event matching and give your team more complete data for campaign measurement and attribution, while avoiding sending the raw phone number in that API field.

The automation uses four steps:

1. BotHelp provides the subscriber and event data.
2. Phone number formatting converts the source number into the consistent format expected by the destination.
3. Hash Value applies the SHA-256 algorithm to the normalized number.
4. Facebook Conversions API receives the event details and the generated hash.

The complete flow looks like this:

First, configure the Phone number formatting tool. It receives the phone number from BotHelp and returns a normalized value. Formatting before hashing is essential: two visually similar phone numbers written in different formats generate different hashes and may not match on the destination side.

Next, configure Hash Value tool:

• Algorithm = sha256;
• Value = Formatted number from the phone number formatting step.

Finally, map the Hash result from Hash Value to the Phone number field in the Facebook Conversions API action. Complete the remaining event fields with data from BotHelp or other previous steps.

As a result, every qualifying BotHelp event is sent automatically with a consistently formatted and hashed phone identifier. Your team no longer needs to normalize and hash each value manually, and Facebook receives the identifier in the format required for matching.

Hashing does not remove your responsibility to collect and process customer data lawfully. Use this workflow only when you have the required permissions and when it complies with the destination platform's policies.

Summary

Hash Value helps you meet integration requirements without manually transforming every value or maintaining custom hashing code. Common scenarios include preparing customer identifiers for advertising platforms and generating consistent verification values for webhooks or API requests.

Before configuring the tool, it's always worth checking the destination platform's documentation. In most cases, it will specify exactly which algorithm and formatting rules should be used.