The HubSpot portal is in and of itself a revolutionary asset for your business, but it doesn’t begin and end with HubSpot Marketing Professional, Sales Hub, Service Hub, and all of its other intuitive software. In fact, it’s part of HubSpot’s mission is to empower organizations to achieve growth more efficiently. One of the best examples of HubSpot honoring that mission is through offering custom API integrations through its developer platform. This service elevates the game for custom software development professionals leveraging HubSpot’s powerful CRM.
What Are API Integrations?
APIs, or “Application Programming Interfaces,” are some of the most useful custom software development tools. When integrated into a platform, they allow for multiple applications to communicate and share data without interruption or human intervention. When built correctly, they’re a powerful, automated tool that offers a seamless exchange of information.
For example, some common APIs that you’ve encountered include popular web-based APIs. Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Safari all have web-based APIs built into them to help add features to sites.
To break it down even more, the “interface” section of “API” references the system that’s in place to allow two unrelated entities to interact with each other. For example, you use Google’s interface to submit a search request, and it produces results in a matter of seconds. You might not know exactly how it gets these results–and that’s the beauty of an interface. It does the hard communication for you, reducing the task down to your request, then communicating with the other party (in this case, Google) to complete the request. The “application programming” aspect of “API” references the method of communication the interface uses.
“REST” API Architecture
All APIs require custom software development to bring them to life, and this requires choosing an architectural method. Each type of API architecture lays the foundation for a different set of functions and framework. The main 3 types include REST, SOAP, and RPC. For the purposes of HubSpot API integrations, you’ll only need to understand REST. REST can be thought of as a “a collection of guidelines for lightweight, scalable web APIs,” as described by HubSpot.
REST APIs are application programming interfaces which use something called a “representational state transfer,” hence the name “REST.” They function by using HTTP use and request access for data, which allows for interaction with any RESTful web services. They’re a popular form of API because of their easily comprehensible nature. On top of that, they’re also extremely easy to use. These two reasons alone contribute to their rise as a standard protocol for web APIs, including for HubSpot portal API integrations.
Setting Up Your HubSpot API Integrations
One of HubSpot’s goals is to make its software accessible for anyone, and this shows through when it comes to getting started with API integrations. To start off, all you need is a HubSpot developer account. This account is the place you will create HubSpot apps. Each of these applications are authenticated with OAuth. They’re also provided with easily configurable sets of permissions and features, so you can customize them as you’d like. Your developer account will also allow you to create accounts for application testing, app status and performance monitoring, and for publication to the HubSpot App Marketplace. If you create an exciting new API for HubSpot Marketing Professional, your developer account allows you to run some tests and monitor performance prior to publishing it for HubSpot Marketing Professional.
API Documentation: Reference Docs & Integration Guides
HubSpot splits its API documentation into two sections. Let’s take a closer look at what each one looks like:
1. Reference Docs
Reference docs detail both overview and endpoint sections. The overview section is essentially a summary of how, why, when, and where you would use an API. It will explain what the API is designed to do and any special considerations to keep in mind for creating an integration. On the other hand, the endpoint section describes each endpoint, their parameters, and examples of requests in multiple different languages. You can make test calls directly within the endpoint reference page after completing your application’s auth settings in your developer account.
2. Integration Guides
Integration guides, on the other hand, are a way to understand the fundamentals of HubSpot’s CRM and review examples prior to making an API call. This is helpful in situations where you need some extra guidance for your custom software development. The integration guides offer sample applications, tutorials, and detailed information regarding several topics: OAuth, API rate limits, developer accounts, and more.
HubSpot Client Libraries
Since HubSpot wants to provide you with the most guidance and resources possible, it also has client libraries to make it easier to interact with its APIs. This library includes APIs written in several languages, significantly reducing the amount of custom code you’ll need to write to integrate an API. This way, you can focus more on developing your actual application.
245TECH Is Here to Help
HubSpot API integrations are a quick way to elevate the usability and usefulness of your application. However, getting started can be tricky and confusing. 245TECH has years of experience working with API integrations, and we know a thing or two about HubSpot, too. Give us a call at (865) 465-4040 to talk about the ways you can make HubSpot API integrations work for you.
