Create a Note and associating to a company

Developer Support APIs & Integrations
1

I am using n8n to make API calls to HubSpot, specifically to automate the creation and association of notes with existing companies.

Setup Details:

  • I use HTTP Request nodes in n8n for API calls.
  • For authentication, I use the predefined “HubSpot App Token” type in n8n.
  • The token has these permissions/scopes:
    • crm.objects.contacts.write
    • crm.objects.companies.write
    • crm.objects.companies.read
    • crm.objects.contacts.read
  • My goal is to create a note for an existing company.

Attempts and Issues:

1. I tried the HubSpot Notes API (/crm/v3/objects/notes) based on the official documentation. (https://developers.hubspot.com/docs/reference/api/crm/engagements/notes#get-%2Fcrm%2Fv3%2Fobjects%2Fnotes)

  • I was able to create notes successfully, but only when associating with a contact object, not with a company.
  • Attempts to create a note associated with a company in a single request often return errors that treat the company ID as a contact ID (0-1=…), or “one or more associations are not valid”.

2. I changed to a two-step process:

  • Step 1: Create a note without any associations (POST /crm/v3/objects/notes).
  • { “properties”: { “hs_note_body”: “Note body”, “hs_timestamp”: “{{Date.now()}}” } }
  • Step 2: Associate the note with a company via the v4 Associations API (POST /crm/v4/associations/company/note/batch/create), using associationTypeId 189 (Company → Note) or 190 (Note → Company).
  • { “inputs”: [ { “from”: { “id”: “noteId” }, “to”: { “id”: “companyId” }, “typeId”: 190 } ] }
  • Although the note creation succeeds, the association fails (the note does not appear on the company, and retrieval endpoints do not show the association).
  • (https://developers.hubspot.com/docs/guides/api/crm/associations/associations-v4#limitations)

My Questions / Challenges:

  • Is my token missing any crucial scopes/permissions needed specifically to create or associate notes with companies? The current scopes cover contacts and companies read/write but do not include any engagement or activities-related scopes.
  • Are there additional scopes or roles required for using the Notes API and Associations API fully, especially for company associations?
  • Is there a known limitation or different process for associating notes with companies compared to contacts via the API?
  • Could issues around associations being interpreted as “contact” rather than “company” be related to permissions or token scopes?
  • Are there recommended best practices or example payloads specifically for:
    • Creating notes
    • Associating notes with companies using n8n’s HTTP Request nodes and the HubSpot App Token authentication?
  • Any advice on what scopes or permission adjustments to check or request from the HubSpot admin to enable these operations successfully?
2

Hi @KMakovinyi,
Thank you for posting to the Community!
I’d like to tag in some of our Top Contributors to see if they have any feedback here - @Mike_Eastwood @Teun and @WesQ Do you all have any tips on this one?
Cassie, Community Manager

3

Thanks for the detailed breakdown of your setup and tests — it really helps pinpoint what’s going on. Based on HubSpot API behavior and your described workflow in n8n, here’s the situation and what you’ll want to adjust:

1. Scopes and Permissions

  • The scopes you listed (crm.objects.contacts.* and crm.objects.companies.*) allow CRUD operations on contact and company records, but do not cover activities like notes, tasks, calls, or emails.

  • For working with the Notes API and associating notes with any object type, your private app token needs:

    • crm.objects.notes.write
    • crm.objects.notes.read
    • crm.objects.companies.read (already have this)
    • crm.objects.companies.write (already have this)

  • Without the notes scopes, HubSpot will treat note operations as unauthorized or will misinterpret association requests.

2. Associations Behavior

  • In HubSpot, associations are type-specific — you can’t reuse a “contact association” ID for a company, even if the entity ID matches.

  • When using the v4 Associations API:

    • Use the correct associationTypeId for company ↔ note.

      • From company to note: type ID = 190
      • From note to company: type ID = 189

  • Ensure the “from” and “to” objects in your payload match the direction of the association type ID.

Let me know if this helps, or if you have any other questions!

:check_mark: Was I able to help answer your question? Help the community by marking it as a solution.

Brandon Woodruff
Senior Software Developer @ PearagonStill have questions? Reach out at brandon@pearagon.com
4

Thank you for your detailed help and insights.

Here is the situation regarding the scopes available to me for the private app token:
I have reviewed the scopes that are currently available in my HubSpot private app token configuration. These include many CRM-related scopes

(crm.dealsplits.read_write, crm.export, crm.import, crm.lists.read, crm.lists.write, crm.objects.appointments.read, crm.objects.appointments.sensitive.read, crm.objects.appointments.write, crm.objects.carts.read, crm.objects.carts.write, crm.objects.commercepayments.read, crm.objects.commercepayments.write, crm.objects.companies.highly_sensitive.read, crm.objects.companies.read, crm.objects.companies.sensitive.read, crm.objects.companies.write, crm.objects.contacts.highly_sensitive.read, crm.objects.contacts.read, crm.objects.contacts.sensitive.read, crm.objects.contacts.write, crm.objects.courses.read, crm.objects.courses.write, crm.objects.custom.highly_sensitive.read, crm.objects.custom.read, crm.objects.custom.sensitive.read, crm.objects.custom.write, crm.objects.deals.highly_sensitive.read, crm.objects.deals.read, crm.objects.deals.sensitive.read, crm.objects.deals.write, crm.objects.feedback_submissions.read, crm.objects.goals.read, crm.objects.goals.write, crm.objects.invoices.read, crm.objects.invoices.write, crm.objects.leads.read, crm.objects.leads.write, crm.objects.line_items.read, crm.objects.line_items.write, crm.objects.listings.read, crm.objects.listings.write, crm.objects.marketing_events.read, crm.objects.marketing_events.write, crm.objects.orders.read, crm.objects.orders.write, crm.objects.owners.read, crm.objects.partner-clients.read, crm.objects.partner-clients.write, crm.objects.partner-services.read, crm.objects.partner-services.write, crm.objects.products.read, crm.objects.products.write, crm.objects.quotes.read, crm.objects.quotes.write, crm.objects.services.read, crm.objects.services.write, crm.objects.subscriptions.read, crm.objects.subscriptions.write, crm.objects.users.read, crm.objects.users.write, crm.pipelines.orders.read, crm.pipelines.orders.write, crm.schemas.appointments.read, crm.schemas.appointments.write, crm.schemas.carts.read, crm.schemas.carts.write, crm.schemas.commercepayments.read, crm.schemas.commercepayments.write, crm.schemas.companies.read, crm.schemas.companies.write, crm.schemas.contacts.read, crm.schemas.contacts.write, crm.schemas.courses.read, crm.schemas.courses.write, crm.schemas.custom.read, crm.schemas.custom.write, crm.schemas.deals.read, crm.schemas.deals.write, crm.schemas.invoices.read, crm.schemas.invoices.write, crm.schemas.line_items.read, crm.schemas.listings.read, crm.schemas.listings.write, crm.schemas.orders.read, crm.schemas.orders.write, crm.schemas.quotes.read, crm.schemas.services.read, crm.schemas.services.write, crm.schemas.subscriptions.read, crm.schemas.subscriptions.write)

, but I do not see any note-related scopes such as crm.objects.notes.read or crm.objects.notes.write.

I wanted to ask if it might be the case that the reason I don’t see note-related scopes available for selection could be due to:

  • Regional availability: Some API scopes or features might be restricted or not yet enabled in the HubSpot region or data center in which my account is hosted.
  • Subscription limitations: Perhaps my current HubSpot subscription plan or tier does not include permissions to use or manage notes via the API, and so the scopes for notes simply do not appear for private app tokens in my account.

Could you please clarify if either of these reasons (regional restrictions or subscription tier limitations) might explain the absence of note-related scopes? Or is there another explanation or a specific way to enable these scopes for the private app token?

I appreciate your support and look forward to your guidance.

5

Apologies, your scopes actually look correct, and you don’t need anything more then what you have. I would instead make sure that you are using the correct association ids.

6

To confirm my understanding based on your previous guidance:

If I configure my n8n HTTP Request node with the details below and supply a valid noteId and companyId, this API call should successfully associate the note with the company. As a result, the note should appear in the HubSpot user interface, specifically in the “Notes” section under the associated company.

Is my understanding correct?

Here is the setup I plan to use:

Method: POST
URL: https://api.hubapi.com/crm/v4/associations/note/company/batch/create
Authentication: Predefined Credential Type
Credential Type: Hubspot App Token
Hubspot App Token: “My Token”
Send Query Parameters: false
Send Headers: false
Send Body: true
Body Content Type: JSON
Specify Body: Using JSON
JSON:
{
“inputs”: [
{
“from”: {
“id”: “noteId”
},
“to”: {
“id”: “companyId”
},
“typeId”: 189
}
]
}

Could you please confirm whether, with this exact approach and valid IDs, the note will be visible as expected in the company’s Notes section in the HubSpot user interface?
If not, could you clarify what might be missing or whether a different association direction or type ID should be used to achieve this result?

Thank you for your help and clarification!

7

Thank you all for your help and guidance!

I ended up choosing a different approach based on the official HubSpot documentation here:
HubSpot Associations API v4 - Limitations (Accounts Dashboard | HubSpot)

Specifically, I followed the instructions in the “Associate records without a label” section, and this solution worked perfectly for my use case.

For anyone else facing the same challenge—where you want to create a note and associate it with a company via the API—here’s what worked reliably for me:

1. Create the Note first without any associations.
I used the standard Notes API to create a note as a standalone object, without linking it to any company, contact, or deal initially.

2. Associate the created Note to the Company using the unlabeled association PUT endpoint:

PUT https://api.hubapi.com/crm/v4/objects/note/{noteId}/associations/default/company/{companyId}
This endpoint creates a default, unlabeled association between the note and the company. No request body is needed; all info is in the URL path.

This two-step approach bypasses many common pitfalls around associationTypeIds and label requirements and works well with the HubSpot private app tokens and scopes.

Hope this helps others in the community who are trying to achieve the same!