Building an API between HubSpot and an app

[Marvin_Morgan24]

Hi all, 

we're currently working on a case for a software company, whereby we want to build an API between HubSpot and the customer's app. The app is built in React Native. The API should enable a bi-directional transfer of data between HubSpot and the app. For example if a user is inactive for two weeks, they should receive a new property that takes note of this. Let's also say that if a user is inactive for a certain period of time, this user should be added to a HubSpot list and sent an e-mail and/or a push notification. This means that the data must be constantly updated between the app and HubSpot. According to our research, it should be possible to build such a workflow in tools such as Zapier or Make.com. But we'd like to find out how you guys would go about this! 

Looking forward to the discussion!

[johnelmer · Accepted solution]

@Marvin_Morgan24  What database is the React Native app using to store/manage data? Depending on the database (ie NoSQL, SQLite, and many others) a custom web application could be built that would manage the syncing and transformation of the data, and potentially monitor the app database for property changes that would trigger the actions you mentioned.  There are also third party middleware tools that can handle the syncing and transformation of the data. Scoping would need to be done to identify functional requirements and determime the most cost-effective solution.  

[Jnix284 · Accepted solution]

@Marvin_Morgan24 I checked with one of the leading devs with APIs and React cards for HubSpot (thank you @Teun 🙌) and as @johnelmer mentioned there are a lot of questions that have to be answered before you can find the right solution:

• It really depends if they have access to the source code of the backend of the 'app'
  • If they do have access, I would extend that functionality and handle the polling there
• Could be some basic CRON Jobs that check the data from the 'app' and based on that make updates in HS
• what is the app architecture like?
• Is it a NodeJS backend with GraphQL? Or maybe Laravel with SQL?
• Does the app has its own API?

And here's the TLDR; Stay away from Zapier.

A simple script that checks the data from the app (if it has an API) every night to see if an user has been inactive for over two weeks should be enough.If the user has been inactive for two weeks or longer, update the property in HubSpot (use email as the unique identifier).

You can use that same property to add that HS contact on a list if you use an active list.

[johnelmer · Accepted solution]

@Marvin_Morgan24  What database is the React Native app using to store/manage data? Depending on the database (ie NoSQL, SQLite, and many others) a custom web application could be built that would manage the syncing and transformation of the data, and potentially monitor the app database for property changes that would trigger the actions you mentioned.  There are also third party middleware tools that can handle the syncing and transformation of the data. Scoping would need to be done to identify functional requirements and determime the most cost-effective solution.