Getting data via an API

[Stem-IT]

Hi,
I am totally new to HubSpot so please excuse my lack of knowledge!

I've just started working for a company that uses HubSpot and we want to pull in data (sea ships) from a third party system via an API.  We want to use this data in Tasks within HubSpot so that users can have a list of which ships are in a specific port to contact them. 

I am trying to get my head around the process for this.  Do we need to get the data via the API and store it within HubSpot so that we can use it to populate the tasks?  Is there a way to pull the data via the API straight into a task?

This data will be changing frequently.  

Any help or advice will be much appreciated!

Thanks

[Josh · Accepted solution]

Hi @Stem-IT,

Here's some documentation that might be helpful.

Based on your description it sounds like you're going to want to start by creating a Private App within your portal.

Josh

[Stem-IT]

Hi Josh,

Excellent, I'll take a better look.  

Thanks for your help!

[Josh]

Hi @Stem-IT,

You can use the API to create tasks in the HubSpot system. With the minimal context I have, I might take a slightly different approach. 

I would consider sending data to another object first, such as a company record. In this scenario, each ship would be a company. If you have Enterprise, a custom object would be a perfect fit for this. This is where you can store all relevant ship data, such as "current port" or "port arrival date".

I don't love the idea of sending tasks to the system without an association to another more consistent object. Tasks have limitations for reviewing, filtering, reporting, etc.

Once you have the ship data sent, you have a couple of options. You could update that same "ship" record that then uses a workflow to create a task in HubSpot based on the data you've updated, or you could also use the API to create the task at that point but associate the task to the ship/company record.

Hope this helps!

[Stem-IT]

Hi Josh,

Many thanks for your reply and advice.  Very helpful!

I'm a total noob to HubSpot so trying to pick up as much as I can quickly.  Do you know which plan we'd need to action your suggestions?  Do I need a developer account?  

Thanks!

Chris