Step by Step Guide to Building an Insightly API Integration in Python

Introduction

Hey there, fellow developer! Ready to dive into the world of Insightly API integration? You're in for a treat. Insightly's API is a powerful tool that'll let you tap into their CRM functionality, and we're going to build something cool with it using Python. Let's get cracking!

Prerequisites

Before we jump in, make sure you've got:

• A Python environment set up (I'm assuming you're good to go here)
• An Insightly API key (grab one from your Insightly account settings if you haven't already)

Setting up the project

First things first, let's get our project structure sorted:

mkdir insightly-integration
cd insightly-integration
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows, use `venv\Scripts\activate`
pip install requests

Authentication

Alright, let's start with the basics. Here's how you authenticate:

import requests

API_KEY = 'your_api_key_here'
BASE_URL = 'https://api.insightly.com/v3.1/'

headers = {
    'Authorization': f'Basic {API_KEY}',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}

Basic API Requests

Now, let's fetch some contacts:

response = requests.get(f'{BASE_URL}Contacts', headers=headers)
contacts = response.json()
print(contacts)

Want to create a new lead? Here you go:

new_lead = {
    'FIRST_NAME': 'John',
    'LAST_NAME': 'Doe',
    'EMAIL_ADDRESS': '[email protected]'
}

response = requests.post(f'{BASE_URL}Leads', headers=headers, json=new_lead)
print(response.json())

Handling Responses

Always check your responses! Here's a quick way to do it:

def handle_response(response):
    if response.status_code == 200:
        return response.json()
    else:
        print(f"Error: {response.status_code}")
        print(response.text)
        return None

Advanced Features

Need to handle pagination? No sweat:

def get_all_contacts():
    contacts = []
    skip = 0
    while True:
        response = requests.get(f'{BASE_URL}Contacts?skip={skip}', headers=headers)
        batch = handle_response(response)
        if not batch:
            break
        contacts.extend(batch)
        if len(batch) < 500:  # Insightly's default page size
            break
        skip += 500
    return contacts

Building a Simple Integration

Let's sync contacts with a local SQLite database:

import sqlite3

def sync_contacts():
    conn = sqlite3.connect('contacts.db')
    c = conn.cursor()
    c.execute('''CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS contacts
                 (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, first_name TEXT, last_name TEXT, email TEXT)''')
    
    contacts = get_all_contacts()
    for contact in contacts:
        c.execute("INSERT OR REPLACE INTO contacts VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)",
                  (contact['CONTACT_ID'], contact['FIRST_NAME'], contact['LAST_NAME'], contact['EMAIL_ADDRESS']))
    
    conn.commit()
    conn.close()

Best Practices

Remember to:

• Respect rate limits (Insightly has a limit of 5 requests per second)
• Cache responses when possible
• Log your API calls for debugging

Testing

Always test your code! Here's a simple unit test:

import unittest
from unittest.mock import patch

class TestInsightlyIntegration(unittest.TestCase):
    @patch('requests.get')
    def test_get_contacts(self, mock_get):
        mock_get.return_value.status_code = 200
        mock_get.return_value.json.return_value = [{'CONTACT_ID': 1, 'FIRST_NAME': 'John'}]
        contacts = get_all_contacts()
        self.assertEqual(len(contacts), 1)
        self.assertEqual(contacts[0]['FIRST_NAME'], 'John')

if __name__ == '__main__':
    unittest.main()

Conclusion

And there you have it! You've just built a solid foundation for your Insightly API integration. Remember, this is just the beginning - there's so much more you can do with the API. Keep exploring, keep coding, and most importantly, have fun with it!

Need more info? Check out the Insightly API documentation for a deep dive into all available endpoints and features.

Now go forth and integrate! 🚀