Hubspot as Source - UnifyApps

UnifyApps enables seamless integration with HubSpot as a source for your data pipelines. This article covers essential configuration elements and best practices for connecting to HubSpot sources.

Overview

HubSpot is a powerful customer relationship management (CRM) platform that helps businesses track leads, automate marketing, and manage customer communications. UnifyApps provides native connectivity to extract data from HubSpot efficiently and securely, supporting both historical data loads and continuous data synchronization.

Connection Configuration

Parameter	Description	Example
`Connection Name*`	Descriptive identifier for your connection	"`MyAppHubSpotIntegration`"

Authentication Methods

UnifyApps supports three authentication methods for HubSpot:

1. Access Token Authentication

Parameter	Description	Example
`Auth Token*`	HubSpot API token	"`pat-na1-abcdef-ghijkl-123456`"

How to obtain an API Token:

Click on the settings icon in the top right corner of your HubSpot account
Select "Admin" to go to the administration section

Note

Only users with admin access can take actions in the administration section

Navigate to "Private Apps" section under "Integrations"
Use an existing private app or click on "Create a private app"
- Fill in the basic information and the scope for your private app
- Required scopes for UnifyApps: objects.read, objects.write
- Click on "Create app"
Click on your private app and navigate to the Auth section
In the "Auth" section, create or copy your existing API token

2. OAuth Authentication

Parameter	Description	Example
`Callback URL`	OAuth authentication callback URL	"`https://webhooks-global.ext-alb.uat.unifyapps.com/api/connector-auth-callback/oauth`"

How to set up OAuth authentication:

Create a HubSpot Developer account if you don't already have one
Create a new app in the HubSpot Developer portal
Configure the OAuth settings
Add the callback URL from UnifyApps to your app's configuration
Ensure your app has the required scopes: objects.read, objects.write

3. OAuth with Client Config

Parameter	Description	Example
`Callback URL`	OAuth authentication callback URL	"`https://webhooks-global.ext-alb.uat.unifyapps.com/api/connector-auth-callback/oauth`"
`Client ID*`	OAuth application client identifier	"`123456-abcdef-7890-ghijkl`"
`Client Secret*`	OAuth application client secret	"`abcdef-123456-ghijkl-7890`"

How to obtain Client ID and Client Secret:

Create a HubSpot Developer account if you don't already have one
Create a new app in the HubSpot Developer portal
Navigate to the Auth section of your app
Copy the Client ID and Client Secret
Ensure your app has the required scopes: objects.read, objects.write

Supported Entities

UnifyApps can extract data from the following HubSpot entities:

Entity	Description	Common Use Cases
`Call`	Call activity records	Sales activity tracking, follow-up analysis
`Company`	Organization records	Account-based marketing, company hierarchy analysis
`Contact`	Individual contact records	Contact management, lead scoring, segmentation
`Deal`	Sales opportunity records	Pipeline analysis, revenue forecasting
`Email`	Email communications	Email engagement tracking, communication history
`LinkedIn Message`	LinkedIn communications	Social selling analysis, engagement tracking
`Meeting`	Scheduled meeting records	Meeting frequency analysis, engagement tracking
`Note`	Internal notes and annotations	Customer interaction history, internal communication

Data Synchronization Method

UnifyApps implements forward polling for all HubSpot entities:

Sequential data retrieval based on timestamp or ID
Efficient for applications with chronological data creation
Ensures consistent data extraction across all entities

CRUD Operations Tracking

When tracking changes from HubSpot sources:

Operation	Support	Notes
`Create`	✓ Supported	New record insertions are detected
`Read`	✓ Supported	Data retrieval via HubSpot API
`Update`	✓ Supported	Updates are detected as new inserts with the updated values
`Delete`	✗ Not Supported	Delete operations cannot be detected

Note

Update operations appear as new inserts in the destination
Delete operations are not tracked

Ingestion Modes

Mode	Description	Business Use Case
`Historical and Live`	Loads all existing data and captures ongoing changes	CRM migration with continuous contact and deal synchronization
`Live Only`	Captures only new data from deployment forward	Real-time lead tracking and sales activity monitoring
`Historical Only`	One-time load of all existing data	CRM analysis or reporting snapshot

Choose the mode that aligns with your business requirements during pipeline configuration.

Common Business Scenarios

Contact and Lead Management

Extract contact records with associated activities
Create unified customer profiles by combining with other data sources
Enable advanced segmentation and targeting

Sales Pipeline Analysis

Extract deal records with stage history
Track conversion rates across pipeline stages
Forecast revenue based on deal data

Marketing Performance Measurement

Analyze email engagement metrics
Track lead sources and conversion paths
Measure campaign effectiveness

Customer Engagement Tracking

Monitor meeting and call activity
Analyze communication frequency and patterns
Identify engagement trends across customer lifecycle

Best Practices

Category	Recommendations
`Performance`	Schedule extractions during off-peak hours Start with critical entities before adding others Use incremental loading for high-volume entities
`Data Quality`	Maintain consistent property naming conventions Document custom properties and their meanings Regularly audit HubSpot data for completeness
`Security`	Use dedicated app credentials for integration Apply principle of least privilege for API access Regularly rotate API tokens if using token-based authentication
`Monitoring`	Set up alerts for synchronization failures Monitor API quota usage Track data volume changes for anomaly detection

Limitations and Considerations

API Rate Limits: HubSpot enforces rate limits that may affect data extraction speed. UnifyApps implements optimized polling to work within these limits.
Data Retention: HubSpot may have different retention policies for different data types. Consider this when planning historical data extraction.
Custom Properties: HubSpot allows extensive customization of properties. Ensure your schema can accommodate these custom fields.
API Changes: HubSpot regularly updates its API. UnifyApps adapts to these changes, but occasional adjustments may be necessary.
Required Scopes: Ensure your authentication method has the objects.read and objects.write scopes enabled for all entities.

By properly configuring your HubSpot source connections and following these guidelines, you can ensure reliable, efficient data extraction while meeting your business requirements for CRM data integration and analysis.