AppFolio Hello World

Overview

Get started with the AppFolio Property Manager API by authenticating with your client credentials and making your first API calls. This skill walks through connecting to the REST API, fetching a property listing, retrieving tenant details, and creating a basic work order — the essential operations for any AppFolio integration.

Prerequisites

• AppFolio Stack Partner account with API access
• APPFOLIO_CLIENT_ID and APPFOLIO_CLIENT_SECRET environment variables set
• Node.js 18+ and TypeScript

Instructions

Step 1: Configure the Client

typescript
const APPFOLIO_BASE = process.env.APPFOLIO_BASE_URL || "https://yourcompany.appfolio.com/api/v1";

async function appfolioFetch(path: string) {
  const credentials = Buffer.from(
    `${process.env.APPFOLIO_CLIENT_ID}:${process.env.APPFOLIO_CLIENT_SECRET}`
  ).toString("base64");
  const res = await fetch(`${APPFOLIO_BASE}${path}`, {
    headers: { Authorization: `Basic ${credentials}`, Accept: "application/json" },
  });
  if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`AppFolio ${res.status}: ${await res.text()}`);
  return res.json();
}

Step 2: List Properties

typescript
const properties = await appfolioFetch("/properties?page_size=10");
console.log(`Found ${properties.length} properties`);
properties.forEach((p: any) => console.log(`  ${p.id}: ${p.address_line1}, ${p.city}`));

Step 3: Get Tenant Details

typescript
const tenants = await appfolioFetch(`/tenants?property_id=${properties[0].id}`);
tenants.forEach((t: any) => console.log(`  ${t.name} — Unit ${t.unit_number}`));

Step 4: Create a Work Order

typescript
const workOrder = await fetch(`${APPFOLIO_BASE}/work_orders`, {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Basic ${Buffer.from(`${process.env.APPFOLIO_CLIENT_ID}:${process.env.APPFOLIO_CLIENT_SECRET}`).toString("base64")}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    property_id: properties[0].id,
    description: "Leaky faucet in kitchen",
    priority: "normal",
  }),
});
console.log("Work order created:", (await workOrder.json()).id);

Output

A successful run produces authenticated API responses: a list of properties with addresses, tenant details for the first property, and a new work order ID confirming write access.

Error Handling

| Error | Cause | Solution | |-------|-------|----------| | 401 Unauthorized | Invalid client_id or secret | Verify credentials in environment variables | | 403 Forbidden | API scope not granted | Check Stack Partner permissions for the endpoint | | 404 Not Found | Wrong base URL or endpoint | Confirm your company subdomain and API version | | 422 Unprocessable | Missing required fields | Validate property_id and required body params | | 429 Too Many Requests | Rate limit exceeded | Add backoff delay, batch requests |

Resources

• AppFolio Stack APIs
• AppFolio Engineering Blog

Next Steps

See appfolio-core-workflow-a for full property and tenant management workflows.