Appfolio hello world

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

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

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

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

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.