AppFolio Install & Auth

Overview

Configure AppFolio Stack API authentication. AppFolio uses HTTP Basic Auth with a client ID and client secret, provided through their Stack partner program. No public npm SDK exists — use direct REST API calls.

Prerequisites

AppFolio Stack partner account (appfolio.com/stack)
Client ID and Client Secret from AppFolio
Node.js 18+ or Python 3.10+

Instructions

Step 1: Obtain API Credentials

# AppFolio Stack API credentials come from the partner program
# 1. Apply at appfolio.com/stack/become-a-partner
# 2. Complete integration review
# 3. Receive client_id and client_secret

cat > .env << 'ENVFILE'
APPFOLIO_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
APPFOLIO_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret
APPFOLIO_BASE_URL=https://your-company.appfolio.com/api/v1
ENVFILE

chmod 600 .env
echo ".env" >> .gitignore

Step 2: Create API Client

// src/appfolio-client.ts
import axios, { AxiosInstance } from 'axios';

class AppFolioClient {
  private api: AxiosInstance;

  constructor() {
    this.api = axios.create({
      baseURL: process.env.APPFOLIO_BASE_URL,
      auth: {
        username: process.env.APPFOLIO_CLIENT_ID!,
        password: process.env.APPFOLIO_CLIENT_SECRET!,
      },
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      timeout: 30000,
    });
  }

  async verifyConnection(): Promise<boolean> {
    try {
      const response = await this.api.get('/properties');
      console.log(`Connected! Found ${response.data.length} properties`);
      return true;
    } catch (error: any) {
      console.error(`Connection failed: ${error.response?.status} ${error.message}`);
      return false;
    }
  }

  get http(): AxiosInstance { return this.api; }
}

export { AppFolioClient };

Step 3: Verify Connection

# Quick curl test
curl -u "${APPFOLIO_CLIENT_ID}:${APPFOLIO_CLIENT_SECRET}" \
  "${APPFOLIO_BASE_URL}/properties" | jq '.[0]'

API Endpoints

Resource	Endpoint	Methods
Properties	`/api/v1/properties`	GET
Units	`/api/v1/units`	GET
Tenants	`/api/v1/tenants`	GET
Leases	`/api/v1/leases`	GET, POST
Bills	`/api/v1/bills`	GET, POST
Vendors	`/api/v1/vendors`	GET
Owners	`/api/v1/owners`	GET
Reports	`/api/v1/reports`	GET

Output

API credentials configured in .env
TypeScript REST client with Basic Auth
Verified connectivity to AppFolio API

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
`401 Unauthorized`	Invalid credentials	Verify client_id/secret from AppFolio
`403 Forbidden`	Not a Stack partner	Complete partner application
`404 Not Found`	Wrong base URL	Use `your-company.appfolio.com` format
Timeout	Network issue	Check firewall allows HTTPS to appfolio.com

Resources

Next Steps

Proceed to appfolio-hello-world for your first property query.