AppFolio Hello World

Overview

Get started with the AppFolio Property Manager API through a verified provider-issued client configuration. This skill walks through safe first reads for a property listing and a tenant count; create or update operations belong only in a separately approved synthetic sandbox workflow.

Prerequisites

• AppFolio Stack Partner account with API access
• A managed, provider-issued base URL and authentication client confirmed for the target portfolio; do not use a guessed hostname or credential scheme
• Node.js 18+ and TypeScript

Instructions

Step 1: Configure the Client

async function appfolioFetch(path: string) {
  const res = await createVerifiedAppFolioClient().get(path);
  if (res.status < 200 || res.status >= 300) throw new Error(`AppFolio ${res.status}`);
  return res.data;
}

Step 2: List Properties

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

Step 3: Get Tenant Details

const tenants = await appfolioFetch(`/tenants?property_id=${properties[0].id}`);
console.log(`Retrieved ${tenants.length} tenant records for the approved fixture`);

Step 4: Stop Before Writes

// Do not create a work order as a quickstart test. Continue only with the
// synthetic, idempotent workflow in appfolio-core-workflow-b.

Output

A successful run proves the managed client and an approved safe-read endpoint work, returning only property IDs and a tenant-record count in its local output.

Examples

For a first integration check, configure the verified sandbox client, query one approved synthetic property page, and confirm its status, property IDs, and tenant count without recording addresses, names, unit numbers, or credentials. Do not create a work order merely to test access. If the portfolio contract, safe-read fixture, or response authorization is not verified, stop the run and use the credential owner’s staging process before attempting any mutation.

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.