Skip to main content

Clio Data Source

The Clio connector enables you to ingest legal practice management data—including matters, contacts, activities (time and expense entries), bills, tasks, and documents—from your Clio account. This connector is particularly useful for firms that need to centralize case and billing data for reporting, analytics, or synchronization with other business systems. Follow the instructions below to create a new data flow that ingests data from a Clio source in Nexla.
clio_api.png

Clio

Create a New Data Flow​

  1. To create a new data flow, navigate to the Integrate section, and click the New Data Flow button. Then, select the desired flow type from the list, and click the Create button.

  2. Select the Clio connector tile from the list of available connectors. Then, select the credential that will be used to connect to the Clio instance, and click Next; or, create a new Clio credential for use in this flow.

  3. In Nexla, Clio data sources can be created using pre-built endpoint templates, which expedite source setup for common Clio endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding Clio endpoint, making source configuration easy and efficient.
    • To configure this source using a template, follow the instructions in Configure Using a Template.

    Clio sources can also be configured manually, allowing you to ingest data from Clio endpoints not included in the pre-built templates or apply further customizations to exactly suit your needs.
    • To configure this source manually, follow the instructions in Configure Manually.

Configure Using a Template​

Nexla provides pre-built templates that can be used to rapidly configure data sources to ingest data from common Clio endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding Clio endpoint, making data source setup easy and efficient.

Endpoint Settings​

  • Select the endpoint from which this source will fetch data from the Endpoint pulldown menu. Available endpoint templates are listed in the expandable boxes below. Click on an endpoint to see more information about it and how to configure your data source for this endpoint.

    List Activities

    This endpoint retrieves all activities—time entries and expense entries that record billable work done at the firm—with support for filtering and automatic pagination. Use it to ingest time-tracking and expense data for billing analysis or reporting.

    • This endpoint automatically paginates through all matching activities, so no pagination configuration is required.
    • Optionally, enter an ISO 8601 timestamp in the Created Since field to return only activities created on or after that time, or in the Updated Since field to return only activities updated on or after that time. These filters are useful for incremental ingestion runs.
    • Optionally, enter a Matter ID or User ID to restrict results to activities associated with a specific matter or user.
    • Optionally, select a value from the Type menu to return only a specific activity type (Time Entry or Expense Entry).
    • Optionally, enter a comma-separated list of field names in the Fields field to control which fields are returned in the response.

    Activity timestamps follow the ISO 8601 format (for example, 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z). For complete details, refer to the Clio API V4 Documentation.

    Get Activity

    This endpoint retrieves the details of a single activity by its unique ID. Use it when you need the full record for one specific time or expense entry.

    • Enter the ID of the activity to retrieve in the Activity ID field. This field is required. You can obtain activity IDs from the "List Activities" endpoint.

    List Matters

    This endpoint retrieves all matters (cases) with support for filtering and automatic pagination. Matters are the central organizing record in Clio, representing the legal work performed for a client.

    • This endpoint automatically paginates through all matching matters, so no pagination configuration is required.
    • Optionally, enter an ISO 8601 timestamp in the Created Since field to return only matters created on or after that time.
    • Optionally, select a value from the Open Status menu to return only Open Matters or Closed Matters. By default, open matters are returned.
    • Optionally, enter a term in the Search Query field to search matters by display number, description, or client name.

    Get Matter

    This endpoint retrieves the details of a single matter by its unique ID. Use it when you need the full record for one specific case.

    • Enter the ID of the matter to retrieve in the Matter ID field. This field is required. You can obtain matter IDs from the "List Matters" endpoint.

    List Contacts

    This endpoint retrieves all contacts—people and companies associated with your firm—with support for filtering and automatic pagination. Use it to ingest client and contact data for CRM synchronization or reporting.

    • This endpoint automatically paginates through all matching contacts, so no pagination configuration is required.
    • Optionally, enter a term in the Search Query field to search contacts by name, email, or company.
    • Optionally, select a value from the Contact Type menu to return only contacts of a specific type (Person or Company).

    Get Contact

    This endpoint retrieves the details of a single contact by its unique ID. Use it when you need the full record for one specific person or company.

    • Enter the ID of the contact to retrieve in the Contact ID field. This field is required. You can obtain contact IDs from the "List Contacts" endpoint.

    List Bills

    This endpoint retrieves all bills with support for filtering and automatic pagination. Use it to ingest billing and invoicing data for financial reporting or accounts-receivable analysis.

    • This endpoint automatically paginates through all matching bills, so no pagination configuration is required.
    • Optionally, enter a Matter ID to return only bills associated with a specific matter.
    • Optionally, select a value from the Bill State menu to return only bills in a specific state (Draft, Pending, or Paid).

    Get Bill

    This endpoint retrieves the details of a single bill by its unique ID. Use it when you need the full record for one specific invoice.

    • Enter the ID of the bill to retrieve in the Bill ID field. This field is required. You can obtain bill IDs from the "List Bills" endpoint.

    List Tasks

    This endpoint retrieves all tasks with support for filtering and automatic pagination. Use it to ingest to-do items and assignments tracked in Clio for workflow reporting.

    • This endpoint automatically paginates through all matching tasks, so no pagination configuration is required.
    • Optionally, select a value from the Completion Status menu to return only Incomplete Tasks or Complete Tasks. By default, incomplete tasks are returned.
    • Optionally, enter a Matter ID to return only tasks associated with a specific matter.

    List Documents

    This endpoint retrieves all document records with support for filtering and automatic pagination. Use it to ingest document metadata for content management or audit purposes.

    • This endpoint automatically paginates through all matching documents, so no pagination configuration is required.
    • Optionally, enter a Matter ID to return only documents associated with a specific matter.
    • Optionally, enter a term in the Search Query field to search documents by name or content.

    This endpoint returns document metadata records. For complete details on document fields and downloading file content, refer to the Clio API V4 Documentation.

Endpoint Testing​

Once the selected endpoint template has been configured, Nexla can retrieve a sample of the data that will be fetched according to the current settings. This allows users to verify that the source is configured correctly before saving.

  • To test the current endpoint configuration, click the Test button to the right of the endpoint selection menu. Sample data will be fetched & displayed in the Endpoint Test Result panel on the right.

  • If the sample data is not as expected, review the selected endpoint and associated settings, and make any necessary adjustments. Then, click the Test button again, and check the sample data to ensure that the correct information is displayed.

Configure Manually​

Clio data sources can be manually configured to ingest data from any valid Clio API endpoint. Manual configuration provides maximum flexibility for accessing endpoints not covered by pre-built templates or when you need custom API configurations.

With manual configuration, you can also create more complex Clio sources, such as sources that use chained API calls to fetch data from multiple endpoints or sources that require custom request parameters.

API Method​

  1. To manually configure this source, select the Advanced tab at the top of the configuration screen.

  2. Select the API method that will be used for calls to the Clio API from the Method pulldown menu. For reading data from Clio, this is typically:

    • GET: For retrieving data from the API

API Endpoint URL​

  1. Enter the URL of the Clio API endpoint from which this source will fetch data in the Set API URL field. This should be the complete URL including the protocol (https://) and any required path parameters. Clio endpoints use the .json suffix—for example, https://app.clio.com/api/v4/matters.json?limit=100.

Ensure the API endpoint URL uses the same regional base URL configured in your credential, and that it is accessible with your current credentials. You can test the endpoint using the Test button after configuring the URL.

Date/Time Macros (API URL)​

Optional

Optionally, the API URL can be customized using macros—all macros added to the API URL will be converted into values when Nexla executes the API call. Macros are dynamic placeholders that allow you to create flexible API endpoints that can adapt to different time periods or data requirements. These are especially useful with Clio time-based filters such as created_since and updated_since for incremental ingestion.

Macros are particularly useful for APIs that require date ranges, pagination parameters, or other dynamic values that change between data ingestion runs.

  1. To add a macro, type { at the appropriate position in the API URL (within the Set API URL field), and select the desired macro from the dropdown list.

    • {now} – The current datetime
    • {now-1} – The datetime one time unit before the current datetime
    • {now+1} – The datetime one time unit after the current datetime
    • custom – Datetime macros can reference any number of time units before or after the current datetime—for example, enter (now-4) to indicate the datetime four time units before the current datetime

  2. Select the format that will be applied to datetime macros from the Date Format for Date/Time Macro pulldown menu. This format will be applied to the base datetime value of the macro—i.e., the value of {now} in {now-1}.

  3. Select the datetime unit that will be used to perform mathematical operations in the included macro(s) from the Time Unit for Operations pulldown menu—for example, for the macro {now-1}, when Day is selected, {now-1} will be converted to the datetime one day before the current datetime.

Path to Data​

Optional

If only a subset of the data that will be returned by the API endpoint is needed, you can designate the part(s) of the response that should be included in the Nexset(s) produced from this source by specifying the path to the relevant data within the response. This is particularly useful when API responses contain metadata, pagination information, or other data that you don't need for your analysis.

Clio list endpoints return matching records inside a top-level data array, with pagination details in a meta object. By entering the path to the relevant data, you can configure Nexla to treat each element of the returned array as a record.

Path to Data is essential when API responses have nested structures. Without specifying the correct path, Nexla might not be able to properly parse and organize your data into usable records.

  • To specify which data should be treated as relevant in responses from this source, enter the path to the relevant data in the Set Path to Data in Response field.

    • For responses in JSON format enter the JSON path that points to the object or array that should be treated as relevant data. JSON paths use dot notation (e.g., $.data[*] to access an array of items within a data object).
    Path to Data Example:

    Clio list endpoints return records in a top-level array named data, so the path to the response data is entered as $.data[*]. To retrieve a single record from a "Get" endpoint, use $.data.

Metadata​

If metadata is included in the response but is located outside of the defined path to relevant data, you can configure Nexla to include this data as common metadata in each record. This is useful when you want to preserve important contextual information that applies to all records but isn't part of the main data array.

For example, Clio list responses include a meta object containing pagination details such as record counts and the next-page token. If you have specified the path to the relevant data but metadata of interest is located in a different part of the response, you can specify a path to this metadata to include it with each record in the generated Nexset(s).

Metadata paths are particularly useful for preserving API response context like request IDs, timestamps, or summary statistics that apply to all records in the response.

  • To specify the location of metadata that should be included with each record, enter the path to the relevant metadata in the Path to Metadata in Response field.

    • For responses in JSON format, enter the JSON path to the object or array that contains the metadata.

Request Headers​

Optional

  • If Nexla should include any additional request headers in API calls to this source, enter the headers & corresponding values as comma-separated pairs in the Request Headers field (e.g., header1:value1,header2:value2). The Clio API uses the X-API-VERSION header to pin requests to a specific API version—for example, X-API-VERSION:4.

    You do not need to include any headers already present in the credentials. Common headers like Authorization, Content-Type, and Accept are typically handled automatically by Nexla based on your credential configuration.

Endpoint Testing​

After configuring all settings for the selected endpoint, Nexla can retrieve a sample of the data that will be fetched according to the current configuration. This allows users to verify that the source is configured correctly before saving.

  • To test the current endpoint configuration, click the Test button to the right of the endpoint selection menu. Sample data will be fetched & displayed in the Endpoint Test Result panel on the right.

  • If the sample data is not as expected, review the selected endpoint and associated settings, and make any necessary adjustments. Then, click the Test button again, and check the sample data to ensure that the correct information is displayed.

Save & Activate the Source​

  1. Once all of the relevant steps in the above sections have been completed, click the Create button in the upper right corner of the screen to save and create the new Clio data source. Nexla will now begin ingesting data from the configured endpoint and will organize any data that it finds into one or more Nexsets.