Insightly Data Source
Insightly
Create a New Data Flow
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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.
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Select the Insightly connector tile from the list of available connectors. Then, select the credential that will be used to connect to the Insightly instance, and click Next; or, create a new Insightly credential for use in this flow.
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In Nexla, Insightly data sources can be created using pre-built endpoint templates, which expedite source setup for common Insightly endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding Insightly endpoint, making data source setup easy and efficient.
• To configure this source using a template, follow the instructions in Configure Using a Template.Insightly sources can also be configured manually, allowing you to ingest data from Insightly 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 Insightly endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding Insightly endpoint, making data source setup easy and efficient.
Endpoint Settings
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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.
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.
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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.
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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
Insightly sources can also be configured manually, allowing you to ingest data from Insightly endpoints not included in the pre-built templates or apply further customizations to exactly suit your needs. Manual configuration supports any valid Insightly API v3.1 endpoint.
First, select the method that will be used for calls to the Insightly API from the Method pulldown menu. The most common method for data ingestion is:
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GET: For retrieving lists of records or individual objects from the Insightly API.
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POST: For querying data using a request body, or for accessing endpoints that require parameters in the body rather than in the URL.
Most Insightly API endpoints for data retrieval use the GET method. The Insightly API returns paginated results, with a default page size of 100 records and a maximum of 500 records per response. For the complete list of available endpoints, visit the Insightly API v3.1 documentation.
API Endpoint URL
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Enter the URL of the Insightly 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 the correct pod subdomain for your Insightly account.The Insightly API base URL follows the format
https://api.{pod}.insightly.com/v3.1, where{pod}is your account's regional pod identifier (for example,na1,na2,au1, oreu1). You can find your pod URL in your Insightly User Settings under the API section. Append the specific resource path to this base URL to form the complete endpoint URL. For example:https://api.na1.insightly.com/v3.1/Contacts— retrieves a list of all contactshttps://api.na1.insightly.com/v3.1/Leads— retrieves a list of all leadshttps://api.na1.insightly.com/v3.1/Opportunities— retrieves a list of all opportunitieshttps://api.na1.insightly.com/v3.1/Projects— retrieves a list of all projectshttps://api.na1.insightly.com/v3.1/Organisations— retrieves a list of all organizationshttps://api.na1.insightly.com/v3.1/Tasks— retrieves a list of all taskshttps://api.na1.insightly.com/v3.1/Events— retrieves a list of all calendar events
To retrieve an individual record by its ID, append the integer record ID to the endpoint path (for example,
https://api.na1.insightly.com/v3.1/Contacts/123456).Replace
na1in the example URLs with your own pod identifier. Your pod URL is displayed in User Settings > API section in your Insightly account. Using the wrong pod URL will result in authentication errors.
Filtering and Pagination Parameters
The Insightly API supports several query string parameters that can be appended to endpoint URLs to filter, sort, and paginate results:
$filter: Filter records by field values (for example,?$filter=FIRST_NAME eq 'Jane'to retrieve contacts named Jane).$orderby: Sort results by a field (for example,?$orderby=DATE_CREATED_UTC descto sort by creation date, newest first).$top: Limit the number of records returned in a single response (maximum 500, for example,?$top=500).$skip: Skip a number of records for pagination (for example,?$skip=500to retrieve the second page of 500 records).$select: Return only specific fields (for example,?$select=CONTACT_ID,FIRST_NAME,LAST_NAME,EMAIL_ADDRESS).updated_after_utc: Retrieve only records updated after a specific UTC datetime (for example,?updated_after_utc=2024-01-01%2000:00:00).
These parameters can be combined in a single URL. For example, to retrieve up to 500 contacts updated after January 1, 2024, sorted by last update descending:
https://api.na1.insightly.com/v3.1/Contacts?updated_after_utc=2024-01-01%2000:00:00&$top=500&$orderby=DATE_UPDATED_UTC%20desc
The updated_after_utc parameter is particularly useful for incremental data ingestion — use it with Nexla's date/time macros to ingest only records modified since the last data flow run.
Date/Time Macros (API URL)
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.
Date/time macros are especially useful with the Insightly updated_after_utc parameter, enabling incremental ingestion of records changed since the last run. For example, you can use {now-1} formatted as YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss to fetch records updated in the past day.
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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 datetimecustom– 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
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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}. For Insightly'supdated_after_utcparameter, use the formatYYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss. -
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}, whenDayis selected,{now-1}will be converted to the datetime one day before the current datetime.
Lookup-Based Macros (API URL)
Column values from existing lookups can also be included as macros in the API URL. Lookup-based macros allow you to reference data from previously configured data sources or lookups, enabling dynamic API endpoints that can adapt based on existing data.
Lookup-based macros are useful when you need to create API endpoints that reference specific Insightly record IDs, pipeline IDs, or other values from other data sources in your Nexla environment.
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To include a lookup column value macro, select the relevant lookup from the Add Lookups to Supported Macros pulldown menu.
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Type
{at the appropriate position in the API URL, and select the lookup column-based macro from the dropdown list. Lookup-based macros are automatically populated into the macro list when a lookup is selected in the Add Lookups to Supported Macros pulldown menu.
Path to Data
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.
For example, when a GET request is used to fetch a list of Insightly contacts, the API returns a JSON array of contact objects directly at the root of the response. By entering the correct path, you can configure Nexla to treat each element of the returned array as a separate 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. The Insightly API v3.1 typically returns records as a top-level JSON array for list endpoints.
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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.
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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.,
$.data.items[*]to access an array of items within a data object). -
For responses in XML format, enter the XPath that points to the object/array containing relevant data. XPath uses slash notation (e.g.,
/response/data/itemto access item elements within a data element).
Path to Data Example:The Insightly API v3.1 returns list responses as a top-level JSON array. For most list endpoints (such as
/Contactsor/Leads), the path to the records is simply$[*], which treats each element of the root array as a separate record in the Nexset. -
Autogenerate Path Suggestions
Nexla can also autogenerate data path suggestions based on the response from the API endpoint. These suggested paths can be used as-is or modified to exactly suit your needs.
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To use this feature, click the Test button next to the Set API URL field to fetch a sample response from the API endpoint. Suggested data paths generated based on the content & format of the response will be displayed in the Suggestions box below the Set Path to Data in Response field.
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Click on a suggestion to automatically populate the Set Path to Data in Response field with the corresponding path. The populated path can be modified directly within the field if further customization is needed.
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.
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.
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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, and for responses in XML format, enter the XPath.
Request Headers
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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). Additional headers are often required for API versioning, content type specifications, or custom authentication requirements.You do not need to include the
Authorizationheader — Nexla adds this automatically using the credentials you configured. The Insightly API also does not require explicitAcceptorContent-Typeheaders for GET requests; however, if you are using a POST endpoint, you may need to includeContent-Type:application/json.
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.
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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.
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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
- 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 Insightly 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.