Hello, this is Matsubara, CRM Evangelist.

This article is written for engineers and IT personnel who want to integrate EMOROCO CRM Lite with other systems. It provides a technical overview of integration patterns, from architectural concepts to specific design examples, covering REST APIs, webhook-like external notifications, and integration with Power Automate.

table of contents

1. Target audience and prerequisites
2. Overview of the REST API
3. Authentication method: API key authentication
4. Utilizing API specifications (Swagger/OpenAPI)
5. Access patterns for each entity
6. Webhook-like external notifications: Designed to be sent via workflow.
7. Integration patterns with Power Automate
8. Security Considerations
9. Utilizing Sandbox/PoC Environments
10. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
11. Summary

1. Target audience and prerequisites

This article is intended for the following people:

Engineers who want to integrate EMOROCO CRM Lite with their company's core systems and accounting systems.
IT personnel who want to combine it with workflow automation tools such as Power Automate
- As an implementation support partner, you will be responsible for designing system integrations for customers.

This explanation assumes a certain level of knowledge regarding the basic concepts of REST APIs, webhooks, and OAuth-like authentication.

2. Overview of the REST API

EMOROCO CRM Lite provides a general-purpose REST API as standard.
This is not a special paid option; it's available to all tenants as a standard feature.

Similar to typical REST API designs, the system is configured to access, create, update, and delete data from entities (such as companies, contacts, activity history, and projects) using HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.).
Instead of being limited to specific entities, standard API access is available to all entities managed within the CRM.

3. Authentication method: API key authentication

The authentication method used when accessing the EMOROCO CRM Lite API from external systems is API key authentication. The API is called by including the API key, which is issued for each tenant, in the request header.

Design precautions

- API keys should be stored in environment variables or secrets and not directly written into the source code.
- If it is possible to issue multiple API keys for each purpose, issue separate keys for each linked system to limit the scope of impact in the event of a data breach.
- Incorporate regular key rotation as an operational rule.

4. Utilizing API specifications (Swagger/OpenAPI)

EMOROCO CRM Lite automatically generates API specifications in Swagger (OpenAPI) format.
This offers the following advantages:

• Endpoint lists and request/response schemas can be automatically compiled into documentation.
• You can import specifications into tools like Swagger UI and Postman, and develop while actually testing the API.
• By combining it with a tool that automatically generates client code from OpenAPI schemas, the effort required for integration development can be reduced.

Adding or modifying entities and fields without writing any code automatically updates the API specifications accordingly, which is an advantage for developers as it eliminates the need to manually manage documentation.

5. Access patterns for each entity

In addition to standard entities such as companies, contacts, activity history, and projects, custom entities added without coding can all be accessed using the same API mechanism.

Image of a typical access pattern

• List Retrieval: Sends a GET request to the collection of target entities and performs filtering according to the conditions.
• Retrieving a single record: Send a GET request specifying the record's ID.
• Record creation: Send a POST request containing a JSON body with required fields.
• Record update: Send the fields you want to update in a PUT or PATCH request.

For specific endpoint paths and parameter names, please be sure to check the API specification (Swagger/OpenAPI) issued for each tenant.
This article outlines common REST API design patterns; for precise specifications, please refer to the automatically generated documentation as your primary source.

6. Webhook-like external notifications: Designed to be sent via workflow.

Here's an important design consideration.
EMOROCO CRM Lite does not have a separate function known as a "Webhook-specific settings screen."
Instead, we'll use the "Execute External Integration (API/Webhook)" action within the standard workflow functionality to build a system that sends notifications to external systems when data is updated.

Design concept

1. Set the workflow trigger to "When a case entity is created," etc.
2. Select "Execute external integration (API/Webhook)" as the action.
3. Set the URL to which notifications will be sent (Webhook URL of an external service such as Notion).
4. Set the content of the data to be sent (project name, amount, status, etc.)

This design allows for external notifications to be sent as an extension of existing workflow mechanisms, without the need for a dedicated webhook management screen.
Conversely, this means that the operation of "sending a webhook" can be handled with knowledge of normal workflow design.

7. Integration patterns with Power Automate

EMOROCO CRM Lite does not have a dedicated connector for Power Automate.
However, by combining the standard REST API with external integration via workflows (a webhook-like mechanism), bidirectional integration with Power Automate can be achieved.

EMOROCO CRM Lite → Power Automate Integration (Outbound)

This configuration uses the "Execute External Integration (API/Webhook)" action in the workflow to call the Power Automate HTTP request received trigger (Webhook URL).
This allows you to trigger a Power Automate flow based on data changes in the CRM.

Integration of Power Automate with EMOROCO CRM Lite (inbound)

This configuration uses an HTTP connector on the Power Automate side to send requests to the EMOROCO CRM Lite REST API endpoint.
By incorporating the API key into the authentication settings of the HTTP connector, you can create and update records in the CRM from the Power Automate flow.

Typical usage scenarios

• Power Automate automatically registers the contents of emails received in Outlook as activity history in EMOROCO CRM Lite.
• The approval workflow in Teams will be integrated, and the approval results will be reflected in the case status in the CRM.
• Information from files stored in SharePoint is recorded and linked to cases in the CRM.

The lack of a dedicated connector means that initial setup is slightly more complicated, but since it can be achieved with a standard combination of HTTP connector and API key authentication, it shouldn't be a major obstacle for engineers familiar with Power Platform.

8. Security Considerations

When designing system integrations, please keep the following points in mind:

• API key managementAs mentioned above, we use an environment variable and secret management mechanism to avoid hardcoding in plain text.
• Encryption of communications: Always confirm that it is an HTTPS connection.
• Least Privilege : Security RoleBy utilizing this, the minimum necessary access scope is assigned to the user and API keys used for integration.
• Log recording: Ensure that the execution results of external integrations can be viewed as part of the workflow execution history.

9. Utilizing Sandbox/PoC Environments

Because EMOROCO CRM Lite is containerized, you can quickly build a sandbox environment for testing that does not affect the production environment.
In developing system integrations, it is crucial to provide an environment where trial and error can be performed without affecting production data.
Before starting integrated development, we recommend first testing the functionality of your APIs and workflows in a sandbox environment.

10. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q. Are there any API rate limits?
Restrictions may be imposed depending on usage.
Please contact our support desk for further details.

Q. Is there a function to resend webhooks?
Regarding mechanisms for resending and error handling in external integration via workflows, please utilize the execution history confirmation function and consult with us individually as needed.

Q. Does it support GraphQL?
The standard API provided is a REST API.
Support for GraphQL is something we will consider in the future.

Q. Is it possible to integrate large amounts of data at once?
By combining full data extraction via API with standard CSV output functionality, we can handle the integration of large amounts of data.

11. Summary

EMOROCO CRM Lite is designed to enable integration with external systems, including Power Automate, without the need for dedicated connectors, thanks to its combination of a general-purpose REST API, automatically generated API specifications, and webhook-like external integration via workflows.
A unique architectural feature of EMOROCO CRM Lite is that, instead of offering the Webhook function as a standalone feature, it integrates it into an existing workflow system.
For specific specifications, please proceed with integration development while always referring to the API specification document issued for each tenant as the primary source of information.

EMOROCO CRM Lite costs ¥1,500 per user per month (minimum 3 users) and has no initial setup fee, with a 30-day free trial.https://www.emoroco.com/You can start from there.
IT implementation subsidy eligible tool number: DL07-0022934.

We also offer a monthly newsletter, "ARCUS NEWS," which provides updates on EMOROCO CRM Lite and other useful information for CRM operations.
If you likeCLICK HEREPlease register here.

Additionally, we publish useful articles about CRM 4.0 on note ( https://note.com/arcuss_crm ), so please check them out as well.

Related article

• External Connector Function: Practical Guide
• Approval Workflow Feature Guide
• Security Role and Form Permission Management Guide