Insightly's AppConnect: Your Secret Weapon

AppConnect is an enterprise-grade workflow automation platform integrated within Insightly. It combines the ease of use expected from consumer apps with the robust functionality needed by businesses and IT professionals to build powerful workflow automations.

With AppConnect, users can integrate Insightly with thousands of third-party applications, automating repetitive processes through customizable workflows called Recipes. These Recipes are made up of steps, actions, and triggers that create seamless communication between apps.

Table of Contents

1. What is AppConnect?
2. Recipes: The Heart of AppConnect
3. Community Library
4. Key Definitions
5. How to Enable AppConnect
6. How to Add a Connection
7. How to Build a Recipe
8. Tracking Performance with the Dashboard
9. Learn More

What is AppConnect?

AppConnect is an automation platform that allows you to integrate Insightly with thousands of apps and services. These integrations are built using workflows called Recipes, which automate repetitive tasks and move data between systems without the need for manual intervention.

Key Features:

• Integrations with Thousands of Apps: AppConnect connects Insightly with other applications, creating seamless workflows.
• Customizable Recipes: Build highly specific workflows that handle everything from simple data syncing to complex processes.
• Automation at Scale: Simplify your business processes by automating tasks between applications.

Recipes: The Heart of AppConnect

Recipes are a set of instructions that automate workflows between connected apps. Each Recipe consists of triggers, which monitor for events, and actions, which are the tasks executed in response.

Key Components of a Recipe:

• Triggers: Monitor for events that occur in connected apps.
• Actions: Perform predefined operations in response to trigger events.
• Jobs: Created each time a Recipe processes a trigger. Jobs log all actions taken and provide a detailed history of Recipe executions.
• Connections: Display which apps are used in the Recipe.

Users can manage Recipes via the Assets section of AppConnect. Recipes can be edited, cloned, or deleted, and their activity tracked across the following tabs:

• Jobs: Shows all job activity processed by the Recipe.
• Connections: Lists the apps connected to the Recipe.
• Versions: Tracks changes to Recipes over time, allowing users to view and restore previous versions.
• Settings: Houses additional Recipe resources, descriptions, and options for sharing.

Community Library

The Community Library offers a collection of pre-built Recipes and connectors shared by Insightly users. You can filter Recipes by app, category, or search directly by app name.

Using the Community Library:

1. Select one app to view all Recipe templates related to that app.
2. Add a second app to find Recipes that connect both applications.

Key Definitions

Connector SDK

The Connector SDK allows users to build their own custom connectors for apps that aren’t yet supported by AppConnect. Built connectors are private by default but can be shared publicly once completed.

Task

A Task is a unit of work performed by a Recipe. Each action in a Recipe counts as one Task. Monthly Task limits vary, ranging from 25,000 to 500,000 Tasks per month.

For a detailed breakdown of how Tasks are counted, see the following table:

How to Enable AppConnect

1. Contact Insightly’s sales team at sales@insightly.com to enable AppConnect.
2. Once enabled, go to System Settings > AppConnect.
3. Add users by selecting Add User, then choose the users you want to have access.
4. AppConnect will be accessible from the nine-dot menu at the top right.

How to Add a Connection

1. Navigate to Assets > Connections and click Create a Connection.
2. Select the app you want to connect.
3. Enter required information such as API keys or host details, if applicable.
4. Click Connect to establish the connection.

Once connected, apps will appear on the Connections page, showing their connection status and usage in Recipes.

How to Build a Recipe

1. Go to Assets > Recipes and click Create a Recipe.
2. Enter a name for the Recipe and choose a folder for organization.
3. Select a starting point for the Recipe, such as:
   • Trigger from an app
   • Run on a schedule
   • Trigger from a webhook
4. Define the trigger event by choosing an app and an event that starts the Recipe.
5. Add actions by clicking the +icon, where you can:
   • Perform actions in apps
   • Set conditions (If/Else)
   • Repeat actions
   • Call other Recipes
6. Test and save your Recipe. When ready, click Start Recipe to activate it.

Tracking Performance with the Dashboard

The Dashboard lets you monitor Recipe performance, including:

• Number of successful and failed jobs
• Number of Recipes used
• Tasks completed

Filters for time periods and folders allow users to customize the dashboard view. Users can also track usage limits in the Billing & Account page, which updates with every 10% of usage.

Learn More

For more detailed guidance on using AppConnect, explore the following articles:

1. AppConnect Example Recipes
2. AppConnect Data Types and Formulas
3. AppConnect Data Types and Formulas: String
4. AppConnect Data Types and Formulas: Integer or number
5. AppConnect Data Types and Formulas: Date or datetime
6. AppConnect Data Types and Formulas: Array/hash (list)
7. Building AppConnect Recipes: Triggers
8. Building AppConnect Recipes: Steps
9. Building AppConnect Recipes: Actions
10. Building AppConnect Recipes: IF conditions
11. Running AppConnect Recipes
12. Running AppConnect Recipes: Tasks
13. Running AppConnect Recipes: Start
14. Running AppConnect Recipes: Skip
15. Running AppConnect Recipes: Stop
16. Running AppConnect Recipes: Test
17. Running AppConnect Recipes: Jobs
18. Troubleshooting Recipes