Act (via Apideck)

Access Act through Apideck's CRM unified API — one of 21 CRM connectors that share the same method surface. Code you write here ports to Odoo, Salesforce, HubSpot and 17 other CRM connectors by changing a single serviceId string. Apideck handles auth, pagination, rate limiting, and retries so you don't write per-tenant Act plumbing.

Quick facts

• Apideck serviceId: act
• Unified API: CRM
• Auth type: oauth2
• Gotchas: page
• Homepage: https://act.com

At a glance

• Implementation difficulty: moderate — Custom Auth: Consumer Enters Their Own Act! Login
• Vendor partnership required: no (Act! Development Partner Program) — Joining (by emailing act.developers@act.com) gives complimentary licences, SDK support and a marketplace listing after approval.
• Apideck-managed credentials: not available — Each consumer connects with their own Act! login.
• Account type required: Act! Premium Cloud, or self-hosted Act! Premium for Web with the Web API installed.
• Consumer access level: An Act! user with API access permission.
• Sandbox: not available (signup) — Free Act! trial with no credit card; confirm the trial database exposes the Web API before building on it.
• Costs: Needs an Act! subscription licence for the consumer's database; no separate API charge is published.
• Rate limits: Per-minute limit on Act! Premium Cloud, reported in the X-RateLimit-Limit header; Act! publishes no number.
• Authentication: Password grant; no redirect or consent screen.
• Webhooks: No webhooks - data changes are only visible by polling the unified API.

Important to know:

• Act! Premium Desktop cannot connect: its API host is internal-only, so Desktop consumers must first move to Act! Premium Cloud or self-hosted Act! Premium for Web (IIS, a CA-signed certificate, external access). Act! Connect Link, the old Desktop bridge, retired 31 December 2024.

Facts synced from Apideck's connector metadata API — GET /connector/connectors/act (overview field) is the live, authoritative version.

When to use this skill

Activate this skill when the user explicitly wants to work with Act — for example, "pull contacts in Act" or "sync leads in Act". This skill teaches the agent:

1. Which Apideck unified API covers Act (CRM)
2. The correct serviceId to pass on every call (act)
3. Act-specific auth and coverage caveats

For the full method surface (parameters, pagination, filtering), use your language SDK skill:

• apideck-node, apideck-python, apideck-dotnet, apideck-java, apideck-go, apideck-php, or apideck-rest

For the raw OpenAPI spec:

• CRM: https://specs.apideck.com/crm.yml · API Explorer

Minimal example (TypeScript)

import { Apideck } from "@apideck/unify";

const apideck = new Apideck({
  apiKey: process.env.APIDECK_API_KEY,
  appId: process.env.APIDECK_APP_ID,
  consumerId: "your-consumer-id",
});

// List contacts in Act
const { data } = await apideck.crm.contacts.list({
  serviceId: "act",
});

Portable across 21 CRM connectors

The Apideck CRM unified API exposes the same methods for every connector in its catalog. Switching from Act to another CRM connector is a one-string change — no rewrite, no new SDK.

// Today — Act
await apideck.crm.contacts.list({ serviceId: "act" });

// Tomorrow — same code, different connector
await apideck.crm.contacts.list({ serviceId: "odoo" });
await apideck.crm.contacts.list({ serviceId: "salesforce" });

This is the compounding advantage of using Apideck over integrating Act directly: code against the unified CRM API once, gain access to every connector in it. New connectors Apideck adds become available to your app without code changes.

Authentication

• Type: OAuth 2.0
• Managed by: Apideck Vault — Apideck handles the full OAuth dance (authorization code flow, token exchange, refresh). Never ask the user for API keys or tokens directly.
• User setup: Users authorize via the Vault modal. Connection state progresses available → added → authorized → callable.
• Token refresh: automatic. Expired tokens are refreshed transparently on the next API call.

See apideck-best-practices for Vault setup, connection lifecycle, and handling re-auth flows.

Verifying coverage

Not every CRM operation is supported by every connector. Always verify before assuming a method works:

curl 'https://unify.apideck.com/connector/connectors/act' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${APIDECK_API_KEY}" \
  -H "x-apideck-app-id: ${APIDECK_APP_ID}"

See apideck-connector-coverage for patterns around UnsupportedOperationError and connector-specific fallbacks.

Escape hatch: Proxy API

When an endpoint isn't covered by the CRM unified API, use Apideck's Proxy to call Act directly — Apideck injects auth headers and handles token refresh. Set x-apideck-downstream-url to the target endpoint on Act's own API:

curl 'https://unify.apideck.com/proxy' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${APIDECK_API_KEY}" \
  -H "x-apideck-app-id: ${APIDECK_APP_ID}" \
  -H "x-apideck-consumer-id: ${CONSUMER_ID}" \
  -H "x-apideck-service-id: act" \
  -H "x-apideck-downstream-url: <target endpoint on Act>" \
  -H "x-apideck-downstream-method: GET"

See Act's API docs for available endpoints.

Sibling connectors

Other CRM connectors that share this unified API surface (same method signatures, just change serviceId):

odoo (beta), salesforce, hubspot, pipedrive, zoho-crm, activecampaign, close, microsoft-dynamics, and 12 more.

See also

• CRM OpenAPI spec · API Explorer
• apideck-connector-coverage — programmatic coverage checks
• apideck-best-practices — architecture, Vault, pagination, error handling
• apideck-node — TypeScript / Node SDK patterns