Skills Product & Business AppFolio Property Management Workflow Tool

AppFolio Property Management Workflow Tool

v20260423
appfolio-core-workflow-a
This comprehensive workflow manages the full property lifecycle using the AppFolio API. It handles authentication, creating and updating property records and units, onboarding new tenants, generating lease agreements, and querying real-time occupancy/vacancy data. Ideal for automating core real estate management tasks in a SaaS environment.
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Overview

AppFolio — Property & Tenant Management

Overview

Primary workflow for AppFolio property management integration. Covers the full property lifecycle: creating and updating property records, managing tenant profiles and lease agreements, and querying occupancy data. Uses the AppFolio Stack API with OAuth 2.0 client credentials for server-to-server access. All endpoints return JSON and support pagination via cursor parameters for large portfolios.

Instructions

Step 1: Authenticate and Initialize Client

const token = await fetch('https://api.appfolio.com/oauth/token', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded' },
  body: new URLSearchParams({
    grant_type: 'client_credentials',
    client_id: process.env.APPFOLIO_CLIENT_ID!,
    client_secret: process.env.APPFOLIO_CLIENT_SECRET!,
    scope: 'properties tenants leases',
  }),
}).then(r => r.json());
const headers = { Authorization: `Bearer ${token.access_token}`, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' };

Step 2: Create or Update a Property

const property = await fetch('https://api.appfolio.com/v1/properties', {
  method: 'POST', headers,
  body: JSON.stringify({
    name: 'Sunrise Apartments',
    address: { street: '100 Main St', city: 'Austin', state: 'TX', zip: '78701' },
    type: 'residential',
    units: [
      { number: '101', bedrooms: 2, bathrooms: 1, rent: 1450 },
      { number: '102', bedrooms: 1, bathrooms: 1, rent: 1100 },
    ],
  }),
}).then(r => r.json());
console.log(`Property created: ${property.id}`);

Step 3: Add a Tenant and Lease

const tenant = await fetch('https://api.appfolio.com/v1/tenants', {
  method: 'POST', headers,
  body: JSON.stringify({
    first_name: 'Alex', last_name: 'Rivera',
    email: 'alex.rivera@example.com', phone: '512-555-0199',
  }),
}).then(r => r.json());

await fetch('https://api.appfolio.com/v1/leases', {
  method: 'POST', headers,
  body: JSON.stringify({
    property_id: property.id, unit_number: '101',
    tenant_id: tenant.id, start_date: '2026-05-01', end_date: '2027-04-30',
    monthly_rent: 1450, security_deposit: 1450,
  }),
}).then(r => r.json());

Step 4: Query Occupancy

const units = await fetch(
  `https://api.appfolio.com/v1/properties/${property.id}/units?status=vacant`,
  { headers },
).then(r => r.json());
console.log(`Vacant units: ${units.data.length} of ${units.meta.total}`);

Error Handling

Issue Cause Fix
401 Unauthorized Expired or invalid token Re-authenticate with client credentials
404 Not Found Wrong property/tenant ID Verify resource ID exists before referencing
422 Unprocessable Missing required fields Check errors[] array in response body
409 Conflict Duplicate lease for unit Query existing leases before creating
429 Too Many Requests Rate limit exceeded Back off using Retry-After header value

Output

A successful run creates a property with units, adds a tenant, binds them via a lease, and reports vacancy counts. Console output confirms each resource ID on creation.

Resources

Next Steps

Continue with appfolio-core-workflow-b for maintenance requests and payment tracking.

Info
Name appfolio-core-workflow-a
Version v20260423
Size 3.74KB
Updated At 2026-04-26
Language