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Contacts+ API Authentication

How to authenticate Contacts+ API requests: one Bearer API key plus a connectionId. MindCloud runs the OAuth flow and refreshes Contacts+ tokens for you.

Every Contacts+ API request through MindCloud needs two things: a MindCloud API Key and a connectionId for your Contacts+ account. This page covers both, plus exactly how to send them, so you do not need to visit any other page to get authenticated.

Steps to authenticate

  1. Create a MindCloud account at app.mindcloud.co if you do not already have one.
  2. Generate a MindCloud API Key in API Keys. This is the Bearer token you send on every request. Keep it on your server.
  3. Create a Contacts+ connection in Connections. Contacts+ uses OAuth. When you create the connection, you are redirected to sign in to Contacts+ and approve access — MindCloud stores the resulting tokens and refreshes them automatically, so your integration never has to.
  4. Copy the connection’s connectionId — you will send it on every request alongside your MindCloud API Key.

How requests are authenticated

Authentication has two layers. Your MindCloud API Key authenticates the request to MindCloud, sent as a Bearer token in the Authorization header. The connectionId selects the connected Contacts+ account that should run the action. MindCloud stores and refreshes the Contacts+ credentials behind that connection, so you never send provider tokens with your requests.

Pass connectionId in the query string for GET and DELETE actions, and in the JSON body for POST, PUT, and PATCH actions.

For example, calling Get Account with an Contacts+ connection looks like this:

curl --request POST \
  --url "https://connect.mindcloud.co/v2/universal/apps/contacts/actions/get-account/run" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $MINDCLOUD_API_KEY" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
  "connectionId": "$CONNECTION_ID",
  "arguments": {}
}'

The Authorization: Bearer <your MindCloud API Key> header authenticates you to MindCloud; the connectionId tells MindCloud which Contacts+ account to run the action against. Missing or invalid Authorization returns 401, and a missing or mismatched connectionId returns 400.

Connect your Contacts+ account

You need a Contacts+ account with API access and permission to create a developer app.

  1. Create a Contacts+ developer app

    Open the Contacts+ developer apps page and create a new app so you can generate OAuth credentials for MindCloud.

    Apps
  2. Add the MindCloud redirect URI to your app

    In your Contacts+ app settings, add the redirect URI shown by MindCloud in the connection flow to the list of allowed redirect URIs.

  3. Copy the OAuth credentials into MindCloud

    Return to MindCloud and paste the Contacts+ Client ID and Client Secret into the connection form.

  4. Finish the authorization popup

    Start the connection from MindCloud and approve the requested Contacts+ permissions in the Contacts+ authorization page.

Keep your key safe

Keep your MindCloud API Key on your server; do not ship it in browser code, mobile apps, public repositories, or logs. Anyone with the key can call the Universal API as your MindCloud account, across every connection you have created.