Tarka
Back to Fundamentals
Clay
Config

Integration Compatibility Assessment

Evaluate the technical feasibility and effort required to build a product integration with a partner

Instructions

Integration Compatibility Assessment

Prerequisites

  • Partner product identified (name, domain, public docs URL)
  • Clay account or web search API access for automated research
  • Understanding of your own product's API surface (endpoints, webhooks, auth methods)

Steps

  1. Locate the partner's developer documentation. Search for {partner_domain}/docs, {partner_domain}/developers, or {partner_domain}/api. Use Clay's Claygent to automate discovery:

    Clay Claygent prompt:
"Find the developer documentation or API reference for {partner_domain}.
Return: docs_url, api_type (REST/GraphQL/webhook/SDK), authentication_method
(API key/OAuth2/JWT), public_api (yes/no), developer_program_url."

  2. Assess API availability and maturity. Check the partner's API for:

    • Public REST/GraphQL API: Endpoints documented, versioned, rate limits published
    • Webhook support: Can the partner push events to your system (new record created, status changed)?
    • SDK availability: Do they publish client libraries (Node, Python, Go)?
    • Sandbox/test environment: Can you develop against a free test account?
    • Rate limits: What are the request limits per minute/day?

    Score API maturity 1-5:

    • 5: Full REST API + webhooks + SDKs + sandbox + versioned docs
    • 4: REST API + webhooks + docs (no SDK or sandbox)
    • 3: REST API with docs but no webhooks
    • 2: API exists but poorly documented or in beta
    • 1: No public API; integration requires scraping or manual work

  3. Map integration surfaces. Identify the specific data flows your integration would implement:

    • Your product -> Partner: What data would you push? (contacts, events, metrics)
    • Partner -> Your product: What data would you pull or receive? (user records, activity, status)
    • Bidirectional sync: Does the use case require two-way data flow?
    • Trigger-based: Are there events in either product that should trigger actions in the other?

    Document each flow as: {source_object} -> {action} -> {destination_object} (e.g., "Attio deal stage change -> webhook -> partner project created").

  4. Estimate development effort. Classify the integration:

    • Light (1-2 days): Webhook listener + single API call. Example: send a Slack notification when a deal closes.
    • Medium (1-2 weeks): Bidirectional sync with auth flow. Example: sync contacts between CRM and email platform.
    • Heavy (2-4 weeks): Deep product integration with UI components. Example: embed partner features inside your product.
    • Native marketplace (4-8 weeks): Build and publish to the partner's app marketplace (e.g., HubSpot App Marketplace, Salesforce AppExchange).

  5. Check for existing connectors. Before building from scratch, check:

    • n8n: Does n8n have a built-in node for this partner? Search https://n8n.io/integrations/
    • Zapier/Make: Existing connectors you could leverage for an MVP
    • Tray.io / Workato: Enterprise integration platforms with pre-built connectors
    • Partner's marketplace: Do they already have a connector for your product category?

    If an existing connector covers >80% of the use case, use it for the Smoke/Baseline levels and build native only at Scalable.

  6. Record the assessment. Store in your CRM (Attio) on the partner company record:

    • api_maturity_score: Number (1-5)
    • integration_type: Light / Medium / Heavy / Native Marketplace
    • estimated_dev_days: Number
    • docs_url: URL to partner API docs
    • existing_connector: Yes/No (and platform name if yes)
    • integration_surfaces: Text describing the data flows
    • blockers: Any technical blockers identified

Error Handling

  • If no public API found, check if the partner has a Zapier/Make integration (indirect API access)
  • If API is in beta, contact the partner's developer relations team for access
  • If authentication requires OAuth2, factor in extra setup time for the auth flow

Alternative Tools

  • Postman: Test partner API endpoints interactively before committing to build
  • RapidAPI: Check if the partner's API is listed for quick testing
  • BuiltWith / Wappalyzer: Detect the partner's tech stack to infer API capabilities
  • Apollo / Clearbit: Enrich the partner company to find the right developer relations contact
  • GitHub: Search for community-built SDKs or integration examples