Broadcaster API: Getting Started

Broadcaster has a REST API. If you run a job management system, a CRM, or an automation platform such as Zapier, Make or n8n, the API connects it to Broadcaster so nothing has to be typed twice.

Integrations that support switches on

The API is open to every account: any key you create can use it. Some of the ready-made integrations on the Integrations page are different. The calendar feed and the spreadsheet import are there for everyone; the direct connections to other systems, such as RealGreen Service Assistant, appear only once support has switched them on for your account.

There is no charge for switching one on. It is done this way so you only see the integrations you will use, and so nothing connects to your existing data by accident. To have one turned on, press Help in the app or email [email protected] and say which system you use.

What the API covers

Five areas:

• Contacts. Create, read, update and delete contacts. Search by phone number, external ID or WhatsApp username. Store your own reference against each contact in the external ID field, so the two systems can always find the same person.
• Contact variables. Ask what may be stored against a contact before sending it: the API lists your contact fields and every variable you have set up, with the name to send, a label, the kind of value it holds and whether it can be set this way. A form built on this is never offered a field that would be refused.
• Bookings. Create and update appointments from your scheduling or job system. A booking is linked to a contact by phone number or WhatsApp ID, and the contact is created if they do not exist. Up to 100 bookings in one request, each carrying your own reference.
• Imports. Send a CSV of contacts and appointments to the same importer the Auto-Uploader and the import page use, and read back how the run went. A second call describes exactly what a valid file looks like.
• Messages. Two directions. Submit an enquiry from an external source, such as a website form, and it lands in your Live Feed and Inbox as a conversation. Send the form’s other answers with it and they are stored on the contact as your own variables, ready to use in a reply. A value that cannot be stored is reported back by name, and the enquiry is recorded either way. Leave a variable out to keep what is already stored, or send it empty to clear it. And read messages back: ask for everything that has arrived or changed since a timestamp, filtered by direction, status or contact, so an integration can resume from where it left off. An outgoing message comes back again as it is sent, delivered and read, which is how you tell whether a number actually received anything.

Get an API key

1. Open API Keys in the left-hand menu and press Create API Key.
2. Give it a name, choose an expiry date or leave that blank for a key that never expires, and tick Allow CSV imports if this key will send import files.
3. Copy the key. It is shown once.

Keys look like bro_live_ followed by 32 characters. Send yours as a Bearer token in the Authorization header of every request. The API Keys page shows when each key was last used and how many calls it has made, and a key can be disabled or deleted at any time.

Limits

Each key may make 100 requests a minute, 5,000 an hour and 50,000 a day. A polling integration should read messages by timestamp rather than asking for a fixed recent window, so a missed run loses nothing and the limits are never in the way.

Full documentation

The full reference, with every endpoint, request and response, is at getbroadcaster.com/api-docs.

Connecting a specific system

If you are trying to connect a particular CRM or job management tool and are not sure where to start, press Help in the app or email [email protected] and we will point you in the right direction.