API reference

Protocol has a REST API you can call from your own scripts, tools, and integrations. Everything your dashboard does is backed by it, and the full, always-current list of endpoints - with request and response examples - lives in the interactive API reference:

• API reference (interactive): api.protocolcrm.com/docs
• OpenAPI spec (raw): api.protocolcrm.com/v1/openapi.json

To call the API you need an API key - a secret token you create yourself and send with each request. Start here:

• Creating & using API keys - create a key, keep it safe, authenticate a request, and revoke a key.
• API rate limits & AI usage budget - the per-key request limits, the 429
  • Retry-After contract, and the 402 you’ll see if AI-backed calls exceed the monthly AI budget.
• Webhooks: register an HTTPS endpoint, choose events, verify the signature, and read the delivery log to get notified in real time instead of polling.
• Building workflows on the API: tasks and purchase imports that are safe to run twice, the client history feed, and the headers that tag a workflow’s changes.

API keys vs. connecting an AI assistant. If you just want to connect Claude or ChatGPT to Protocol, you don’t need an API key: paste the connector URL from the AI agent page into your assistant and approve the connection in your browser (Connecting your assistant). API keys are for calling the REST API directly from your own code.