Connect your own software to Ignition. The Core API lets another system read and write your practice's data, so client, proposal and invoice information stays in step with the other tools you use.
Looking for plans and pricing? This article covers Ignition's developer API, not the Core subscription plan. For plans, see Legacy plans and new plans.
Available on every plan, in Early access. Any Admin can turn on the Core API from Labs. There's nothing to request, and you don't need Pro+ (that requirement belongs to the Reporting API).
Core API or Reporting API?
Ignition has two APIs, and they do different jobs:
Core API (read and write): create and update clients, proposals and invoices, and keep Ignition in sync with your other systems.
Reporting API (read-only): pull data into BI tools and spreadsheets.
Each app you create works with one API only and can't be switched later, so pick the one that matches what you're building.
Please note: You don't need the Ignition MCP to use the Core API. The Ignition MCP is a separate connection for AI assistants, and it isn't required to build an integration.
What the Core API can reach
Area | What an integration can do |
Clients and contacts | View, create, edit, archive and restore clients. Add, edit and remove contacts. |
Proposals | View, create, edit, send, renew, archive and mark as lost. Read and replace proposal content. |
Proposal templates | View |
Invoices | View, create, edit, send, void and archive. Create a payment link. |
Services | View, create and edit |
Client services | View |
Tax rates | View |
Practice details | View |
Webhooks | Create, view, edit and delete webhook subscriptions |
What the Core API can't reach
These areas are outside the Core API entirely. Ignition refuses these requests whoever authorized the app and whatever their role:
Payment records
Billing items
Deals and pipeline stages
Forms and form templates
Terms templates, email templates and message templates
Note: Invoices and payments are separate. An integration can create an invoice and a payment link for it, but it can't read payment records back.
Documents and attachments
The Core API never returns files. Proposal PDFs, signed documents and uploaded attachments can't leave Ignition this way.
Proposal content is available, and it includes:
The terms text attached to each service on a proposal
Which document templates a proposal uses and whether each needs a signature (not the documents themselves)
Terms text can't be switched off separately. An integration that can read proposals can also read the terms on them.
How to limit what an integration can do
You can't pick and choose areas for each app. When someone authorizes a Core API app, it gets access to the whole Core API.
What you can control is who authorizes it. The integration acts as the person who approved the app and inherits that person's access. To restrict an integration, create a dedicated Ignition user for it, give that user the role you want the integration to have, and have that user (not a real team member) authorize the app.
Two things then decide what the integration can do.
1. The user's role decides whether it can make changes
Only Admin and Member users can make changes through the Core API. If the integration's user is Sales, Billing or Viewer, it can read data, but Ignition refuses every attempt to create or change anything.
This is stricter than the web app. A Sales user can create proposals in Ignition, and a Billing user can issue invoices, but neither can do this through the Core API.
If your integration needs to write, its user must be Admin or Member.
2. Individual permissions apply with Advanced roles and permissions
If your practice uses Advanced roles and permissions, the individual permissions on the user's role also apply to the API. For example, turn off Send proposals for a role, and an integration acting as a user with that role can't send proposals either.
Without Advanced roles and permissions, only the role check above (point 1) applies, and the integration can reach everything that role can by default.
Tip: Need an integration that reads broadly but only changes a little? Advanced roles and permissions makes that possible. Without it, the choice is read-only or full write access.
How to set up the Core API
Setup has two parts: turn on the Core API for your practice, then create an app. You need to be an Admin for both.
Turn on the Core API
Select Labs in the sidebar.
Open Core API and switch it on.
If you're already in the Developer hub, the Turn on Core API link takes you straight to the right place in Labs.
Create an app
In Ignition, go to Settings → Developer hub.
On the Core API card, select Create Core API app.
Under Which API?, choose Core API.
Add a name and description so you can recognize the app later.
Add the Redirect URLs. Whoever is building the integration will give you these.
Create the app.
Save your credentials
Once the app is created, Ignition shows a Client ID and Client secret. Copy both and store them somewhere safe.
The secret is only shown once. If it's lost, regenerate it from the app's menu. The old secret stops working straight away, so anything using it will stop until it's updated.
Connect the integration
Share the Client ID and Client secret with whoever is building the integration. They'll send you to an Ignition sign-in page to approve access. Make sure the person who signs in is the user whose access you want the integration to have.
For the full technical setup, including the authorization flow and every available operation, see the Core API developer documentation.
Cost and limits
The Core API is free during Early access. Usage is being measured to set fair allowances before general release, and you'll be told about any limits or charges well before they apply.
During Early access, each app can make up to 1,000 requests an hour. You can check your usage at any time in the Core API usage panel in Settings → Developer hub.
Important information
Only Admins can create apps. Other users can see the Developer hub but can't create or manage apps.
Use one app per integration. That way you can revoke one without breaking the others.
An app is tied to one API. A Core API app can't be switched to the Reporting API later, or the other way around.
The integration acts as the person who approved it. If that user is deactivated or their role changes, the integration's access changes too.
Developer Platform Terms apply. They're linked when you create an app.
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Still have questions? Reach out to our support team via the chat bubble or via help@ignitionapp.com and we'll be happy to help.