How to Connect AppFolio to Frontdesk

This guide walks you through connecting your AppFolio account to Frontdesk so your AI receptionist can answer caller questions about available rentals, unit details, and property information using live data from your portfolio.

No coding required. Setup takes about a minute once you have your API credentials.

What You'll Need

An AppFolio account with API access enabled. Available on AppFolio Plus, AppFolio Plus + Database API add-on, or Property Manager Max.
- AppFolio Plus alone gives you read access, which is enough for the integration's three default workflows (Available Units, Unit Details, Property Details, all read operations).
- If you want the AI to also create or update entities in AppFolio (open work orders during a call, add notes to a unit, update tenant information, and similar mutations), you'll need write API access. That comes with Plus + Database API add-on or Property Manager Max.
Admin access to your AppFolio instance so you can generate API credentials.
A Frontdesk account.
About 5 minutes.

Note: The three default workflows work on any AppFolio plan with API access, including Plus alone. Write operations (creating work orders, updating tenant data, etc.) need the Database API tier (Plus + add-on, or Max). Work-order writes additionally need a one-time AppFolio admin approval. See the "Work Orders" section at the end of this guide.

What This Integration Enables

Once connected, three workflows are automatically installed on your receptionist:

[AppFolio] Available Units: real-time list of vacant, rent-ready units. The AI uses it to answer "what's available?" calls.
[AppFolio] Unit Details: amenities, appliances, square footage, deposits, application fees, and the marketing description for a specific unit.
[AppFolio] Property Details: manager, owner, and location details for any property in your portfolio.

The AI calls these workflows live during conversations, so your callers always hear current information.

Step 1: Open the Integrations panel

Log into app.myaifrontdesk.com.
Click Receptionist in the left sidebar.
Scroll to the Integrations section and expand it.
Click the AppFolio card.

Integrations panel with AppFolio, Lasso CRM, and Shopify cards

Step 2: Review what gets enabled

A side panel opens showing the capabilities your AI receptionist will gain once connected, along with the AppFolio plan tier required.

Take a moment to confirm:

Your AppFolio plan meets the requirement (Property Manager Max, or Plus + Database API add-on).
The three capabilities listed match what you want your receptionist to handle.

When ready, click Connect AppFolio.

AppFolio integration detail panel listing capabilities and plan requirements

Step 3: Generate your AppFolio API credentials

Before you can connect, you need a Client ID and Client Secret from AppFolio. Generate them from your AppFolio admin in under a minute.

Heads up: You'll need admin access to your AppFolio instance. If you don't see the menu items below, ask your AppFolio admin to do this part.

3a. Open General Settings

In a new tab, log into your AppFolio Property Manager. Click your profile name in the top-right corner of the navbar, then choose General Settings from the dropdown.

3b. Open Manage API Settings

On the General Settings page, find and click Manage API Settings in the first column of links.

AppFolio General Settings page with Manage API Settings highlighted

3c. Generate new credentials

On the API Settings page, you'll see the Reports API section. Click Generate New Credentials to create your Client ID and Client Secret.

If you already have credentials shown here, you can reuse them. Otherwise, click the button to generate a fresh pair.

AppFolio API Settings page showing the Reports API section with a Generate New Credentials button

Copy both the Client ID and Client Secret somewhere safe. You'll paste them into Frontdesk in the next step.

Don't see Manage API Settings? Your AppFolio plan likely doesn't include the Database API. You need Property Manager Max, or AppFolio Plus with the Database API add-on. Contact your AppFolio account manager to enable it.

Step 4: Paste your credentials into Frontdesk

Back in the Frontdesk Connect to AppFolio dialog, fill in all three fields:

Field	What to enter
Subdomain	Your AppFolio subdomain (everything before `.appfolio.com`). For example, if your AppFolio URL is `https://acmeproperties.appfolio.com`, enter `acmeproperties`.
Client ID	The Client ID you copied in Step 3c.
Client Secret	The Client Secret you copied in Step 3c. Frontdesk stores this encrypted.

Click Connect when all three fields are filled.

Connect to AppFolio dialog with subdomain, client ID, and client secret fields

Step 5: You're connected

When the connection succeeds, the panel updates to show:

A green Connected badge.
The subdomain you connected to (e.g. acmeproperties.appfolio.com).
Three workflow toggles, all switched On by default.

You can toggle individual workflows off if you want to disable a specific capability. Most customers leave all three on.

Connected state showing the three AppFolio workflows toggled on

That's it. The next call your receptionist takes will use live AppFolio data.

What Frontdesk Can Do With AppFolio

Once connected, your AI receptionist can answer questions like:

"What one-bedrooms do you have available under $1,000?" Pulls vacant, rent-ready units from AppFolio in real time.
"What's the deposit on the place on Stoepel Street?" Looks up unit details (deposit, application fee, square footage, amenities).
"Who manages the building on Glenfield?" Pulls property details (manager, owner, location).
"Is the unit pet-friendly?" Reads amenity and policy data straight from the unit record.

The AI speaks naturally on the phone. It will not read addresses or ZIP codes verbatim, it groups options two-at-a-time so callers do not get overwhelmed, and it offers to text follow-up details when relevant.

Work Orders (Optional)

The three default workflows ship out of the box on any plan with API access. Work orders are a separate capability with two layers of gating on top:

Reading work orders (looking up existing work orders, checking status, telling callers what's already scheduled) works on any plan with API access, including Plus alone. No extra approval needed.
Writing work orders (creating new work orders during a call, or updating existing ones) needs both:
1. Write API access, which comes with Plus + Database API add-on or Property Manager Max, and
2. A separate write-access approval from AppFolio for work orders specifically. From the AppFolio integration panel in Frontdesk, click Request work-order API access to open a pre-written email template you can send to AppFolio support.

Once both are in place, the AI can open a work order live on the call when a tenant reports a maintenance issue.

Disconnecting

If you ever need to disconnect:

Go to Receptionist → Integrations → AppFolio.
Scroll to the bottom of the panel.
Click Disconnect.

This removes the three workflows from your receptionist and revokes Frontdesk's access to your AppFolio data. You can reconnect at any time using the same flow.

Troubleshooting

"Invalid credentials" error when connecting

Double check the subdomain. It should be just the prefix, not the full URL (use acmeproperties, not https://acmeproperties.appfolio.com).
Confirm the Client ID and Client Secret were copied without extra spaces.
Make sure your AppFolio plan includes the Database API.

"No units returned" during a test call

Confirm you have at least one unit in AppFolio with unit_status set to Vacant-Unrented and rent_ready set to Yes. Other units are filtered out by design so callers only hear options they can actually rent.

Workflows are off after connecting

Open the AppFolio panel and toggle them on. All three default to on, but they can be manually disabled.

Need Help?

If you get stuck, open the chat on app.myaifrontdesk.com and say "I need help setting up my AppFolio integration." Our team will walk you through it.