Attio Connect

Base URL: https://api.attio.com Auth: Authorization: Bearer $ATTIO_API_KEY API Key Location: 02-projects/Personal/projects/04-personal-crm/.env

Workflows

1. Create or Update a Person (Assert/Upsert)

The most important endpoint. Creates a new person OR updates an existing one, matched by email.

When to use: Adding a contact, importing from another source, updating stale data.

curl -X PUT "https://api.attio.com/v2/objects/people/records?matching_attribute=email_addresses" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ATTIO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "data": {
      "values": {
        "email_addresses": ["[email protected]"],
        "name": [{ "first_name": "Jane", "last_name": "Smith", "full_name": "Jane Smith" }],
        "job_title": ["Staff Engineer"],
        "description": ["Met at YC dinner 2024, works on AI infra"],
        "linkedin": ["https://linkedin.com/in/janesmith"],
        "twitter": ["@janesmith"],
        "primary_location": [{
          "locality": "San Francisco",
          "region": "California",
          "country_code": "US"
        }],
        "CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_SLUG": ["value"]
      }
    }
  }'

Key points:

• matching_attribute is a query parameter (not in the body)
• name requires full_name field alongside first_name/last_name
• LinkedIn field slug is linkedin (not linkedin_url)
• If found: updates the record
• If not found: creates a new record
• Multiselect values are ADDED (not replaced) when using assert
• avatar_url cannot be set via API

Custom attributes use their slug (e.g., relationship_type, proximity_tier). Discover slugs with the List Attributes endpoint.

2. Search / Query People

Find contacts by filtering on any attribute.

curl -X POST https://api.attio.com/v2/objects/people/records/query \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ATTIO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "filter": {
      "name": { "contains": "Jane" }
    },
    "sorts": [
      { "attribute": "name", "field": "last_name", "direction": "asc" }
    ],
    "limit": 25,
    "offset": 0
  }'

Filter examples:

// Filter by custom select attribute
{ "ATTRIBUTE_SLUG": { "contains": "value" } }

// Filter by email
{ "email_addresses": { "contains": "[email protected]" } }

Pagination: Use limit and offset. Response includes next_page_offset if more results.

3. Get a Single Person

curl -X GET https://api.attio.com/v2/objects/people/records/{record_id} \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ATTIO_API_KEY"

4. Create a Note on a Contact

Rich text notes attached to a person record.

curl -X POST https://api.attio.com/v2/notes \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ATTIO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "data": {
      "parent_object": "people",
      "parent_record_id": "RECORD_ID",
      "title": "Meeting Notes - Feb 2026",
      "format": "plaintext",
      "content": "Discussed AI infrastructure roadmap. Jane is interested in Beam for document processing automation. Follow up in 2 weeks with demo."
    }
  }'

Note fields:

• parent_object: "people" or "companies"
• parent_record_id: The record ID to attach the note to
• title: Note title
• format: "plaintext" or "html"
• content: The note body

5. List Notes for a Contact

curl -X GET "https://api.attio.com/v2/notes?parent_object=people&parent_record_id=RECORD_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ATTIO_API_KEY"

6. Discover Attributes (Schema Discovery)

Run this first to learn what custom attributes exist and their slugs.

curl -X GET https://api.attio.com/v2/objects/people/attributes \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ATTIO_API_KEY"

Returns all attributes on the People object with their:

• api_slug — use this in API calls
• title — human-readable name
• type — text, select, number, date, etc.
• is_multiselect — true/false
• config.options — for select/status attributes, the available options

7. Create a Custom Attribute

curl -X POST https://api.attio.com/v2/objects/people/attributes \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ATTIO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "data": {
      "title": "Relationship Type",
      "api_slug": "relationship_type",
      "type": "select",
      "is_multiselect": true
    }
  }'

Attribute types: text, number, checkbox, currency, date, timestamp, select, status, rating, location, domain, email-address, phone-number, record-reference

8. Add Select Options to an Attribute

After creating a select attribute, add its options:

curl -X POST https://api.attio.com/v2/objects/people/attributes/relationship_type/options \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ATTIO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "data": {
      "title": "Investor"
    }
  }'

Repeat for each option (Customer, Founder/Peer, Team, Advisor, Friend, Date).

9. Work with Lists

List all lists:

curl -X GET https://api.attio.com/v2/lists \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ATTIO_API_KEY"

Create a new list:

curl -X POST https://api.attio.com/v2/lists \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ATTIO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "data": {
      "name": "Weekly Ping Queue",
      "parent_object": "people",
      "workspace_access": "full-access"
    }
  }'

Add a person to a list:

curl -X POST https://api.attio.com/v2/lists/{list_id}/entries \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ATTIO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "data": {
      "parent_record_id": "RECORD_ID",
      "attribute_values": {
        "ATTRIBUTE_SLUG": "value"
      }
    }
  }'

Query list entries:

curl -X POST https://api.attio.com/v2/lists/{list_id}/entries/query \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ATTIO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "filter": {},
    "limit": 50
  }'

CRM Data Model Reference

These are the custom attributes to create for the Personal CRM (see plan.md):

Select Attributes

Text/Date Attributes

Lists

Common Patterns

Add a New Contact with Full Context

1. Assert person (PUT /v2/objects/people/records)
   - Set: name, email, phone, linkedin, company, title, location
   - Set: relationship_type, crm_status, proximity_tier, relationship_quality
   - Set: connection_story, how_can_i_help, contact_source, city_tags, context_tags
   - Set: last_interaction = today
2. Create note (POST /v2/notes)
   - Add detailed context: how you met, topics discussed, personal details
3. Add to list if applicable (POST /v2/lists/{list_id}/entries)
   - Weekly Ping Queue if T1-T2
   - Aspirational if they're a target connection

Search and Filter Contacts

1. Query people (POST /v2/objects/people/records/query)
   - Filter by proximity_tier + city_tags = "T1 friends in Berlin"
   - Filter by relationship_type + crm_status = "Active investors"
   - Filter by special_tags = "Bridge contacts"
   - Sort by last_interaction (ascending) = "Who haven't I talked to recently?"

Update Stale Contact Info

1. Research via happenstance-connect (get current job, company, etc.)
2. Update person (PUT /v2/objects/people/records, match by email)
   - Update: job_title, company, location
   - Set: crm_status from "Stale" to "Active"
   - Set: last_interaction = today
3. Add note: "Updated info via Happenstance on [date]. Was at [old company], now at [new company]."

Weekly Ping Ritual via API

1. Query Weekly Ping Queue list entries
2. For each entry, get the parent person record
3. Check: How Can I Help? Last Interaction? Connection Story?
4. After sending pings, update: last_interaction, last_helped
5. Remove from queue (or mark done)

Error Handling

Tips

• Always use Assert (PUT) over Create (POST) — prevents duplicates, auto-merges by email
• Discover slugs first — run List Attributes before trying to write custom fields
• Multiselect behavior differs: Assert (PUT) overwrites, Update (PATCH) appends
• Notes are rich text — can use HTML format for formatting
• Lists need a parent_object — usually "people" for this CRM
• Pagination: Default limit varies, always check for next_page_offset

Related Skills

• happenstance-connect — Search/research people before adding to Attio
• lead-research — Full lead research workflow using Attio as destination