AppFolio — Work Orders & Maintenance

Overview

Manage the full lifecycle of maintenance work orders through AppFolio's Stack API. Use this workflow when tenants submit maintenance requests, when you need to assign vendors to open work orders, track repair progress across properties, or close out completed jobs with cost records. This is the secondary workflow — for property dashboards and leasing, see appfolio-core-workflow-a.

Prerequisites

A verified AppFolio contract and sandbox portfolio with synthetic property, unit, vendor, and work-order records; do not test maintenance automation against an occupied production unit.
A least-privilege service identity, idempotency support for create/close actions, and an approved escalation path for safety-critical maintenance.
A data-minimization policy: store and transmit only the maintenance facts needed to perform work, never tenant preferences, access codes, or detailed occupancy information in generic vendor notes or logs.

Instructions

Step 1: Create a Work Order from a Maintenance Request

const workOrder = await client.workOrders.create({
  property_id: 'prop_4821',
  unit_id: 'unit_12B',
  category: 'plumbing',
  priority: 'high',
  description: 'Synthetic plumbing fixture leak reported in sandbox unit',
  requested_by: 'tenant_8934',
  due_date: '2026-04-10',
});
console.log(`Work order ${workOrder.id} created — status: ${workOrder.status}`);

Step 2: Assign a Vendor

const assignment = await client.workOrders.assign(workOrder.id, {
  vendor_id: 'vendor_plumb_01',
  scheduled_date: '2026-04-08',
  time_window: '09:00-12:00',
  notes: 'Confirm scheduled appointment through the approved work-order channel.',
});
console.log(`Assigned to ${assignment.vendor_name} on ${assignment.scheduled_date}`);

Step 3: Track Work Order Status

const open = await client.workOrders.list({
  property_id: 'prop_4821',
  status: ['open', 'in_progress', 'scheduled'],
  sort: 'priority_desc',
});
open.items.forEach(wo =>
  console.log(`#${wo.id} [${wo.priority}] ${wo.category} — ${wo.status} (due ${wo.due_date})`)
);

Step 4: Close Work Order with Cost Record

const closed = await client.workOrders.close(workOrder.id, {
  resolution: 'Replaced P-trap and tightened supply line. No further leaks.',
  labor_cost: 175.00,
  materials_cost: 42.50,
  completed_date: '2026-04-08',
  attachments: ['receipt_plumb_0408.pdf'],
});
console.log(`Closed #${closed.id} — total cost: $${closed.total_cost}`);

Error Handling

Issue	Cause	Fix
`401 Unauthorized`	Expired or invalid API credentials	Refresh client_id/secret in Stack dashboard
`404 Work Order Not Found`	Wrong work order ID or already deleted	Verify ID with `workOrders.list()`
`422 Missing required fields`	Category or property_id omitted	Include all required fields per schema
`409 Conflict`	Work order already closed	Check status before attempting close
`429 Rate Limited`	Exceeded 120 requests/minute	Add exponential backoff with 1s base delay

Output

A successful run creates a work order, assigns it to a vendor with a scheduled service window, and closes it with cost records and resolution notes. The property manager gets a complete audit trail from request through completion.

Examples

For a sandbox plumbing workflow, create one synthetic work order with a stable idempotency key, assign a sandbox vendor, and read back its status before any transition. Attach only a non-sensitive test receipt, then close the order once and verify the total and audit record without logging tenant or access details. Replay the same request to prove duplicate work orders and duplicate cost records are rejected. If the vendor assignment, safety classification, prior state, or close outcome is uncertain, leave the order open and route it to the authorized property operator for review.

Resources

Next Steps

See appfolio-sdk-patterns for authentication setup and pagination helpers.