Attio Reference Architecture

Overview

Production architecture for CRM integrations with the Attio REST API (https://api.attio.com/v2). Designed for contact enrichment pipelines, deal tracking across custom lists, bi-directional activity sync with external systems, and workspace isolation for multi-tenant deployments. Key design drivers: webhook-driven data freshness, idempotent upserts via PUT assertions, schema-aware caching, and layered separation between API client, business logic, and infrastructure.

Architecture Diagram

Your App ──→ Service Layer ──→ Cache (Redis) ──→ Attio REST API v2
                  ↓                               /objects/people/records
             Queue (p-queue) ──→ Sync Worker      /lists/{slug}/entries
                  ↓                               /notes, /tasks
             Webhook Handler ←── Attio Events     /webhooks
                  ↓
             External CRM Sync ──→ HubSpot/Salesforce

Service Layer

class ContactService {
  constructor(private client: AttioClient, private cache: CacheLayer) {}

  async findByEmail(email: string): Promise<AttioRecord | null> {
    const res = await this.client.post('/objects/people/records/query', { filter: { email_addresses: email }, limit: 1 });
    return res.data[0] || null;
  }

  async upsertPerson(data: { email: string; firstName: string; lastName: string }): Promise<AttioRecord> {
    const res = await this.client.put('/objects/people/records', {
      data: { values: { email_addresses: [data.email], name: [{ first_name: data.firstName, last_name: data.lastName }] } }
    });
    await this.cache.invalidate(`person:${data.email}`);
    return res.data;
  }

  async addToPipeline(recordId: string, listSlug: string, stage: string): Promise<void> {
    await this.client.post(`/lists/${listSlug}/entries`, {
      data: { parent_record_id: recordId, parent_object: 'people', values: { stage: [{ status: stage }] } }
    });
  }
}

Caching Strategy

const CACHE_CONFIG = {
  schema:  { ttl: 1800, prefix: 'schema' },   // 30 min — object/attribute definitions change rarely
  records: { ttl: 300,  prefix: 'record' },    // 5 min — webhook-driven invalidation handles freshness
  lists:   { ttl: 120,  prefix: 'list' },      // 2 min — deal pipeline stages need near-real-time
  notes:   { ttl: 60,   prefix: 'note' },      // 1 min — activity feed freshness
};
// Webhook events (record.updated, list-entry.created) flush matching cache keys immediately

Event Pipeline

class AttioEventPipeline {
  private queue = new Bull('attio-events', { redis: process.env.REDIS_URL });

  async onWebhook(event: AttioWebhookEvent): Promise<void> {
    await this.queue.add(event.event_type, event, { attempts: 3, backoff: { type: 'exponential', delay: 2000 } });
  }

  async processRecordEvent(event: AttioWebhookEvent): Promise<void> {
    if (event.event_type === 'record.created') await this.syncToExternalCRM(event.record!.id.record_id);
    if (event.event_type === 'record.updated') await this.cache.invalidate(`record:${event.record!.id.record_id}`);
    if (event.event_type === 'record.merged') await this.reconcileMergedRecords(event);
  }

  async processListEntryEvent(event: AttioWebhookEvent): Promise<void> {
    if (event.event_type === 'list-entry.created') await this.triggerPipelineAutomation(event);
  }
}

Data Model

interface AttioRecord       { id: { record_id: string; object_id: string }; values: Record<string, AttioValue[]>; created_at: string; }
interface AttioValue        { attribute_type: string; [key: string]: unknown; }
interface AttioWebhookEvent { event_type: string; object?: { api_slug: string }; record?: AttioRecord; list_entry?: { entry_id: string }; }
interface SyncState         { objectSlug: string; lastSyncOffset: number; lastFullSync: string; recordCount: number; }

Scaling Considerations

Partition sync workers by Attio object type (people, companies, deals) to isolate rate limits
Use webhook-driven invalidation rather than polling — Attio delivers events within seconds
Batch record queries with /records/query pagination (500 per page) for full sync
Schema cache (30 min TTL) prevents redundant attribute lookups on every record access
Rate-limit outbound writes with p-queue to stay within Attio's per-workspace concurrency limits

Prerequisites

Confirm that you have an Attio workspace appropriate to the task, a dedicated non-production record or workspace for testing, and only the API token scopes or administrative access required by the procedure.

Instructions

Use the ordered procedures and code samples in this guide as a sequence: begin with the prerequisites, apply the configuration or operational step for the target environment, then perform the documented validation or cleanup before proceeding. Keep credentials in the documented secret store; never hard-code them in source.

Output

Following this guide produces the Attio integration outcome for its topic—configuration, validation evidence, operational recovery, or a documented migration result. Record command output and relevant identifiers so a failed step is traceable.

Examples

Start with the smallest applicable command or code example in the relevant section, using a dedicated test record or workspace and non-production credentials. Confirm the expected response or validation result before applying the pattern to production.

Error Handling

Component	Failure Mode	Recovery
Contact upsert	Attio 429 rate limit	p-queue backoff with jitter, per-object circuit breaker
Webhook handler	Duplicate event delivery	Idempotency key on record_id + event_type + timestamp
Bi-directional sync	Both sides updated same record	Last-write-wins with conflict resolution queue
Schema cache	Stale attribute definitions	Webhook-driven invalidation, fallback to fresh fetch
External CRM sync	HubSpot API timeout	Queue retry with dead-letter, manual reconciliation flag

Resources

Next Steps

See attio-deploy-integration.