HubSpot CRM Operations

Use this skill to read and, with explicit confirmation, update HubSpot CRM data through the HubSpot CRM v3 API: contact records, contact search, deal pipeline views, and deal stage changes. This is a tool skill for one CRM vendor (HubSpot). Building HubSpot apps or workflows is application development; this skill owns the everyday agent workflow: answering "who is this contact?", "what is in the pipeline?", and applying a confirmed stage change.

Operating contract

1. Read-only discovery before any mutation. List and search contacts, view deals and pipelines freely. The bundled crm-cli script makes reads without writing anything.
2. Confirm the target, scope, and rollback path before acting. Moving a deal to a new stage changes a shared pipeline that revenue reporting reads: it requires an explicit human directive naming the deal and the target stage, plus --dry-run preview and --yes confirmation through crm-cli. Stage moves are reversible but leave audit history — confirm before acting.
3. Respect bounded reads. HubSpot pages with limit; never page past what the task needs. crm-cli --limit caps every listing and search.
4. Keep evidence bounded. Quote short names, emails, amounts, and stage labels; never dump full records, tokens, or raw payloads into chat.
5. Know the object model. Contacts and deals are distinct objects with property maps; stage transitions must use a stage ID from the deal's pipeline (pipelines list), not a stage label.

The crm-cli script

scripts/crm-cli is an agent-first, stdlib-only CLI over the HubSpot CRM v3 API. It covers the full issue scope: records, search, and pipeline views.

crm/scripts/crm-cli --help                                # no token or network needed
crm/scripts/crm-cli --json --limit 20 contacts list
crm/scripts/crm-cli --json contacts get --id 51
crm/scripts/crm-cli --json contacts search --query "ada"
crm/scripts/crm-cli --json --limit 20 deals list
crm/scripts/crm-cli --json deals list --pipeline default --stage appointmentscheduled
crm/scripts/crm-cli --json pipelines list
crm/scripts/crm-cli deals update-stage --id 901 --stage closedwon --dry-run   # preview
crm/scripts/crm-cli deals update-stage --id 901 --stage closedwon --yes       # confirmed

Exit codes: 0 success, 1 API error or failed check, 2 usage error. Stage changes are guarded: without --dry-run or --yes the script refuses with exit 1 and never calls the API. Reads are bounded by --limit (default 20, max 100).

Operating loop

1. Scope the question: is this a lookup (who/what is in the CRM) or a change (move a deal)? Locate the object with contacts search/contacts list or deals list.
2. Read with bounds: contacts get for one record, deals list for the pipeline view (optionally filtered by pipeline and stage), pipelines list to resolve stage labels to IDs.
3. Triage the answer: map the question to evidence (contact details, deal amount/stage, pipeline distribution).
4. Act with confirmation: only a human directive to change, previewed with --dry-run and confirmed with --yes.
5. Verify: re-read the deal (deals list --stage <target>) and confirm the stage moved.

Records, search, pipeline views

• Contact records (/objects/contacts): list (GET) or retrieve one (GET by ID); the CLI summarizes first/last name, email, company, and created date. Search (POST /objects/contacts/search) finds contacts by query text, bounded by --limit.
• Deal pipeline views (/objects/deals): list deals with amount, pipeline, and stage, optionally filtered to one pipeline or stage. pipelines list (/pipelines/deals) returns the pipelines with their stage IDs and labels — use the stage ID when filtering or updating.
• Stage changes (PATCH /objects/deals/{id}): a guarded mutation that sets the dealstage property. Preview the target stage with --dry-run, confirm with --yes, and verify with a follow-up read. Only stage moves are in scope; other deal property edits are application work.

Access model

• HubSpot private app access tokens (pat_...) scope per object and read/write. Reads need crm.objects.contacts.read and crm.objects.deals.read; stage updates need crm.objects.deals.write.
• Records carry a properties map keyed by property names (e.g. dealstage, dealname, amount). Property values are strings; the CLI summarizes the fields this skill uses.
• Tokens are credentials: store in HUBSPOT_TOKEN, never in code, chat, or commits. Rotate a leaked token in the private app settings.

Reference routing

Load when	Reference
Sources, scope tables, refresh procedure	references/00-source-index.md
Endpoints, pagination, object model, stage updates, errors	references/01-hubspot-crm-operations.md

Included artifacts

• scripts/crm-cli: bounded, stdlib-only CLI (contacts list/get/search, deals list/update-stage, pipelines list; --json; --limit; mutations gated by --dry-run/--yes).
• tests/test_crm_cli.py: 13 deterministic tests against a stub HubSpot API, including the mutation gate and the read-only contract.
• references/: dated source index + HubSpot CRM operations reference.
• evals/evals.json: six output-quality evaluation cases for agent runs.

Verification boundary

Claim	Minimum evidence
A contact exists	crm-cli contacts search --query ... --json or contacts get returns the record
A pipeline view is accurate	crm-cli deals list --json returns deals with stage IDs and the filter applied
A stage label maps to an ID	crm-cli pipelines list --json returns the pipeline stage map
A stage change landed	crm-cli deals update-stage --yes exits 0 and a follow-up deals list --stage shows the deal
A mutation is safe to run	crm-cli deals update-stage --dry-run prints the exact deal + target stage

Hard boundaries

• Never move a deal without a human directive, --dry-run preview, and --yes confirmation — pipeline changes feed revenue reporting and audit history.
• Never claim a record is missing when the token may lack object scope; check the access model first.
• Never page reads past --limit; never dump full records, tokens, or raw payloads into chat.
• This skill operates the HubSpot CRM API. It does not build HubSpot apps or cover other CRMs.

When not to use

• Building HubSpot apps, workflow automations, or custom objects — that is HubSpot app development; see backend-engineering for service design.
• Marketing, sequences, and email automation in HubSpot — that is the HubSpot Marketing surface, not the CRM API this skill covers.
• Other CRMs (Salesforce, Pipedrive, Zoho) — each has its own API and tooling; this skill covers HubSpot.
• CRM strategy, sales process design, or pipeline methodology — that is organizational/strategy work, not an API operation.