Fluent Forms feed integrations

Use the Free-core feed manager when administrators need credentials, reusable per-form feeds, field mapping, conditions, logs, and background delivery. Use a plain submission_inserted listener only for small, non-configurable local work.

Read integration-contract.md before implementing the manager class or deciding retry/idempotency behavior.

Availability contract

FluentForm\App\Http\Controllers\IntegrationManagerController, feed metadata, the notification manager, ff_scheduled_actions, and bundled Action Scheduler are Free-core surfaces in 6.2.7. Mailchimp is a Free reference implementation. Many shipped connectors under fluentformpro/src/Integrations are Pro-only, but their existence does not make a third-party integration manager require Pro.

Use the current controller directly. These aliases are deprecated in 6.2.7:

• FluentForm\App\Services\Integrations\IntegrationManager
• FluentForm\App\Services\Integrations\BaseIntegration

Decision point

Use a feed manager when at least one applies:

• admins create multiple destinations or mappings per form;
• delivery has form conditions or smart codes;
• credentials need a global connection screen;
• delivery should run asynchronously and appear in integration logs;
• a failed/replayed request needs an idempotency contract.

Use a direct hook for bounded local metadata/state changes with no settings UI. Do not build a feed abstraction around a single pure calculation.

Registration workflow

1. Bootstrap once on fluentform/loaded; require the controller class.
2. Choose three stable identifiers:
   • integration key for addon/global UI;
   • namespaced option key for connection settings;
   • feed settings key stored in fluentform_form_meta and used in the dynamic notification hook.
3. Extend IntegrationManagerController, call the parent constructor, set the description/logo/category, then call registerAdminHooks().
4. Implement global settings and verify credentials server-side before setting status => true.
5. Implement integration availability, feed defaults, settings fields, and merge fields. Keep enabled and conditionals in the feed schema.
6. Implement notify($feed, $formData, $entry, $form) as an idempotent operation.
7. Report every terminal result through fluentform/integration_action_result.
8. Test disabled, unconfigured, condition-false, sync, async, timeout, retry, and duplicate delivery paths.

Bootstrap

use FluentForm\App\Http\Controllers\IntegrationManagerController;

add_action('fluentform/loaded', static function ($app): void {
    if (!class_exists(IntegrationManagerController::class)) {
        return;
    }

    new Acme_FluentForm_Integration($app);
}, 20, 1);

The constructor should use stable, namespaced keys:

parent::__construct(
    $app,
    __('Acme CRM', 'acme-addon'),
    'acme_crm',
    '_acme_ff_crm_settings',
    'acme_crm_feeds',
    20
);

$this->description = __('Send selected entries to Acme CRM.', 'acme-addon');
$this->category    = 'crm';
$this->logo        = plugins_url('assets/acme.svg', ACME_ADDON_FILE);
$this->registerAdminHooks();

Do not change these keys after release without migrating the global option and all form-meta feed rows.

Notification contract

public function notify($feed, $formData, $entry, $form)
{
    $entryId = (int) $entry->id;
    $values  = isset($feed['processedValues']) && is_array($feed['processedValues'])
        ? $feed['processedValues']
        : [];

    try {
        $result = $this->client()->upsertContact([
            'external_key' => 'ff-entry-' . $entryId,
            'email'        => sanitize_email((string) ($values['fieldEmailAddress'] ?? '')),
        ]);

        if (empty($result['ok'])) {
            throw new \RuntimeException('Remote service rejected the request.');
        }

        do_action(
            'fluentform/integration_action_result',
            $feed,
            'success',
            __('Delivered to Acme CRM.', 'acme-addon')
        );
    } catch (\Throwable $error) {
        do_action(
            'fluentform/integration_action_result',
            $feed,
            'failed',
            __('Acme CRM delivery failed.', 'acme-addon')
        );

        // Log bounded, redacted diagnostics; never expose credentials or payloads.
    }
}

processedValues contains the feed settings after Fluent Forms smart-code parsing. $formData is the stored response data, and $entry is its parsed entry view. Map explicit keys; do not forward the complete arrays by default.

Async and failure semantics

Feeds default to asynchronous delivery. Fluent Forms writes a row to ff_scheduled_actions, queues fluentform/schedule_feed through Action Scheduler, marks the row processing, then dispatches fluentform/integration_notify_{settingsKey}.

add_filter(
    'fluentform/notifying_async_acme_crm',
    static fn($async, $formId) => true,
    10,
    2
);

The filter suffix is the integration key, while the notify action suffix is the feed settings key. Do not interchange them.

Do not advertise automatic delivery guarantees that the implementation does not provide. In 6.2.7 the queue increments retry_count and marks processing, but the integration callback must still record a terminal result, and exception or process-death recovery needs explicit testing. Use a stable remote idempotency key derived from the entry/feed, bounded timeouts, and a documented retry policy.

Security and data rules

• Store credentials only in the global option, with autoload disabled. Never copy API keys into per-form feed values, localized JavaScript, submission meta, or logs. Mask secrets when returning global settings to the UI.
• Verify credentials with a bounded server-side request before marking the connection configured. Use TLS verification and an allowlisted service origin.
• Sanitize global/feed settings on save. Escape labels/help HTML for its exact admin rendering context.
• If adding custom AJAX/REST routes, implement nonce/authentication, Fluent Forms capabilities, form-level authorization, and object-level ownership yourself.
• Never send password fields, payment tokens, file-system paths, hidden control keys, IP addresses, or the entire entry unless explicitly required and lawful.
• Validate mapped email/URL/ID types after smart-code expansion.
• Treat provider error bodies as untrusted and redact before logs or UI output.
• Keep notify() idempotent; Action Scheduler/manual retry or network ambiguity can deliver the same entry more than once.

Pro boundary

Custom feed infrastructure is Free. A connector is Pro-dependent only when it uses a Pro class, field, payment object, user-registration feed, post feed, or other Pro-only capability. Guard that exact dependency with class_exists() or method_exists() and provide a clear disabled state in the integration UI.

Cross-references

• Use fluentform-submission-lifecycle for feed dispatch timing.
• Use fluentform-entries-data for entry fields, meta, and permissions.
• Use wp-http-api-client for outbound HTTP, SSRF controls, timeouts, and redaction.

References

• Official Integration Manager Controller documentation: https://developers.fluentforms.com/api/classes/integration-manager-controller/
• Official integration hooks: https://developers.fluentforms.com/hooks/actions/integration/
• Verified Free source paths:
  • fluentform/app/Http/Controllers/IntegrationManagerController.php
  • fluentform/app/Services/Integrations/FormIntegrationService.php
  • fluentform/app/Hooks/Handlers/GlobalNotificationHandler.php
  • fluentform/app/Services/Integrations/GlobalNotificationService.php
  • fluentform/app/Services/WPAsync/FluentFormAsyncRequest.php
  • fluentform/app/Services/Integrations/MailChimp/MailChimpIntegration.php
• Verified Pro examples, required only for their features:
  • fluentformpro/src/Integrations/ActiveCampaign/Bootstrap.php
  • fluentformpro/src/Integrations/WebHook/Bootstrap.php