# Welcome # Welcome to the Front Platform 👋 Whether you’re looking to build a custom integration just for your team or looking to publicly launch a Front integration, you’re in the right place! Our documentation can help you build everything from contact synchronizing to automated message triaging to custom messaging channels. Our documentation is designed to get you up and running quickly, with walkthroughs, code examples, Postman collections and more. We’re also available at [Front Community](https://community.front.com/developer-q-a-37) to help with any questions or feedback! # How to get started ## Step 1: Create a developer account If you are building an app you intend to publish on our App Store, you must build this app in a developer account. If you are building an app for use in a specific customer instance, creating a separate developer account is optional. The developer account will provide you with an environment that does not include production data so it will be safer to test in. The production account, however, will ultimately be where you want your app to live for your company to use it. You can create a developer account by [signing up here](https://front.com/signup?affiliate=developers). You’ll get access to a free developer environment that will provide everything you need to begin building with our APIs. Developer accounts are limited to 3 teammates, so we recommend sharing credentials using a team email like engineering@ if you have more developers working on your team. After creating a developer account, read the [Create, manage, and publish apps](https://dev.frontapp.com/docs/create-and-manage-apps) topic to learn how to create apps on the Front Platform. ## Step 2: Partnering with Front If you’re looking to partner with Front to launch a public integration to all Front customers, please see our guide to [Partnering with Front](https://dev.frontapp.com/docs/partnering-with-front). You can see what some of our other partners have already built at our [Integrations page](https://frontapp.com/integrations). If you are building an integration meant only for your own company or for one client, you can skip learning about the partnership process. ## Step 3: Join the Front Developer Community We offer a developer community that provides the following benefits for anyone building integrations on Front: * [Developer Q\&A](https://community.front.com/developer-q-a-37)—Ask questions about the API, and get answers. This is the primary means to receive technical guidance from our team or the community at large. * [Give feedback](https://community.front.com/ideas)—Share your ideas with our Product team or vote on existing ones. * [API news](https://community.front.com/news-updates-40)—Stay informed of API updates, deprecations, and other important news. Make sure to **Subscribe** to this space. * [Product updates](https://community.front.com/product-updates)—Learn of new Front features. * [Developer Discussion](https://community.front.com/general-discussion-39)—Connect with other Front developers to share ideas, tips & tricks, or best practices. Also, feel free to let us know how we can improve the developer experience (tools, docs, sample code, etc.) in this space. You can join at [https://community.front.com](https://community.front.com)! ## Step 4: Learn about the Front APIs Front features APIs that cover a wide variety of functionality. You'll likely only need to use one of them, but some integration use cases are suited for a combination of the offerings.
Name Description
**Core API** Sync data between Front and external systems and perform backend operations that retrieve, create, modify, or delete resources in Front. [Learn more](#core-api)
**Connectors** Interact with third-party APIs and external systems with no-code connectors from Front that allow you to make external API requests or bring in additional context to Front conversations for your users to see. [Learn more](#connectors)
**Plugin SDK** Expose a hosted application in the Front UI. The plugin displays in a drawer alongside Front conversations or in the composer window itself, and can expose additional information and useful actions from external systems for Front users to leverage in their daily workflow. [Learn more](#plugin-sdk)
**Channel API** Add a new inbound/outbound conversation source in Front, such as social media messaging, SMS, custom chat, etc. [Learn more](#channels-api)
**Chat Widget** Add a Front-powered chat box to your website. [Learn more](#chat-widget)
**Links** Add links to items in external systems to Front conversations. [Learn more](#links)
### Core API Our primary backend API that allows you to read, create, update, and delete a wide range of data across Front’s various entities, from Contacts to Comments to Tags. In general, if your use case involves programmatic syncing, export, or modification of Front data, the Core API is likely what you’re looking for. Our webhooks also make it possible to respond to real-time events as actions and updates happen in Front. A few examples of how the Core API is used today: * Synchronizing Contacts into Front from a third party CRM * Automatically drafting replies to incoming messages * Exporting conversational metadata and analytics to a data warehouse * Automatically assigning conversations to particular teammates ***[Core API documentation](https://dev.frontapp.com/docs/core-api-overview)*** ### Connectors Connectors provide a no-code or low-code means of making API calls to external systems and can also transform URLs or strings found in comments or messages into structured Orders, Shipments, Itineraries, Tasks, etc. that are easy to access right from a conversation in Front. With connectors, you can build rules and macros that retrieve or update information in external systems and also attach a summary of information from an external system directly to conversations in Front. ***[Connectors documentation](doc:overview-2)*** ### Plugin SDK Front Plugins allow you to embed custom side-panel apps directly into the Front UI. These plugins can respond to and interact with the conversation a Front user might be viewing, enabling seamless integrations with CRMs, phone services, task management tools and more. A few examples of how the Plugin SDK is being used today: * Integrating a CRM, so that whenever a conversation is opened with a particular person, the corresponding CRM data is automatically displayed to the user * Integrating a phone service to enable dialing and messaging of customers without need to leave Front to use a separate app * Integrating a knowledge base to allow agents to search for help articles that might be useful for a customer ***[Plugin SDK documentation](https://dev.frontapp.com/docs/plugin-overview)*** ### Channels API A channel is a communication stream (like an email address, Twilio phone number, or Twitter handle) that can be connected to Front. With the Channels API, you can connect any messaging platform to Front. Users will then be able to leverage Front’s powerful collaboration and automation features to view, triage, and respond to those messages. With our APIs, you can build custom channels just for your team, or publish a Partner channel that can be used by any Front customer. A few examples of how the Channels API is being used today: * logging phone call records into Front * synchronizing third party SMS providers into Front * connecting a custom website live chat with Front ***[Channels API documentation](https://dev.frontapp.com/docs/channels-overview)*** ### Chat Widget The Front chat widget allows you to easily add live chat support to your website. Our code snippet makes it easy to embed the chat widget and quickly start handling messages from Front. ***[Front Chat Widget documentation](https://dev.frontapp.com/docs/chat-overview)*** ### Links Links allow you to add hyperlinks to external systems directly from Front conversations. ***[Front Links documentation](https://dev.frontapp.com/docs/overview-1)*** > 📘 Need some inspiration? > > We've got a few customer stories and resources to give you ideas for how to leverage the Front Platform for your team: > > * [How Shopify uses custom plugins for their Merchant Success Team](https://frontapp.com/customer-stories/shopify) > * [How Fishbowl saves $150k through API-powered routing workflows](https://frontapp.com/customer-stories/fishbowl) > * [How SnapTravel uses automated bots to manage customer conversations](https://frontapp.com/customer-stories/snaptravel) > * [4 examples of customer plugins in Front](https://frontapp.com/blog/2018/04/19/how-4-innovative-companies-work-faster-with-custom-apps-in-front/)