Example Third-Party Application

By using this sample code, you acknowledge that you have read, accepted and agree to be bound by and comply with the terms and conditions set out in the Clio Developer Terms of Service.

This is an example third-party application that demonstrates the ability to use single sign-on (SSO) with Clio's authentication services.

SSO makes it easy for Clio users to securely sign in and access your application at the click of a button using their Clio credentials, as opposed to having them create entirely new accounts and credentials for each third-party application they wish to utilize.

Also included in this example application is making use of the access token obtained during SSO to make a successful API request.

Note that this example code isn't in an ideal, refactored state. We've taken a "show your work" approach, clearly identifying the steps taken. In line with this we've also opted not to use some Ruby gems that might hide implementation details (such as oauth2 that can automate part of the SSO flow for you).

Prerequisites

Whether you're a private developer or a company looking to integrate with Clio, the first step is to complete our registration form. If you're looking to offer your integration to Clio customers, keep an eye out for an automatic follow-up email with instructions to setup your Developer Account on Clio Manage and Clio Identity.

If you're already a Clio customer and are just looking to use our API for private use, you can get started right away.

Clio Manage API Keys

Clio Manage is the cloud-based legal practice management software that makes running a firm, organizing cases, and collaborating with clients from one place possible.

Once your Developer Account has been set up, navigate to your Developer Portal within Clio Manage and follow our intructions for creating a Clio application on our Clio Manage API Documentation. Creating a Clio application will generate an application key and secret, which will be used to authorize your application with Clio and communicate with our Clio Manage API.

Clio Identity API Keys

Clio Identity is Clio's authentication service and identity provider. Similar to how you may see a "Login with GitHub" or "Login with Google" button when authenticating with an application on the web, third-party developers can leverage Clio Identity as an identity provider, cutting the time needed to write and maintain an authentication system for an application.

To request a Clio Identity API key in order to implement SSO see our guide for integrating with Clio Identity.

Setup

First, clone the example application repository to your local environment: git clone https://github.com/clio/example-third-party-application.git.

Then update the environment variables in .env:

1. Update the CLIO_MANAGE_CLIENT_ID and CLIO_MANAGE_CLIENT_SECRET values with your Clio Manage API Key and Secret
2. Update the CLIO_MANAGE_SITE_URL value with the region specific URL of your Clio Manage account:
   • https://app.clio.com/ for the United States
   • https://ca.app.clio.com/ for Canada
   • https://eu.app.clio.com/ for Europe
3. Update the CLIO_IDENTITY_CLIENT_ID and CLIO_IDENTITY_CLIENT_SECRET values with your Clio Identity API Key and Secret

You can then choose between a manual setup (install Ruby and Rails locally) or a docker setup (install Docker only). Manual setup instructions can be found in docs/manual_setup.md and the Docker setup instructions can be found in docs/docker_setup.md.

Example Entry Point

SSO

Both authentication with Clio Identity and authorization with Clio Manage start their flows in the ApplicationController (app/controllers/application_controller.rb). This file takes you through the steps outlined in our Integrating with Clio Identity documentation (for performing authentication) and our API Documentation (for obtaining authorization).

API Requests

The ProfileController (app/controllers/profile_controller.rb) uses the Clio Manage access token to make a simple API request to the api/v4/users/who_am_i endpoint.

Meanwhile the MatterController (app/controllers/matter_controller.rb) uses the Clio Manage access token to make an API request to the api/v4/matters endpoint using Unlimited Cursor Pagination.

Support

For technical inquiries, visit our Clio Developers Help Center, send us an email at [email protected], or visit our community-driven Slack workspace at clio-public.slack.com.

For business and partnership inquiries, visit https://www.clio.com/partnerships/developers/.