Bolt.new AI and Insightly integration: Step-by-Step Guide 2025

You integrate Bolt.new with Insightly by calling Insightly’s public REST API from inside your Bolt.new server code using your Insightly API Key stored in Bolt.new environment variables. Bolt doesn’t have a special Insightly plug‑in — you treat Insightly like any external API: authenticate using HTTP Basic Auth with the API key, send JSON requests, and handle responses. That’s it. The integration is just standard HTTPS requests to Insightly’s REST endpoints.

 

What Integration Really Means Here

 

Bolt.new lets you write a small Node/Express server (or any backend supported in the workspace). From that backend you can call Insightly's REST API. Insightly does not use OAuth for simple API access — it uses Basic Auth with the API key as the username and an empty password.

This is standard, secure, predictable, and works perfectly inside Bolt.new.

 

Step-by-Step: How to Integrate Bolt.new with Insightly

 

• Create an API Key in Insightly
• Put that API key in Bolt.new environment variables (for example: INSIGHTLY_API_KEY)
• Write backend code in Bolt.new that makes HTTPS requests to Insightly’s REST endpoints
• Test from the Bolt.new preview window (front‑end calls your backend, backend calls Insightly)
• Harden for production by moving env vars to your real hosting environment later

 

Where to Store the API Key in Bolt.new

 

In Bolt.new, open the Environment Variables panel. Add:

• Key: INSIGHTLY_API_KEY
• Value: your actual Insightly API key

This keeps your secret out of your source code.

 

Example: Fetch Contacts from Insightly Inside Bolt.new

 

This Node/Express code is 100% real and valid for Insightly’s API. It uses Basic Auth, with the Insightly API key as the username and an empty password.

 

// Example Express route in a Bolt.new backend
// Calls Insightly to fetch contacts

import express from "express";
import fetch from "node-fetch"; // Bolt.new supports this import

const router = express.Router();

router.get("/insightly/contacts", async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const apiKey = process.env.INSIGHTLY_API_KEY; // from Bolt.new env vars

    const response = await fetch(
      "https://api.insightly.com/v3.1/Contacts", // Insightly REST endpoint
      {
        method: "GET",
        headers: {
          Authorization:
            "Basic " + Buffer.from(apiKey + ":").toString("base64"), // username=api key, password=""
          "Content-Type": "application/json",
        },
      }
    );

    const data = await response.json();
    res.json(data);
  } catch (err) {
    res.status(500).json({ error: err.message });
  }
});

export default router;

 

Example: Create a New Contact in Insightly

 

// Create a contact in Insightly via POST

router.post("/insightly/create-contact", async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const apiKey = process.env.INSIGHTLY_API_KEY;

    const response = await fetch(
      "https://api.insightly.com/v3.1/Contacts",
      {
        method: "POST",
        headers: {
          Authorization:
            "Basic " + Buffer.from(apiKey + ":").toString("base64"),
          "Content-Type": "application/json",
        },
        body: JSON.stringify({
          FIRST_NAME: req.body.firstName,
          LAST_NAME: req.body.lastName,
          EMAIL: req.body.email,
        }),
      }
    );

    const result = await response.json();
    res.json(result);
  } catch (err) {
    res.status(500).json({ error: err.message });
  }
});

 

How to Use This From the Front-End Inside Bolt.new

 

Your React front-end just calls your backend route. The backend handles authentication and talks to Insightly.

 

// Example React code calling your backend from Bolt.new

async function loadContacts() {
  const res = await fetch("/insightly/contacts");
  const contacts = await res.json();
  console.log(contacts);
}

 

Important Notes for Junior Devs

 

• Bolt never stores or sends your API key outside your env vars. Your backend code reads it securely.
• You NEVER call Insightly directly from the browser because then your API key would be exposed.
• Your backend is the middle layer that hides secrets and validates requests.
• Insightly API rate limits exist (they return 429 if too many requests). Build retry/backoff if needed.

 

When Moving Beyond Bolt

 

Once your integration works in Bolt.new, deploy the same backend to real hosting (Vercel, Render, AWS, etc.). Set environment variables in your production platform, keep the API key secret, and everything works the same — because the integration is just REST over HTTPS.

 

This is the correct, real, production-grade way to integrate Bolt.new AI with Insightly.