Authenticate to HubSpot using a private app token instead of a deprecated API key
domain: developers.hubspot.com · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
Sampled — shipped under file-level sampling, not individually fact-checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Steps
In HubSpot, navigate to Settings > Integrations > Private Apps and create a new private app, selecting the required scopes
Copy the generated access token shown after creation — it is only fully visible once
In all API requests, include the header Authorization with value Bearer YOUR_TOKEN
There is no refresh step — private app tokens do not expire unless manually rotated or the app is deleted
To rotate the token, go back to the private app settings in HubSpot and generate a new token, then update all callers
Known gotchas
HubSpot deprecated hapikey query-parameter API keys in 2022 — existing integrations using hapikey will eventually stop working and must be migrated
Private app tokens inherit only the scopes selected at creation time; adding scopes later requires generating a new token (the old one's scopes do not update)
Do not use OAuth app tokens as drop-in replacements for private app tokens — they have different expiration and refresh semantics
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