Build Avalara AvaTax-Connected Apps in Bubble

Bubble is a no-code platform that simplifies the process of developing and launching apps and businesses. When coupled with CData Connect AI, you gain effortless no-code access to Avalara AvaTax data for streamlined app development. This article guides you through the integration process from Bubble to Avalara AvaTax using CData Connect AI.

CData Connect AI provides a pure cloud-to-cloud OData interface for Avalara AvaTax data that allows you to integrate from Bubble to Avalara AvaTax data in real time.

Connect to Avalara AvaTax from Bubble

To work with Avalara AvaTax data from Bubble, we need to connect to Avalara AvaTax from Connect AI, provide user access to the connection, and create a Workspace for the Avalara AvaTax data.

Connect to Avalara AvaTax from Connect AI

CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection

2. Select "Avalara AvaTax" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Avalara AvaTax.

   The primary method for performing basic authentication is to provide your login credentials, as follows:

   • User: Set this to your username.
   • Password: Set this to your password.

   Optionally, if you are making use of a sandbox environment, set the following:

   • UseSandbox: Set this to true if you are authenticating with a sandbox account.

   Authenticating Using Account Number and License Key

   Alternatively, you can authenticate using your account number and license key. Connect to data using the following:

   • AccountId: Set this to your Account Id. The Account Id is listed in the upper right hand corner of the admin console.
   • LicenseKey: Set this to your Avalara Avatax license key. You can generate a license key by logging into Avalara Avatax as an account administrator and navigating to Settings -> Reset License Key.
   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Avalara AvaTax Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
   
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Configure Avalara AvaTax Endpoints for Bubble

After connecting to Avalara AvaTax, create a workspace for your desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace). 👁 The Workspaces page.
   👁 Adding a new Workspace.
   
2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
3. Select the Avalara AvaTax connection (e.g. AvalaraAvatax1) and click Next. 👁 Selecting an Asset (Salesforce is shown).
   
4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm. 👁 Selecting Tables (Salesforce is shown).
   
5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to Avalara AvaTax data from Bubble.

Build a Avalara AvaTax-Connected App

With OData endpoints added to Connect AI, you can build an app in Bubble with live access to Avalara AvaTax data.

Configure the Bubble API Connector

To start, Configure the API Connector for accessing CData Connect AI from Bubble.

1. In your app, click the Plugins tab and click Add plugins
2. Search for "API Connector" and click Install 👁 Installing the API Connector plugin
   
3. After installation, click the "Add another API" button and configure the API:
   • Name the API
   • Set Authentication to "HTTP Basic Auth"
   • Set Username to a Connect AI user (e.g. [email protected])
   • Set Password to the PAT for the user
   • Expand the API Call, select the "GET" command and set the URL to a Workspace endpoint you previously configured (e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}/Transactions)
   👁 Configuring the API Call
   
4. Click the "Initialize call" button to adjust data types in the response (as needed) 👁 Initializing the call
   
5. After making any necessary changes, click "Save" 👁 Saving the data types
   

Configure the App UI

With the API Connector configure, you are ready to retrieve Avalara AvaTax data in your Bubble app. In this article, we request the data with a UI component that can display an Excel-like table.

1. On the Plugin tab, install the "Excel-like HandsonTable" 👁 Adding the Excel-like HandsonTable plugin
   
2. On the Design tab, add an "Excel Table" to the workspace 👁 Adding an Excel Table to the app
   
3. In the Excel Table, in Data source, select "Get data from an external API"
4. Set Type of content to "API Call value"
5. Set Data source to "CData Connect AI - API Call's value" (or equivalent) 👁 Binding the Excel Table to the API Call
   
6. Click "Preview" to ensure the data was retrieved from Avalara AvaTax. 👁 Previewing the app
   

At this point, you can develop applications with live access to Avalara AvaTax data without needing to know the complexities of the back-end API.

Live Access to Avalara AvaTax Data from Cloud Applications

Now you have a direct connection to live Avalara AvaTax data from Bubble. You can create more Avalara AvaTax-connected apps — all without writing any code or replicating Avalara AvaTax data.

To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, see the CData Connect AI.