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 Cloud, 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 Cloud.

CData Connect Cloud 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 Cloud, provide user access to the connection, and create OData endpoints for the Avalara AvaTax data.

(Optional) Add a New Connect Cloud User

As needed, create Users to connect to Avalara AvaTax through Connect Cloud.

1. Navigate to the Users page and click Invite Users
2. Enter the new user's email address and click Send to invite the user
3. You can review and edit users from the Users page

Add a Personal Access Token

If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
2. On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give your PAT a name and click Create.
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Connect to Avalara AvaTax from Connect Cloud

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

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Avalara AvaTax" from the Add Connection panel
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.
   
4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Avalara AvaTax Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

Configure Avalara AvaTax Endpoints for Bubble

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

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

With the connection 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 Cloud, 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 Cloud from Bubble.

1. In your app, click the Plugins tab and click Add plugins
2. Search for "API Connector" and click Install
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 Cloud user (e.g. [email protected])
   • Set Password to the PAT for the above 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)
   
4. Click the "Initialize call" button to adjust data types in the response (as needed)
5. After making any necessary changes, click "Save"

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"
2. On the Design tab, add an "Excel Table" to the workspace
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 Cloud - API Call's value" (or equivalent)
6. Click "Preview" to ensure the data was retrieved from Avalara AvaTax.

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 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, see the CData Connect Cloud.