| name | crm-integration-stinger |
| description | CRM connectivity specialist for HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Attio, Folk, Close, and Copper -- bi-directional sync design, the contact-vs-lead-vs-account taxonomy, merge/dedupe, and the native-vs-Zapier-vs-Merge.dev architecture trade-off. Use when the user says "integrate with HubSpot", "bi-directional CRM sync", "CRM field mapping", "Merge.dev or native API?", "dedup contacts in our CRM", "lead enrichment strategy", "sync conflict resolution", "Salesforce Lead vs Contact", "Attio API production-ready?", or "audit our CRM sync code". Do NOT use for cold email sequence design (cold-outreach-worker-bee), product database schema (db-worker-bee), sync implementation code (python-worker-bee), or frontend CRM widgets (react-worker-bee). |
crm-integration-stinger
CRM connectivity playbook for crm-integration-worker-bee. Synthesized from 10 source notes covering Merge.dev pricing analysis, HubSpot/Salesforce/Attio official API docs, bi-directional sync architecture patterns, deduplication strategy, and lead enrichment tool comparisons. Research window: November 2025 -- May 2026.
See research/research-summary.md for key findings and open questions. The six-guide structure maps directly to the six major decision surfaces the worker-bee faces.
When this stinger applies
Load when any of the following are true:
- The user needs to connect their product to HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Attio, Folk, Close, or Copper.
- The user is deciding between native API integration, Merge.dev/Unified.to, or no-code automation (Zapier, Make).
- The user is designing a bi-directional sync and has not yet defined a conflict resolution policy.
- The user is asking about the difference between Salesforce Leads vs Contacts, HubSpot's lack of a Lead object, or Attio's dynamic attributes.
- The user has duplicate contacts/accounts in their CRM and needs a dedup strategy.
- The user is adding lead enrichment (Clearbit/Breeze, Apollo, Clay) to their CRM write flow.
- The user wants a code audit of existing CRM sync code.
Do NOT load for:
- Cold email sequencing or deliverability (route to
cold-outreach-worker-bee).
- The product's own internal Person/Account schema (route to
db-worker-bee).
- Implementation of the sync backend in Django or Node.js (route to
python-worker-bee).
- Frontend CRM sync widget or CRM data display UI (route to
react-worker-bee).
- GDPR data residency for CRM data (flag and route to
security-worker-bee).
Critical directives
These non-negotiables govern every engagement. Full justification in guides/00-principles.md.
- Map the CRM's data model before writing any spec or code. The taxonomy varies radically by platform; a field mapping decision made against the wrong mental model requires weeks of retroactive cleanup.
- Define conflict resolution policy before declaring bi-directional sync designed. The most common integration failure is two sources of truth diverging silently. A conflict resolution policy is not optional.
- State the Merge.dev trade-off explicitly. At 500 customers on Launch plan: $1.17M/year. At the 3-CRM inflection point, re-run the native SDK math every time.
- Deduplication is first-class, not a follow-up task. Design dedup into the sync from day one. Retrofitting is 10x more expensive.
- Run the rate limit math before committing to polling. HubSpot Free/Starter: 100 requests/10 seconds. Salesforce CDC: 72-hour retention on replay. Naive polling architectures break at scale.
- Never overwrite consent or Do Not Contact flags during dedup merges. Propagate opt-outs to all integrated systems immediately. GDPR/CCPA non-negotiable.
- Clearbit is Breeze Intelligence (HubSpot-acquired). Do not recommend the standalone Clearbit API for non-HubSpot stacks; it is deprecated for external callers as of 2025-2026. See
guides/06-lead-enrichment.md.
Routing table
| Request type | First guide | Key template |
|---|
| "Which integration approach should we use?" | guides/01-integration-architecture.md | templates/integration-spec.md |
| "What's HubSpot/Salesforce/Attio's data model?" | guides/02-crm-data-models.md | templates/field-mapping-table.md |
| "How do we map our schema to the CRM?" | guides/03-field-mapping.md | templates/field-mapping-table.md |
| "Design our bi-directional sync" | guides/04-sync-and-conflicts.md | templates/sync-design-spec.md |
| "We have duplicate contacts/accounts" | guides/05-deduplication.md | templates/dedup-strategy-worksheet.md |
| "Add lead enrichment to our CRM writes" | guides/06-lead-enrichment.md | templates/integration-spec.md |
| "Audit our sync code" | guides/07-implementation-review.md | templates/code-audit-checklist.md |
Folder layout
crm-integration-stinger/
+- SKILL.md (this file)
+- README.md (one-page overview)
+- guides/
| +- 00-principles.md (the six non-negotiables)
| +- 01-integration-architecture.md (native SDK vs Merge.dev vs Unified.to vs no-code)
| +- 02-crm-data-models.md (object models for all 7 CRMs in scope)
| +- 03-field-mapping.md (field mapping patterns and data-type traps)
| +- 04-sync-and-conflicts.md (bi-directional sync + conflict resolution)
| +- 05-deduplication.md (dedup hierarchy, survivorship, external ID alias)
| +- 06-lead-enrichment.md (Apollo, Clay, Breeze Intelligence comparison)
| +- 07-implementation-review.md (code audit checklist + common failure patterns)
+- examples/
| +- hubspot-bidirectional-sync.md (happy-path HubSpot ↔ product bi-directional sync)
| +- salesforce-lead-contact-migration.md (Lead-to-Contact lifecycle migration pattern)
+- templates/
| +- integration-spec.md (full integration specification scaffold)
| +- field-mapping-table.md (field mapping table template)
| +- sync-design-spec.md (bi-directional sync design spec)
| +- dedup-strategy-worksheet.md (dedup strategy decision worksheet)
| +- code-audit-checklist.md (CRM sync code audit checklist)
+- reports/
| +- README.md (how audit reports accumulate)
+- research/ (owned by scripture-historian -- do NOT modify)
+- research-plan.md
+- research-summary.md
+- index.md
+- internal/
+- external/ (10 source notes, 2025-11 to 2026-05)
Open questions from research (surface to user before finalizing guides)
- Is Clearbit's original API deprecated for non-HubSpot customers? Treat as deprecated until confirmed otherwise. Do not recommend standalone Clearbit API. See
guides/06-lead-enrichment.md.
- Is Vessel.dev still production-active in 2026? Omit from primary recommendations until confirmed. Use Merge.dev and Unified.to as the two unified API options.
- Which Merge.dev CRM integrations are production vs beta? Folk, Close, and Copper may be beta. Flag to user when recommending Merge.dev for these platforms.
- Pipedrive rate limits not confirmed in research. Treat as documented (API v1 docs exist) but advise user to verify before deploying.
- Attio bulk write status unknown as of 2026-05. Do not assume bulk endpoint exists. Design Attio initial loads with single-record rate-limit math.
Forged by stinger-forge from crm-integration-worker-bee-command-brief.md and research/. Part of the Legion AI Tools Factory by Mario Aldayuz a.k.a @thenotoriousllama.
