Clio + Upfirst integration

Upfirst is an AI receptionist that connects to Clio in three ways: a native calendar integration for booking appointments, Custom Actions for live Clio Manage REST API v4 calls during and after a call, and Zapier for post-call automation. The receptionist already knows your Clio calendar; Custom Actions extend that to Contacts, Matters, Activities, Communications, and Notes.

Does Upfirst integrate with Clio?

Yes, and Clio is the most fully featured legal integration in Upfirst:

Native calendar integration. Upfirst connects directly to your Clio Calendar so the receptionist can book appointments into the right user's calendar with the call details auto-attached. No Custom Action setup needed for booking.
Custom Actions reach the rest of the Clio Manage API at https://app.clio.com/api/v4. Contact lookups, Matter status reads, Communications logging, and Activities (billable time) all work through OAuth-authenticated REST calls.
Zapier handles post-call automation for anything that doesn't need to happen mid-call.

Clio uses standard OAuth 2.0 with refresh tokens, so it's the cleanest setup of any legal practice management platform.

What Clio Manage is

Clio Manage is the legal practice management system used by more law firms than any other platform. The object model centers on Contacts, Matters, Activities (time entries and expenses), Communications (calls, emails, SMS, notes), Tasks, Calendar Entries, and Documents.

Solo practitioners through mid-size firms use Clio Manage for matter tracking, time and billing, trust accounting, intake (with Clio Grow), and client communication (with Clio Connect). Phone calls fit naturally as Communications attached to a Matter. The integration makes that happen automatically.

What Upfirst can do with Clio

Book appointments into Clio Calendar with no custom setup

This one is built in. Once your Clio calendar is connected to Upfirst (under Calendar Integrations), the receptionist can offer available times to callers, book the appointment into the user's Clio calendar, and include the caller's details, the matter context, and a summary of what was discussed in the calendar event description.

Look up a Contact and their Matters when the call lands

For deeper workflows beyond booking, a Custom Action on call start runs GET /api/v4/contacts?phone_number=#{{caller_id}}. The matching Contact comes back along with the Matters they're a client on. The receptionist greets the caller by name and can mention matter status, responsible attorney, or any custom field.

Read Matter status or upcoming Calendar Entries mid-call

When a caller asks about case progress, the receptionist queries GET /api/v4/matters?client_id={contact_id} for the Matter detail and GET /api/v4/calendar_entries for upcoming events. It can confirm the next court date, the paralegal, the matter's display number, or the current stage without putting the caller on hold.

Log calls as Clio Communications

When the call ends, a Custom Action posts to POST /api/v4/communications with type=PhoneCommunication, the call duration, sender (the receptionist), receiver (the Contact), and the call summary as the body. The Communication ties to the Matter through the Contact relationship. Billable calls write a parallel POST /api/v4/activities entry as a time entry against the Matter.

Create a new Contact and Matter for intake calls

For net-new callers running through intake, Upfirst posts POST /api/v4/contacts (with type=Person and primary_phone) and then POST /api/v4/matters linked to that Contact. Practice area, matter description, and originating attorney come from the call signals. Intake forms structured by the Clio Manage layout get populated through custom field IDs.

Clio Manage API calls Upfirst can make

GET /api/v4/contacts filtered by phone_number, email_address, or query
GET /api/v4/matters filtered by client_id or status
POST /api/v4/contacts and POST /api/v4/matters for intake
PATCH /api/v4/matters/{id} to update status, custom fields, or responsible attorney
POST /api/v4/communications to log the call
POST /api/v4/activities for billable time entries
POST /api/v4/tasks for follow-up assignments
GET /api/v4/calendar_entries for upcoming events on a Matter

Setting up the Clio integration

Native calendar (booking only)

In Upfirst, go to Settings > Calendars, click Connect Clio Calendar, and authorize the Clio OAuth prompt. Pick which Clio user's calendar(s) the receptionist should book into. That's the full setup for appointment booking.

Custom Actions (for the rest of the Clio API)

Register a Clio Manage app in the Clio Developer Portal. Save the Client ID and Client Secret. Add a redirect URI for Upfirst.
In Upfirst, set up the Clio OAuth Connection using those credentials and the scopes you need (e.g. contacts, matters, communications, activities). Clio includes refresh tokens, so Upfirst handles the rotation.
Go to Agent > Custom actions and add a new action. Pick the trigger: When call starts for the Contact lookup by phone, During call for Matter status reads, or After call for Communications and Activities.
Set the request. Example endpoint: https://app.clio.com/api/v4/contacts?phone_number=#{{caller_id}}. Authorization: bearer with the Clio access token. Add the X-API-VERSION header if needed.
Pick which fields the receptionist gets back (Contact name, Matter, attorney, status). Test it. Save.

Zapier

Create a Zap. Trigger: Upfirst > Call Completed.
Pick a Clio Manage action: Create Contact, Create Matter, Add Communication, Add Task.
Map the call fields to Clio fields. Practice area, responsible attorney, and matter status matter for downstream workflow.
Add filters so only the right call types fire (new intake creates Matter; existing client just logs a Communication).
Test and turn the Zap on.

The recommended Clio setup: connect the calendar for booking first, then layer in a Contact-lookup Custom Action on call start, a Communications log on call end, and Zapier for cross-tool fanout. Practices that bill by the call add an Activities Custom Action to capture phone time automatically.