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Guides / Clio

Clio Developer Account

Step-by-step instructions for setting up a Clio developer account and configuring API access for integration.

Last verified: April 2026

What You’re Setting Up

Clio uses OAuth 2.0 for API access. To build an integration, we need a developer account in Clio’s developer portal where we can register an application and obtain credentials. In most cases, we handle this ourselves — but depending on your setup, we may ask you to create the developer account or authorize our app from your Clio account.

This process takes about 20 minutes, plus up to a few days for Clio to convert your trial to a developer account.

Important: Plan Requirements

Clio’s EasyStart plan ($49/user/month) does not include API access. You need at least the Essentials plan ($89+/user/month) for API-based integrations.

If you’re on EasyStart and want to integrate Clio with other systems, you’ll need to upgrade your plan before we can connect anything. Check your current plan under Settings, then Subscription in Clio.

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Get a Clio Developer Account

If we’re handling the development directly:

  1. Go to app.clio.com and sign up for a free trial account
  2. This gives you a 7-day trial of Clio Manage
  3. During or after the trial period, apply for a developer account conversion through Clio’s developer program at developer.clio.com
  4. Once approved, your trial converts to a free developer account that doesn’t expire

We use this developer account to build and test the integration. Your production Clio data is not affected.

2. Register an Application

Once the developer account is active:

  1. Log into the Clio developer portal at developer.clio.com
  2. Navigate to the application management section
  3. Create a new application with:
    • Application name: A descriptive name like “AcuCoders [Your Company] Integration”
    • Application URL: We’ll provide this
    • Redirect URI: We’ll provide this — it’s a URL our server uses to complete the OAuth handshake. Do not guess this value.
  4. Save the application

3. Copy Credentials

After creating the application:

  1. Copy the Client ID (sometimes called Application ID)
  2. Copy the Client Secret
  3. Send both to us through the secure link we provide

4. Authorize the Connection

Once we’ve configured the integration with your credentials, we’ll send you an authorization link.

  1. Click the link
  2. Log into your production Clio account (not the developer account)
  3. Review the permissions being requested
  4. Click Allow to grant access

This connects our integration to your live Clio data.

5. Scopes We Typically Need

Depending on what the integration does, we request access to:

  • Contacts — clients, companies, and related people
  • Matters — cases, their status, practice areas, and custom fields
  • Activities — time entries and expense entries
  • Calendar entries — events, appointments, deadlines
  • Tasks — to-dos associated with matters
  • Documents (if needed) — for file sync integrations

We only request what the integration requires. You’ll see the full list of requested permissions during the authorization step.

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Common Issues

EasyStart Plan Limitations

If API calls are failing with permission errors, confirm your Clio plan. EasyStart does not support API access. This is the most common blocker we encounter with Clio integrations.

Developer Account Approval Delay

Clio’s developer account conversion isn’t always instant. If you apply and don’t hear back within a few business days, contact Clio’s developer support directly. We can also reach out through our developer contacts if needed.

Wrong Account During Authorization

If you authorize with the wrong Clio account (e.g., the developer test account instead of your production account), the integration will connect to test data instead of real data. Make sure you log into your production account when clicking the authorization link.

OAuth Token Refresh

Clio’s OAuth tokens expire and need periodic refreshing. Our integration handles this automatically. If the refresh token expires (due to extended inactivity or a revoked authorization), you’ll need to re-authorize by clicking a new link. We monitor for this.

Scopes Changed After Authorization

If we need to add new scopes after the initial connection, you’ll need to re-authorize the app. We’ll send a new link — the process is the same as the initial authorization.

Next Steps

Need help with the full integration?

This guide covers the setup. If you want us to handle the integration end to end, we can do that.

See Integration Services