BambooHR API

What authentication does the BambooHR API use?

The API supports two authentication methods: OAuth 2.0 authorization code flow (recommended for production integrations) and HTTP Basic authentication using your API secret key as the username with any random string as the password. The OAuth flow authorizes at `https://{companyDomain}.bamboohr.com/authorize.php` and exchanges tokens at `https://{companyDomain}.bamboohr.com/token.php`. Every operation in the spec accepts either scheme.

Can I generate custom employee reports with the BambooHR API?

Yes. POST to /{companyDomain}/v1/reports/custom with a JSON body specifying the fields you want (e.g., firstName, lastName, department, hireDate) and optional filter criteria. The response returns structured tabular data. BambooHR marks this endpoint deprecated in its reference documentation, with the note 'Deprecated. Use Datasets > Get Data from Dataset instead.', so treat it as legacy for new work. You can also retrieve pre-built reports via GET /{companyDomain}/v1/reports/{id} using the report ID from the BambooHR UI.

What are the rate limits for the BambooHR API?

BambooHR publishes no numeric rate limit. Its API details documentation states 'Implementations should always be ready for a 503 Service Unavailable response' and adds that commonly this is due to rate limiting, with a Retry-After header that may be available. So handle 503 and back off rather than coding to a fixed budget. For bulk work, call GET /{companyDomain}/v1/employees/changed to fetch only modified records instead of re-reading the directory.

How do I submit a time-off request through Jentic?

Search for 'submit employee time off request', load the schema for PUT /{companyDomain}/v1/employees/{employeeId}/time_off/request, and execute with the employee ID, date range, and time-off type. Before submitting, call GET /{companyDomain}/v1/employees/{employeeId}/time_off/calculator to check the available balance. Both operations run through your own Jentic One instance, which injects the BambooHR credential at call time.

Does the BambooHR API support webhooks for real-time updates?

Yes. The Webhooks resource allows you to register HTTP callback URLs that receive notifications when employee records change. BambooHR's event-based webhooks document three event types: employee.created when an employee record was created, employee.updated when one or more monitored fields on an employee record were changed, and employee.deleted when an employee record was deleted. The updated event fires only for the fields you select as monitor fields, which GET /{companyDomain}/v1/webhooks/monitor_fields lists. This eliminates the need for polling the employees/changed endpoint for near-real-time integrations.

Is there a BambooHR MCP server?

You do not need an MCP server to give your agent BambooHR. Jentic connects it directly from the API Directory: import BambooHR, store your API secret key or OAuth client once, and your agent calls the 164 endpoints on demand. Nothing extra is loaded into the agent's context, because operations are discovered when they are needed rather than declared up front.

Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with BambooHR?

Yes, and BambooHR's URL shape makes it specific. Employee operations carry the employee id in the path (/{companyDomain}/v1/employees/{employeeId}/time_off/policies, /{companyDomain}/v1/employees/{id}/tables/{table}), so a rule can pin the agent to one employee record as well as to the operations it needs. A read-only onboarding assistant can be scoped to GET /{companyDomain}/v1/employees/directory and the time-off calculator, with the PUT that submits a request and the payroll pay stub and withholding endpoints left out entirely.