Klips: Creating BambooHR data sources

You can set up a connection between Klipfolio  Klips and your BambooHR data to display your HR metrics on a dashboard.

This article includes:

• Options for visualizing my BambooHR data
• Connecting my BambooHR data in Klipfolio
• Adding a BambooHR pre-built or custom-built data source
• Creating a BambooHR custom Klip
• More about BambooHR's API and queries

What options do I have for visualizing my BambooHR data?

Create data visualizations based on pre-built options or build your own. The choice is yours!

Pre-built by Klipfolio

Take advantage of our pre-built data sources to gather the data most meaningful to you.

• BambooHR pre-built data sources: Data sources provide the foundation for Klip building, so we suggest you create a data source as a first step (before building Klips and adding them to your dashboard). Our pre-built data sources focus on the most sought-after BambooHR data and are found on the Service Connectors page. When you select a service connector from this page, the data source for that service is automatically added.

Custom built by you

Taking the time to learn how to create your own data sources and Klips unlocks your data and enables you to control, manipulate, and transform it, leading you to unprecedented insights into your business.

• Custom data sources: When you create a custom data source, you can either use the pre-built data source as a starting point from which to write your own query or you can write your own queries from the ground up and build a data source from scratch. You create custom-built data sources from either your list of data sources or the Service Connectors page.
• Custom Klips: Using our Klip Editor, you can construct and manipulate your data, including integrating multiple data sources, to produce unique, custom-built data visualizations. You create custom Klips from either your list of Klips or your Dashboard.

Regardless of whether you choose pre-built, custom-built, or a combination of both, before you can start building Klips and dashboards you need to:

• Make sure you have BambooHR permissions that allow API access.
• Connect to BambooHR data in Klipfolio.

How do I connect to BambooHR data in Klipfolio?

To connect your BambooHR data to Klipfolio, you will need your API Key and company name.

To get the right data from BambooHR, you may need to use a BambooHR Employee ID and/or Report ID in the queries provided by Klipfolio or in your own query when building data sources.

How do I find my BambooHR API Key, Company name, Employee ID and Report ID?

To find your BambooHR API Key:

1. Log in to your BambooHR account.
2. Click on your profile picture in the upper right corner of any page.
3. Select API Keys.
4. Either use a current API Key or click Add a new API Key.
5. Save your API Key and use it to authenticate with BambooHR in Klipfolio.

To find your BambooHR Company name:

• Copy the company name only from the URL of your BambooHR account. For example, copy only acme from https://acme.bamboohr.com

To find a BambooHR Employee ID:

1. In BambooHR, click on an employee's name or search for a specific employee.
2. On their profile page, in the URL at the top of the page, copy the number after id=. For example, in this URL, the employee ID is 22: https://acme.bamboohr.com/employees/employee.php?id=22&page=1234

To find a BambooHR Report ID:

1. In BambooHR, navigate to Reports.
2. Either select a report or make a report.
3. The Report ID is at the very end of the URL after id=

How do I add a BambooHR pre-built or custom-built data source?

To add a BambooHR pre-built or custom-built data source:

1. Navigate to the Service Connectors page in Klipfolio and choose BambooHR from the list.
2. Select a pre-built data source from the left section of the Choose a pre-built or custom connection page. Alternatively, if you want to create a custom-built data source, click Create a custom BambooHR data source.
3. On the Connect an account page, at API Key, paste your BambooHR API Key. At Password, leave the text box blank.
4. Click Continue.
5. Adjust the Query URL information, as noted on the Configure your data source page, to replace any generic placeholder data with your own. For example, if you see <employeeID>, replace that (including angle brackets) with a BambooHR employee ID.
6. If you are creating a custom-built data source, edit the Query URL further to return the data you need. Refer to the BambooHR API documentation for details.
7. Click Get data.
8. Ensure this is the data you’re looking for.  Then, optionally, select the checkbox to Model your data. Learn more about modelling data sources.
9. Click Continue.
10. Name, choose refresh settings, and, optionally, share your data source.
11. Click Save.

How do I create a BambooHR custom Klip?

You create custom Klips from either your list of Klips or your Dashboard. You choose a data visualization format, for example, a pie chart, gauge, or table, and decide whether you want to use an existing data source or create a new one. In the Klip Editor, there are limitless opportunities to modify, relate, and display your data. See the following related articles for more information and get building!

• The Klip Editor
• Build a custom Klip

More about BambooHR's API and queries

Klipfolio connects to hundreds of services in the cloud that have a REST API. If you take the time to learn your service’s API to create queries for the data you want, your possibilities are endless. Here’s a quick overview video on APIs and Klipfolio:

  Klipfolio API's 101

If you need help using APIs, enlist a data analyst or developer.

Refer to the BambooHR API documentation to discover more data requests.

See the reference table below for API related information and sample queries.

Related articles

• Introduction to data sources
• Connect your data
• Working with XML/JSON data sources
• Guide to REST API data sources