Apollo Local Dev Loop Skill

Apollo Local Dev Loop

Overview

Set up an efficient local development workflow for Apollo.io integrations. Includes sandbox API key support, MSW mock server for offline testing, request logging, and npm scripts for daily development. Apollo provides a sandbox API token that returns dummy data without consuming credits.

Prerequisites

Completed apollo-install-auth setup
Node.js 18+
Git repository initialized

Instructions

Step 1: Set Up Environment Files

Apollo offers a sandbox token for testing. Generate one at Settings > Integrations > API Keys > Sandbox.

# .env.example (commit this — team reference)
APOLLO_API_KEY=your-api-key-here
APOLLO_SANDBOX_KEY=your-sandbox-key-here
APOLLO_USE_SANDBOX=false

# .env (gitignored — copy from example)
cp .env.example .env
echo '.env' >> .gitignore
echo '.env.local' >> .gitignore

Step 2: Create a Dev Client with Request Logging

// src/apollo/dev-client.ts
import axios from 'axios';
import dotenv from 'dotenv';

dotenv.config();

const apiKey = process.env.APOLLO_USE_SANDBOX === 'true'
  ? process.env.APOLLO_SANDBOX_KEY
  : process.env.APOLLO_API_KEY;

export const devClient = axios.create({
  baseURL: 'https://api.apollo.io/api/v1',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-api-key': apiKey!,
  },
  timeout: 30_000,
});

// Log all requests in development
devClient.interceptors.request.use((config) => {
  console.log(`[Apollo] ${config.method?.toUpperCase()} ${config.url}`);
  if (config.data) console.log('[Apollo] Body:', JSON.stringify(config.data, null, 2));
  return config;
});

devClient.interceptors.response.use(
  (res) => {
    const remaining = res.headers['x-rate-limit-remaining'];
    console.log(`[Apollo] ${res.status} ${res.config.url}${remaining ? ` — ${remaining} req remaining` : ''}`);
    return res;
  },
  (err) => {
    console.error(`[Apollo] ERROR ${err.response?.status}: ${err.response?.data?.message ?? err.message}`);
    return Promise.reject(err);
  },
);

Step 3: Set Up MSW Mock Server for Offline Testing

// src/mocks/apollo-handlers.ts
import { http, HttpResponse } from 'msw';

const BASE = 'https://api.apollo.io/api/v1';

export const apolloHandlers = [
  // People Search (free endpoint)
  http.post(`${BASE}/mixed_people/api_search`, () =>
    HttpResponse.json({
      people: [
        { id: 'mock-1', name: 'Jane Doe', title: 'VP Sales', organization: { name: 'Acme Corp' } },
        { id: 'mock-2', name: 'John Smith', title: 'Director Engineering', organization: { name: 'Acme Corp' } },
      ],
      pagination: { page: 1, per_page: 25, total_entries: 2, total_pages: 1 },
    }),
  ),

  // People Enrichment
  http.post(`${BASE}/people/match`, () =>
    HttpResponse.json({
      person: {
        id: 'mock-enriched', name: 'Jane Doe', email: 'jane@acme.com',
        title: 'VP Sales', organization: { name: 'Acme Corp' },
        phone_numbers: [{ sanitized_number: '+14155551234' }],
        linkedin_url: 'https://www.linkedin.com/in/janedoe',
      },
    }),
  ),

  // Organization Enrichment
  http.get(`${BASE}/organizations/enrich`, ({ request }) => {
    const url = new URL(request.url);
    return HttpResponse.json({
      organization: {
        id: 'mock-org', name: 'Acme Corp', industry: 'Technology',
        estimated_num_employees: 250, annual_revenue_printed: '$25M',
        primary_domain: url.searchParams.get('domain') ?? 'acme.com',
      },
    });
  }),

  // Search for Sequences
  http.post(`${BASE}/emailer_campaigns/search`, () =>
    HttpResponse.json({
      emailer_campaigns: [
        { id: 'seq-1', name: 'Q1 Outbound', active: true, num_steps: 4 },
      ],
    }),
  ),

  // Auth Health
  http.get(`${BASE}/auth/health`, () =>
    HttpResponse.json({ is_logged_in: true }),
  ),
];

// src/mocks/server.ts
import { setupServer } from 'msw/node';
import { apolloHandlers } from './apollo-handlers';
export const mockServer = setupServer(...apolloHandlers);

Step 4: Configure Vitest

// vitest.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from 'vitest/config';
export default defineConfig({
  test: { setupFiles: ['./src/mocks/setup.ts'], environment: 'node' },
});

// src/mocks/setup.ts
import { mockServer } from './server';
import { beforeAll, afterAll, afterEach } from 'vitest';
beforeAll(() => mockServer.listen({ onUnhandledRequest: 'warn' }));
afterEach(() => mockServer.resetHandlers());
afterAll(() => mockServer.close());

// src/__tests__/people-search.test.ts
import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
import { devClient } from '../apollo/dev-client';

describe('Apollo People Search', () => {
  it('returns contacts from mock server', async () => {
    const { data } = await devClient.post('/mixed_people/api_search', {
      q_organization_domains_list: ['acme.com'],
      per_page: 10,
    });
    expect(data.people).toHaveLength(2);
    expect(data.people[0].name).toBe('Jane Doe');
  });
});

Step 5: Add Development Scripts

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "tsx watch src/index.ts",
    "test": "vitest",
    "test:watch": "vitest --watch",
    "test:live": "APOLLO_USE_SANDBOX=false vitest --run",
    "test:sandbox": "APOLLO_USE_SANDBOX=true vitest --run",
    "apollo:check": "tsx src/scripts/verify-auth.ts",
    "apollo:search": "tsx src/scripts/quick-search.ts"
  }
}

Output

.env.example template with sandbox key support
Dev client with request/response logging and rate-limit display
MSW mock handlers for people search, enrichment, org enrichment, and sequences
Vitest config with mock server setup/teardown
npm scripts for dev, test, sandbox testing, and credential checks

Error Handling

| Error | Cause | Solution | |-------|-------|----------| | Missing API Key | .env not loaded | Run cp .env.example .env and add your key | | Mock Not Working | MSW not configured | Ensure setupFiles includes mock setup | | Unexpected credits used | Sandbox mode off | Set APOLLO_USE_SANDBOX=true in .env | | Stale Credentials | Key rotated in dashboard | Run npm run apollo:check to verify |

Resources

Next Steps

Proceed to apollo-sdk-patterns for production-ready code patterns.

Agent Skills: Apollo Local Dev Loop

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