Troubleshooting
If requests fail, run zero doctor check-connector --env-name CUSTOMERIO_TRACK_TOKEN or zero doctor check-connector --url https://cdp.customer.io/v1/identify --method POST
Core APIs
Identify a Person (Pipelines API)
Add or update a person's profile. Uses Basic auth with Site ID and Track API key combined and base64-encoded.
Write to /tmp/cio_request.json:
{
"userId": "clerk_user_abc123",
"traits": {
"email": "user@example.com",
"firstName": "Jane",
"lastName": "Doe",
"plan": "free",
"createdAt": 1700000000
}
}
curl -s -X POST "https://cdp.customer.io/v1/identify" --header "Authorization: Basic $(printf "%s:%s" "$CUSTOMERIO_SITE_ID" "$CUSTOMERIO_TRACK_TOKEN" | base64 -w 0)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/cio_request.json
Docs: https://docs.customer.io/integrations/data-in/connections/http-api/
Track an Event (Pipelines API)
Send a behavioral event to trigger automated campaigns or journeys.
Write to /tmp/cio_request.json:
{
"userId": "clerk_user_abc123",
"event": "plan_upgraded",
"properties": {
"from_plan": "free",
"to_plan": "pro",
"mrr": 49
}
}
curl -s -X POST "https://cdp.customer.io/v1/track" --header "Authorization: Basic $(printf "%s:%s" "$CUSTOMERIO_SITE_ID" "$CUSTOMERIO_TRACK_TOKEN" | base64 -w 0)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/cio_request.json
Send Transactional Email (App API)
Send a one-off email using a template configured in Customer.io. Replace <transactional-message-id> with the ID from your Customer.io dashboard.
Write to /tmp/cio_request.json:
{
"transactional_message_id": "<transactional-message-id>",
"to": "user@example.com",
"identifiers": {
"email": "user@example.com"
},
"message_data": {
"firstName": "Jane",
"resetLink": "https://app.example.com/reset?token=abc123"
}
}
curl -s -X POST "https://api.customer.io/v1/send/email" --header "Authorization: Bearer $CUSTOMERIO_APP_TOKEN" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/cio_request.json
Docs: https://docs.customer.io/journeys/transactional-api-examples/
Delete a Person (App API)
Delete a person by their Customer.io ID. Replace <person-id> with the actual ID:
curl -s -X DELETE "https://api.customer.io/v1/customers/<person-id>" --header "Authorization: Bearer $CUSTOMERIO_APP_TOKEN"
Search People (App API)
Write to /tmp/cio_request.json:
{
"filter": {
"and": [
{
"attribute": {
"field": "email",
"operator": "eq",
"value": "user@example.com"
}
}
]
}
}
curl -s -X POST "https://api.customer.io/v1/customers" --header "Authorization: Bearer $CUSTOMERIO_APP_TOKEN" --header "Content-Type: application/json" -d @/tmp/cio_request.json | jq '{results: [.results[] | {id, email: .attributes.email}]}'
List Segments (App API)
curl -s "https://api.customer.io/v1/segments" --header "Authorization: Bearer $CUSTOMERIO_APP_TOKEN" | jq '[.segments[] | {id, name, type}]'
Guidelines
- Two API systems: Pipelines API (
cdp.customer.io) handles identity and events; App API (api.customer.io) handles transactional sends and profile queries. Use different credentials for each. - Basic auth encoding: The Pipelines API uses
base64(site_id:track_api_key)— not Bearer token. - userId: Use a stable, unique identifier (e.g., Clerk user ID). Do not use email as the primary ID if users can change their email.
- Event names: Use
snake_caseby convention (e.g.,plan_upgraded,interview_scheduled). - Transactional message ID: Find it in Customer.io under Journeys > Transactional > [template] in the URL or code example tab.
- Rate limit: 100 requests per second (fair-use). Implement exponential backoff on HTTP 429.
- Regions: Default region uses
api.customer.io; EU region usesapi-eu.customer.ioandtrack-eu.customer.io.