Log iMessages in HubSpot or Salesforce and send them from CRM workflows

Who uses iMessage logging in HubSpot or Salesforce?

Sales and RevOps teams use ZeroSettle this way when every iMessage with a lead or customer has to sit on the HubSpot or Salesforce record next to calls and emails. This replaces reps texting from their own phones, which leaves no CRM history, nothing to hand over when a rep leaves, and no record of who agreed to be texted or who said STOP.

With ZeroSettle the team texts from a business number, in the console or from workflows, and the webhook feeds the CRM; someone has to host a small service. Other jobs are in 50 ways businesses use iMessage.

How iMessage logging in HubSpot or Salesforce works, step by step

ZeroSettle's webhook carries every message on the line to a service you run, which writes it to the CRM record; workflows send through the same service.

1. Log inbound texts. ZeroSettle POSTs a signed message.received event about 1–2 seconds after a text reaches the line; the service finds the contact by phone number (or email, for an email handle) and logs a HubSpot communication or a completed Salesforce Task.
2. Log outbound texts only from message.sent. Console, API and MCP sends all echo back as that event, so logging at send time as well would show each text twice.
3. Log tapbacks and failures from reaction.received (its target_id is the message reacted to) and message.failed (a send recorded but not delivered).
4. Send from a workflow. A HubSpot webhook action or a Salesforce Flow HTTP Callout calls your service, which calls POST /api/imessage/send only when the consent property is true and has a timestamp. The ZeroSettle token stays in your service.
5. Sync opt-outs. STOP replies arrive as message.received. A nightly job reads GET /api/imessage/opt-outs, which lists each handle with opted_out_at, and sets a "do not text" property.
6. With several numbers, store line_id for each contact, not the number. If a number is ever replaced, the line keeps its line_id, history and STOPs (see what happens if a number is flagged).

Signing and retries are covered in how to receive iMessages with a webhook. ZeroSettle POSTs each event to one webhook URL, so if a Slack support relay or a Zapier, n8n or Make flow needs the same messages, fan them out from this service.

Example conversation: a proposal follow-up logged in HubSpot

Here a HubSpot workflow sends the first text, the rep answers in the ZeroSettle console, and the contact ends with a tapback.

Result: 3 iMessages and 1 reaction on Tom's timeline, each an SMS communication with a body like "iMessage message.received #44: she wants annual billing", since HubSpot's channel types are only SMS, WhatsApp and LinkedIn message.

Setup: a webhook-to-CRM logger and a workflow action

The integration is one service: /zerosettle receives ZeroSettle's webhook, /send serves workflows, and a nightly job syncs opt-outs. Register /zerosettle with PUT /api/imessage/webhook and keep the signing secret, shown once. verify is the verifier from the webhook steps in the docs; the CRM side here is HubSpot.

# crm_bridge.py: run with  uvicorn crm_bridge:app --port 8100
import hashlib, hmac, json, os, time
import requests
from fastapi import BackgroundTasks, FastAPI, Request, Response

BASE = "https://portal.zerosettle.io"
ZS = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['ZEROSETTLE_TOKEN']}"}
SECRET = os.environ["ZEROSETTLE_WEBHOOK_SECRET"]
HUB = "https://api.hubapi.com/crm/objects/2026-09"
HS = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['HUBSPOT_TOKEN']}"}
yes = lambda v: str(v).lower() == "true"
app = FastAPI()

def verify(header, raw):
    try:
        parts = dict(p.split("=", 1) for p in header.split(","))
        t, v1 = int(parts["t"]), parts["v1"]
    except Exception:
        return False
    if abs(time.time() - t) > 300:
        return False
    expected = hmac.new(SECRET.encode(), f"{t}.".encode() + raw, hashlib.sha256).hexdigest()
    return hmac.compare_digest(expected, v1)

def contact_id(handle):                           # HubSpot matches US phones without +1
    prop, value = ("email", handle) if "@" in handle else ("phone", handle.removeprefix("+1"))
    f = {"propertyName": prop, "operator": "EQ", "value": value}
    r = requests.post(f"{HUB}/contacts/search", headers=HS, timeout=10,
                      json={"filterGroups": [{"filters": [f]}]}).json()
    return r["results"][0]["id"] if r.get("results") else None

def log(event, m):                                # dedupe on (m["id"], event) in your DB
    if not (cid := contact_id(m["handle"])):
        return                                    # not in the CRM yet: see the FAQ
    on = f" on #{m['target_id']}" if m.get("target_id") else ""  # a tapback's target
    requests.post(f"{HUB}/communications", headers=HS, timeout=10, json={
        "properties": {"hs_communication_channel_type": "SMS",  # no iMessage type
                       "hs_communication_logged_from": "CRM",
                       "hs_communication_body": f"iMessage {event} #{m['id']}{on}: {m.get('text') or ''}",
                       "hs_timestamp": m["ts_ms"]},
        "associations": [{"to": {"id": cid}, "types": [
            {"associationCategory": "HUBSPOT_DEFINED", "associationTypeId": 81}]}]})
    if m.get("line_id"):                          # Growth: keep the contact's line
        requests.patch(f"{HUB}/contacts/{cid}", headers=HS, timeout=10,
                       json={"properties": {"zerosettle_line_id": m["line_id"]}})

@app.post("/zerosettle")
async def zerosettle_webhook(request: Request, tasks: BackgroundTasks):
    raw = await request.body()
    if not verify(request.headers.get("X-ZeroSettle-Signature", ""), raw):
        return Response(status_code=401)
    ev = json.loads(raw)
    if ev.get("message"):                         # typing events carry no message
        tasks.add_task(log, ev["event"], ev["message"])
    return Response(status_code=200)              # logs everything, replies to nothing

def send(c):
    body = {"to": c["phone"], "line_id": c.get("zerosettle_line_id") or None,
            "text": f"Hi {c['firstname']}, it's Ana from Fernway, following up on the proposal. Any questions from your CFO?"}
    while True:                                   # use a job queue in production
        r = requests.post(f"{BASE}/api/imessage/send", headers=ZS, json=body, timeout=90)
        wait = r.json()["error"].get("retry_after_s", 2) if r.status_code == 429 else 0
        if not 0 < wait <= 900:                   # longer = the daily cap: requeue for 8 am
            return r                              # 403 recipient_opted_out: set do-not-text
        time.sleep(wait)

@app.post("/send")
async def send_from_workflow(request: Request, tasks: BackgroundTasks):
    if request.headers.get("Authorization") != f"Bearer {os.environ['CRM_SHARED_SECRET']}":
        return Response(status_code=401)
    c = await request.json()                      # the workflow's custom request body
    if yes(c.get("imessage_consent")) and c.get("imessage_consent_at") and not yes(c.get("imessage_do_not_text")):
        tasks.add_task(send, c)
    return {"ok": True}

def sync_opt_outs():                              # nightly, from cron
    for o in requests.get(f"{BASE}/api/imessage/opt-outs", headers=ZS, timeout=30).json()["opt_outs"]:
        if cid := contact_id(o["handle"]):
            requests.patch(f"{HUB}/contacts/{cid}", headers=HS, timeout=10,
                           json={"properties": {"imessage_do_not_text": "true"}})

In HubSpot, add a Send a webhook action to a contact-based workflow and choose Customize request body with phone, firstname, the consent properties and, on Growth, zerosettle_line_id. For authentication, add an API key named Authorization in the request header, with the value Bearer and your shared secret. The action needs Data Hub Professional or Enterprise.

Both routes answer at once and work in the background. ZeroSettle retries a webhook that isn't answered within 10 seconds. A ZeroSettle send can take up to about 75 seconds, and HubSpot retries a failed webhook action for up to three days, so a /send route that waits on the send risks duplicate texts. Cache contact lookups as volume grows: HubSpot's search allows five requests per second per account.

In Salesforce, the handler finds the Contact or Lead with a SOSL search in phone fields and inserts a completed Task linked through WhoId. A Flow calls /send with an HTTP Callout action, whose named credential holds the service's URL.

Limits and consent for CRM-triggered iMessages

CRM workflows obey the same ZeroSettle limits as any caller, the console included. Contacts who texted first, and ongoing conversations, never count as new contacts.

Source: ZeroSettle iMessage API docs, "Errors, limits, and compliance". With several numbers, a send is refused for the limit only when every number is full, or the named line is.

The limit math for one workflow enrollment

Say a HubSpot workflow enrolls 45 webinar sign-ups on Monday morning who ticked "text me about my demo", none of whom has texted your number.

• Pro: 5 go out Monday, using the day's 5. The other 40 get 429 new_contact_limit until the 3 AM Eastern reset, so the sample hands them back to your queue and 5 more go each day after 8 am local time: the last ones go out over a week later. For enrollments this size, book a demo to upgrade to Growth.
• Growth with three numbers: 3 per number per 15 minutes is 9 per window, so all 45 are out in about an hour.
• A three-step sequence to a lead who never answers stops at two: on either plan the third step returns 403 awaiting_reply. Either way, repeated texts to people who never answer are the fastest way to get a number flagged by Apple.

Opt-outs sync back so other channels that read the CRM skip anyone who said STOP; ZeroSettle already blocks them on every number on your account. The nightly job only ever sets the property, because the list holds only STOPs received since ZeroSettle's enforcement launched; how STOP and opt-outs work covers START.

When ZeroSettle is not a fit for CRM logging

ZeroSettle is the wrong choice for CRM texting in these cases:

• You need a no-code Salesforce app today. Salesforce is coming soon, and HubSpot’s app may not be open to every account yet. If you'd rather buy than build, ZeroSettle vs Project Blue compares the two for sales teams.
• You'd enroll whole CRM lists in text sequences. New-contact limits and consent rules apply, and ZeroSettle suspends lines used for unsolicited messaging.
• Many of your contacts use Android. There is no SMS fallback, so a contact without iMessage gets nothing.
• You need SMS in the same thread. ZeroSettle carries iMessage only, so SMS would come from a second tool and log separately.
• Reps expect read tracking as with email. The API reports message.sent (the message left the line) and message.failed, not delivered or read status.

How much does iMessage logging in a CRM cost?

ZeroSettle charges the plan price and nothing per message; outbound and inbound messages are unlimited. Add hosting for the service and the CRM edition your workflow action needs.

Both plans are billed monthly with a 30-day money-back guarantee on the subscription. See ZeroSettle's plans, read the iMessage API docs, or get a number.