If your team uses Thrive's API to connect Thrive to another tool or system, you'll need to do a small amount of setup after your upgrade to Thrive 2.0. This guide walks you through exactly what to do—no prior technical experience required.
Who does what:
Your Thrive Admin handles Step 1 (generating a new API key)—this takes about 2 minutes and happens inside Thrive
Your Thrive Admin or a Developer or IT contact handles Steps 2–3—this takes about 30 minutes and happens in your integration's code or configuration.
Total time required: Under 1 hour total.
What's Changing and Why
Your current integration connects to Thrive using an old API key and an old web address (called an endpoint). After your upgrade, that old key and address no longer work because Thrive 2.0 uses a new authentication system.
The good news: your integration's core logic doesn't need to be rewritten. The recommended approach is to use what's called a compatibility layer, which lets your existing integration keep working with just two small changes: a new API key and a new web address.
You can think of it like changing a lock on a door. Instead of rebuilding a new door, you simply create a new key that fits the new lock.
Step 1: Generate a new API key (Admin)
Do this in your Thrive 2.0 tenant after your upgrade is live.
Log in to your Thrive 2.0 account.
Click Admin in the navigation menu.
3. Select Integrations from the admin sidebar.
4. Click Thrive API.
5. Click Create API Key (or Add Key, depending on your view).
6. Give the key a name that describes what it's for — for example, "ATS Integration" or "Data Sync." This is just for your reference.
7. Click Save or Generate.
8. Copy the key now. It will only be shown once in full. Paste it somewhere safe (a password manager or a secure document) to share with your technical resource.
Important: Don't share this key over email or Slack unless you're in a private/secure channel. Treat it like a password.
Step 2: Share These two Things With Your Technical Resource
Once you have the key, send your developer or IT contact the following:
Item 1 — Your new API key (the one you just generated in Step 1)
Item 2 — This information:
The integration needs two updates:
New base URL: Change the base URL in the integration to: https://legacyapi.thriveiq.com/api/v2/ (The paths that come after this — like /contacts or /searches — stay exactly the same.)
New authentication: Replace the old X-API-Key header with: Authorization: Bearer [the new key]
That's it. No other code changes are needed to get things running again.
Step 3: What Your Technical Support Does
This section is written for the developer or IT contact making the actual code change.
The Two Changes
Change 1: Update the base URL
Find wherever your integration sets its base API URL and update it from the old Thrive 1.0 address to the compatibility layer:
Old: https://api.services.thrivetrm.com/api/docs/v2/ (or similar)
Everything after the base URL — your endpoint paths like /contacts, /searches, /candidacies — stays the same. You're only changing the subdomain.
Change 2 — Update authentication
Replace the old X-API-Key header with a bearer token:
Old header: X-API-Key: [old key]
New header: Authorization: Bearer [new 2.0 key]
One Thing to Know About Record IDs
After the switch, Thrive will return a new type of record ID (called a UUID — a long alphanumeric string) instead of the short numeric IDs from Thrive 1.0. If your integration stores Thrive record IDs on your side (for syncing or matching records), you'll find the old numeric ID in a field called legacy_id on each response. Use that to map old IDs to new ones during the transition.
Test before you call it done
After updating the URL and auth key, run a few test calls — try reading a contact, a search, and a candidacy — and confirm you're getting data back. Check that any ?include= parameters and pagination still behave as expected.
What Happens if Something Isn't Working
If the integration stops working after the changes, here are the most common causes:
Symptom | Likely cause |
401 Unauthorized error | The new API key wasn't added correctly, or the old X-API-Key header is still being sent |
404 Not Found | The base URL wasn't updated, or a path that was removed in Thrive 2.0 is being called |
Missing fields in responses | Some 1.0 fields don't exist in 2.0 — this is expected; check the compatibility layer docs for your endpoint |
ID-related errors | Old numeric IDs are being sent in requests — switch to the new UUID format using legacy_id from prior responses |
If you're still stuck, reach out to Thrive support and include the error message you're seeing.
What's Next After the Upgrade Stabilizes
The compatibility layer is a bridge designed to keep things running right away, but it's not the permanent solution. Once your team has had time to settle into Thrive 2.0, you should plan to migrate to the native 2.0 API, which is the fully supported long-term surface.
There's no hard deadline for this yet, but we'll communicate the timeline well in advance. For now, the compatibility layer keeps everything running.
If you use custom fields in your integration, those require the native 2.0 API and won't work through the compatibility layer. Flag this with your developer—they'll need to handle those endpoints separately.
Need help?
Reach out to your CSM or contact Thrive support at support@thrivetrm.com. We're happy to walk through this with your technical resource if needed.