Connect FileMaker to the Web. Finally.
FileMaker API integration connects your FileMaker database to the web, exposing its data through the FileMaker Data API and a PHP layer that WordPress sites, portals, ecommerce stores and third-party platforms can read from and write back to. Built with proper authentication, caching and error handling so it runs reliably.
FileMaker Data API Expertise
We know the FileMaker Data API deeply, including token management, layout-based access, portal data, and script execution via API.
PHP Middleware Built to Last
We build robust PHP layers between FileMaker and your web applications, handling auth, retries, caching, and error logging properly.
WordPress and Portal Integration
Surface FileMaker data in WordPress sites, customer portals, order management tools, and reporting dashboards.
Bidirectional Sync
Read from FileMaker and write back to it when events happen in external systems. Keeping both sides in sync reliably.
CRM and eCommerce Connections
Sync FileMaker records with HubSpot, Salesforce, WooCommerce, and other platforms your business depends on.
Rare Skill Set, Properly Applied
The combination of FileMaker knowledge and web API development is uncommon. We bring both to every project.
Some of our direct clients
FileMaker Connected to the Modern Web
PHP-based middleware over the FileMaker Data API that connects your database to WordPress, web portals, CRMs, and eCommerce platforms. A rare combination of FileMaker knowledge and web development depth.
- 7+
- Years of FileMaker API integration
- 100%
- PHP middleware fully documented
- 3-8wk
- Standard integration timeline
- 24hr
- Discovery call turnaround
Why FileMaker Businesses Choose Zestcode
We combine genuine FileMaker Data API knowledge with strong PHP and web development skills to build integrations that actually work. If your FileMaker database needs to talk to the web, we are one of the few UK agencies who can make it happen reliably.
- FileMaker Data API and PHP middleware
- WordPress, portals and CRM connections
- Bidirectional sync with token management
- WooCommerce and eCommerce integration
How a FileMaker Integration Works With Us
We learn your FileMaker setup
We start with a short call to understand which version of FileMaker you run, whether the Data API is enabled, and what data needs to reach the web or another platform. No jargon and no commitment, just a clear picture of what is possible and roughly what it would take.
We map the data and quote
We work out which layouts and tables the API needs to reach, which direction each piece of data flows, and what should happen in the awkward cases like token expiry and sync conflicts. You get a fixed-price proposal with a clear scope and timeline, so there are no surprises once we begin.
We build the PHP layer and test it
We build the middleware against your live FileMaker Server in a staging environment, so we hit the same token behaviour, layout quirks and error responses you will see in production. Every integration is tested with real, messy data and documented as we go, so the next developer is not reverse-engineering it later.
We launch it and keep it running
We deploy with monitoring and proper error logging in place, so you know the moment anything stops flowing. You get full documentation and optional ongoing support for when FileMaker upgrades or the API changes, so the integration keeps working without you thinking about it.
Ready to connect FileMaker to the web?
Tell us your FileMaker version and what needs connecting, and we will come back with a fixed quote and a realistic timeline, usually within 24 hours. NDA first, no obligation.
Here's What Our Partners Say
Agencies, direct clients and long-term retainers. Rated 5* on Google.
Zestcode really have proven to be “website design & development specialists” whilst maintaining the very best customer service. Not easy to find a well-rounded company like Zest these days that tick all the boxes. 5*
Head of Marketing, Masterclip
After working with Zestcode for over 2 years I wouldn’t trust any other web developers. An agency that are committed to getting the project right and going above and beyond expectations.
Director, Novus Digital
Harry and his team have just finished producing our new website, his team have done an amazing job producing our website and their continuous communication throughout made the process a lot easier.
Director, JL Phillips
Zestcode Digital have just finished my website and I am beyond thrilled with it! I highly recommend their services not only are they professional and proficient but incredibly helpful.
Director, Select Art Gallery
It's an easy and enjoyable process working with Zestcode Digital, highly recommended.
Director, Whoisvisiting
Their team is highly responsive, especially in time-sensitive situations, and their ability to deliver reliable solutions quickly has been a huge asset. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for dependable web development support.
Marketing Manager, Slick Gorilla
Having close communication with Harry throughout the whole project has been invaluable. He always makes sure to explain things thoroughly and helped me understand all the different aspects of the project that I needed to know.
Director, All Abroad
FileMaker API Integration FAQs
FileMaker API Integration Services That Connect Your Database to the Web
FileMaker is excellent at holding your business data and terrible at sharing it with anything outside itself. If you need that data on a website, in a customer portal or synced with another platform, the questions are always the same: what can the Data API actually reach, how do you keep a connection reliable when tokens keep expiring, and who maintains it afterwards. Here is how we handle all three.
What the FileMaker Data API can and cannot do
The FileMaker Data API is a REST interface that lets external code read and write records, run scripts and pull portal data over HTTPS. It is layout-based, which is the part that trips people up: the API sees your database through whichever layout you point it at, so the fields exposed, the related records available and the portals you can read all depend on how that layout is built. Design the layout well and the API becomes clean and predictable.
It handles the operations most integrations need: finding records with queries, creating and editing them, running server-side scripts and reading through portal relationships. What it does not do is act like a general-purpose database connection, so part of our job early on is mapping what you want against what the API actually exposes, then building dedicated integration layouts where the default ones do not fit.
Get this foundation right and everything downstream is easier. Get it wrong and you spend the project fighting the API instead of using it.
The PHP middleware layer we build
Talking to the Data API directly from a website is a mistake we have cleaned up more than once. Tokens expire, requests fail, rate limits bite, and FileMaker Server does not always respond the way a busy front end needs it to. So we put a PHP middleware layer in between, and it does the unglamorous work that keeps everything stable.
That layer authenticates and manages tokens so nothing upstream ever has to think about session state, retries failed calls sensibly, caches responses that do not need to be live on every page load, and logs errors properly so a silent failure becomes a visible one. It gives your website or portal a clean, fast interface to talk to, while all the FileMaker-specific awkwardness stays hidden behind it.
This is the same thinking behind our wider API integrations work. The database and the platform should each do what they are good at, with a well-built layer doing the translation.
Surfacing FileMaker data in WordPress and portals
A common brief is to take data that lives in FileMaker and show it on a public WordPress site or inside a logged-in area, without anyone rekeying it. Product catalogues, service records, membership details, stock figures, case data, whatever your database is the source of truth for, pulled through the API and rendered where your users actually are.
We build this as a proper WordPress integration rather than an iframe or a nightly export, so the data is current and lives natively in your templates, searchable and styled like the rest of the site. Where the requirement is a full logged-in experience with accounts, permissions and dashboards, that becomes a portal and platform development project with FileMaker sitting behind it as the data engine.
Either way the pattern is the same: FileMaker stays the system your team works in, and the web becomes another window onto it rather than a second copy to maintain.
Not sure your FileMaker data can reach the web?
Send us your FileMaker version and the layouts or tables involved, and tell us where the data needs to end up. We will tell you honestly what the Data API can do and what it would take to build.
Two-way sync and writing back to FileMaker
Reading from FileMaker is the easy half. The harder and more valuable half is writing back, so that something happening on the web updates the database automatically. A form submission creates a record, a payment marks an order as paid, a portal edit updates the customer file, all without anyone touching FileMaker directly.
Bidirectional sync is where the design decisions matter most. We map out what happens when both sides change the same record, how conflicts are resolved, and what should occur when FileMaker Server is briefly unreachable so nothing is silently lost. These are the questions most projects skip and later regret, and we work through them before writing the sync rather than after it breaks.
Done properly, both sides stay in step and your team keeps working in FileMaker while the web quietly keeps it fed.
Connecting FileMaker to CRMs and ecommerce platforms
FileMaker rarely runs a business on its own. It usually sits alongside a CRM, an ecommerce store and an accounting system, and the value of an integration is getting records to flow between them instead of being copied by hand. We connect FileMaker to the platforms you already depend on and keep the relevant fields in sync.
That often means pushing contacts or deals into HubSpot or Salesforce, or syncing customers, orders and stock with WooCommerce so the shop and the database agree. Each connection is built to handle the specific quirks of both APIs, not bolted together with a generic connector that falls over on the first record that does not fit.
The result is a set of systems that behave like one, with FileMaker either feeding them or being fed by them, depending on where the truth for each piece of data should live.
Handling tokens, versions and keeping it running
The Data API needs FileMaker Server, or FileMaker Cloud, with the Data API enabled. It has been available since FileMaker 17, and later versions bring worthwhile improvements, so if you are on an older release part of the early conversation is whether an upgrade is needed before anything else can happen. We will tell you plainly which side of that line you are on.
Data API tokens expire after a period of inactivity, and an integration that assumes a token stays valid is one that fails at the worst possible moment. Our middleware requests, caches and refreshes tokens automatically, re-authenticating cleanly when a session drops, so the connection stays up without anyone watching it.
Because FileMaker upgrades, server moves and API changes all happen over time, we build with monitoring and clear error logging from the start, and offer ongoing support so the integration keeps working when your environment changes underneath it.
Partner with Zestcode for Industry Leading Quality and Reliability
Tell what you're looking for and we'll see you how we can help. Quotes are typically provided within 2 working days of the initial call.