AI Calling Retell HubSpot Server

Middle layer between Retell AI (Cara), HubSpot Scheduler/CRM, and Supabase for tour availability, booking, and call logging.

Retell call → Render MCP server → HubSpot Scheduler API + CRM → Supabase logging

Architecture

MCP tool	Purpose
get_tour_availability	Check HubSpot availability for virtual or in-person tours
book_tour	Book a tour after guest confirms
log_retell_session	Save Retell session metadata to Supabase
log_tour_preference	Log tour interest without booking

HTTP routes

Route	Auth	Purpose
GET /health	No	Render health check
POST /mcp	Bearer	MCP Streamable HTTP endpoint for Retell
POST /webhooks/retell	Bearer	Retell post-call webhook → Supabase
POST /cron/sync-call-data	Bearer	HubSpot deals (ai_call_attempted=true) → Retell calls → Supabase

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Local setup

1. Copy environment file:

   cp .env.example .env
   

2. Fill in .env with your real values (never commit .env).
3. Run Supabase SQL from supabase/schema.sql in the Supabase SQL editor.
4. Install and start:

   npm install
   npm run dev
   

5. Verify health:

   curl http://localhost:3000/health
   

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Environment variables

Use these exact names locally (.env) and in Render (Dashboard → Web Service → Environment).

Variable	Description
PORT	Server port (3000 locally; Render sets automatically)
NODE_ENV	development or production
MCP_SERVER_SECRET	Random secret; Retell sends Authorization: Bearer <this>
HUBSPOT_ACCESS_TOKEN	HubSpot Private App Retell Connection token only
HUBSPOT_API_BASE	https://api.hubapi.com
SUPABASE_URL	Supabase project URL
SUPABASE_SERVICE_ROLE_KEY	Supabase service_role key (server-side only)
DEFAULT_TIMEZONE	Europe/Madrid
HUBSPOT_IN_PERSON_MEETING_URL	In-person meeting page URL
HUBSPOT_VIRTUAL_MEETING_URL	Virtual meeting page URL
HUBSPOT_IN_PERSON_SLUG	info-madrid
HUBSPOT_VIRTUAL_SLUG	info-madrid/virtual-tour-booking-carabanchel
DEFAULT_TOUR_DURATION_MINUTES	30
RETELL_API_KEY	Retell API key (required for call sync)
RETELL_API_BASE	https://api.retellai.com
HUBSPOT_AI_CALL_ATTEMPTED_PROPERTY	ai_call_attempted
HUBSPOT_RETELL_CALL_ID_PROPERTIES	Comma-separated deal properties that store a Retell call id
SYNC_ENABLED	true to run incremental sync on an interval inside the web service
SYNC_INTERVAL_MS	3600000 (1 hour) when SYNC_ENABLED=true
SYNC_INITIAL_DELAY_MS	60000 — delay before the first incremental run after server start

Where to get secrets

• HubSpot token: Settings → Integrations → Private Apps → Retell Connection → Access token
• Supabase service role: Supabase → Project Settings → API → service_role key
• MCP secret: Generate a long random string; use the same value in Retell MCP headers

Important: Do not use the Supabase publishable (anon) key for server-side inserts if RLS is enabled. Use the service role key in Render only — never expose it client-side or in Retell.

Important: Do not use the old Carabanchel_Direct_Booking_Integration HubSpot app. Use Retell Connection only.

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HubSpot scopes required

The Retell Connection private app needs:

• crm.objects.contacts.write
• crm.objects.contacts.read
• crm.objects.deals.write
• crm.objects.deals.read
• crm.schemas.deals.read
• crm.objects.contacts.read (contact phone lookup during call sync)
• crm.schemas.contacts.read
• crm.objects.owners.read
• automation
• scheduler.meetings.meeting-link.read
• meetings-write ← required for booking; add before live booking tests

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Render deployment

Setting	Value
Build command	npm ci --include=dev && npm run build
Start command	npm start
Health check path	/health
Instance	Starter recommended (Free tier cold starts can exceed Retell's 20s MCP timeout)

Do not use yarn or yarn start — this repo uses npm (package-lock.json). Using yarn alone skips the TypeScript build and can resolve incompatible dependency versions.

Recommended Render settings:

Setting	Value
Build command	npm ci --include=dev && npm run build
Start command	npm start
Health check path	/health

If Render still uses yarn for build, the app will start via tsx (commit 1a6921c+) but you should switch to npm for reliable installs. Node 22 is required (see .nvmrc).

Add all environment variables from the table above in Render → Environment.

After changing build/start commands in the Render dashboard, trigger Manual Deploy → Clear build cache & deploy.

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Connect Retell MCP

In Retell → MCP → Add MCP:

Field	Value
MCP server URL	https://ai-calling-j1hu.onrender.com/mcp
Timeout	20000
Headers	Authorization: Bearer <MCP_SERVER_SECRET>

Select these tools after deploy:

• get_tour_availability
• book_tour (requires HubSpot meetings-write scope)
• log_retell_session
• log_tour_preference

Optional webhook (post-call): POST https://ai-calling-j1hu.onrender.com/webhooks/retell with the same bearer header.

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Cara prompt behavior

When the guest wants a tour:

1. Ask whether they prefer a virtual or in-person tour.
2. Ask which day works best.
3. Ask what Madrid time generally works best.
4. Call get_tour_availability.
5. Offer one or two available slots.
6. Ask clearly: "Should I book that for you?"
7. Only after the guest clearly confirms, call book_tour.
8. Do not say the tour is booked until book_tour returns success.
9. If booking fails, say: "No problem, I'll send you the tour links by WhatsApp so you can choose the time that works best for you."
10. Log the result with log_retell_session or log_tour_preference.

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Manual test scripts

# Test HubSpot availability (requires HUBSPOT_ACCESS_TOKEN in .env)
npx tsx scripts/testAvailability.ts

# Test Supabase inserts (requires SUPABASE_* in .env)
npx tsx scripts/testSupabaseInsert.ts

# Test live booking (guarded — only runs when enabled)
RUN_BOOKING_TEST=true [email protected] npx tsx scripts/testBookTour.ts

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Pre-live checklist

1. Run supabase/schema.sql in Supabase
2. Deploy to Render with all env vars
3. Confirm GET /health returns { "ok": true }
4. Run testAvailability.ts and testSupabaseInsert.ts
5. Connect Retell MCP with bearer auth
6. Test a call with your own HubSpot contact and phone
7. Add meetings-write scope if booking fails with missing scope errors
8. Only then enable for real leads

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Supabase tables

• retell_sessions — Retell call/session metadata plus HubSpot deal/contact enrichment (upsert by session_id)
• mcp_tool_calls — MCP tool request/response logs
• tour_bookings — Tour bookings and preferences
• sync_runs — Audit log for HubSpot deal → Retell call sync jobs

See supabase/schema.sql for full schema. Existing projects should also run:

• supabase/migrations/20260701_call_sync.sql
• supabase/migrations/20260701_hubspot_enrichment.sql

HubSpot fields stored on retell_sessions after sync:

Column	Source
hubspot_deal_id	Deal ID
hubspot_deal_name	Deal name
hubspot_pipeline	Pipeline label (e.g. Hubs B2C - Carabanchel)
hubspot_deal_stage	Stage label (e.g. Contacted)
hubspot_deal_stage_id	Stage internal ID
hubspot_unit_type	unit_type__carabanchel_
hubspot_contract_start_date	desired_check_in_date
hubspot_contract_end_date	desired_check_out_date
hubspot_contact_id	Associated contact ID
hubspot_contact_name	Contact first + last name
hubspot_contact_email	Contact email
hubspot_contact_phone	Contact phone

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HubSpot deal → Retell call sync

Syncs deals where ai_call_attempted = true into retell_sessions, linked by hubspot_deal_id.

Matching order (first hit wins):

1. Deal property in HUBSPOT_RETELL_CALL_ID_PROPERTIES (default: retell_call_id, retell_session_id, ai_retell_call_id)
2. Retell call metadata.hubspot_deal_id
3. All syncable Retell calls to the deal's associated contact phone (connected and failed dials: dial_no_answer, dial_busy, telephony_provider_permission_denied)

Failed attempts are stored with end_reason = the Retell disconnection reason and session_outcome = failed_dial.

One-time historical backfill (local or Render shell):

npm run backfill:calls

Ongoing sync — option A: Render Cron Job (recommended)

Setting	Value
Schedule	0 * * * * (hourly)
URL	POST https://ai-calling-j1hu.onrender.com/cron/sync-call-data
Header	Authorization: Bearer <MCP_SERVER_SECRET>

Ongoing sync — Option B: in-process scheduler (active in render.yaml)

Set on the Render web service:

Variable	Value
SYNC_ENABLED	true
SYNC_INTERVAL_MS	3600000
SYNC_INITIAL_DELAY_MS	60000
RETELL_API_KEY	Your Retell API key

The server runs an incremental sync ~60s after startup, then every hour. Only deals modified since the last successful sync are re-processed (24h overlap buffer). Overlapping runs are skipped if a previous sync is still in progress.

Redeploy after changing environment variables in Render (Manual Deploy if needed).

Manual full re-sync:

curl -X POST "https://ai-calling-j1hu.onrender.com/cron/sync-call-data?full=true" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <MCP_SERVER_SECRET>"

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Security

• No secrets in code or .env.example
• .env is gitignored
• Bearer auth on /mcp and /webhooks/retell
• Logs scrub Authorization headers and token values
• All tool inputs validated with Zod