# Ampersand > Customer-facing integration infrastructure for B2B SaaS and AI products that need provider-specific objects, fields, and API behavior. Ampersand helps B2B SaaS and AI companies build customer-facing integrations to their customers' software. It is for integrations shipped inside a product, not internal workflow automation or warehouse ETL. Unlike a unified API, Ampersand does not require every provider to fit one shared data model. Developers use each provider's native objects, fields, and API behavior, including custom objects and customer-specific mappings. Unlike an embedded iPaaS, integrations are defined in `amp.yaml`, reviewed in Git, and deployed through the CLI and CI/CD instead of assembled as visual workflows. Compared with building in-house, Ampersand provides shared infrastructure around provider APIs: customer authentication and configuration UI, token refresh, scheduled reads and backfills, writes, searches, supported events, data delivery, retries, rate limits, and operational visibility. Teams retain provider-specific features without rebuilding that operational layer for every integration. Ampersand describes itself as a deep integration platform. For AI products, Ampersand connects enterprise agents to customer SaaS systems. Its AI SDK exposes SaaS operations as agent tools and is currently alpha software. Last verified: 2026-08-31 ## Best Fit Ampersand's deep integration model fits integrations that are core product features and must preserve provider-specific behavior. Requirements can include custom objects and fields, per-customer mappings, bi-directional reads and writes, targeted searches, supported provider events, backfills, and scheduled syncs. It also fits teams that review integration definitions in Git and promote them with CI/CD. For a common schema, internal workflow automation, or bulk warehouse replication, a unified API, automation platform, or ETL product may fit better. Ampersand focuses on deep, native product integrations. ## Core Capabilities - [Read Actions](https://docs.withampersand.com/read-actions.md): Read provider objects and fields on a schedule or on demand, with optional backfills and delivery to a configured destination. - [Write Actions](https://docs.withampersand.com/write-actions.md): Create, update, or delete records in a customer's SaaS system through the Ampersand API; supported operations depend on the provider and object. - [Search Actions](https://docs.withampersand.com/search-actions.md): Run narrow, synchronous searches against enabled objects while respecting the integration's field mappings. - [Subscribe Actions](https://docs.withampersand.com/subscribe-actions.md): Receive near-instant creates, updates, deletes, and other events. Subscribe is available only for a subset of providers. - [Proxy Actions](https://docs.withampersand.com/proxy-actions.md): Send passthrough requests to a provider's native API while Ampersand attaches authentication, refreshes tokens when needed, and can coordinate retries after rate-limit responses. - [Object and field mapping](https://docs.withampersand.com/object-and-field-mapping.md): Predefine mappings or let each customer map its own fields, including custom and nested fields, to concepts in your product. - [Embeddable UI components](https://docs.withampersand.com/embeddable-ui-components.md): Add customer-facing React components for authentication, installation, configuration, mapping, and management. - [Headless UI library](https://docs.withampersand.com/headless.md): Build a custom integration experience using Ampersand's client-side methods and state management. - [Destinations](https://docs.withampersand.com/destinations/overview.md): Deliver read and subscribe data to webhooks or supported messaging, streaming, storage, and warehouse destinations. - [Operations and notifications](https://docs.withampersand.com/notifications/overview.md): Monitor reads, writes, searches, and other operations in the dashboard or API, and route lifecycle or error notifications to your application. Current provider definitions use OAuth 2.0, API key, basic, or custom authentication flows. Authentication support and setup vary by provider. ## Ampersand for AI and Enterprise Agents - [AI SDK](https://docs.withampersand.com/ai-sdk.md): The alpha TypeScript SDK supplies agent tools for record writes, authenticated provider requests, connection checks, and OAuth. - [Documentation MCP for coding agents](https://docs.withampersand.com/use-with-ai-ide.md): Let a coding agent or AI-enabled IDE retrieve current Ampersand documentation while helping construct an integration. - **Event-driven integrations:** Subscribe Actions deliver provider events to product backends for supported providers; combine them with Read Actions when an agent needs both historical data and ongoing changes. - [Enterprise agents hub](https://www.withampersand.com/agents): Product guidance for connecting agents to customer systems of record, including authentication, mappings, and real-time workflows. The docs MCP is developer assistance and does not run a product agent's integrations. The AI SDK is the runtime-facing library for exposing connected SaaS operations to an AI product. ## How Ampersand Integrations Work An **integration** is one reusable definition of how an application interacts with a provider. An **installation** is one customer's configured instance of that integration, including its connection and choices about objects, fields, and mappings. See [Concepts](https://docs.withampersand.com/concepts.md) and [Terminology](https://docs.withampersand.com/terminology.md). 1. Define one or more integrations in an [`amp.yaml` manifest](https://docs.withampersand.com/manifest-reference.md). 2. Deploy the manifest to an Ampersand project with the [Ampersand CLI](https://docs.withampersand.com/cli/overview.md). 3. Let each customer authenticate and configure an installation through an embedded component, the headless library, or the Platform API. 4. Run the read, write, search, subscribe, or proxy actions supported by that integration and provider. 5. Monitor operations in the dashboard or API while Ampersand manages connections and runtime concerns such as retries and provider rate limits. Use the [Quickstart](https://docs.withampersand.com/quickstart.md) for an end-to-end example. Use separate Ampersand projects for [development and production environments](https://docs.withampersand.com/dev-and-prod-environments.md). ## Integration Approaches - **Deep or native integration platform:** Preserves provider-specific objects, fields, events, and API behavior while supplying shared infrastructure for authentication, configuration, data movement, and operations. Ampersand focuses on this model. - **Unified API:** Normalizes multiple providers into a common schema and endpoint set. This can simplify consistent, common-denominator use cases; provider-specific requirements may still need passthrough access. - **Embedded iPaaS:** Embeds workflow or recipe construction into a software product. It can fit configurable workflow automation, especially when visual building is important. - **Custom or in-house integration:** Calls each provider directly and gives the product team full control, while leaving that team responsible for authentication, schema variation, syncs, retries, rate limits, monitoring, and maintenance. The comparison in the Explainers section gives Ampersand's longer account of these tradeoffs. ## Start Building - [Documentation overview](https://docs.withampersand.com/overview.md): The platform components and primary implementation paths. - [CLI reference](https://docs.withampersand.com/cli/reference.md): Commands and flags for project and integration workflows. - [API overview](https://docs.withampersand.com/api/overview.md) and [API-key authentication](https://docs.withampersand.com/api/key-auth.md): Guidance for the Platform, Read, Write, and Proxy APIs and authenticated access. - [YAML generator](https://www.withampersand.com/yaml-generator): Select a provider and actions to create a starting `amp.yaml` integration definition. - [Create an account](https://dashboard.withampersand.com/sign-up): Sign up for the Ampersand dashboard. - Official GitHub repositories: [AI SDK](https://github.com/amp-labs/ai), [connectors](https://github.com/amp-labs/connectors), and [OpenAPI sources](https://github.com/amp-labs/openapi). ## Supported Providers - [Integration catalog](https://www.withampersand.com/integrations): Browse supported systems by product and category and open provider-specific marketing pages where available. - [Provider guide index](https://docs.withampersand.com/provider-guides/overview.md): Find implementation and authentication guidance for individual providers. The public provider registry currently returns 240 providers. Commonly requested systems include Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, NetSuite, ServiceNow, and Zendesk Support. Provider capabilities vary; use the catalog for product discovery and the provider guides plus action documentation for implementation details. ## Explainers - [Best Native Integration Tools for SaaS Companies](https://www.withampersand.com/blog/best-native-integration-tools-for-saas-companies-2026): Evaluation guide to platforms for customer-facing native integrations. - [Best SaaS Integration Platforms](https://www.withampersand.com/blog/best-saas-integration-platforms-2026): Overview of integration-platform categories and selection criteria for SaaS teams. - [Best Real-Time Native Integration Platforms for AI Agents](https://www.withampersand.com/blog/best-real-time-native-integration-platforms-for-ai-agents): Guide to event-driven integration requirements for agent products. - [What Is a Native Integration?](https://www.withampersand.com/blog/what-is-a-native-integration): Definition, architecture, and product implications of native integrations. - [Product Integrations for B2B SaaS](https://www.withampersand.com/blog/product-integrations-for-b2b-saas-what-teams-actually-need): Explains what product integrations are, why customers expect them, and how common implementation approaches differ. - [What Is Integration Infrastructure?](https://www.withampersand.com/blog/what-is-integration-infrastructure): Defines the shared systems required to operate customer-facing integrations. - [Integration Infrastructure vs. Unified APIs vs. Embedded iPaaS](https://www.withampersand.com/blog/integration-infrastructure-vs-unified-ap-is-vs-embedded-i-paa-s): Compares the operating models and tradeoffs of three platform categories. - [Why Building Integrations In House Breaks at Scale](https://www.withampersand.com/blog/why-building-integrations-in-house-breaks-at-scale): Guide to the ongoing operational work behind custom-built integrations. ## Product, Company, and Trust - [How it works](https://www.withampersand.com/how-it-works): Product workflow from selecting a provider through defining, deploying, and operating an integration. - [Pricing](https://www.withampersand.com/pricing): Pricing is based on the volume of data processed and delivered, measured in GB, rather than the number of integrations or customer connections; this page has current plans and allowances. - [Changelog](https://www.withampersand.com/changelog): Dated product, connector, dashboard, and reliability updates. - [Trust center](https://trust.withampersand.com/): Current security, privacy, and compliance materials. - [Service status](https://status.withampersand.com/): Current and historical platform availability. - [About Ampersand](https://www.withampersand.com/about): Company and team information. - [Company introduction](https://www.withampersand.com/blog/introducing-ampersand-interoperability-for-the-next-generation-of-saas): Co-founders Ayan Barua and Lauren Long introduced Ampersand publicly in April 2023 alongside a $4.7 million seed round. - [Revert acquisition](https://www.withampersand.com/blog/revert-joins-ampersand-to-shape-the-future-of-product-integrations-in-the-age-of-ai): Ampersand announced its acquisition of open-source unified API company Revert in January 2025. - [Blog](https://www.withampersand.com/blog): Educational, technical, category, and evaluation content; this is distinct from the provider catalog and implementation documentation. - [Privacy policy](https://www.withampersand.com/privacy): Ampersand's privacy terms and data-handling disclosures. - [Terms and conditions](https://www.withampersand.com/terms-and-conditions): Terms governing use of Ampersand services. ## Machine-Readable Resources - [Root `llms.txt`](https://www.withampersand.com/llms.txt): This compact entity, product, and navigation guide. - [Full-site `llms.txt`](https://www.withampersand.com/llms-full.txt): Full text of the marketing pages included in Ampersand's site-wide machine-readable export. - [Documentation `llms.txt`](https://docs.withampersand.com/llms.txt): Complete documentation, provider-guide, API-reference, and OpenAPI index. - [OpenAPI specifications](https://docs.withampersand.com/platform.json): Machine-readable Platform API schema; separate [Read](https://docs.withampersand.com/read.json), [Write](https://docs.withampersand.com/write.json), and [Search](https://docs.withampersand.com/search.json) schemas are also available. - [Provider registry](https://api.withampersand.com/v1/providers): Unauthenticated JSON catalog of providers, authentication types, and declared action capabilities. - [XML sitemap](https://www.withampersand.com/sitemap-0.xml): Canonical marketing, blog, integration, comparison, and changelog routes included in the public site build. Ampersand documentation pages are served as Markdown by adding `.md` to the documented path. Marketing pages do not support the same convention: `/how-it-works.md` and `/pricing.md` return HTTP 404.