BambooHR
For HR teams and people managers who want employees to self-serve on PTO balances, directory lookups, and job info.
6 min read
Updated February 2026
Overview
“How many PTO days do I have left?” “What's the new hire's email?” “Who's my skip-level manager?” HR teams field these questions dozens of times a week. Each one is a simple lookup, but the interruptions keep HR from focusing on strategic work.
The BambooHR integration lets your AI agent handle these routine lookups automatically. Employees get instant answers to their HR questions through natural conversation, and HR gets their time back.
When to Enable This
- Employees frequently Slack or email HR to ask about their PTO balance
- Managers need quick access to team directory info during onboarding
- HR wants to deflect repetitive questions to a self-serve AI agent
- New hires need an easy way to find colleagues and org structure
Available Actions
| Action | Description |
|---|---|
| Employee Lookup | Find an employee by name or email and return their profile details |
| Time-Off Balance | Check PTO, sick leave, or other time-off balances for an employee |
| Directory | Search the employee directory by department, location, or role |
| Job Info | Get job title, department, reporting structure, and employment details |
Prerequisites
- A BambooHR account with API access enabled
- An API key generated from BambooHR (requires admin access)
- Your BambooHR subdomain
Setup Instructions
Step 1: Generate an API Key
- In BambooHR, click your name in the upper right → API Keys
- Click Add New Key
- Name it “ChatSpark” and click Generate Key
- Copy the key immediately—it won't be shown again
Step 2: Enable in ChatSpark
- In ChatSpark, go to AI Actions
- Find BambooHR in the Library and click Enable
- Select the agent(s) that should have access
- Enter your BambooHR subdomain and API key
- Click Save
Configuration Fields
| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Subdomain | Your BambooHR subdomain (the part before .bamboohr.com) | yourcompany |
| API Key | Your BambooHR API key | abc123def456... |
Testing Your Integration
After setup, open your AI agent and try these realistic queries:
- “How many PTO days do I have left?”
- “What's Sarah Chen's email address?”
- “Who works in the Austin office?”
- “What department is Jordan Miller in?”
Troubleshooting
401 Unauthorized
Verify your API key and subdomain are correct. If the API key was generated by an employee who has since left, the key may have been deactivated.
Employee not found
The API key can only access employees visible to the account that created it. If the key owner's role restricts visibility (e.g., to their own department), some employees won't appear. Use an admin-level API key for full coverage.
Time-off balance shows zero
Verify that the employee has time-off policies assigned in BambooHR. If accrual policies haven't been configured, balances will appear empty.