How to Set Up a Salesforce Integration User in HubSpot: A Step-by-Step Guide

Hubspot is a major CRM software product that provides integrations and resources for connecting marketing, sales, content management, and customer service.

It comes as no surprise then that Hubspot offers the ability to sync records with Salesforce allowing users to benefit from better reporting, handling of complex automations, and a host of other features. But what is the best way to configure the integration to avoid costly errors?

This how-to guide will through the steps for setting up an Integration User that will facilitate the syncs between Hubspot and your Salesforce Instance. Addressed will be tips for managing Integration User emails, creating a user record with the necessary permissions, and setting up the Integration User in Hubspot.

Before fully diving into this how to, we recommend taking a look at our Integration User Configuration post to get an understanding of this feature.

Step 1: Google Groups for Integration Emails (optional)

This step is optional, but recommended if working with multiple Integration Users in your org. Whenever creating a new user in a Salesforce org a unique email address must be provided for that user. This applies even for Integration Users. When working with more than one integration, you will have the need for multiple Integration User emails for your org. These multiple emails can quickly become difficult to track and manage. This is where Google Groups can come in handy if you use Gmail. This will allow for creating a Group that has its own email which can be owned and managed by one or more users. These are the necessary steps for setting up a Google Group for this use case.

1. Login to your Google Account and select “Groups” from the Google App Launcher.
2. Click “Create Group” and provide details for the Group Name and Email Handle.
3. Click Next and ensure that the Group has the following settings. 
   1. Collaborative Inbox: Enabled
   2. Who can post: Anyone on the Web
   3. Who can contact group owners: Anyone on the web
   4. Default Sender: Group address

Step 2: Create Integration User

1. Log in to Salesforce as an administrator.
2. Go to Setup > Users > New User.
3. Fill in the required fields:
   • First Name: Hubspot
   • Last Name: Integration
   • Email: [the email created from the Google Group]
   • Username: [a unique username for the integration user]
   • Role: [assign an appropriate role, e.g., Integration User]
   • User License: Salesforce Integration
   • Profile: Salesforce API Only System Integrations 
   • Click "Save" to create the new Integration User.
4. Assign the “Salesforce API Integration” permission set license to the newly created user by clicking on the “Permission Set Group Assignments [x]” link at the top of the user detail page.
   • Click “Edit Assignments” in the “Permission Set License Assignments” section of the page
   • Scroll down to the “Salesforce API Integration” permission set license
   • Check the box in the “Enabled” column
   • Scroll to the top/bottom of the page and click save

Step 3: Create Permission Set

It will be necessary to add special permissions to the Integration user specific to Hubspot. You will also need to open access to the fields restricted from the Salesforce API Only System Integrations profile for each object mentioned.  
*Also, it is worth noting that Salesforce will be retiring permissions on Profiles in the Spring '26 release, which will then require permissions to be managed via permission sets and permission set groups.

1. Go to Setup > Users > Permission Sets.
2. Click "New Permission Set."
3. Enter a label and an API name for the permission set. Preferably, something specifying "Hubspot Integration".
4. Click "Save" to create the new permission set.

Add Object Permissions

1. Go to "Object Settings" in the Permission Set.
2. Provide Create, Read, Edit, and Delete permissions for the following Objects that will sync with Hubspot. Also provide Read and Edit permissions for all fields that will be referenced by your specific Hubspot Integration for each Object.
   1. Accounts
   2. Campaigns
   3. Contacts
   4. Leads
   5. Opportunities

Add System Permissions

1. Go to "System Permissions" in the Permission Set.
2. Provide the following System Permissions.
   1. Access Activities
   2. Edit Events
   3. Edit Tasks
   4. Modify Metadata Through Metadata API Functions
   5. View Setup and Configuration

Assigning the Permission Set to the User

1. Click "Manage Assignments."
2. Click "Add Assignments."
3. Select the Hubspot Integration User.
4. Click "Assign" and then click "Done" to complete the assignment process.

Step 4: Sync Integration User with Hubspot

1. Login to Hubspot user with admin permissions.
2. Navigate to "Connected Apps" from the Marketplaces icon in the Nav bar.
3. Under the "All apps" tab, search for "Salesforce" and click the matching result.
4. Under the “Sync Settings” tab click “Actions” to the right of “Integration user” and login using the Hubspot Integration user credentials in the Salesforce Login pop up window.
5. Refresh the page and review the field mapping statuses under each object tab ensuring that all have a status of "Ok". If any mappings do not, ensure read and edit access has been provided for the Salesforce field in the previously created permission set. 
6. (Optional) Create test records in Hubspot and Salesforce. Change details of the records to trigger a record sync for your Hubspot Integration and ensure no sync errors occur when doing so.