Push GitHub Leads to Copper CRM

Why Copper CRM for Developer Leads?

Copper CRM is built natively for Google Workspace — it syncs with Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive, making it the default CRM for agencies, dev tool companies, and B2B SaaS teams already deep in the Google ecosystem. If your sales team lives in Gmail and uses Google Workspace for everything, Copper is the CRM that does not require context-switching. GitLeads pushes GitHub developer lead signals — stargazer events, keyword mentions in issues/PRs/discussions — into Copper as People records, enriched with GitHub profile data, so your team works them directly from their inbox.

What GitLeads Captures and Sends to Copper

• Name and email (if public on GitHub profile)
• GitHub username and profile URL
• Bio, company, location, and follower count
• Top programming languages from public repos
• Signal context: which repo was starred, which keyword was mentioned, and the raw text of the mention
• Signal type: stargazer event vs. keyword match in issue/PR/discussion/code/commit

Architecture: GitLeads Webhook to Copper API

Copper exposes a REST API for creating People and Activities. GitLeads delivers enriched lead payloads to your webhook endpoint. A small handler (deployed on Vercel, Cloudflare Workers, or a Node.js server) receives the GitLeads webhook and calls the Copper API to upsert the record.

// Vercel/Next.js API route: /api/webhooks/gitleads-copper
import type { NextRequest } from 'next/server';

const COPPER_API_BASE = 'https://api.copper.com/developer_api/v1';
const COPPER_API_KEY = process.env.COPPER_API_KEY!;
const COPPER_USER_EMAIL = process.env.COPPER_USER_EMAIL!;

interface GitLeadsPayload {
  name: string;
  email?: string;
  github_username: string;
  profile_url: string;
  bio?: string;
  company?: string;
  location?: string;
  followers: number;
  top_languages: string[];
  signal_type: 'stargazer' | 'keyword';
  signal_context: string;
  repo?: string;
}

async function copperRequest(path: string, method: string, body: unknown) {
  const res = await fetch(`${COPPER_API_BASE}${path}`, {
    method,
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      'X-PW-AccessToken': COPPER_API_KEY,
      'X-PW-Application': 'developer_api',
      'X-PW-UserEmail': COPPER_USER_EMAIL,
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(body),
  });
  return res.json();
}

export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
  const payload: GitLeadsPayload = await req.json();

  // Search for existing person
  const searchRes = await copperRequest('/people/search', 'POST', {
    emails: payload.email ? [payload.email] : undefined,
    name: payload.name,
  });

  const existing = Array.isArray(searchRes) ? searchRes[0] : null;
  let personId: number;

  if (existing) {
    personId = existing.id;
  } else {
    const newPerson = await copperRequest('/people', 'POST', {
      name: payload.name,
      emails: payload.email ? [{ email: payload.email, category: 'work' }] : [],
      details: payload.bio ?? '',
      tags: ['github-lead', payload.signal_type],
    });
    personId = newPerson.id;
  }

  // Log signal as an activity on the person record
  await copperRequest('/activities', 'POST', {
    type: { category: 'user', id: 1 },
    details: `GitHub Signal (${payload.signal_type}): ${payload.signal_context}\nRepo: ${payload.repo ?? 'N/A'}\nLanguages: ${payload.top_languages.join(', ')}\nProfile: ${payload.profile_url}`,
    parent: { type: 'person', id: personId },
  });

  return Response.json({ ok: true, personId });
}

Setting Up Custom Fields in Copper

Before connecting the webhook, create these custom fields in Copper Settings → Custom Fields → People:

1. GitHub Username (Text) — store the GitHub handle for quick profile lookup
2. GitHub Profile URL (URL) — direct link to their GitHub profile
3. Signal Context (Text Area) — the raw issue/PR quote or repo that triggered the signal
4. Top Languages (Text) — comma-separated top programming languages from public repos
5. Signal Type (Dropdown: stargazer / keyword) — filter your pipeline by intent type

Configuring GitLeads to Push to Copper

1. Deploy the webhook handler to Vercel, Cloudflare Workers, or any Node.js host
2. In GitLeads Dashboard → Integrations → Webhooks, add your endpoint URL
3. Set COPPER_API_KEY (from Copper Settings → API Keys) and COPPER_USER_EMAIL as environment variables
4. Add repos to track in GitLeads (your product repo, competitor repos, or ecosystem repos)
5. Add keyword monitors for intent signals (e.g., "looking for a tool that", "does anyone know")
6. Watch People records appear in Copper with GitHub context attached as activities

Filtering and Routing in Copper

• Tag "high-intent" leads where signal_type is "keyword" and followers > 200 — these developers have reach and are likely decision-makers
• Create a "GitHub Signals" pipeline stage for leads awaiting first contact
• Use Copper's Gmail integration to draft outreach directly from the People record, pulling in GitHub context
• Set up Copper automations to assign leads to specific reps based on top language (Python leads to your data tooling AE, Go leads to your infra AE)
• Use Copper's Slack integration to notify the team when a high-follower GitHub lead is created