Connecting Pitchup to Keydesk

Keydesk connects to Pitchup through Pitchup’s API, so the two systems exchange information automatically rather than through exported files or a calendar feed.

In practice this means:

• Keydesk sends availability, rates, stay rules and supported extras to your Pitchup listings.
• Pitchup bookings, amendments and payment-status updates are imported into Keydesk automatically.
• Availability stays aligned at the level of individual physical units rather than a shared pool.
• Supported booking amendments made in Keydesk are sent back to Pitchup.

There is no separate module or add-on to enable. The Pitchup connection is part of Keydesk.

Complete these checks first. Most setup problems come from configuration that is incomplete on one side or the other.

In Keydesk

• Your properties, unit grades, physical units, rate plans and extras are set up and correct.
• Every future booking within a unit grade you intend to connect can be assigned to a physical unit. The integration works at physical-unit level, so an unassigned booking has no unit whose availability it can hold.

In Pitchup

• Review your catalogue and confirm the sites, pitch types, charge types and extras you expect to connect all exist and are active.
• Have the API key for your Pitchup account to hand. The next section explains where to find it.

1. Sign in to the Pitchup manager portal.
2. Select Me in the top-right corner.
3. Select My details.
4. Scroll to the API key section.
5. Copy the complete key.

1. In Keydesk, open Settings → Integrations.
2. Find Pitchup and select Connect.
3. Paste your key into the Pitchup API key field.
4. Select Verify and connect.

Keydesk verifies the key with Pitchup before saving it. If verification succeeds, the key is encrypted and Keydesk begins importing your Pitchup setup.

Allow a short time for the import to finish, then open the integration’s Mappings tab.

Check that Keydesk has imported the items you expect:

• Properties and campsites
• Pitch and accommodation types
• Physical pitches or units
• Charge types
• Extras

If something is missing, it is almost always because the item is inactive or incompletely configured in Pitchup. Correct it in Pitchup, then refresh the integration to import it.

Mapping tells Keydesk which Pitchup item corresponds to which Keydesk record. Each mapping determines what inventory, pricing and bookings are shared, so it is worth working through carefully.

Map in this order:

1. Each Pitchup campsite to the matching Keydesk property.
2. Each Pitchup pitch type to the matching Keydesk unit grade.
3. Each Pitchup physical pitch to the matching Keydesk physical unit.
4. Each Pitchup charge type to the correct Keydesk rate plan.
5. Each Pitchup extra to its matching Keydesk extra.

Complete the property mappings first. Keydesk uses them to narrow the remaining options to records belonging to the correct property, which makes the rest quicker and prevents cross-property mistakes.

If an imported item points at the wrong Keydesk record, use Change mapping to correct it.

Before activating, confirm that what Keydesk will publish is what you intend to sell.

• Every connected rate plan has prices covering the period you intend to sell.
• Minimum and maximum stay rules are set correctly.
• Permitted arrival days, and any closed-to-arrival or closed-to-departure restrictions, are as you want them.
• Package rates are linked to the appropriate Pitchup charge types.
• Adult, child and infant charges are correct where they apply.
• Extras use a charging method the integration supports: per booking, per night, per item, or per person per stay.

Resolve everything flagged Action needed before continuing. These are items Keydesk has identified as incomplete or incompatible, and activation checks them again.

Open the integration’s Overview tab and work through the setup checklist:

1. Connect and verify the API key.
2. Import the Pitchup setup.
3. Confirm every mapping.
4. Review rates, stay rules and extras.

When the checklist is complete, select Activate Pitchup.

Keydesk then runs its final checks and enables the connection. During activation it will:

• Re-verify the API key.
• Validate your mappings and physical-unit capacity.
• Publish initial rates, availability and selling rules.
• Publish supported extras.
• Verify the information Pitchup returns.
• Configure booking notifications.

The integration shows as Connected once activation completes successfully.

Once active, Keydesk is the source of the availability sent to Pitchup. It calculates what to publish from:

• Existing bookings
• Physical-unit capacity
• Blocked dates and unit-specific closures
• Stop-sells and availability overrides
• Property operating periods
• Bookings created directly in Keydesk

Because availability is tracked per physical unit, a booking or block affecting one unit removes availability for that unit and those dates only. The rest of the grade stays sellable.

New Pitchup bookings are imported into Keydesk automatically, including the guest, the stay, the assigned unit, extras and the financial information Pitchup provides.

A few points worth knowing:

• Payment information from Pitchup is shown separately from payments recorded directly in Keydesk, so it is clear where each amount came from.
• Do not record a Pitchup-managed or Payup payment again in Keydesk. It is already reflected, and re-recording it will overstate what the guest has paid.
• Pitchup commission appears in the booking’s financial summary.
• Keydesk does not estimate payment-processing fees that Pitchup does not supply.

Some changes can be started from Keydesk:

• Arrival date
• Departure date
• Mapped accommodation or pitch type
• Mapped physical pitch or unit

When you make one of these changes, Keydesk sends it to Pitchup first. The booking updates in Keydesk only once Pitchup accepts the amendment and returns the authoritative booking, so the two systems cannot drift apart if the change is rejected.

Changes to party composition, extras, price and payment due may need to be made directly in Pitchup.

Cancel confirmed Pitchup-origin bookings in Pitchup rather than in Keydesk. Pitchup remains authoritative for these cancellations.

Once the booking is cancelled in Pitchup, the change is sent to Keydesk automatically, and both the booking status and the released availability stay correct in both systems.

The integration provides four views:

• Overview shows setup progress and current connection status.
• Connection shows when the API key was last verified and when the integration last synchronised.
• Mappings is where you review or correct catalogue links.
• Activity log shows the customer-facing changes exchanged with Pitchup.

Routine synchronisation, retries and booking reconciliation are handled automatically. The views above are for checking and correcting rather than for day-to-day operation.

Open the Pitchup integration and read any Action needed messages first, as these identify the specific problem. Then check:

• The API key is still valid.
• Recently added Pitchup items have been mapped.
• Every connected unit grade has enough mapped physical units.
• There are no missing prices, unsupported rules or unmapped extras.

If Pitchup has issued a new API key, replace it from the Connection tab. Keydesk verifies a replacement before saving it, and if verification fails the existing key stays in place, so a bad paste cannot break a working connection.

Disconnecting stops new data flowing between the two systems. It does not delete anything:

• Your API key, mappings and existing booking records are retained.
• Existing bookings remain visible in Keydesk.
• You can select Reconnect later without rebuilding the integration from the start.

If the integration reports a problem you cannot resolve from the messages shown, contact Keydesk support at hello@keydesk.co.uk with your property name and the text of the message.

For questions about your Pitchup listing, allocation or commercial terms, contact Pitchup directly. Those sit with Pitchup and are not changed by this integration.