Overview (1.0.0)

The Shipping APIs provide a unified, multi-carrier platform to rate shipments, generate labels, manage pickups, and track parcel movement from creation through delivery. These APIs support a wide range of carriers and services, enabling developers to integrate shipping functionalities into their applications with ease. The Shipping APIs are designed to handle single-parcel, multi-parcel, and high-volume workflows. They also include features for managing carrier accounts, configuring defaults, and handling post-shipment operations like reprints, cancellations, and tracking updates. With comprehensive documentation, sample code, and a sandbox environment for testing.

If you are integrating for the first time, follow this path:

1. Authenticate before calling Shipping APIs

• Start with the Auth API to generate an OAuth access token.
• Send the token in the Authorization header for every request: Authorization: Bearer <access_token>.

2. Start with account and carrier setup

• Use Get Carrier Accounts to identify available carrierAccountId values.
• Use Get Carriers, Get Services, Get Parcel Types, and Get Special Services to discover what is valid for your scenario.

3. Validate shipment inputs before creating labels

• Confirm address quality with the Address APIs.
• For international shipments, prepare customs data and upload Electronic Trade Documents when required.

4. Rate first, then ship

• Use Rate Shipment to compare options by carrier, rate group, rule set, Ship Via Code, or external system code.
• Use Create Shipment to generate the label once the preferred option is selected.

5. Manage post-shipment operations

• Reprint or cancel labels when needed.
• Retrieve shipment details and tracking updates.
• Schedule pickups, check pickup availability, and generate pickup documents.

6. Use Batch Shipments for high-volume processing

• Use Batch Shipment APIs when creating large shipment volumes.
• Choose synchronous bulk creation or asynchronous CSV import, then process and monitor using batchId.
• Use batch status, shipment-level details, and batch void operations to manage exceptions at scale.

7. Optimize for production scale

• Use Defaults to reduce repeated request fields.
• Use Multipiece Shipment for multi-parcel workflows.
• Use metadata, references, manifests, and reports for operational control and reconciliation.