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This getting-started path walks you through a first successful Terminal49 integration:
  1. Get an API key.
  2. Create a tracking request for a bill of lading, booking, or container number.
  3. List the shipment and container data Terminal49 stores for you.
  4. Register a webhook so your system receives updates when data changes.
By the end, you will have made an authenticated request to the API and seen the basic request/response shape used by the rest of the documentation.

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Before you start

You need:
  • A Terminal49 account with API access.
  • A shipment identifier from a carrier: master Bill of Lading (BOL), booking number, or container number.
  • The carrier Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC), unless you plan to use carrier auto-detection.
You can use any HTTP client. Postman is useful for a first pass because it can run the published OpenAPI collection with your API key.

Run in Postman

Explore the Terminal49 API with the published Postman collection.

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Get an API key

Sign in to your Terminal49 account and go to the developer portal to get your API key.
The full API key value is only shown once, right after you create it. Copy the complete token from that screen and store it somewhere safe (for example, a password manager or your deployment’s secret manager) before you navigate away. Once you leave the page, the key is masked and cannot be revealed again.If you did not capture the full value, create a new key and copy it immediately. You can then delete the older key from the developer portal.

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Rotate your API key

For security, the best practice is to rotate your API key every 90 days. To rotate a key:
  1. Create a new key in the developer portal and copy the full value right away.
  2. Store the new key in your password manager or deployment secret manager, and update every integration that uses the old key.
  3. After your integrations work with the new key, remove the old key from the developer portal.

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Send the Authorization header

The API uses a Token-prefixed API key in the Authorization header. Send it with every request:
Keep your API key on your server. Do not put it in browser code or public repositories.

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Continue the tutorial

Create a tracking request

Send your first shipment identifier to Terminal49.