v3 Rates for 31 carriers in one call
The chronoskin API buys the label, books the collection and tells you where the parcel is. Seven lines of code, any carrier.
npm install chronoskin
About ten minutes, in test mode. Nothing is collected and nothing is charged.
1 of 3 steps done
Every account starts with one. It begins with sk_test_.
Your keysSend an address and a weight; get back a label and a price.
The requestAdd a webhook and we call you each time the parcel is scanned.
Webhooks99.99%
of requests answered over the last 90 days
180 ms
median time to a label
31
carriers behind one address format
14
libraries, kept in step with the API
Six resources. Each has its own page in the reference.
Send us its id. An engineer answers within a working day.
A shipment is one parcel on its way from you to one address.
Buys a label from the cheapest carrier that can meet the service you ask for, and returns the shipment with its label and price.
Use a test key while you build. A test shipment gets a real-looking label marked SAMPLE and is never collected.
weight=1200 is 1.2 kg.| Parameter | Type | Needed | Longest |
|---|---|---|---|
| to[name] | string | Required | 60 |
| to[postcode] | string | Required | 12 |
| weight | integer, grams | Required | 30,000 |
| service | one of three | Optional | 16 |
| reference | string | Optional | 40 |
Test mode is free. Labels made with a test key cost nothing and cannot be posted.
Fractions of a gram are refused. Since 2019-03-11 the call fails with weight_not_whole.
No carrier knows the postcode. Check it with the Addresses resource first; the reply suggests the nearest match.
The account cannot pay for the label. Top up, or switch on automatic top-ups in the dashboard.
More than 100 calls in a second. Wait for the time given in the Retry-After header.
curl api.chronoskin.test/v3/shipments \ -u sk_test_a1b2c3d4: \ -d "to[name]"="Harbour Bakery" \ -d "to[postcode]"="EH6 6QQ" \ -d weight=1200 \ -d service=next_day
{
"id": "shp_8Kd20a",
"status": "label_ready",
"carrier": "northline",
"service": "next_day",
"weight": 1200,
"cost": 485,
"label": "label_8Kd20a.pdf",
"tracker": "trk_51Lm9x"
}
A key says who is calling. Keep live keys on your server and nowhere else.
| Name | Key | Made by | Calls today | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warehouse server | sk_test_...c3d4 | IL Ingrid | 4,212 | In use |
| Returns desk | sk_test_...9f0a | TO Tomas | 318 | In use |
| Old shop plugin | sk_test_...77be | MP Maya | 0 | Quiet 60 days |
| Laptop, Tomas | sk_test_...01aa | TO Tomas | 0 | Revoked |
Every change to the API, newest first. Your account stays on its version until you move it.
What the labels on a change mean.
Each rate now carries delivery_day, worked out in the receiver's time zone. Nothing is taken away.
A weight with a fraction used to be rounded down, which made labels too cheap. It is now refused.
The fourteenth library. It covers every resource and retries idempotent calls by itself.
Announced a year ago and used by eleven accounts, all of which have moved to PDF or ZPL.