Start Here: Track Shipments with the Terminal49 API

Set up Terminal49 API access, generate an API key, and make your first tracking request to start monitoring ocean shipments and containers.

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.

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

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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.

Send the Authorization header

The API uses a Token-prefixed API key in the Authorization header.

If your API key is ABC123, send:

Authorization: Token ABC123

Keep your API key on your server. Do not put it in browser code or public repositories.

Continue the tutorial

Create a tracking request

Send your first shipment identifier to Terminal49.