Skip to main content

Getting started

Get started by creating a new account on RPI Print API.

Visit the RPI Print API Dashboard and create a new account with RPI Print. Your account is automatically associated with a customer that holds your organization's shared state, such as API keys, products, orders, and payment methods. Dashboard accounts explains how the two relate.

Getting your bearings​

Use the following steps to create your first product and understand the system at a high level.

  1. Ensure the dashboard is in Sandbox mode. It is selected by default for new users.
  2. Open Products and create a product. A product maps an identifier called a product SKU to the physical characteristics of what we produce.
  3. Open API Keys under Developer Tools. This is where you find the credentials you use to place orders. Copy the Authorization Header value of an enabled key and send it as the Authorization header of each request. The value already includes the Basic scheme, because RPI Print API uses HTTP Basic authentication. The rest of the value is the base64 encoding of your API key and shared secret joined by a colon, so a client that takes a username and password can decode it and use the key as the username and the secret as the password. Use a sandbox key while you test, so that orders are neither printed nor charged. Each key is either enabled or disabled; see API Keys.
  4. Open API Explorer under Developer Tools. Place a test order using the /orders/create endpoint with one of your API keys and the product from the previous steps. Take note of the request body, because this endpoint is how you will submit orders from your system. Create order request shows a complete example.

You now know how to create products and place orders. You can begin building your integration.

info

Production orders do not proceed beyond the "Awaiting Payment" state until you add a credit card in the dashboard and RPI charges it successfully.

To receive updates about an order, include a webhookUrl in the create-order request, as Webhooks explains.

Support explains how sandbox mode differs from production mode.