ShipStation connector
Your Silux Chat bot verifies customers by their name and the email on their own orders in ShipStation, then answers questions about their orders and order status from your live data. Customers can also track a parcel by its tracking number, without verifying.
Good to know: Tracking numbers live on shipments (GET /shipments?orderNumber=) and aren't merged into the order row.
What your bot can do with ShipStation
Delivery and tracking
Looks a parcel up in ShipStation by the tracking number the customer gives and answers with its status and courier — no verification needed, and nothing personal is returned. Looking an order up by its order number needs the customer to be verified first.
Customers ask: “What’s my tracking number?” · “Has my parcel been delivered?”
Answered by the bot’s Track My Parcel tool: by tracking number for anyone (status and courier only), by order number only for a verified customer and only for their own order.
Orders and order status
Reads a verified customer’s recent orders from ShipStation — order number, date, status and total, plus tracking where ShipStation records it.
Customers ask: “Where is my order?” · “Has my last order been sent?”
Set it up
Most businesses finish in under ten minutes. You need to be able to sign in to ShipStation as an administrator to create the key.
Step 1 — in ShipStation
- 1ShipStation
- 2Settings
- 3Account
- 4API Settings
- 5Generate API keys
- 6copy the key and secret.
Least access: grant only the read permissions named above (customers, orders, invoices, bookings or tickets — whichever this connector uses). Never use an owner or full-admin key where ShipStation lets you create a restricted one.
Step 2 — in Silux Chat
- 1Open Dashboard → Integrations → Connectors and search for “ShipStation”.
- 2Fill in:
Field Example Stored API key •••••••• Encrypted API secret •••••••• Encrypted - 3Press Connect & test. The platform makes a real, read-only call to ShipStation with a made-up customer and shows a tick or a cross for each capability, with ShipStation’s exact error if something is refused.
- 4If this is your first way of verifying customers it is switched on automatically; otherwise press Use to verify customers. The platform then runs its chained test (verify → code → account → orders → invoices) with the built-in test customer — no real person is contacted. Track My Parcel is added at the same time unless another connector already provides it.
ShipStation identifies API users with a key-and-secret (or username-and-key) pair, sent with HTTP Basic authentication over HTTPS.
How customer verification works
- STEP 1
Customer asks
They ask about their own account. The bot asks for their full name and the email address they used with you.
- STEP 2
Matched in ShipStation
ShipStation has no customer search, so the customer’s own orders are looked up by that email. A record must name the exact email and a matching name: the surname exactly, and the first name or its first letter.
- STEP 3
Code emailed
A 6-digit code goes to that email address — the one on the record. It is never sent to a mobile number typed in the chat.
- STEP 4
Verified
The customer types the code. It is valid for 10 minutes and five wrong attempts cancel it. The verified session lasts 30 minutes, and only orders naming that email are shown.
If the details don’t match, the customer is told only that they couldn’t be matched — never which detail was wrong. If ShipStation can’t be reached, the bot says it can’t check accounts right now rather than “no account found”. The bot is blocked in code from reading orders, invoices or bookings until verification succeeds. Full details: Customer identity verification & OTP.
What the bot can and cannot see
Can see (after verification)
Tracking, without verification: order number, status, tracking number and courier — only for the tracking number the customer gave.
- Order number
- Order date
- Status
- Total
- Email address
- Courier
Only these standard fields are mapped from ShipStation’s responses. Everything else in the response is discarded before the bot sees it.
Never sees
- passwords, security answers or login details
- records belonging to anyone other than the verified customer
- anything outside the fields listed alongside
Security
Keys encrypted at rest
Credentials are stored encrypted, shown only masked after saving, and destroyed — not just hidden — when you disconnect.
Read-only look-ups
Every capability is a look-up. The connector cannot create, change or delete anything in ShipStation.
HTTPS only
Calls go to the vendor’s HTTPS address, redirects are not followed, and private network addresses are refused.
Injection-safe
Values a customer types are cleaned before they are placed in ShipStation’s search, and URL-encoded in addresses.
Other customers filtered out
A row that names a different customer’s email is dropped, whatever the vendor’s search returned.
Checked daily
Connections are re-tested every day, and the owner is emailed if a working connection starts failing.
More: Security & data protection.
Technical details
For developers and IT teams: the ShipStation endpoints this connector reads, relative to https://ssapi.shipstation.com. Values in braces come from the settings you enter.
| Capability | Request | Standard fields returned |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery and tracking | GET/orders | order_number, status, placed, ship_by, courier |
| Orders and order status | GET/orders | order_number, placed, status, total, email, courier |
Test level: Documented-API tested. Each capability is run automatically against ShipStation’s documented example responses and must produce the standard fields; your own connection is then tested with a real call when you connect. The bot receives these through the standard Account Connect endpoints, exactly as if you had built them yourself.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Likely cause and fix |
|---|---|
| “the vendor refused the credentials (401)” or (403) | The key was revoked, has expired or was copied incompletely, or it lacks a read permission this connector needs. Create a fresh read-only key in ShipStation and reconnect. |
| Customers are “not matched” although they exist | Customers are matched on their own orders by the email they give. Check a recent record names that email and the customer’s name (surname exactly). |
| A capability shows a cross but others work | That permission wasn’t granted in ShipStation, or your ShipStation plan doesn’t include that part of the API. Grant it and press Test. |
| “the vendor kept rate-limiting the request” | ShipStation returned “too many requests” three times in a row. The platform already waits and retries automatically (up to 10 seconds, as ShipStation asks); if it persists, ask ShipStation about your API quota. |
| Results are empty for a verified customer | The records exist under a different email or customer record in ShipStation, or none are recent. Check the customer’s record in ShipStation directly. |
Full error reference: Troubleshooting & error reference.
Frequently asked questions
Is the ShipStation connection read-only?
Yes. Every request Silux Chat makes to ShipStation is a look-up; none creates, changes or deletes anything in ShipStation. Give the key or sign-in read-only permissions wherever ShipStation offers them.
Do I need a developer to connect ShipStation?
No. You paste the details listed in the set-up steps in Dashboard → Integrations → Connectors and press “Connect & test”. The platform makes a real call to ShipStation straight away and shows exactly which features work.
How does the bot know it is really my customer?
ShipStation has no customer search, so the bot looks up the customer’s own orders by the email they give. A record must name that exact email and a matching name (surname, plus first name or initial) — then a one-time code is emailed to that address, never to a number typed in the chat. The code lasts 10 minutes, five wrong attempts cancel it, and a verified session lasts 30 minutes.
What happens if my ShipStation key is revoked or expires?
The bot tells customers it can’t check their account right now — it never pretends there are “no orders”. Connections are re-tested daily and the account owner is emailed when a working connection starts failing. Reconnect it in Dashboard → Integrations → Connectors.
How has the ShipStation connector been tested?
It is Documented-API tested: every capability is run automatically against ShipStation’s documented example responses and must produce the standard fields. When you connect, it is tested again with a real call to your own ShipStation account before your bot uses it.
Other shipping & tracking connectors
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FedEx Tracking
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Parcel2Go
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Royal Mail Click & Drop
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ShipBob
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Need help with your integration?
Our integration team can review your endpoints, help you choose the right connector and check a test run with you. Tell us which system you use and what you would like the bot to answer.