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Developers

Build on the books of businesses that run on Zivobooks

A clean REST API to read invoices, payments, customers, quotes and products and create customers and draft invoices, with secure sign-in, signed webhooks and access every business controls. Connect your CRM, warehouse, e-commerce or reporting tool in an afternoon.

Create a developer account Read the API reference

Simple by design

Secure by default. Predictable JSON. No surprises.

Sign in once with a key ID and secret for an hour-long session token, page through results, and sync only what changed with updated_since. Amounts are exact decimal strings and every record carries its currency.

  • Scoped keysEach business chooses exactly what its keys can read.
  • Incremental syncFetch only records changed since your last run.
  • Signed webhooksInvoice sent or paid, payment recorded, quote accepted, stock running low.
  • Test keysBuild against realistic sample data before you touch real books.
terminal 
$ curl https://zivobooks.com/api/v1/invoices?status=paid \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $ZIVOBOOKS_TOKEN" \
    -H "X-Zivobooks-Key: $ZIVOBOOKS_KEY_ID"

{
  "data": [{
    "id": 1290,
    "number": "INV-0142",
    "status": "paid",
    "customer": { "id": 42, "name": "Chikomo Builders" },
    "currency": "USD",
    "total": "1280.00",
    "balance": "0.00"
  }],
  "meta": { "current_page": 1, "total": 87 }
}

What you can build

Common jobs, with the code already written

Each one has a complete example in curl, PHP, JavaScript and Python in the API reference.

Stock sync for online shops Keep Shopify, WooCommerce or your own site showing what’s really on the shelf. See the code Barcode lookup Turn a scan into a product, its shelf price and stock at each branch. See the code Reorder alerts Hear the moment a product drops to its reorder level, then tell the buyer. See the code Till sales into your ERP Pull every sale rung up on the till into a warehouse or head-office system. See the code Payment notifications Update your CRM or send a thank-you the moment an invoice is paid. See the code Accounting and BI exports Copy invoices, payments and customers into a warehouse with incremental sync. See the code

How access works

From sign-up to first request

There’s no application to wait on. The business whose books you’re reading creates the keys and decides what they can see.

  1. Step 1

    Sign up free

    Create a developer account in a minute. It’s ready straight away, with no review.

  2. Step 2

    Give the business your email

    They open Integrations & API, create a live key and a test key, and choose what the keys can read.

  3. Step 3

    Reveal your keys

    The keys arrive in your developer console, never by email. Reveal each once and store it safely.

  4. Step 4

    Build, then go live

    Develop against sample data with the test key, then switch to the live key. The business can regenerate or revoke keys any time.

What you can read

Five resources, everything you need to sync sales

Full reference

Customers

customers.read

Names, contact details, tax numbers and addresses of the business’s customers.

Invoices

invoices.read

Invoices with their lines, totals, balances, status and customer link.

Quotes

quotes.read

Quotes with totals, status and validity.

Payments

payments.read

Customer payments and the invoices they were allocated to.

Products

products.read

Products and services with prices, barcodes and stock on hand per branch.

Create customers

customers.write

Add new customers.

Create draft invoices

invoices.write

Create invoices as drafts. Someone in the business still reviews and sends them.

EndpointWhat it does
POST/api/v1/auth/token Sign in
DELETE/api/v1/auth/token Sign out
GET/api/ping Check a session
GET/api/v1/customers List customers
POST/api/v1/customers Create a customer
GET/api/v1/customers/{id} Get a customer
GET/api/v1/invoices List invoices
POST/api/v1/invoices Create a draft invoice
GET/api/v1/invoices/{id} Get an invoice
GET/api/v1/quotes List quotes
GET/api/v1/quotes/{id} Get a quote
GET/api/v1/payments List payments
GET/api/v1/payments/{id} Get a payment
GET/api/v1/products List products
GET/api/v1/products/{id} Get a product

Developer questions

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Ask us directly, and a person will answer.

Does it cost anything to build on the API?

A developer account is free. The businesses you connect to need a plan that includes API access, which is Pro and above.

Can the API change a business’s books?

Only if the business ticks a write scope. With it you can create customers and draft invoices; drafts are always reviewed in Zivobooks before anything reaches a customer. Nothing can be edited or deleted through the API.

How does authentication work?

Each key has a public key ID and a secret. Exchange them at POST /api/v1/auth/token for a session token that lasts an hour, then send the token and key ID on each call. The business sees every sign-in, with its IP address, and can end sessions at any time.

I only want to connect my own business. Do I need a developer account?

No. Create keys yourself under Settings → Integrations & API on the Pro plan and copy them. A developer account is for receiving keys other businesses share with you.

What happens if a business revokes my keys?

Those keys stop working immediately and we email you. Keys from other businesses are unaffected.

Is there a sandbox?

Yes. Every set of keys includes a test key (zb_test_) that returns fixed sample data in exactly the same shape as live data, so you can build without touching real books.

Ready to build?

Create a free developer account, then ask the business you’re building for to share keys with you.

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