generated: '2026-08-02'
method: probed
source: live probes of chowbus.com, pos.chowbus.com, pos-api.chowbus.com, api.chowbus.com
summary: >-
  Chowbus publishes no public developer portal, API reference, OpenAPI/Swagger
  document, GraphQL endpoint, AsyncAPI, webhook catalog, SDK, CLI or sandbox as of
  2026-08-02. What can be recorded honestly is the observed shape of the live API
  hosts plus the surfaces the company markets. Everything below is either an observed
  HTTP response or a quoted marketing claim; nothing is inferred into a contract.
authentication:
  documented: false
  observed: >-
    pos-api.chowbus.com answers unauthenticated requests with a JSON error envelope
    rather than a WWW-Authenticate challenge; no OAuth or OIDC discovery document is
    served (/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server and /.well-known/openid-configuration
    both 404). The merchant surface is a session login at pos.chowbus.com/dashboard.
  notes: No API key, OAuth, or token issuance flow is publicly documented.
error_envelope:
  format: custom-json
  rfc9457: false
  media_type: application/json; charset=utf-8
  shape: '{"errors":[{"code":"200404","status":"Not Found","title":"Not Found"}]}'
  fields:
  - name: errors
    type: array
    note: top-level array of error objects, JSON:API-flavored
  - name: errors[].code
    type: string
    note: internal numeric-string code; observed value "200404" alongside HTTP 404
  - name: errors[].status
    type: string
    note: HTTP reason phrase
  - name: errors[].title
    type: string
    note: short human-readable title
  observed_on: https://pos-api.chowbus.com/
  observed_status: 404
  caveat: >-
    Only the 404 case could be observed anonymously. This is not a published error
    catalog and must not be treated as one; no errors/ artifact is emitted.
idempotency:
  documented: false
  evidence: none
  note: >-
    No Idempotency-Key header, no idempotency documentation, and no OpenAPI to derive
    one from. Deliberately no `Idempotency` pointer is wired in apis.yml.
pagination:
  documented: false
versioning:
  documented: false
  observed: >-
    api.chowbus.com (legacy Rails host) exposes /backend and /auth/chowbus routes; no
    version segment is documented on pos-api.chowbus.com.
rate_limiting:
  documented: false
event_surface:
  asyncapi: false
  webhooks_documented: false
  note: >-
    Chowbus markets a "two-way" third-party delivery integration syncing orders and
    menus with 45+ marketplaces, and partner aggregators (Deliverect, Metrobi,
    Chowly-class middleware) publish Chowbus POS connectors — so a private
    partner/event integration surface demonstrably exists. It is not publicly
    documented, so no AsyncAPI or Webhooks artifact/pointer is emitted.
hosts_observed:
- host: pos-api.chowbus.com
  status: live
  content_type: application/json; charset=utf-8
  role: POS platform API (undocumented, gated)
- host: api.chowbus.com
  status: live
  content_type: text/html; charset=utf-8
  role: legacy marketplace-era Rails backend / admin login
- host: pos.chowbus.com
  status: live
  role: merchant dashboard SPA (Cloudflare)
- host: www.chowbus.com
  status: live
  role: marketing site (Webflow), serves llms.txt
contract_discovery:
  performed: '2026-08-02'
  result: no-machine-readable-contract
  paths_probed:
  - /openapi.json
  - /openapi.yaml
  - /openapi
  - /swagger.json
  - /swagger/v1/swagger.json
  - /v1/openapi.json
  - /v3/api-docs
  - /api-docs
  - /api/docs
  - /docs
  - /redoc
  - /graphql
  - /.well-known/agent-card.json
  - /.well-known/agent.json
  - /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server
  - /.well-known/oauth-protected-resource
  - /.well-known/openid-configuration
  - /.well-known/api-catalog
  - /.well-known/ai-plugin.json
  - /llms.txt
  hosts_probed:
  - www.chowbus.com
  - pos.chowbus.com
  - pos-api.chowbus.com
  - api.chowbus.com
  subdomains_resolved:
  - pos.chowbus.com
  - pos-api.chowbus.com
  - api.chowbus.com
  subdomains_nxdomain:
  - developer.chowbus.com
  - developers.chowbus.com
  - docs.chowbus.com
  - open.chowbus.com
  - openapi.chowbus.com
  - status.chowbus.com
  - trust.chowbus.com
  - merchant.chowbus.com
  - partner.chowbus.com
  github_org:
    url: https://github.com/chowbus
    verified: true
    public_repos: 4
    note: >-
      Only forks/mirrors of third-party OSS (phobos, pub_server, cimg-postgres) plus
      a .github repo. No API specs, SDKs, or protos published.
  registries_searched:
    npm: no first-party @chowbus package found
    pypi: no chowbus project (404)
  only_hit: https://www.chowbus.com/llms.txt