generated: '2026-09-07'
method: searched
source: https://help.expeditors.com/globalhelp/shipment_api/best_practices.htm
docs:
  - https://help.expeditors.com/globalhelp/shipment_api/getting_started.htm
  - https://help.expeditors.com/globalhelp/shipment_api/best_practices.htm
  - https://help.expeditors.com/globalhelp/shipment_api/data_types.htm
api_style:
  architecture: REST
  media_type: application/json
  encoding: UTF-8 only; parameter values must be URL-encoded per W3C. Encoded spaces and other non-alphanumeric values cause HTTP 500.
  case_sensitivity: Request parameters and parameter values are case-sensitive.
  base_url: https://api.expeditors.com/tracking/v2
authentication:
  style: OAuth 2.0 client credentials -> bearer token
  detail: authentication/expeditors-international-of-washington-authentication.yml
idempotency:
  coverage: na
  supported: false
  header: null
  scope: []
  retention: null
  note: >-
    The resource surface is read-only — every documented resource operation is
    a GET. The single non-GET operation is POST /oauth2/token, which mints a
    token rather than mutating customer state, and the docs state explicitly
    that issuing a new token does not affect tokens already issued. There is
    therefore no mutating surface for replay protection to cover; `na` rather
    than `none`.
reversibility:
  coverage: na
  note: >-
    No write surface exists, so there is nothing to reverse. No cancel, void,
    refund, undo or restore operation is documented, and none is required.
  operations: []
dry_run_mode:
  supported: na
  note: >-
    Not applicable to a read-only API. Expeditors does document that separate
    development credentials can be requested from an account representative,
    but publishes no sandbox host, test dataset or magic identifiers.
pagination:
  style: offset-limit
  params:
    - name: sizeLimit
      description: Maximum number of items to return.
      range: 1 to 100000
      default: 1000
    - name: offset
      description: Start index into matching results. Increment by sizeLimit for the next page.
      range: 0 to 100000
      default: 0
  response_fields: []
  note: >-
    Responses are bare JSON arrays with no envelope, no total count and no next
    link — a client cannot tell from a page whether more rows exist and must
    walk offsets until a short page returns. A separate GET shipments/count
    operation returns the matching total. Without pagination parameters a
    client sees at most the first 1000 rows.
filtering:
  params:
    - name: ref
      description: Prefix matched against shipment reference strings; URL-encoded, 3 to 12 characters.
    - name: start
      description: Earliest lastUpdateTime for the search, in GMT (yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss or yyyy-MM-dd). Required when `end` is used.
    - name: end
      description: Latest lastUpdateTime for the search, in GMT. Defaults to the current date.
  exact_match: Dedicated /exactmatch operations return detail, events and references for a single id in one call.
field_expansion:
  supported: false
  note: >-
    No expand/fields/sparse-fieldset parameter. The /exactmatch operations are
    the fixed-shape equivalent — they fold detail, events and references into
    one response.
metadata:
  supported: false
  note: No customer-defined metadata fields; Expeditors reference types (refType/refNumber) carry the customer's own identifiers instead.
request_tracing:
  request_id_header: null
  note: >-
    No request-id or correlation header is documented. Support triage is by
    client id — the docs ask developers to quote their client ID when
    contacting support.
versioning:
  style: uri-path major version
  current: v2
  detail: lifecycle/expeditors-international-of-washington-lifecycle.yml
error_envelope:
  format: oauth2-error
  fields: [error, error_description]
  detail: errors/expeditors-international-of-washington-problem-types.yml
rate_limit_signaling:
  headers_documented: false
  status_on_exhaustion: 429
  detail: rate-limits/expeditors-international-of-washington-rate-limits.yml
time:
  timezone: All date/time values are UTC/GMT.
  format: YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssTZD
data_window:
  note: Active shipments plus shipments completed in the last 120 days — the same source data as the EXP.O NOW visibility application.
polling_guidance:
  note: >-
    Hourly polling is the documented expectation. Recommended pattern is a
    summary list call to detect status change, then detail calls only for
    changed shipments, to avoid unnecessary (and potentially chargeable)
    detail requests.