Start Tracking Updates

POST /v1/tracking/start

This endpoint allows you to subscribe to tracking updates for a package. You specify the carrier_code and tracking_number of the package, and we'll notify you whenever the shipping status changes.

You can track labels created outside of ShipEngine as long as you have the carrier connected through ShipEngine. For example, you can track a DHL label through ShipEngine even if you didn't created it through ShipEngine, but you must have a DHL carrier connected to your ShipEngine account.

You can track labels from USPS, UPS, and FedEx even if you don't have those carriers connected. For other carriers, you must connect the carriers before you can start tracking labels.

You can unsubscribe from updates at any time by stopping tracking updates.

Warning

Setup Webhooks First

You need to set up webhooks first, so we know how to contact you when the shipping status changes.

Example

The following example demonstrates how to start tracking a package. You need to specify the carrier_code (see this table) and the tracking_number of the package.

If successful, ShipEngine will respond with an HTTP Status Code of 204 (No Content)

POST /v1/tracking/start?carrier_code=stamps_com&tracking_number=9361269903502070406152 HTTP/1.1
Host: api.shipengine.com
API-Key: __YOUR_API_KEY_HERE__

curl -iX POST 'https://api.shipengine.com/v1/tracking/start?carrier_code=stamps_com&tracking_number=9361269903502070406152' \
-H 'API-Key: __YOUR_API_KEY_HERE__' \

$headers = New-Object "System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary[[String],[String]]"
$headers.Add("Host", "api.shipengine.com")
$headers.Add("API-Key", "__YOUR_API_KEY_HERE__")

$response = Invoke-RestMethod 'https://api.shipengine.com/v1/tracking/start?carrier_code=stamps_com&tracking_number=9361269903502070406152' -Method 'POST' -Headers $headers -Body $body
$response | ConvertTo-Json

var myHeaders = new Headers();
myHeaders.append("Host", "api.shipengine.com");
myHeaders.append("API-Key", "__YOUR_API_KEY_HERE__");

var requestOptions = {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: myHeaders,
  redirect: 'follow'
};

fetch("https://api.shipengine.com/v1/tracking/start?carrier_code=stamps_com&tracking_number=9361269903502070406152", requestOptions)
  .then(response => response.text())
  .then(result => console.log(result))
  .catch(error => console.log('error', error));

var request = require('request');
var options = {
  'method': 'POST',
  'url': 'https://api.shipengine.com/v1/tracking/start?carrier_code=stamps_com&tracking_number=9361269903502070406152',
  'headers': {
    'Host': 'api.shipengine.com',
    'API-Key': '__YOUR_API_KEY_HERE__'
  }
};
request(options, function (error, response) { 
  if (error) throw new Error(error);
  console.log(response.body);
});

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, array(
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.shipengine.com/v1/tracking/start?carrier_code=stamps_com&tracking_number=9361269903502070406152",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 0,
  CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => true,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => array(
    "Host: api.shipengine.com",
    "API-Key: __YOUR_API_KEY_HERE__"
  ),
));

$response = curl_exec($curl);

curl_close($curl);
echo $response;

import requests

url = "https://api.shipengine.com/v1/tracking/start?carrier_code=stamps_com&tracking_number=9361269903502070406152"

payload = {}
headers = {
  'Host': 'api.shipengine.com',
  'API-Key': '__YOUR_API_KEY_HERE__'
}

response = requests.request("POST", url, headers=headers, data = payload)

print(response.text.encode('utf8'))

require "uri"
require "net/http"

url = URI("https://api.shipengine.com/v1/tracking/start?carrier_code=stamps_com&tracking_number=9361269903502070406152")

https = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port);
https.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["Host"] = "api.shipengine.com"
request["API-Key"] = "__YOUR_API_KEY_HERE__"

response = https.request(request)
puts response.read_body

var client = new RestClient("https://api.shipengine.com/v1/tracking/start?carrier_code=stamps_com&tracking_number=9361269903502070406152");
client.Timeout = -1;
var request = new RestRequest(Method.POST);
request.AddHeader("Host", "api.shipengine.com");
request.AddHeader("API-Key", "__YOUR_API_KEY_HERE__");
IRestResponse response = client.Execute(request);
Console.WriteLine(response.Content);

OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient().newBuilder()
  .build();
MediaType mediaType = MediaType.parse("text/plain");
RequestBody body = RequestBody.create(mediaType, "");
Request request = new Request.Builder()
  .url("https://api.shipengine.com/v1/tracking/start?carrier_code=stamps_com&tracking_number=9361269903502070406152")
  .method("POST", body)
  .addHeader("Host", "api.shipengine.com")
  .addHeader("API-Key", "__YOUR_API_KEY_HERE__")
  .build();
Response response = client.newCall(request).execute();

package main

import (
  "fmt"
  "net/http"
  "io/ioutil"
)

func main() {

  url := "https://api.shipengine.com/v1/tracking/start?carrier_code=stamps_com&tracking_number=9361269903502070406152"
  method := "POST"

  client := &http.Client {
  }
  req, err := http.NewRequest(method, url, nil)

  if err != nil {
    fmt.Println(err)
  }
  req.Header.Add("Host", "api.shipengine.com")
  req.Header.Add("API-Key", "__YOUR_API_KEY_HERE__")

  res, err := client.Do(req)
  defer res.Body.Close()
  body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(res.Body)

  fmt.Println(string(body))
}

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

dispatch_semaphore_t sema = dispatch_semaphore_create(0);

NSMutableURLRequest *request = [NSMutableURLRequest requestWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"https://api.shipengine.com/v1/tracking/start?carrier_code=stamps_com&tracking_number=9361269903502070406152"]
  cachePolicy:NSURLRequestUseProtocolCachePolicy
  timeoutInterval:10.0];
NSDictionary *headers = @{
  @"Host": @"api.shipengine.com",
  @"API-Key": @"__YOUR_API_KEY_HERE__"
};

[request setAllHTTPHeaderFields:headers];

[request setHTTPMethod:@"POST"];

NSURLSession *session = [NSURLSession sharedSession];
NSURLSessionDataTask *dataTask = [session dataTaskWithRequest:request
completionHandler:^(NSData *data, NSURLResponse *response, NSError *error) {
  if (error) {
    NSLog(@"%@", error);
  } else {
    NSHTTPURLResponse *httpResponse = (NSHTTPURLResponse *) response;
    NSError *parseError = nil;
    NSDictionary *responseDictionary = [NSJSONSerialization JSONObjectWithData:data options:0 error:&parseError];
    NSLog(@"%@",responseDictionary);
    dispatch_semaphore_signal(sema);
  }
}];
[dataTask resume];
dispatch_semaphore_wait(sema, DISPATCH_TIME_FOREVER);

import Foundation

var semaphore = DispatchSemaphore (value: 0)

var request = URLRequest(url: URL(string: "https://api.shipengine.com/v1/tracking/start?carrier_code=stamps_com&tracking_number=9361269903502070406152")!,timeoutInterval: Double.infinity)
request.addValue("api.shipengine.com", forHTTPHeaderField: "Host")
request.addValue("__YOUR_API_KEY_HERE__", forHTTPHeaderField: "API-Key")

request.httpMethod = "POST"

let task = URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: request) { data, response, error in 
  guard let data = data else {
    print(String(describing: error))
    return
  }
  print(String(data: data, encoding: .utf8)!)
  semaphore.signal()
}

task.resume()
semaphore.wait()