---
title: What can the Mothership API do?
description: What can the Mothership API do?
---

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1. [Mothership Help Center](https://help.mothership.com/?hsLang=en)
2. [Integrations](https://help.mothership.com/integrations?hsLang=en)

# What can the Mothership API do?

The Mothership API is a RESTful API (JSON responses, standard HTTP status codes) that lets you build Mothership shipping directly into your own systems — a TMS, ERP, e-commerce site, or internal app — instead of working only in the dashboard. It covers the full shipment lifecycle:

- **[Create a quote](https://developers.mothership.com/reference/createquote)** — get rates across our network of LTL and FTL carriers. <https://developers.mothership.com/reference/createquote>
- **Book & manage shipments** — create, list, retrieve, and cancel shipments. 
    - [Create a shipment](https://developers.mothership.com/reference/createshipment)
    - [List shipments](https://developers.mothership.com/reference/listshipments)
    - [Cancel a shipment](https://developers.mothership.com/reference/cancelshipment)
- [**Track a shipment**](https://developers.mothership.com/reference/fetchshipmenttracking)— pull real-time shipment status.
- [**Webhooks**](https://developers.mothership.com/reference/webhooks-1) — subscribe your systems to real-time status updates instead of polling.<https://developers.mothership.com/reference/webhooks-1>
- [**Documents & files**](https://developers.mothership.com/reference/listshipmentdocuments) — retrieve shipment documents (e.g. BOL, POD) and files programmatically.<https://developers.mothership.com/reference/listshipmentdocuments>
- **[Invoices](https://developers.mothership.com/reference/listmodifiedinvoices) & [account](https://developers.mothership.com/reference/getaccount)** — pull invoices and account details for reconciliation. <https://developers.mothership.com/reference/getaccount>

### Getting started

- **Request access first** — API access must be enabled for your account. See [How do I request API access?](https://help.mothership.com/how-do-i-access-motherships-api-tokens?hsLang=en) (email your sales representative).
- **Get your tokens** — once enabled, retrieve your sandbox and production tokens in the [dashboard API settings](https://dashboard.mothership.com/settings/api).
- **Two environments** — test in **Sandbox** (`https://sandbox.api.mothership.com`) with no real purchases, then switch to **Production** (`https://api.mothership.com`).
- **OpenAPI schema** — Download the [OpenAPI v3 schema](https://api.mothership.com/schema.json) to generate a typed client or wire it into your existing tooling.

### Developer documentation

- [API reference](https://developers.mothership.com/reference) · [Guides](https://developers.mothership.com/docs) · [Overview](https://developers.mothership.com/reference/overview)
- [Authentication](https://developers.mothership.com/reference/authentication) · [Error handling](https://developers.mothership.com/reference/error-handling) · [Rate limiting](https://developers.mothership.com/reference/rate-limiting)

Questions about the API? Email [**developers@mothership.com**](mailto:developers@mothership.com).

- [FAQs](https://help.mothership.com/faqs?hsLang=en#main-content)

    - [Technical Questions](https://help.mothership.com/faqs?hsLang=en#technical-questions)
- [Getting started](https://help.mothership.com/getting-started?hsLang=en#main-content)

    - [Access Plan](https://help.mothership.com/getting-started?hsLang=en#access-plan)
- [General](https://help.mothership.com/general?hsLang=en#main-content)

    - [Billing](https://help.mothership.com/general?hsLang=en#billing)
    - [Quoting and Booking](https://help.mothership.com/general?hsLang=en#quoting-and-booking)
    - [Shipping](https://help.mothership.com/general?hsLang=en#shipping)
    - [Tracking](https://help.mothership.com/general?hsLang=en#tracking)
    - [Support](https://help.mothership.com/general?hsLang=en#support)
    - [Claims and Insurance](https://help.mothership.com/general?hsLang=en#claims-and-insurance)
- [Reports](https://help.mothership.com/reports?hsLang=en)
- [Integrations](https://help.mothership.com/integrations?hsLang=en)
- [Glossary](https://help.mothership.com/glossary?hsLang=en)
- [Account](https://help.mothership.com/account?hsLang=en#main-content)

    - [Notifications](https://help.mothership.com/account?hsLang=en#notifications)
- [Podcast](https://help.mothership.com/podcast?hsLang=en)
- [Product Updates / Changelog](https://help.mothership.com/product-updates-changelog?hsLang=en)
- [Terms & Policies](https://help.mothership.com/terms-policies?hsLang=en)

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