API-Introduction
INTRODUCTION TO SIMPLE INTEGRATION APIs
The SIMPLE Platform offers two communication channels:
- SIMPLE Graphical User Interface (GUI): the SIMPLE web interface.
- SIMPLE API: the interface for S2S (System-to-System) information exchange with SIMPLE.
The SIMPLE API allows bidirectional data exchange between SIMPLE and external systems according to the SIMPLE Submissions and Events structure, in line with the Data Model established on the SIMPLE Platform.
Data exchange on the SIMPLE platform between users using the GUI and/or the SIMPLE API will have no differences in terms of data sharing at any level. Both communication channels, which are complementary and available to all SIMPLE users, will enable the registration and sharing of the same data, following the SIMPLE Submissions and Events structure and the SIMPLE Data Model, as illustrated in the following figure:
Similarly, data registration through the SIMPLE API will be governed by the same permission system as through the GUI. Only Entities explicitly granted access by a SIMPLE user Entity will be able to access the data, always subject to the specific configuration of the Permission Matrix.
Currently, SIMPLE offers four distinct APIs that provide different services:
- API – Authorization: The API that provides External Systems with the necessary token to authenticate and operate with the other APIs of the System.
- API – Shipment: The API that allows registering Submissions and Events on the SIMPLE Platform, sharing data with other SIMPLE user entities within the framework of a Submission.
- API – Documentation: The API that allows attaching and retrieving documents within the framework of a Submission in SIMPLE.
- API – REAT: The API that allows querying the Register of Companies and Transport Activities (REAT) of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility.
The use of the SIMPLE API enables the automation of data exchange between a user Entity’s external systems and the SIMPLE platform through a system-to-system (S2S) connection. This will optimize communication operations between actors in the logistics chain, avoiding the repeated entry of data into different applications and leveraging the registration of information in the systems of user Entities for subsequent sharing with the rest of the logistics chain through SIMPLE. To facilitate this, SIMPLE provides an asynchronous Notification System that External Systems can subscribe to in order to receive information about operations performed on shipments they are involved in, carried out by other users through the API or GUI.
The exchange of information related to Shipments, with and from SIMPLE, as well as the elements involved in the process, will occur according to the following sequence diagram:
