Get started

Choosing an API product

To choose an API product, navigate to the API page and select an API designated as "Live".  The status of the API is displayed as follows:

  • LIVE: the API is available in production.
  • Development: a prototype or pilot is available for this API.

To access this API, click the Get Access button on the API description page, and follow the directions.

Signing up

To use an Empower API product, you should register and create an account.  An account is quick to set up.

To register and create an account, follow these steps:

  1. Click Log in.  The Sign Up window is displayed.
  2. Click Sign Up.
  3. Enter your details and click Sign Up.  You will receive an activation email from developer support.
  4. Follow the directions in the email for verification.

 

Requesting an API key and client credentials

To use an Empower API to develop your solution, request access to use the API.  To request access, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your account.  Your account screen is displayed.
  2. In the top navigation bar, click APIs.
  3. Chose the API you would like access to use and that is marked as 'Production'.
  4. On the API Summary page, click Get Access.
  5. Enter the information on the form and submit it.  Once approved, the keys and instructions will be generated and delivered to you through secure email.

 

Developing your application

Once approved, you will receive a secure email to your company contact that will contain your API Key, Client ID, Client Secret, and authorization service endpoint.

Example:

  • API Key: aw4ion349sfa09jad
  • Client ID: lwa4984308rjdlksdkl
  • Client Secret: 3io4j09jfsklaskdajf

What do I do with the API Key?

The API key is used to protect the Empower API from unauthorized access.  When you application makes a request to the API, the API key must be supplied as a request header named x-api-key with the value of the API key delivered.  

What do I do with the client credentials?

Empower APIs use OAuth as an authorization protocol that enables applications to access information on behalf of the user.  Client credentials are required per OAuth2 specification to exchange for an access token. 

For a B2B solution Empower uses the industry standard client credentials for authentication.  The Client secret and ID will be used in a call to the Empower authorization token endpoint communicated to you to obtain an access token.  Using Type of Basic Auth, set client_credentials as grant_type, Username set to your received Client ID, and Password set to your received Client secret value.  This call will return a bearer access token.

Example of a Postman call to obtain the token:

Postman example

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

This access token will be used on a request to the API as the value for the Authorization header variable.

Contact us to discuss a B2C scenario.

That's it!

You can now begin your development and call our APIs in a sandbox environment that will return production-like mock data.

Testing in our stage environment.

Once you have configured your application to call our APIs in the api-sandbox returning mock data, you may want to move to our stage environment that can provide more testing scenarios with production like data.  Contact us for access to the stage environment including API keys, Client registration, and test data.

Need help?

We are here to work with you if needed.  For assistance, contact us by clicking on Support at the top of this page.

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