Introduction

Stores in the SKUU network sell each other's stock. When a customer buys an item the store is out of, a store that has it ships it, and when another store sells an item this store has, this store ships it. The customer never notices.

SKUU Connect is how a custom platform joins the network. The online store hosts six endpoints that SKUU calls, and its platform sends SKUU a signed message when something happens.

The two roles every store plays

The two roles

Role	What happens	What the store builds for it
Selling shop	A customer buys an item that another store will ship.	Sends SKUU the seller order and receives the tracking when the parcel ships.
Shipping shop	Another store sold an item this store has in stock.	Receives an order from SKUU, ships it, and sends SKUU the tracking.

Every store plays both roles. These docs name the role wherever it changes what to build.

Terms used

Word	Meaning
`SKUU_Network`	One extra location in the store's stock system. It shows what the network can ship for that store. SKUU writes to it; the store never does.
Seller order	The order in the store when a customer buys something. The store is the selling shop and sends this order to SKUU as `order.created`.
Shipping order	The order SKUU creates in the store's platform because that store will ship it. The store is the shipping shop.
Event	A signed JSON message the store's platform sends to SKUU: stock changed, order paid, order cancelled, package shipped, return reported.
`event_id`, `external_ref`	The identifiers that make retries safe. Reuse them on a retry; never reuse them for different data.

Build in this order

Use Checklist to see the endpoints, events and identifiers to implement.
Follow Connecting, Authentication and Errors and retries to prove the connection.
Build Products, then Inventory.
Build Orders, Fulfilment, Cancellation and Returns, in that order.
Complete Go live with SKUU.

Three rules that apply everywhere

Identifiers are opaque and stable. SKUU never reads meaning into a store's IDs. The one exception: a location id is a whole number written as a string, such as "900". UUID location ids cannot be used.
Quantities are absolute. A stock value replaces the previous one. There are no deltas.
Timestamps are RFC 3339 with a timezone, preferably UTC with a trailing Z.

Reference

The API Reference is the exact contract: every field, every response, an example for every call. The guides explain why things work the way they do, and the reference states exactly what to send and expect.

The next page is Checklist.