How to connect Shiprocket to your ecommerce website
Creating the right kind of API user, getting your pickup address approved, and why your first AWB fails if you skip a step.
The short version: create a dedicated API user in Shiprocket (not your dashboard login), add and verify a pickup address, then connect it to your store. Orders push across, you pick a courier, and the AWB and tracking flow back into the order automatically. The step everyone skips is the pickup address — without a verified one, every booking fails.
TL;DR
- • Use a separate API user, not your main dashboard login. Changing your own password should never break your store.
- • Add and verify a pickup address before you book anything. This is the number-one cause of failed AWBs.
- • Shiprocket's token expires and has to be refreshed. A good integration handles this for you.
- • Set up the tracking webhook so status updates reach your store without you refreshing anything.
- • Weight and dimensions matter — a wrong entry becomes a courier surcharge you find out about later.
Step 1 — Create an API user, not a login
Shiprocket lets you create a dedicated API user under Settings → API → Configure. Use it. The temptation is to hand over your normal dashboard email and password because it works immediately, and it does — right up until you change your password and every order silently stops shipping.
A separate API user also means you can revoke access to your store without locking yourself out of Shiprocket, which is exactly the property you want from any integration.
Shiprocket tokens expire. Authentication returns a token with a limited lifetime, so an integration has to refresh it rather than store it once. If you are building this yourself, handle the refresh — a store that works for a week and then quietly stops booking couriers is the failure mode here.
Step 2 — Add a pickup address and get it verified
This is where most first-time integrations fail, and the error message rarely says so plainly.
Shiprocket needs a pickup location registered and verified on your account before it will generate an AWB. Add it under Settings → Pickup Addresses, complete the verification, and note the nickname you gave it — that nickname is what an integration references when booking.
If your very first booking fails with something vague about the order being invalid, check this before you check anything else.
Step 3 — Push the order, then pick a courier
Shiprocket splits shipping into two distinct actions, and understanding the split saves confusion later.
- Push the order. Your store sends the customer, address, items and package details. Shiprocket now has an order, but nothing is booked and no courier is involved.
- Pick a courier. You see the available couriers with their rates and estimated delivery, and choose one. This is where the AWB is generated.
- Print the label and hand the parcel over, or schedule a pickup.
- Tracking flows back to the order and to your customer's Track Order page.
The deliberate part is that pushing is not booking. You review the order before committing money to a courier — which matters, because a courier charge is not refundable because you changed your mind about packaging.
On SitesPlaced, this is exactly how it works: orders are not auto-pushed to Shiprocket. You open the order and push it when you are ready, because you are the one who knows whether the parcel is packed.
Step 4 — Get the weight and dimensions right
Couriers charge on volumetric weight — a calculation from the box dimensions — or actual weight, whichever is higher. A big light parcel is priced as if it were heavy.
If you declare 500g and the courier weighs 1.2kg at the hub, you get a weight-discrepancy charge weeks later, often after you have already refunded the customer's shipping. Weigh one packed parcel of each product properly, once, and store those numbers against the product.
Step 5 — Wire up tracking
Shiprocket can push status updates to your store as the parcel moves. Without that, someone has to open the Shiprocket panel and copy statuses across by hand — which nobody does past the second week.
Configure the tracking webhook in your Shiprocket panel and point it at your store's endpoint. Status changes then land on the order automatically, and the customer's Track Order page reflects them without you touching anything.
The errors you are most likely to hit
| Symptom | Usual cause |
|---|---|
| Every AWB generation fails | No verified pickup address, or the wrong pickup nickname. |
| Worked for a week, then stopped | The auth token expired and is not being refreshed. |
| Unexpected courier charges weeks later | Declared weight below the actual or volumetric weight. |
| No couriers available for a pincode | Serviceability genuinely varies. Always show the customer a fallback. |
| Tracking never updates | No webhook configured, so nothing is pushed back. |
If you do not have the website yet
Everything above assumes you already have a store to connect Shiprocket to. If you are still taking orders in Instagram DMs, that is the part worth fixing first — the integration is the easy half.
A SitesPlaced store is free to build and publish, with 0% commission on every sale, on every plan. Every integration listed on this page is included — you connect your own accounts and nobody takes a cut in the middle. You can import your catalogue straight from Instagram rather than typing products in one at a time.
Shiprocket, Shipmozo and Rehbar Post are all included free, so you can compare live rates across three aggregators before committing a parcel. Step-by-step: manage orders and shipments.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a separate Shiprocket API user?
Yes, use one. Under Settings, API, Configure you can create a dedicated API user. Using your main dashboard login works until you change your password, at which point every order silently stops shipping.
Why does every AWB generation fail?
Almost always a missing or unverified pickup address. Shiprocket will not book a courier without one, and the error rarely says so clearly. Add and verify it under Settings, Pickup Addresses.
Are orders pushed to Shiprocket automatically?
On SitesPlaced, no — deliberately. You push each order from the dashboard when the parcel is actually packed, because a booked courier charge is not refundable because you changed your mind about the box.
Why did I get charged more than the quoted rate?
Weight discrepancy. Couriers charge on volumetric or actual weight, whichever is higher, and re-weigh at the hub. Weigh one packed parcel per product properly and store those numbers.
Can I use more than one courier aggregator?
Yes. On SitesPlaced, Shiprocket, Shipmozo and Rehbar Post are all free to connect, so you can compare live rates on the same parcel and pick the cheaper one.
Ship from a store that costs you nothing
Build the store free, connect Shiprocket, Shipmozo and Rehbar Post, and compare rates on the same parcel. 0% commission on every sale.
