Start Using the Slade360 eTIMS API
This page covers the whole integration. You get credentials, build against the development environment, then go live, with the VSCU deployment automated by Slade360.
1. Get your credentials
Onboard and activate your business,
then get a client_id and client_secret for your integration. Credentials are
issued per environment, so development and production have their own pair.
2. Authenticate
Exchange your credentials for an access token through the Authentication API, using the OAuth 2.0 client credentials grant:
Code
Send the returned access_token as Authorization: Bearer <access_token> on
every API call. A token lasts 30 minutes, so request a new one once it expires.
3. Know your environments
| Environment | Authentication host | eTIMS API base URL |
|---|---|---|
| Development | https://identity-dev.slade360edi.com | https://api-dev.slade360edi.com/erp |
| Production | https://identity.slade360edi.com | https://api.erp.slade360.co.ke |
Build and test against development first.
4. Set up your data
Before you transact, make sure these exist. The eTIMS API Reference has the endpoints for each.
- Branches, one for every location you operate from.
- Items and products, mapped to KRA item classifications.
- Customers and suppliers, the business partners you trade with.
- eTIMS codes and tax codes, synced so classification and tax come out right.
5. Test the whole flow
Run a full transaction in development. Create and sign an invoice, check that it comes back with a CU invoice number and a QR code, then confirm it shows up in eTIMS.
6. Go live
Once your integration passes in development:
- Switch to the production credentials and base URLs in the table above.
- Deploy the VSCU. The Virtual Secure Computing Unit (VSCU) is the secure component that signs transactions and sends them to KRA. Slade360 automates the deployment, so you don't provision it by hand. One is set up per branch as part of going live.
- Initialize each branch device so it can transact. You do this once per branch.
- Run a smoke test in production: issue one live invoice and confirm it signs.
Note: You work through the exact go-live steps and the automated VSCU deployment with the Slade360 team during onboarding. Confirm the production checklist with your integration contact before you issue live invoices.
Related
- Authentication API: the reference for generating tokens.
- eTIMS API Reference: every endpoint, each with a "Try it" button.

