Connections API Overview¶
Use the Connections API to manage your connections with partners and connection requests from them.
What are connections?¶
Before you can start managing a partners' accommodation unit through Booking.com APIs, you must get permission from the partner on what you can manage. For example, some properties would want providers to manage their property inventories while others might just want a provider to manage their property content such as photos. Your connection with a partner represents the access granted to you by the partner, with the exact scope represented by a set of connection types.
What are Connection types?¶
Each connection consists of one or more connection types. A connection type represents a granular permission and grants access to a collection of APIs that fulfill a specific business need.
Booking.com currently supports the following connections types, with names as used in Provider portal and as returned by OTA_HotelSearch:
- Reservations
- Rates and Availability
- Guest reviews
- Reporting
- Online Check-In
- Content
- Photos
- Promotions
- Messaging
- Performance data and insights
More connection types will be added in the future as we introduce new APIs. When integrating with Connections API, you should make sure your implementation is prepared to handle unexpected future connection types.
What are connection requests?¶
Using the extranet, a property can initiate a request such that once the request is approved, a provider can manage certain aspects of the property for the property. A connection request is addressed to a specific provider and contains details of what the property wants the provider to manage as connection types. For example, a property can send a request that provider manage the following:
- Availability: Manage the rates and availability for your property.
- Reservations: Manage your existing and future reservations.
- Photos: Add, manage, and organize property photos.
The provider can either accept or reject the connection request.
Supported connection states¶
The following are the possible connection states:
pending: The state when a property initiates a connection request to a provider pending a provider's accept or reject action.connected: The state when a provider accepts a pending connection request. In other words, the property has an active connection with one or more connection types with the provider.not found: The state when a provider rejects a pending connection request or when a property has no active connection or pending connection requests with the provider.
What can you do with the Connections API?¶
Using the Connections API, you can:
- Accept or reject connection requests. Accepted connection requests become active connections.
- Deactivate an active connection.
- Retrieve active connections.
- Retrieve pending connection requests.
- Check the status of connections.
- Retrieve disconnection summaries.