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Label Purchase

Purchases Are Live

Label purchases charge the authorized Shippo account for real. Before purchasing, explicitly state "this will charge your Shippo account" with the carrier, service, and cost, and require the user to acknowledge. Do not purchase without that confirmation.

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Purchase Confirmation Gate

Before every call to CreateTransaction, summarize the following and ask the user for explicit confirmation:

• Carrier and service level
• Estimated cost
• Estimated delivery time
• Origin and destination

Do not proceed without explicit user confirmation.

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Domestic Label

1. Optionally validate both addresses with ValidateAddress (see Address Validation).
2. Call CreateShipment with address_from, address_to (as inline address objects using v1 field names -- street1, city, state, zip, country), parcels, and async: false.
3. Present rates to the user. Let them choose.
4. Confirm purchase (see Purchase Confirmation Gate above).
5. Call CreateTransaction with: rate (selected rate object_id), label_file_type (default PDF_4x6), async: false.
6. Check response status:
   • SUCCESS: return tracking_number, label_url (display the COMPLETE URL -- S3 signed URLs break if truncated), and tracking_url_provider.
   • QUEUED/WAITING: poll GetTransaction until resolved.
   • ERROR: report messages from the messages array.

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International Label

All domestic steps apply, plus customs handling before shipment creation. See shippo/references/customs-guide.md for the full customs workflow.

1. Optionally validate addresses with ValidateAddress. Sender must include email and phone. Ask if missing.
2. Create customs items: call CreateCustomsItem per item (description, quantity, net_weight, mass_unit, value_amount, value_currency, origin_country, tariff_number). Alternatively, you can skip this step and pass inline item objects directly in the declaration (step 3).
3. Create the customs declaration: call CreateCustomsDeclaration with contents_type, non_delivery_option, certify: true, certify_signer, and the items (either object_ids from step 2, or inline item objects). See shippo/references/customs-guide.md for field details.
4. Call CreateShipment with all standard fields plus customs_declaration (the declaration object_id).
5. Present rates, confirm purchase (see Purchase Confirmation Gate), then purchase label and return results as in the domestic flow.

Contents Type Decision Tree

Use this to determine the correct contents_type value:

Scenario	Value
Selling to the recipient (commercial sale)	MERCHANDISE
Sending a free gift	GIFT
Sending a product sample	SAMPLE
Paper documents only	DOCUMENTS
Customer returning a purchased item	RETURN_MERCHANDISE
Charitable donation	HUMANITARIAN_DONATION
None of the above	OTHER (requires contents_explanation)

Incoterms Decision Logic

The incoterm field on the customs declaration controls who pays duties and taxes:

• B2C / e-commerce (default): Use DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) -- recipient pays duties at delivery.
• Seller prepays duties: Use DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) -- seller covers all duties and taxes.
• FedEx/DHL only: FCA (Free Carrier) is available for advanced trade scenarios.

If the user does not specify, default to DDU for standard e-commerce shipments.

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Return Labels

To generate a return label, swap address_from and address_to so the original recipient becomes the sender and the original sender becomes the recipient. All other steps (shipment creation, rate selection, label purchase) remain the same.

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Label Format Options

Default to PDF_4x6 unless the user specifies otherwise. Supported formats: PDF_4x6, PDF_4x8, PDF_A4, PDF_A5, PDF_A6, PDF, PDF_2.3x7.5, PNG, PNG_2.3x7.5, ZPLII.

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Label Customization Options

When purchasing a label via CreateTransaction, the following options may be set on the shipment or rate:

• Signature confirmation: set signature_confirmation on the shipment's extra field. Values: STANDARD, ADULT, CERTIFIED, INDIRECT, CARRIER_CONFIRMATION.
• Insurance: set insurance on the shipment's extra field with amount, currency, and provider.
• Saturday delivery: set saturday_delivery to true in the shipment's extra field. Only supported by certain carriers and service levels.
• Reference fields: pass metadata on the transaction for order numbers or internal references.

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Label from Existing Rate

If the user already has a rate object_id: optionally call GetRate to confirm details, then confirm purchase (see Purchase Confirmation Gate), then call CreateTransaction directly.

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Voiding a Label

Call CreateRefund with the transaction object_id.

Refund limitations: Void/refund eligibility depends on carrier and timing. Not all labels can be refunded after purchase. If CreateRefund fails, advise the user to contact Shippo support.

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Quick Reference

Domestic label: (optional) ValidateAddress (x2) -> CreateShipment (with inline addresses) -> user picks rate -> confirm -> CreateTransaction

International label: (optional) ValidateAddress (x2) -> CreateCustomsItem (per item) -> CreateCustomsDeclaration -> CreateShipment (with inline addresses + customs_declaration) -> user picks rate -> confirm -> CreateTransaction

Return label: Same as domestic/international, but swap address_from and address_to.

Order-to-label: CreateOrder -> CreateShipment (using order address/item data) -> user picks rate -> confirm -> CreateTransaction -> packing slip (REST fallback, see below)

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Orders and Packing Slips

Use orders to represent e-commerce fulfillment requests. An order captures the shipping address, line items, and totals -- then feeds into the standard label purchase workflow.

Tools

• CreateOrder: Create an order with line items, shipping address, and order details.
• GetOrder: Retrieve an order by its object_id.
• ListOrders: List all orders.
• Packing slip (known gap): Generate a packing slip PDF for an order. There is no packing-slip tool in the MCP catalog. The underlying REST endpoint exists at GET /orders/{ORDER_ID}/packingslip/ (returns a 24-hour S3 PDF link). Fall back to a direct REST call, or advise the user to use the Shippo dashboard until the MCP gap is closed.

Workflow

1. Call CreateOrder with the shipping address, line items (title, quantity, sku, total_price, etc.), and order-level fields.
2. Use the order's address and item data to call CreateShipment, then follow the standard label purchase flow (rate selection, confirmation, CreateTransaction).
3. After purchasing the label, generate a packing slip via the REST fallback (see Tools above for the known MCP gap).