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# How should ticketing APIs handle authentication, errors and versioning?

> How authentication, authorisation, error contracts, retries and API version changes should work in ticketing integrations.

**A dependable ticketing API should identify callers, authorise each operation, return actionable errors and introduce breaking changes predictably.** These concerns are especially important when calls affect limited inventory, customer records or payments.

## How should authentication and authorisation differ?

Authentication determines who or what is making the request; authorisation determines whether that identity may perform this action on this resource. A valid API token should not, by itself, allow an integration to read every promoter's orders or refund any payment. Use least-privilege scopes, short-lived credentials where supported, secure secret storage and revocation procedures.

Nuweb's product documentation describes personal API tokens inheriting a user's permissions and visibility groups; this is an **illustration of one implementation**, not an assumption about all ticketing APIs.

## What makes an error useful?

Clients need to distinguish incorrect requests, invalid or expired credentials, forbidden access, missing resources, depleted inventory, expired reservations, rate limits and temporary server errors. A structured response should include a stable error code, safe explanation and a correlation identifier. Don't leak customer details or internal system secrets in an error body.

| Scenario                            | Client behaviour                                                    |
| ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Access denied**                   | Stop; ask for corrected permissions, not blind retries              |
| **Seat no longer available**        | Refresh authoritative availability and explain the change           |
| **Hold expired**                    | Restart reservation according to the documented workflow            |
| **Rate limit**                      | Respect documented backoff and retry guidance                       |
| **Request timed out after payment** | Reconcile order/payment state before trying to create another order |

## What about retry safety and versions?

A network timeout does not prove that the underlying operation failed. Use idempotency support where available, and reconcile state before retrying booking or payment writes. Version changes should have an announced compatibility window, documented change log, migration examples and contract tests. Beware of changing the meaning of fields while leaving their names intact.

## What should engineering test?

Exercise token expiry and revocation, cross-tenant access attempts, duplicate requests, simultaneous last-seat purchases, partial payment outcomes, schema changes and unexpected webhook delivery order. A successful happy-path purchase is only the beginning of API acceptance testing.

## What a robust integration contract should specify

Document the authentication method, token scope, expiration and rotation. For errors, distinguish a **validation failure** (bad input), a **conflict** (seat already reserved) and a **temporary platform failure** (safe to retry). Clients must know when a retry risks creating a duplicate booking, so booking APIs should offer idempotency or a reliable lookup/reconciliation path. Versioning also requires a change policy: teams need to know when fields may be added, when deprecated versions stop working and what test environment validates an upgrade. A readable API reference without these operational guarantees is incomplete.

## Related explanations

#### [How should ticketing APIs and credentials be secured?](/data-security/how-should-ticketing-apis-and-credentials-be-secured)

Data & Security · Security, privacy and compliance

#### [How do you evaluate a ticketing API and its documentation?](/apis-integrations/how-to-evaluate-a-ticketing-api-and-its-documentation)

APIs & Integrations · Building with APIs

#### [Custom vs prebuilt ticketing integrations: which should you use?](/apis-integrations/custom-vs-prebuilt-ticketing-integrations-which-should-you-use)

APIs & Integrations · Building with APIs

#### [How do you build a custom ticketing checkout with APIs?](/apis-integrations/how-to-build-a-custom-ticketing-checkout-with-apis)

APIs & Integrations · Building with APIs

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