USPS API Access

On April 1, 2026, the United States Postal Service introduced enhanced security and smarter access controls for tracking data—part of our ongoing commitment to protect your shipments and deliver a modern, reliable experience.

Details on these changes can be found at Tracking API Access Control Changes Release Overview. [Feb 11, 2026]

See what steps you must take to avoid disruptions.

How This Affects You

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Shippers

Who You Are: You ship direct to customers, creating your own label and using your own Mailer ID (MID)—the MID embedded in the package barcode is registered to you.

What Happens: You get continued no-cost access to Tracking data (via Tracking API, Tracking Webhook, or Scan Event Extract).

What You Need to Do:

  • Review and accept the updated Terms & Conditions in the USPS Business Portal, under My Apps > Developer Apps > Manage.

Platforms and Consolidators

Who You Are: You are a label provider that offers shipping labels that businesses use to send packages or a company that consolidates packages from multiple customers into shipments for USPS.

What Happens:

You get continued no-cost access to Tracking data when:

  • For Tracking API or Tracking Webhook: You are authorized by the shipper to use one of their active Merchant Access Tokens to generate labels on their behalf via the Business Portal platform authorization process.
  • For Scan Event Extract: You are authorized by the shipper to use the MID embedded in the package barcode via the Business Portal platform authorization process.

What You Need to Do:

Service Providers and Others

Who You Are: You provide a service, such as reporting and analytics, to a shipper or mailing agent.

What Happens: You can get paid access to the Tracking API, Webhook, and Scan Event Extracts for specific Mailer IDs. Paid access will be subject to a monthly fee and other requirements set forth in a signed Intellectual Property (IP) agreement. Also:

  • For access to Tracking API or Tracking Webhook, you must be authorized to access the Mailer ID (MID) included in the package barcode or the tracking number itself. You will incur a fee for the tracking data.
  • For access to Scan Event Extract, the Mailer ID owner must delegate access to you. You will incur a fee for the tracking data.

What You Need to Do:

For full details, read the Tracking API Access Control Changes Release Overview.

Help: