Ventrata API Authentication

How to authenticate Ventrata API requests: one Bearer API key plus a connectionId. MindCloud stores your API key securely — set it once, never resend it.

Every Ventrata API request through MindCloud needs two things: a MindCloud API Key and a connectionId for your Ventrata account. This page covers both, plus exactly how to send them, so you do not need to visit any other page to get authenticated.

Steps to authenticate

Create a MindCloud account at app.mindcloud.co if you do not already have one.
Generate a MindCloud API Key in API Keys. This is the Bearer token you send on every request. Keep it on your server.
Create a Ventrata connection in Connections. Ventrata uses an API key. You generate the key in your Ventrata account, then paste it in when you create the connection — MindCloud stores it securely and never returns it in a response.
Copy the connection’s connectionId — you will send it on every request alongside your MindCloud API Key.

How requests are authenticated

Authentication has two layers. Your MindCloud API Key authenticates the request to MindCloud, sent as a Bearer token in the Authorization header. The connectionId selects the connected Ventrata account that should run the action. MindCloud stores and refreshes the Ventrata credentials behind that connection, so you never send provider tokens with your requests.

Pass connectionId in the query string for GET and DELETE actions, and in the JSON body for POST, PUT, and PATCH actions.

For example, calling List Capabilities with an Ventrata connection looks like this:

curl --request POST \
  --url "https://connect.mindcloud.co/v2/universal/apps/ventrata/actions/list-capabilities/run" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $MINDCLOUD_API_KEY" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
  "connectionId": "$CONNECTION_ID",
  "arguments": {}
}'

The Authorization: Bearer <your MindCloud API Key> header authenticates you to MindCloud; the connectionId tells MindCloud which Ventrata account to run the action against. Missing or invalid Authorization returns 401, and a missing or mismatched connectionId returns 400.

Connect Ventrata with an OCTO API key

You need either an EdinExplore OCTO test account or a supplier-issued Ventrata reseller connection. Ventrata states that one API key maps to one supplier connection.

Choose the Ventrata connection you want to use
If you are testing, use Ventrata's EdinExplore test-credentials flow. If you are connecting a live supplier, use the reseller connection that Ventrata or the supplier created for your team.
Ventrata OCTO API → Getting Started → Test Credentials
Get the OCTO API key
Follow Ventrata's authentication instructions and copy the API key for the chosen supplier connection. Keep the value secure because MindCloud will use it as the bearer token on every OCTO request.
Ventrata OCTO API → Getting Started → Authentication
Check the capabilities needed by your supplier connection
Review the documented capability list before using optional actions. In this draft, order actions request the octo/cart capability and all other actions send an empty Octo-Capabilities header by default.
Ventrata OCTO API → Getting Started → Endpoints & Capabilities
Paste the API key into MindCloud
Use the copied value as the Ventrata API key in the MindCloud connection form. If you later test write actions against live credentials, Ventrata recommends the Octo-Env: test header so those calls stay in test mode.

Keep your key safe

Keep your MindCloud API Key on your server; do not ship it in browser code, mobile apps, public repositories, or logs. Anyone with the key can call the Universal API as your MindCloud account, across every connection you have created.