Using the API

The API reference documents every operation, parameter and field. It is generated from the same schema that validates live requests, so it cannot drift from what the API accepts. This page covers what applies to every call.

Base URL

https://api.desktopaccountingapi.com/v1

HTTPS only. QuickBooks Desktop operations live under /v1/quickbooks-desktop/; platform resources (/v1/end-users, /v1/auth-sessions, /v1/requests, /v1/webhook-endpoints) live directly under /v1/.

Versioning

The major version is in the path. Within v1 we only add: new operations, new optional request fields, new response fields, new enum values, new error codes and new webhook event types. Build clients that ignore unknown fields and handle unknown enum values; the SDKs already do. A breaking change would ship as /v2, and /v1 would keep working for at least 12 months after that. The changelog lists every change.

Request headers

Header	Used on	Meaning
Authorization: Bearer sk_...	Every call	Your secret key. See Authentication.
Daapi-End-User-Id	/v1/quickbooks-desktop/*	The end user whose company file to use.
Idempotency-Key	POST and DELETE	Makes retries safe. See Idempotency.
Daapi-Timeout-Seconds	QuickBooks calls	How long a sync call waits, 1 to 300 seconds. Default 90, health check 60.
Prefer: respond-async	QuickBooks calls	Return 202 at once instead of waiting. See Request lifecycle.
Daapi-Queue-Ttl-Seconds	Async QuickBooks calls	Latest time the request may still be sent, 10 to 86400 seconds. Default 3600.
Content-Type: application/json	Calls with a body	Passthrough also accepts application/xml.

Unknown Daapi-* headers are rejected with 400 UNKNOWN_HEADER, so a typo such as Daapi-Timeout fails instead of silently using the default.

Response headers

Header	Meaning
Daapi-Request-Id	req_... on every response, including errors. Log it; support and the dashboard find requests by it.
Daapi-Should-Retry	true or false on every error. Whether the same request can succeed later.
Retry-After	Seconds to wait, on 429 and some 503 responses.
Daapi-Idempotent-Replayed	true when the body is a stored replay of an earlier call with the same idempotency key.
Daapi-Warnings	Number of QuickBooks warnings recorded on the request, plus values read leniently from damaged data. Details are on the request resource.
Location, Preference-Applied	On 202 async responses: the request URL, and respond-async.
RateLimit-Limit, RateLimit-Remaining, RateLimit-Reset, RateLimit-Policy	The project’s rate-limit window, on every authenticated response. See Rate limits.

Formats

• JSON in and out, camelCase fields, snake_case enum values, null for empty values, [] for empty lists.
• Money as decimal strings, dates as YYYY-MM-DD, QuickBooks timestamps with the customer computer’s UTC offset.
• Strict request bodies: unknown fields are rejected.

Details are in Money, dates and data conventions.

Status codes

Status	Meaning
200, 201	Success. 201 for creates.
202	Accepted in async mode.
400, 410, 413, 422	Invalid request; nothing changed.
401, 403	Authentication or permission problem.
402	Billing blocks production data requests.
404	Unknown resource, or a QuickBooks record that does not exist.
409	Conflict: stale revision, duplicate name, setup not finished, request no longer cancelable.
429	Rate or queue limit. Retry after Retry-After.
500, 502, 503, 504	Our problem, the customer’s connection, or a timeout. Check retryable and outcome.

Every error has the same body. See Error handling and the error code reference.

OpenAPI document

The OpenAPI 3.1 document behind the reference and the SDKs is published at /docs/openapi.json. Use it to generate a client in another language, import the API into an HTTP tool, or give an AI assistant the full schema. The error catalog is at /docs/errors.json. A plain-text index of these docs for language models is at /docs/llms.txt.

The document carries a few extensions:

Extension	Meaning
x-daapi-pagination	cursor or none on list operations. See Pagination.
x-daapi-qbxml	The qbXML message an operation uses, and its minimum qbXML version.
x-daapi-open-enum	The enum can gain values; handle unknown ones.
x-daapi-runtime-header	A header the SDK runtimes set for you.
x-daapi-format: date-or-date-time	A filter that accepts a date or a date-time.
x-tagGroups	How tags are grouped in the reference navigation.

Reading the reference

The reference groups operations by area: Platform (end users, auth sessions, requests, webhooks, health check, passthrough), Transactions, Lists, Items and Reports. Each resource has an overview page and one page per operation with its parameters, request body, responses, errors and a curl example. Use search (press /) to jump to any operation or field.