Overview
API usage is measured based on the number of unique suppliers submitted through API requests. These suppliers count toward the record limits defined in your API contract.
This article explains how supplier records are counted, how unique suppliers are identified, and how record limits apply during your contract period.
Understanding how API usage is calculated can help ensure accurate tracking and prevent confusion when submitting supplier data.
What Counts as a Record?
A record represents a unique supplier submitted through the API.
If the same supplier is submitted multiple times, it will only count once toward your record limit, as long as it can be identified as the same supplier.
For example:
| Suppliers Submitted | Unique Suppliers | Records Counted |
| 100 suppliers submitted | 10 unique suppliers | 10 records |
| 50 suppliers submitted | 50 unique suppliers | 50 records |
Because usage is based on unique suppliers, the total number of rows sent in API requests may be higher than the number of records counted.
Identifying Unique Suppliers
To help ensure suppliers are correctly identified as unique, we recommend including the inputSupplierId field in your API requests.
The inputSupplierId allows you to provide a unique identifier for each supplier.
Key recommendations:
- Provide a unique inputSupplierId for each supplier
- Use a consistent identifier from your internal system (such as a vendor ID)
- Ensure each supplier has a distinct ID
As long as the inputSupplierId is different for each supplier, customers can use any internal ID convention that works for their system.
Why Unique Identifiers Matter
In many cases, a supplier name alone may appear to represent a unique supplier.
However, there are situations where the same supplier name may appear at multiple locations with different ownership structures. In these cases, the suppliers should be treated as separate records.
Providing a unique inputSupplierId helps ensure that suppliers are correctly identified and counted.
Contract Year Record Limits
API record limits apply per contract year, based on the limits defined in your API agreement.
For example:
- Contract length: 3 years
- Record limit: 50,000 records
In this case, the customer would receive:
- 50,000 records per contract year
- A total potential usage of 150,000 records over the full contract term
Record limits reset at the start of each new contract year.
Best Practices
To ensure accurate API usage tracking:
- Provide a unique inputSupplierId for each supplier
- Use consistent supplier identifiers from your internal systems
- Be aware that suppliers may share names but represent different entities
- Monitor usage based on unique suppliers submitted during the contract year
Questions?
If you have questions about your API usage or record limits, please contact support@supplier.io.