Quick Start Guide

Welcome to VendorTrack! This guide will help you get started with our platform and begin managing your vendors more effectively. Whether you're setting up your first vendor assessment or integrating with our API, we'll walk you through the essentials.

New to VendorTrack? Start with our installation guide and then return here to begin your first vendor assessment.

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Add Your First Vendor

Start by adding vendor information to begin tracking and assessing their performance and risk levels.

📊

Configure Risk Scoring

Set up AI-powered risk assessment parameters tailored to your organization's requirements.

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Integrate Your Systems

Connect VendorTrack with your existing ERP, procurement, and business systems.

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Generate Reports

Create comprehensive vendor performance and compliance reports for stakeholders.

Step 1: Authentication

To start using the VendorTrack API, you'll need to authenticate your requests using an API key. You can generate API keys from your account dashboard.

                                curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
                                -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
                                https://api.vendortrack.com/v1/vendors

Step 2: Create Your First Vendor

Once authenticated, you can create a vendor record. Here's a simple example:

{ "name": "Acme Corporation", "email": "[email protected]", "phone": "+1-555-0123", "address": { "street": "123 Business Ave", "city": "San Francisco", "state": "CA", "zipCode": "94105", "country": "USA" }, "category": "Software Vendor", "riskProfile": "medium" }

API Overview

The VendorTrack API is a RESTful web service that allows you to integrate vendor management capabilities into your applications. All requests and responses use JSON format.

Base URL

https://api.vendortrack.com/v1

Authentication

All API requests require authentication using Bearer tokens. Include your API key in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Rate Limits

API requests are limited to 1000 requests per hour per API key. Rate limit information is included in response headers:

X-RateLimit-Limit: Request limit per hour
X-RateLimit-Remaining: Remaining requests in current window
X-RateLimit-Reset: Time when rate limit resets

Vendors API

The Vendors API allows you to manage vendor records, including creating, updating, retrieving, and deleting vendor information.

GET /vendors

Retrieve a list of all vendors

POST /vendors

Create a new vendor

GET /vendors/{id}

Retrieve a specific vendor by ID

PUT /vendors/{id}

Update a vendor's information

DELETE /vendors/{id}

Delete a vendor

Vendor Object

Field	Type	Description
id	string	Unique identifier for the vendor
name	string	Vendor company name
email	string	Primary contact email
phone	string	Primary contact phone number
riskScore	number	AI-calculated risk score (0-100)
status	string	Vendor status (active, inactive, pending)

Risk Assessments

Risk assessments provide detailed analysis of vendor risk factors using our AI-powered scoring engine. Assessments are automatically updated based on vendor behavior and external data sources.

Note: Risk assessments are computed asynchronously. Initial assessments may take up to 15 minutes to complete for new vendors.

GET /vendors/{id}/assessment

Get the latest risk assessment for a vendor

POST /vendors/{id}/assessment

Trigger a new risk assessment

Assessment Object

                                {
                                "vendorId": "vendor_123",
                                "overallScore": 78,
                                "riskLevel": "medium",
                                "factors": {
                                "financial": 85,
                                "operational": 72,
                                "compliance": 80,
                                "security": 76
                                },
                                "lastUpdated": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
                                "recommendations": [
                                "Monitor financial performance quarterly",
                                "Request updated security certifications"
                                ]
                                }

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Authentication Errors

If you're receiving 401 Unauthorized errors, verify that:

Your API key is correctly included in the Authorization header
The API key hasn't expired or been revoked
You're using the correct authentication format: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Rate Limiting

If you exceed the rate limit, you'll receive a 429 status code. Implement exponential backoff in your retry logic:

                                # Python example
                                import time
                                import random

                                def make_request_with_retry(url, max_retries=3):
                                for attempt in range(max_retries):
                                response = requests.get(url)
                                if response.status_code != 429:
                                return response

                                # Exponential backoff with jitter
                                delay = (2 ** attempt) + random.uniform(0, 1)
                                time.sleep(delay)

                                raise Exception("Max retries exceeded")

Need Help? If you're still experiencing issues, contact our support team at [email protected] with your API request details.

Documentation