Getting Started with Phorest API

This page will help you get started with Phorest. You'll be up and running in a jiffy!

Welcome to the Phorest Developer API

Whether you’re looking to build custom applications, automate workflows, or access salon data programmatically, the Phorest API provides powerful, flexible tools to help you achieve your goals.

If you’re not a developer but still curious about what the Phorest API can do, think of it as a bridge that allows different software systems to talk to each other. This can help salons streamline their operations by integrating with other tools or services they use, automating tasks, and creating custom solutions tailored to their needs, all the while staying in sync with Phorest.

The Phorest API is organized around REST. Our API has predictable resource-oriented URLs, accepts form-encoded request bodies, returns JSON-encoded responses, and uses standard HTTP response codes, authentication, and verbs.

💡 Importantly, the API is live, meaning that any actions taken through the API interact with real-time data from your salon. Whether it’s retrieving client information, booking appointments, or managing services, the changes happen instantly and directly in your Phorest system. 💡

Getting access to our API

If you don't have access, you can get it by sending us an email to [email protected].

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Keep in mind that the email must come from email address that is associated with your business in Phorest.

Choosing the appropriate server

In order to resolve issues with authentication when accessing US resources, in addition to setting your username and password, you need to choose US based server, since the EU server was being used by default.

When you select the appropriate server, give it a second or two and it will be updated for the whole portal.

Authentication

We are using basic authentication and in order to authenticate and be able to communicate with Phorest via API you must use your username and password that were granted to you when you asked for access to our API.

Username and password would look something like this:

Username: global/[email protected] (notice the global/ prefix)
Password: somepassword

Phorest Pay

The Phorest API does not support exposing card payments or Phorest Pay functionality. While you can manage appointments, clients, and services, processing payments through our API is not available for security reasons. If you need payment-related services, they must be handled directly within the Phorest ecosystem and cannot be integrated via the API.

Errors

When interacting with the Phorest API, you need to handle potential errors that may occur during API requests. The API uses standard HTTP status codes to indicate success or failure, helping users identify issues quickly and respond accordingly. Handling these errors effectively ensures that your application can respond appropriately—whether that’s retrying the request, logging the error, or notifying users of an issue. Developers should build logic into their applications to capture these errors and handle them gracefully.

Pagination

The Phorest API returns paginated data to most responses. The pages can be navigated using the "page" parameter which is indexed at 0, and the number of items per page can be controlled using the "size" parameter.

Webhooks

The Phorest API does not currently support webhooks. Instead, you can regularly check for updates by polling the API. You can use the updated_at field on entities to see the filter by ones which have been changed recently.

Not a Developer?

If you have landed here and you are not a developer, welcome. We don’t have any no-code options but have seen tinkerers creating workflows directly in tools like Zapier. What we’d recommend is some of our partner developers to help you out. If you need an introduction please reach out to us at [email protected] and we can connect you with some trusted partners who have built great apps for our salons on top of the API.

Looking to build an integration on the API?

We have many verified integrations to the platform including JoinMya, Vish, LoopHR and more. If you would like to talk to us about your idea, please reach out to [email protected] for more information.