API Access

Integrate EV Manual data into your diagnostic devices, repair-shop management system or e-commerce platform. Partner services are available in three forms — pick whichever fits your product:

Data domains

The API exposes four data domains — VIN decode, parameter sheets, repair manuals, and wiring diagrams with DTC lookup — and every response includes the same match-level metadata that the web interface shows. As a result, an integrator can surface confidence information to end users without extra logic.

Authentication & billing

Every request is authenticated with an API key pair and an HMAC-SHA256 signature that covers the timestamp and request body, which prevents replay attacks and unauthorized use. Billing is pay-per-use: calls are metered and deducted from your token balance, and volume tiers lower the unit price automatically as usage grows.

• Every partner receives an API key pair; requests are signed with HMAC-SHA256 and timestamped.
• Pay-per-use: calls are metered and deducted from your token balance; volume tiers lower the unit price.
• Rate limits scale with your tier, so a diagnostic tool polling during a repair session never stalls.
• SLA: the API backend runs on an isolated VPS, independent of the public static site.

Integration guide

A typical integration takes one to five working days: register a free account, request test credentials from the partnership page, and call the sandbox endpoint with a known VIN to verify the signature flow. For example, decoding a 2019 Toyota Camry VIN returns the model version, its 8-character VIN prefix and a link to the parameter sheet in a single JSON response.

1. Register a free account at /shop/register.html — this becomes your billing identity.
2. Request credentials via Partnership; test keys are issued within one business day.
3. Sign requests with HMAC-SHA256 over timestamp + method + path + body; a reference signer is provided in Python and JavaScript.
4. Go live by swapping the sandbox base URL; usage is metered into the same token wallet as the web shop.

Most partners validate the integration with three reference VINs — one exact-prefix match, one WMI fallback and one brand-level candidate — because those three cases exercise every code path the decoder can take.

Use cases

Current integrations include a European diagnostic-tool maker that decodes VINs before scanning, a parts marketplace that matches listings to model versions, and a dealer group that runs the full data center under a white-label CNAME. In each case, the integration surface is identical — only the billing profile differs. For all three, data freshness matches the public site, because API responses are served from the same dataset that was updated on 2026-10-15.

• Diagnostic tools — identify the vehicle first, then load model-specific DTC definitions and wiring diagrams.
• Parts e-commerce — map a customer VIN to the exact model version to eliminate wrong-part returns.
• Dealer portals — keep service customers on the dealer site with white-labeled workshop documentation.

Sandbox & testing

Every integration starts in a free sandbox that mirrors the production data shape but answers with a fixed set of reference VINs, so you can build and test without spending a single token. In addition, the sandbox returns the same match-level metadata as production, which means your confidence-display logic is tested against real fallback cases before go-live.

• Free test keys — issued within one business day via Partnership; no contract or volume commitment is required.
• Reference VINs — a documented set covering exact-prefix matches, WMI fallbacks and brand-level candidates, one for each match level.
• Reference signers — copy-paste HMAC-SHA256 signing examples in Python and JavaScript, plus a Postman collection for smoke tests.
• Zero-cost testing — sandbox calls are never metered; production billing starts only after you swap the base URL.

FAQ