Getting Started

The Sadler Beef Distribution API provides programmatic access to USDA beef inventory, pricing, and fulfillment. Build integrations to automate ordering, track shipments, and manage your supply chain.

curl https://api.sadler.com/v1/products \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..."

Authentication

Authenticate requests using your API key in the Authorization header. Each API key has a defined scope that determines which operations it can perform.

curl https://api.sadler.com/v1/products \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_4eC39HqLyjWDarjtT1zdp7dc"

{
  "error": {
    "type": "authentication_error",
    "message": "API key invalid or expired"
  }
}

Versioning

The API uses header-based versioning. Specify the API version using the Sadler-Version header.

curl https://api.sadler.com/v1/products \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..." \
 -H "Sadler-Version: 2024-01-15"

Idempotency

Idempotency keys prevent duplicate requests. Include an Idempotency-Key header with a unique UUID to safely retry requests without creating duplicate resources.

curl -X POST https://api.sadler.com/v1/orders \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..." \
 -H "Idempotency-Key: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000" \
 -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
 -d '{"items": [{"product_id": "prod_123", "quantity": 10}]}'

{
  "error": {
    "type": "conflict",
    "code": "idempotency_conflict",
    "message": "Request conflicts with existing idempotent request"
  }
}

Pagination

List endpoints return paginated results using cursor-based pagination. Use the cursor parameter to retrieve the next page of results.

curl "https://api.sadler.com/v1/products?cursor=eyJwYWdlIjoyfQ&limit=10" \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..."

{
  "data": [...],
  "has_more": true,
  "next_cursor": "eyJwYWdlIjozfQ"
}

Data Model

Catch-weight Pricing

All beef items are sold per pound and finalized based on actual scale weight. Orders are created with estimated weights, and final pricing is adjusted when the product is weighed during fulfillment.

{
  "items": [{
    "sku": "BF-RIBEYE-112A-CHOICE",
    "unit": "lb",
    "quantity": 150,
    "price_per_unit": 7.85,
    "price_basis": "per_lb",
    "weight_basis": "estimated"
  }]
}

{
  "type": "order.finalized",
  "data": {
    "order_id": "ord_9f2a1c",
    "adjustments": {
      "actual_weight_lb": 158.6,
      "delta_amount": 61.21,
      "final_grand_total": 1257.21
    }
  }
}

Endpoints

curl https://api.sadler.com/v1/products \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..."

curl -X POST https://api.sadler.com/v1/orders \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..." \
 -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
 -d '{"items": [{"product_id": "prod_123", "quantity": 10}]}'

curl -X POST https://api.sadler.com/v1/quotes \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..." \
 -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
 -d '{"items": [{"sku":"BF-RIBEYE-112A-CHOICE","unit":"lb","quantity":150,"origin":"IA"}]}'

{
  "id": "qte_abc123",
  "expires_at": "2025-10-26T17:20:00Z",
  "totals": {
    "estimated_grand_total": 1196.00
  }
}

curl "https://api.sadler.com/v1/lots?sku=BF-RIBEYE-112A-CHOICE" \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_..."

Webhooks

Webhooks allow you to receive real-time notifications about events in your account. Configure webhook endpoints in your dashboard.

import crypto from "crypto";

function verifySig(rawBody, header, secret) {
  const parts = Object.fromEntries(
    header.split(",").map(kv => kv.trim().split("="))
  );
  const payload = `${parts.t}.${rawBody}`;
  const digest = crypto
    .createHmac("sha256", secret)
    .update(payload)
    .digest("hex");
  const safeEq = crypto.timingSafeEqual(
    Buffer.from(digest),
    Buffer.from(parts.v1)
  );
  const ageOk = Math.abs(Date.now()/1000 - Number(parts.t)) < 300;
  return safeEq && ageOk;
}

import hmac, hashlib, time

def verify_sig(raw_body: bytes, header: str, secret: str) -> bool:
    parts = dict(
        p.split("=",1) for p in [s.strip() for s in header.split(",")]
    )
    payload = f"{parts['t']}.{raw_body.decode()}".encode()
    digest = hmac.new(
        secret.encode(),
        payload,
        hashlib.sha256
    ).hexdigest()
    fresh = abs(time.time() - int(parts["t"])) < 300
    return hmac.compare_digest(digest, parts["v1"]) and fresh

Errors

The API uses standard HTTP status codes and returns error details in JSON format with type, code, and message fields.

Rate Limits

The API enforces a default rate limit of 600 requests per minute per API key, with burst capacity up to 1200 requests per minute for 60 seconds.

X-RateLimit-Limit: 600
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 421
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1730001234

Sandbox

Test your integration using the sandbox environment. No live funds move in sandbox mode, and test data is preloaded for development.

curl -X POST https://sandbox.api.sadler.com/sandbox/events \
 -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_test_..." \
 -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
 -d '{"type": "payment.captured", "order_id": "ord_test_1"}'

Changelog