> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.bitnob.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. > ## Agent Instructions > Bitnob API requests authenticate with an `X-Auth-Client` API key header against https://api.bitnob.com. > Always use the sandbox environment for testing. Never put live API keys in sample code. > Money amounts are integers in the smallest unit of the currency (satoshis for BTC, cents for fiat). Never use floats. > Every state-changing request takes a client-supplied `reference` and must be treated as idempotent on retry. > Quotes expire. Re-quote rather than reusing a stale quote id. # Create a customer > Creates a customer. If one with the same email, phone number or ID document already exists, that customer is returned instead, so retries are safe. ## OpenAPI ````yaml /api-collections/swagger/bitnob-api-v2.openapi.json post /api/customers openapi: 3.1.0 info: description: >- The Bitnob API for businesses: customers, virtual accounts, cards, payouts, crypto addresses and transfers, Lightning, trading and exchange rates. ## Authentication Every request is signed with your API key's client id and secret. **Signed requests (recommended).** Send: - `X-Auth-Client`: your client id - `X-Auth-Timestamp`: the current Unix time in seconds; requests more than 5 minutes off are refused - `X-Auth-Nonce`: a unique random string for this request - `X-Auth-Signature`: hex HMAC-SHA256 of `{client_id}:{timestamp}:{nonce}:{body}` using your secret, where body is the raw request body (empty for GET) **Secret mode.** Send `X-Auth-Client` and `X-Auth-Secret` instead. Simpler, but the secret travels with every request. Live keys work only for an active organisation; sandbox keys work at any time. `ANY /api/whoami` echoes the authenticated client and is the quickest way to check your signing. ## Responses Successful responses are wrapped in an envelope with `success`, `message`, `data` and, on lists, `metadata`. Errors come either as the envelope with `success: false` and an `error` object, or as an RFC 7807 problem with a machine-readable `code`; branch on the code. Every response carries an `X-Correlation-ID` header; errors repeat it as `request_id`. Quote it to support. Every request passes a per-IP rate limit of 500 requests a minute (429 with `Retry-After`). This document is maintained by hand and checked against the route table on every build: every /api route is listed here. title: Bitnob API version: 1.0.0 servers: - description: Production url: https://api.bitnob.com security: - BitnobClientId: [] BitnobClientSecret: [] tags: - description: Check that your requests are signed correctly. name: Authentication - description: >- The people and businesses you serve. Creating and editing them needs the customers feature. name: Customers - description: >- Naira accounts that receive bank transfers, for your company or for a customer. name: Virtual accounts - description: Crypto deposit addresses, for your company or for a customer. name: Addresses - description: >- Virtual cards: issue, fund, withdraw, freeze, terminate, and the card KYC and corporate onboarding behind them. name: Cards - description: 'Pay out to bank accounts and mobile money: quote, initialize, finalize.' name: Payouts - description: Saved payout recipients. name: Beneficiaries - description: Banks and account lookups for payouts. name: Banks - description: Balance transfers between Bitnob organisations. name: Transfers - description: Crypto withdrawals. name: Withdrawals - description: Lightning invoices and payments. name: Lightning - description: Lightning addresses, LNURL withdraw links and LNURL payments. name: LNURL - description: Blockchain node access. name: Nodes - description: Quotes and orders for buying and selling. name: Trading - description: Rates and conversions. name: Exchange rates - description: Your transaction history. name: Transactions - description: Wallet balances. name: Balances paths: /api/customers: post: tags: - Customers summary: Create a customer description: >- Creates a customer. If one with the same email, phone number or ID document already exists, that customer is returned instead, so retries are safe. operationId: customersCreate requestBody: content: application/json: examples: business: summary: A business; company_name and registration_number are required value: city: Apapa company_name: Acme Logistics Ltd country: NGA customer_type: business dial_code: '+234' email: finance@acmelogistics.example.com first_name: Tunde last_name: Bakare line1: 4 Creek Road metadata: '{"crm_id":"acct_sbx_2231"}' phone_number: '8000000002' registration_number: RC0000001 state: Lagos individual: summary: An individual with a BVN, ready for an NGN virtual account value: city: Lekki country: NGA customer_type: individual date_of_birth: '1990-04-12' dial_code: '+234' email: adaeze.okafor@example.com first_name: Adaeze id_number: '22200000000' id_type: bvn last_name: Okafor line1: 12 Admiralty Way phone_number: '8000000001' postal_code: '106104' state: Lagos minimal: summary: Only the required fields value: customer_type: individual email: kwame.mensah@example.com schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/CustomersCreateRequest' required: true responses: '201': content: application/json: examples: business: summary: A business value: data: card_counts: null city: Apapa company_id: 019a3b5c-1a2b-7c3d-8e4f-5a6b7c8d9e01 company_name: Acme Logistics Ltd country: NGA created_at: '2026-10-27T10:31:45.120044Z' created_by: 019a3b5c-2b3c-7d4e-9f50-6b7c8d9e0f12 customer_type: business dial_code: '+234' email: finance@acmelogistics.example.com first_name: Tunde id: 019a3c11-7a8b-7c9d-8e0f-1a2b3c4d5e61 is_active: true kyc_status: '' last_name: Bakare line1: 4 Creek Road metadata: '' phone_number: '8000000002' registration_number: RC0000001 state: Lagos updated_at: '2026-10-27T10:31:45.120044Z' message: Customer created successfully success: true timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' individual: summary: An individual; card_counts is null on create value: data: card_counts: null city: Lekki company_id: 019a3b5c-1a2b-7c3d-8e4f-5a6b7c8d9e01 country: NGA created_at: '2026-10-28T14:02:11.482913Z' created_by: 019a3b5c-2b3c-7d4e-9f50-6b7c8d9e0f12 customer_type: individual date_of_birth: '1990-04-12' dial_code: '+234' email: adaeze.okafor@example.com first_name: Adaeze id: 019a3c10-5e6f-7a80-9b1c-2d3e4f5a6b70 id_number: '22200000000' id_type: bvn is_active: true kyc_status: '' last_name: Okafor line1: 12 Admiralty Way metadata: '' phone_number: '8000000001' postal_code: '106104' state: Lagos updated_at: '2026-10-28T14:02:11.482913Z' message: Customer created successfully success: true timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' minimal: summary: Only the required fields were sent value: data: card_counts: null company_id: 019a3b5c-1a2b-7c3d-8e4f-5a6b7c8d9e01 created_at: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.470311Z' created_by: 019a3b5c-2b3c-7d4e-9f50-6b7c8d9e0f12 customer_type: individual email: kwame.mensah@example.com id: 019a3e20-1f2a-7b3c-8d4e-5f6a7b8c9d02 is_active: true kyc_status: '' metadata: '' updated_at: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.470311Z' message: Customer created successfully success: true timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' schema: allOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Envelope' - properties: data: $ref: '#/components/schemas/CustomersCustomer' type: object description: Created, or the existing customer that matches the details. '400': content: application/json: examples: business_missing_registration: summary: A business without registration_number value: code: VALIDATION_ERROR correlation_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 detail: Registration number is required for business customers request_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 status: 400 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' title: Validation Error type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/VALIDATION_ERROR field_validation: summary: A field failed the handler's checks value: error: code: BAD_REQUEST details: customer_type: >- Customer type must be one of: individual business team_member email: Email must be a valid email address message: Validation failed request_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 success: false timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' identity_document_taken: description: >- Only when the duplicate check did not find the other customer first; normally the match is returned. summary: Another customer of this type holds the ID document value: code: VALIDATION_ERROR correlation_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 detail: >- Another customer of this type in this business already uses this identity document extensions: constraint: uq_customers_company_idnum_type_active request_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 status: 400 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' title: Validation Error type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/VALIDATION_ERROR invalid_body: summary: The body is not valid JSON value: error: code: BAD_REQUEST message: Invalid request body request_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 success: false timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' invalid_country: summary: country is not ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 value: code: VALIDATION_ERROR correlation_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 detail: Invalid country code (must be ISO 3166-1 alpha-3) extensions: country: NG request_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 status: 400 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' title: Validation Error type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/VALIDATION_ERROR invalid_date_of_birth: summary: date_of_birth is not YYYY-MM-DD value: error: code: BAD_REQUEST message: Invalid date_of_birth format. Use YYYY-MM-DD request_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 success: false timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' missing_required: description: Both fields are named whichever one is missing. summary: email or customer_type is missing value: error: code: BAD_REQUEST details: customer_type: required email: required message: Validation failed request_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 success: false timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' name_not_english: summary: A name that cannot be written in English letters value: code: VALIDATION_ERROR correlation_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 detail: first_name must use English letters only extensions: field: first_name rule: name_not_english request_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 status: 400 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' title: Validation Error type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/VALIDATION_ERROR phone_invalid: summary: phone_number fails the quality check value: code: VALIDATION_ERROR correlation_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 detail: phone_number is not a valid phone number extensions: field: phone_number rule: phone_length request_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 status: 400 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' title: Validation Error type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/VALIDATION_ERROR reserved_metadata: summary: metadata names a key core keeps for itself value: code: VALIDATION_ERROR correlation_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 detail: metadata key "kyc" is reserved and cannot be set extensions: field: metadata request_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 status: 400 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' title: Validation Error type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/VALIDATION_ERROR underage: summary: date_of_birth is less than 18 years ago value: code: VALIDATION_ERROR correlation_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 detail: Customer must be at least 18 years old request_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 status: 400 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' title: Validation Error type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/VALIDATION_ERROR schema: oneOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEnvelope' - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem' description: >- The request is invalid. Body and field checks in the handler answer with the envelope (BAD_REQUEST); the customer rules answer with a Problem (VALIDATION_ERROR, with field and rule extensions on the quality checks). headers: X-Correlation-ID: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-Correlation-ID' '401': $ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized' '403': content: application/json: examples: client_inactive: $ref: '#/components/examples/ClientInactive' feature_not_enabled: summary: The customers feature is off for the organisation value: code: FEATURE_NOT_ENABLED correlation_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 detail: The customers feature is currently not available. extensions: company_id: 019a3b5c-1a2b-7c3d-8e4f-5a6b7c8d9e01 feature_key: customers request_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 status: 403 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' title: Feature Not Enabled type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/FEATURE_NOT_ENABLED ip_not_whitelisted: $ref: '#/components/examples/IPNotWhitelisted' org_not_active: $ref: '#/components/examples/OrgNotActive' org_not_active_live: $ref: '#/components/examples/OrgNotActiveLive' personal_workspace_customers: $ref: '#/components/examples/PersonalWorkspaceCustomers' restricted_country: summary: The country is on the compliance block list value: code: COMPLIANCE_CHECK_FAILED correlation_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 detail: >- Compliance check failed: country "PRK" is not supported for compliance reasons extensions: check_type: restricted_country reason: country "PRK" is not supported for compliance reasons request_id: req_019a3e21-4b6c-7d8e-9fa0-b1c2d3e4f5a6 status: 403 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' title: Compliance Check Failed type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/COMPLIANCE_CHECK_FAILED schema: oneOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEnvelope' - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem' description: >- On a personal account any customer but the owner, and any new customer, is refused (PERSONAL_WORKSPACE_CUSTOMERS). Not allowed: the customers feature is off (FEATURE_NOT_ENABLED), the country is blocked for compliance (COMPLIANCE_CHECK_FAILED), the organisation is not active on live (ORG_NOT_ACTIVE), or the key's IP allowlist or client status refused it. headers: X-Correlation-ID: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-Correlation-ID' '408': $ref: '#/components/responses/RequestTimeout' '429': $ref: '#/components/responses/TooManyRequests' '500': content: application/json: examples: internal_error_unhandled: $ref: '#/components/examples/InternalErrorUnhandled' schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem' description: >- Something failed on our side; safe to retry, the create is deduplicated (INTERNAL_ERROR). headers: X-Correlation-ID: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-Correlation-ID' '503': $ref: '#/components/responses/ServiceUnavailable' components: schemas: CustomersCreateRequest: allOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/CustomersWritableFields' - required: - email - customer_type type: object Envelope: description: >- Successful responses are wrapped in this envelope, and so are errors a handler answers itself (request body and field validation, some not-found and conflict cases, ORG_NOT_ACTIVE): success is false and error carries a code and message. Errors raised by authentication and by the services behind a handler are a Problem instead. properties: data: description: >- The payload; its shape is given per operation. Omitted when there is none. error: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorInfo' message: description: Human-readable summary; omitted when empty. type: string metadata: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pagination' request_id: description: >- Set on error envelopes: the request's correlation id (req_ followed by a UUID), the same value as the X-Correlation-ID response header. Quote it to support. type: string success: description: true on success type: boolean timestamp: description: When the response was written. format: date-time type: string required: - success - timestamp type: object CustomersCustomer: properties: card_counts: description: >- Null on create and update responses, or when counts could not be read. oneOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/CustomersCardCounts' - type: 'null' card_program_kyc: description: >- Present on get and list only; empty when no card-program KYC is on record. items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/CustomersCardProgramKYC' type: array city: type: string company_id: format: uuid type: string company_name: type: string country: type: string created_at: format: date-time type: string created_by: format: uuid type: string customer_type: example: individual type: string date_of_birth: format: date type: string dial_code: type: string email: format: email type: string first_name: type: string id: format: uuid type: string id_number: type: string id_type: type: string is_active: type: boolean kyc_status: description: Empty when nothing has been submitted. type: string last_name: type: string line1: type: string metadata: description: Always an empty string. type: string phone_number: type: string postal_code: type: string registration_number: type: string state: type: string updated_at: format: date-time type: string required: - id - company_id - email - customer_type - metadata - is_active - kyc_status - card_counts - created_by - created_at - updated_at type: object ErrorEnvelope: allOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Envelope' - properties: success: const: false required: - error type: object description: >- The envelope as an error: success is false, error is set, data is absent. Problem: description: >- RFC 7807 problem. Returned when authentication fails and for errors raised by the services behind a handler (validation, domain refusals such as FEATURE_NOT_ENABLED or PRECONDITION_FAILED, partner outages); branch on code. properties: code: description: >- Machine-readable; branch on this, not on the status or the wording. For example VALIDATION_ERROR, UNAUTHORIZED, FORBIDDEN, FEATURE_NOT_ENABLED, PERSONAL_WORKSPACE_CUSTOMERS, TIER_PRODUCT_LOCKED, NOT_FOUND, DUPLICATE_KEY_ERROR, ALREADY_EXISTS, PRECONDITION_FAILED, INSUFFICIENT_FUNDS, TIER_LIMIT_REACHED, RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED, TIMEOUT, SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE, LIMITS_UNAVAILABLE, PLATFORM_PAUSED, INTERNAL_ERROR. type: string correlation_id: description: >- The request's correlation id, the same value as the X-Correlation-ID response header. type: string detail: description: >- What went wrong for this request, safe to show; internal and partner failures carry a generic sentence. type: string extensions: additionalProperties: true description: >- Code-specific facts, for example feature_key (FEATURE_NOT_ENABLED), field or field_violations (VALIDATION_ERROR), rail, window, limit, used, requested and remaining (TIER_LIMIT_REACHED), scope (PLATFORM_PAUSED). type: object instance: type: string request_id: description: Equal to correlation_id. type: string status: description: The HTTP status, repeated. type: integer timestamp: format: date-time type: string title: description: >- Short summary of the code, for example Validation Error or Feature Not Enabled. type: string type: description: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/{code} format: uri type: string required: - type - title - status - code - timestamp type: object CustomersWritableFields: properties: city: maxLength: 100 type: string description: City. company_name: maxLength: 200 type: string description: Company name. country: description: ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code. maxLength: 3 minLength: 3 type: string customer_type: $ref: '#/components/schemas/CustomersCustomerType' date_of_birth: description: YYYY-MM-DD. format: date type: string dial_code: example: '+234' maxLength: 5 type: string description: International dial code, for example +234. email: format: email maxLength: 255 type: string description: Email address. first_name: maxLength: 100 type: string description: First name. id_number: maxLength: 50 type: string description: Number on the identity document. id_type: $ref: '#/components/schemas/CustomersIdType' last_name: maxLength: 100 type: string description: Last name. line1: maxLength: 200 type: string description: Address line 1. metadata: description: A JSON object encoded as a string. Stored but never returned. type: string phone_number: maxLength: 20 type: string description: Phone number without the dial code. postal_code: maxLength: 20 type: string description: Postal code. registration_number: description: >- Business registration (RC) number; required for business customers, 4 to 50 characters. maxLength: 50 type: string state: maxLength: 100 type: string description: State. type: object ErrorInfo: properties: code: description: >- Machine-readable, for example BAD_REQUEST, NOT_FOUND, CONFLICT, ORG_NOT_ACTIVE, RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED, SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE, INTERNAL_ERROR. type: string details: additionalProperties: true description: >- For field validation, a map of field name to message ("email": "Email must be a valid email address"); for a body that does not decode, the offending field. type: object message: type: string required: - message type: object Pagination: description: >- List metadata. Page lists set page, per_page, total and total_pages; offset and cursor lists set limit, offset, has_more and next_cursor. Zero and empty fields are omitted, and metadata is absent when nothing is set. properties: has_more: type: boolean limit: type: integer next_cursor: description: Opaque; pass as cursor for the next page. type: string offset: type: integer page: type: integer per_page: type: integer total: type: integer total_pages: type: integer type: object CustomersCardCounts: description: >- Cards held by the customer, by status and type. Terminated is outside total. properties: active: format: int32 type: integer blocked: format: int32 type: integer frozen: format: int32 type: integer lite: format: int32 type: integer pending: format: int32 type: integer pending_termination: format: int32 type: integer prepaid_standard: format: int32 type: integer standard: format: int32 type: integer terminated: format: int32 type: integer total: format: int32 type: integer type: object CustomersCardProgramKYC: properties: card_program: example: collateral type: string normalized_status: description: >- Normalised KYC status, for example none, initiated, pending, approved, rejected, expired, rejected_incomplete. example: approved type: string type: object CustomersCustomerType: enum: - individual - business - team_member type: string CustomersIdType: enum: - passport - drivers_license - national_id - bvn - nin - vnin - voters_card - ghana_card type: string headers: X-Correlation-ID: description: >- Generated for every request (any value the client sends is ignored); quote it to support. Errors repeat it as request_id and correlation_id. example: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 schema: type: string Retry-After: description: Seconds to wait before retrying. example: 1 schema: minimum: 0 type: integer X-RateLimit-Limit: description: Requests allowed per window by the per-IP limiter (500 a minute). example: 500 schema: type: integer X-RateLimit-Remaining: description: Requests left in the current window. example: 0 schema: type: integer X-RateLimit-Reset: description: Seconds until the window resets. example: 37 schema: type: integer responses: Unauthorized: content: application/json: examples: unauthorized_auth_failed: $ref: '#/components/examples/UnauthorizedAuthFailed' unauthorized_invalid_secret: $ref: '#/components/examples/UnauthorizedInvalidSecret' unauthorized_invalid_signature: $ref: '#/components/examples/UnauthorizedInvalidSignature' unauthorized_locked_out: $ref: '#/components/examples/UnauthorizedLockedOut' schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem' description: >- Authentication failed: a signing header is missing or malformed, the timestamp is more than 5 minutes off, the signature or secret is wrong, or the client is locked out after failed checks (UNAUTHORIZED). headers: X-Correlation-ID: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-Correlation-ID' RequestTimeout: content: application/json: examples: request_timeout: $ref: '#/components/examples/RequestTimeout' schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem' description: >- The request ran past its deadline (TIMEOUT); retry, with the same reference for writes. headers: X-Correlation-ID: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-Correlation-ID' TooManyRequests: content: application/json: examples: rate_limited: $ref: '#/components/examples/RateLimited' rate_limited_envelope: $ref: '#/components/examples/RateLimitedEnvelope' schema: oneOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEnvelope' - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem' description: >- Rate limited. The per-IP limiter (500 requests a minute) answers with a Problem and Retry-After; operation-specific throttles answer with the envelope. headers: Retry-After: $ref: '#/components/headers/Retry-After' X-Correlation-ID: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-Correlation-ID' X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Limit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Remaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Reset' ServiceUnavailable: content: application/json: examples: auth_service_busy: $ref: '#/components/examples/AuthServiceBusy' auth_service_unavailable: $ref: '#/components/examples/AuthServiceUnavailable' limits_unavailable: $ref: '#/components/examples/LimitsUnavailable' platform_paused: $ref: '#/components/examples/PlatformPaused' partner_unavailable: $ref: '#/components/examples/PartnerUnavailable' service_unavailable_envelope: $ref: '#/components/examples/ServiceUnavailableEnvelope' schema: oneOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEnvelope' - $ref: '#/components/schemas/Problem' description: >- Temporarily unavailable; retry later. The identity service could not check the credentials (sent with Retry-After), a partner is down (SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE), the limits check could not run (LIMITS_UNAVAILABLE), or a platform control paused money movement (PLATFORM_PAUSED). headers: Retry-After: $ref: '#/components/headers/Retry-After' X-Correlation-ID: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-Correlation-ID' examples: ClientInactive: summary: The API key's client is deactivated value: code: FORBIDDEN correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: Client account is inactive request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 403 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Forbidden type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/FORBIDDEN IPNotWhitelisted: summary: The request came from an IP not on the key's allowlist value: code: FORBIDDEN correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: IP address not whitelisted request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 403 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Forbidden type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/FORBIDDEN OrgNotActive: description: Live keys only; sandbox requests pass. summary: A money-moving operation from an organisation that is not active value: error: code: ORG_NOT_ACTIVE message: >- Your organisation is not currently active. Please contact your administrator. request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 success: false timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' OrgNotActiveLive: description: Sandbox keys are never refused this way. summary: A live key on an organisation that is not active yet value: error: code: ORG_NOT_ACTIVE message: >- Your business isn't active yet, so live isn't available. Use your sandbox keys until it's activated. request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 success: false timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' PersonalWorkspaceCustomers: description: >- A personal (individual) account has no customers but its owner. Creating a customer, or naming any customer other than the owner's own record, is refused whatever the organisation's enabled features say. summary: A personal account acting for someone other than its owner value: code: PERSONAL_WORKSPACE_CUSTOMERS correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: A personal account can only act for its owner. extensions: company_id: 019a3b5c-1a2b-7c3d-8e4f-5a6b7c8d9e01 request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 403 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Not Available On A Personal Account type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/PERSONAL_WORKSPACE_CUSTOMERS InternalErrorUnhandled: summary: An unexpected failure value: code: INTERNAL_ERROR correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: An internal server error occurred request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 500 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Internal Server Error type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/INTERNAL_ERROR UnauthorizedAuthFailed: description: >- Returned when X-Auth-Client, X-Auth-Timestamp, X-Auth-Nonce or X-Auth-Signature is missing, the nonce is not 8 to 128 characters, the signature is not hex, or the timestamp is more than 5 minutes from the server's clock. The detail does not say which; check each. summary: A signing header is missing or malformed, or the timestamp is stale value: code: UNAUTHORIZED correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: Authentication failed request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 401 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Unauthorized type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/UNAUTHORIZED UnauthorizedInvalidSecret: summary: 'Secret mode: the client id or secret is wrong' value: code: UNAUTHORIZED correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: Invalid credentials request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 401 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Unauthorized type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/UNAUTHORIZED UnauthorizedInvalidSignature: description: >- The detail is the identity service's reason when it gives one (an unknown client or a reused nonce reads differently); Invalid signature otherwise. summary: The signature does not match value: code: UNAUTHORIZED correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: Invalid signature request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 401 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Unauthorized type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/UNAUTHORIZED UnauthorizedLockedOut: summary: Too many failed credential checks value: code: UNAUTHORIZED correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: Too many failed credential checks; retry later request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 401 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Unauthorized type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/UNAUTHORIZED RequestTimeout: summary: The request ran past its deadline value: code: TIMEOUT correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: The request took too long to complete. Please try again. request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 408 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Request Timeout type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/TIMEOUT RateLimited: summary: The per-IP limit (500 requests a minute) is reached value: code: RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: Too many requests. Please try again later. request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 429 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Rate Limit Exceeded type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED RateLimitedEnvelope: summary: An operation-specific throttle (answered by the handler) value: error: code: RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED message: >- a verification link was sent to this customer in the last minute; try again shortly request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 success: false timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' AuthServiceBusy: description: 'Sent with Retry-After: 1.' summary: Too many large signed bodies are being checked at once value: code: SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: Authentication service is busy, retry shortly request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 503 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Service Unavailable type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE AuthServiceUnavailable: description: 'Sent with Retry-After: 1. The detail is worded exactly like this today.' summary: The identity service could not be reached to check the credentials value: code: SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: Service Authentication service unavailable is currently unavailable request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 503 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Service Unavailable type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE LimitsUnavailable: summary: The tier limit check could not run value: code: LIMITS_UNAVAILABLE correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: >- We could not verify your account limits right now. Please try again shortly. request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 503 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Limits Unavailable type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/LIMITS_UNAVAILABLE PlatformPaused: summary: Money movement is paused by a platform control value: code: PLATFORM_PAUSED correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: >- Money movement is temporarily paused. Nothing is lost — requests can be retried once the pause lifts. extensions: scope: asset:BTC request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 503 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Money Movement Paused type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/PLATFORM_PAUSED PartnerUnavailable: summary: A partner or internal service is unavailable value: code: SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE correlation_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 detail: Service is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later. request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 status: 503 timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02Z' title: Service Unavailable type: https://api.bitnob.com/errors/SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE ServiceUnavailableEnvelope: summary: Unavailable (answered by the handler) value: error: code: SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE message: LNURL payments are temporarily disabled request_id: req_019a3b5c-7d1e-7f20-8a4b-3c5d6e7f8091 success: false timestamp: '2026-10-30T09:15:02.481Z' securitySchemes: BitnobClientId: type: apiKey in: header name: X-Auth-Client description: | Your workspace client id. All calls must include four headers: - `X-Auth-Client` — your workspace client id - `X-Auth-Timestamp` — Unix seconds - `X-Auth-Nonce` — 16-byte random hex - `X-Auth-Signature` — hex(HMAC-SHA256( `{client_id}:{timestamp}:{nonce}:{raw_body}`, client_secret)) The playground computes the timestamp, nonce and signature for you. BitnobClientSecret: type: apiKey in: header name: X-Playground-Client-Secret description: > Your sandbox client secret. The playground uses it to sign the request in your browser and removes it before the request is sent. Never send your client secret as a header in your own integration. ```` This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.