Communities API – Getting started | Coolblue Business Journeys

Prerequisites

An agreement with Coolblue to use the Closed Community platform.
One or more communities configured (names, identifiers, allowed users).
Valid API credentials (client_id and client_secret) for the Communities API.

For credential request and sharing details, see Authentication.

Environments

The Communities API follows the same Acceptance and Production split as the other Business Journeys APIs.

Environment	Base URL	Purpose
Acceptance	`https://<acceptance-host>/communities-api`	Test your integration against non‑production communities and users.
Production	`https://<production-host>/communities-api`	Use real communities and real users.

See Environments for more information.

Authentication

Authentication uses OAuth 2.0 with client credentials. Obtain an access token and use it as a Bearer token in the Authorization header.

curl -X POST \
  "https://<acceptance-host>/oauth2/token" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
  -d "grant_type=client_credentials&client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID&client_secret=YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET"

See Authentication for generic details.

Your first request

A typical first request is to onboard (add) a member to a community. This endpoint uses the community ID provided during onboarding. The exact request and response details are described in the Communities API Swagger UI

ACCESS_TOKEN="eyJhbGciOi..."

curl -X POST \
  "https://<acceptance-host>/communities-api/v2/communities/YOUR_COMMUNITY_ID/members" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
  -H "User-Agent: Coolblue-YourCompanyName" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "Member": {
      "EmailAddress": "member@example.com",
      "FirstName": "Jane",
      "LastName": "Doe",
      "ExternalReference": "HR-123456"
    },
    "Credits": [
      {
        "Credit": 750.00
      }
    ]
  }'

Common pitfalls

Using production community identifiers in Acceptance or vice versa.
Not aligning user identifiers between your system and the Communities platform.
Confusing audience / membership configuration between environments.

Check the FAQ for Communities‑specific questions.

Support

For help with the Communities API, contact dev-business@coolblue.nl and mention that your question is about “Communities API”.

See Support for details on what to include.

Next steps

Continue with one of these references: