canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/cbp.gov/cbp

# Cbp Gov AESDirect WebLink Inquiry API

Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI specification for the AESDirect WebLink Inquiry API, keeping it validated and agent-ready. This U.S. Customs and Border Protection service is the WebLink integration point for the Automated Export System (AES), used by exporters and freight forwarders to file Electronic Export Information and check filing status. The spec covers two operations: creating a new WebLink filing and inquiring on the status of an existing filing. Production and test endpoints are exposed separately so integrators can validate workflows before submitting real export filings.

## For AI agents

File and inquire on U.S. export filings through the AESDirect WebLink integration. Create export filings programmatically and check their AES processing status.

## Scope

Does not handle import filings, ACE manifest, customs duty calculation, or carrier shipping labels - use for AESDirect WebLink export filing creation and inquiry only.

## Capabilities

- Create WebLink filings that submit Electronic Export Information to AES
- Inquire on the disposition and status of an existing AES filing
- Switch between AES production and training environments using the matching base URL
- Submit filings on behalf of an exporter under their CBP-issued WebLink credentials

## Use cases

### Automated Export Filing Submission

Freight forwarders and exporters use agents to translate shipment booking data into an AES filing and submit it via the WebLink createWeblinkFiling endpoint. The agent handles required fields such as USPPI, Schedule B numbers, and value, then receives a filing identifier for tracking. This removes manual data entry across the exporter's TMS and AESDirect.

Example prompt: POST a WebLink filing to /ace/aes/aesdirect-ui/secured/createWeblinkFiling with USPPI, Schedule B code, and shipment value, and return the filing identifier

### Export Filing Status Tracking

Once a filing is submitted, compliance teams need to know if AES accepted it, returned a fatal error, or issued compliance alerts. The inquiry endpoint returns disposition codes and acknowledgement details for a filing identifier, so an agent can poll status and surface issues to the exporter automatically.

Example prompt: GET /ace/aes/aesdirect-ui/secured/weblinkFilingInquiry for filing id 12345 and report whether AES accepted or rejected the filing

### Test Environment Validation

Before pushing live export filings, integrators run the same payload against the trade-test.cbp.dhs.gov endpoint to confirm that fields validate cleanly. An agent points the same WebLink call at the test base URL, captures the response, and only flips to production once the test response is clean.

Example prompt: Submit the WebLink filing payload first to https://trade-test.cbp.dhs.gov, confirm a clean response, then resubmit to https://trade.cbp.dhs.gov

### AI Agent Integration via Jentic

An export operations assistant uses Jentic to discover and call the WebLink filing and inquiry endpoints with credentials held in the encrypted vault. The agent never sees the raw WebLink username and password, and the same Jentic session can chain AES calls with carrier or warehouse APIs.

Example prompt: Use Jentic to search 'submit an AES export filing', load the schema for createWeblinkFiling, and execute against the production base URL

## Key endpoints

| Method | Path | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| POST | /ace/aes/aesdirect-ui/secured/createWeblinkFiling | Create a WebLink AES filing |
| GET | /ace/aes/aesdirect-ui/secured/weblinkFilingInquiry | Inquire on AES filing status |

## Key resources

- **Filing** — Create new WebLink AES filings and inquire on the status of existing filings

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** Wiring the AESDirect WebLink API by hand means handling HTTP basic auth, choosing between the production trade.cbp.dhs.gov host and the test host, and building the WebLink filing payload yourself. Through Jentic you install once, import AESDirect WebLink from the API Directory, store the credentials once, and your agent calls it.
- **Permission scoping:** The WebLink API carries filing details in the request body rather than a resource path, so scope your agent to the operations it needs, such as the filing inquiry, and leave creation out unless it should submit. Every operation you credit it with is one you have added to the allowed set.
- **Credential handling:** Your AESDirect WebLink basic-auth credentials are stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time. They never enter the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
- **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'submit an AES export filing' or 'check a WebLink filing status', and Jentic returns the matching AESDirect operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without reading the WebLink guide.

## Related APIs

- **Shippo API** — Generate shipping labels and tracking for shipments that also need an AES filing
- **Easyship API** — Multi-carrier shipping rates and labels for cross-border shipments
- **CDC Open Data API** — Different domain - included only as a corpus-verified neighbour government API

## FAQ

### Why is there no official OpenAPI spec for the AESDirect WebLink Inquiry API?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection publishes the AESDirect WebLink interface as an XML-based service with PDF specifications rather than an OpenAPI document. Jentic generates and maintains this spec so that AI agents and developers can call AESDirect WebLink Inquiry API via structured tooling. It is validated against the live API and kept up to date. Get started with Jentic One, the self-hosted execution layer.

### What authentication does the AESDirect WebLink Inquiry API use?

WebLink uses HTTP Basic authentication with credentials issued by CBP after WebLink enrolment. Through Jentic, those credentials sit in the encrypted vault and the agent triggers the call without ever holding the username and password directly.

### Can I file Electronic Export Information through this API?

Yes. POST /ace/aes/aesdirect-ui/secured/createWeblinkFiling submits a WebLink filing that AES processes as Electronic Export Information for an outbound shipment, returning a filing identifier you can later inquire on.

### What are the rate limits for the AESDirect WebLink Inquiry API?

CBP does not publish a fixed rate limit for WebLink. Throttling is applied at the WebLink credential level and during AES maintenance windows. Plan retries with backoff and avoid hammering the inquiry endpoint when polling filing status.

### How do I check filing status through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'inquire on an AES filing status', load the schema for GET /ace/aes/aesdirect-ui/secured/weblinkFilingInquiry, and execute with the filing identifier returned by createWeblinkFiling.

### Is the AESDirect WebLink API free?

Yes. The API itself is free to use for filers enrolled with CBP. Costs only arise from the WebLink enrolment process and any third-party AES connectivity vendor that the exporter chooses to use.

### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the AESDirect WebLink API?

Yes. Because you run Jentic One yourself, your own rules decide which AESDirect WebLink operations the agent may call, so you can grant only GET /ace/aes/aesdirect-ui/secured/weblinkFilingInquiry for read-only status checks and withhold POST /ace/aes/aesdirect-ui/secured/createWeblinkFiling until the agent should actually submit a filing. Every operation you add to the allowed set is a deliberate choice, and any operation you leave out cannot be invoked. Your CBP-issued WebLink basic-auth credentials are held by your own instance and injected only at execution, never exposed to the agent.