canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/dhl.com

# DHL APIs

DHL is a global logistics and parcel delivery provider spanning Express, Parcel, eCommerce, Freight, and Supply Chain divisions. Its developer APIs on Jentic cover cross-divisional shipment tracking, letting an application resolve the status, milestone history, and estimated delivery date of any DHL shipment from a single tracking number without integrating each division separately.

## For AI agents

An agent can look up the real-time status, milestone timeline, responsible division, and estimated delivery date of any DHL shipment by tracking number, then monitor it until it reaches out-for-delivery or delivered and summarise the journey for a customer.

## Scope

Use for: Looking up DHL shipment status, milestone events, responsible division, and estimated delivery dates by tracking number across all DHL divisions

Not supported:
- label creation
- rate quotes
- pickup scheduling
- webhook subscriptions
- returns management

## APIs

| API | Category | Endpoints | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DHL Shipment Tracking - Unified API | e-commerce | 1 | Look up real-time shipment status, milestone events, and estimated delivery dates for any DHL shipment across Express, Parcel, eCommerce, Freight, and Supply Chain through a single endpoint. |
| DHL Unified Shipment Tracking API | e-commerce | 1 | Look up real-time shipment status and milestone events for any DHL parcel or freight shipment across all divisions through one tracking endpoint. |

## Which API to use

| Need | API | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Track a DHL shipment across any division by tracking number | dhl-shipment-tracking-unified-api | The canonical unified tracking surface; prefer this entry when both specs are present. |
| Track a shipment via a legacy integration referencing the older name | dhl-tracking-api | A near-duplicate of the unified surface kept for backward compatibility with earlier integrations. |

## Cross-API use cases

### Cross-divisional order tracking page

Render a branded tracking timeline on a storefront that works whether a shipment moved via DHL Express, Parcel, or Freight. Either unified tracking API resolves the status, milestone events, and estimated delivery date from a single tracking number, so the storefront needs one tracking client instead of a divisional integration for each carrier.

Example prompt: Given a tracking number, call the unified DHL tracking endpoint, render the milestone timeline, and show the estimated delivery date on the order page

### Proactive delivery notifications

Poll a DHL tracking endpoint on a schedule and compare the latest milestone against the previous state to fire out-for-delivery and delivered alerts even where DHL does not push webhooks. Both tracking surfaces expose the same event data, so an existing legacy integration and a new unified integration can share the same notification logic.

Example prompt: Poll a tracking number on a fixed interval and send an SMS the first time the latest event status moves to out-for-delivery or delivered

### Daily logistics reconciliation

Reconcile shipped orders against DHL records by pulling the latest status of every tracking number in a batch and flagging shipments that are stuck, returned, or mis-routed. The tracking endpoints accept service, origin country, and destination country filters, so an operations job can isolate exceptions before customers complain, whichever tracking surface a given integration points at.

Example prompt: For each tracking number in yesterday's batch, fetch the latest status and flag any whose latest event is not delivered or is older than 48 hours

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** Wiring DHL tracking by hand means setting the DHL API key header against the EU tracking host and handling the shipments query parameters yourself for each integration. With Jentic you install Jentic One once, add the DHL tracking API from the Jentic directory, store the key once, and your agent calls it.
- **Permission scoping:** Both DHL APIs expose only a single read-only shipments lookup, so an agent can track shipments and nothing else. Your own Jentic One rules decide whether the agent gets that one operation, and it cannot create labels, quote rates, or schedule pickups.
- **Credential handling:** Your DHL API key is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected only at execution time. It never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context, and the same key serves both tracking entries.
- **Discovery method:** An agent searches the Jentic directory by intent such as 'track a shipment' and gets back the matching DHL tracking operation with its input schema, so it calls the right endpoint without browsing the DHL reference docs.

## Related vendors

- **UPS** — A global parcel carrier with comparable shipment tracking APIs for cross-carrier logistics coverage.
- **FedEx** — A major express and freight carrier offering tracking and shipping APIs that agents often use alongside DHL.
- **EasyPost** — A multi-carrier shipping platform that aggregates tracking and label creation across DHL, UPS, FedEx, and others.
- **Shippo** — A multi-carrier shipping API for tracking, rates, and labels that complements single-carrier DHL tracking.

## FAQ

### What can an agent do across DHL's APIs?

An agent can look up the real-time status of any DHL shipment by tracking number, retrieve its milestone history and timestamps, identify which DHL division is handling it, read origin and destination address details, and find the estimated delivery date. Every operation is a read-only tracking lookup.

### Why are there two DHL tracking APIs and which should I use?

The two entries cover the same unified tracking surface under slightly different names. Prefer the DHL Shipment Tracking Unified API as the canonical entry; the DHL Unified Shipment Tracking API exists mainly for backward compatibility with earlier integrations that referenced the older name.

### Can one call track shipments from any DHL division?

Yes. A single request to the shipments endpoint accepts a tracking number across DHL Express, Parcel, eCommerce, Freight, and Supply Chain. The response identifies which division or service provider handled the shipment and returns a unified status and milestone timeline.

### Do these APIs let an agent create shipments or labels?

No. The DHL surface on Jentic is limited to tracking lookups. Creating labels, quoting rates, scheduling pickups, and managing returns are outside this portfolio and would require separate DHL shipping APIs.

### Does one credential cover both APIs?

Yes. Both APIs authenticate with a single DHL API key passed in a request header and issued from the DHL Developer Portal. The same key works across both tracking entries, and DHL applies tier-based rate limits set when the key is provisioned.

### Is proof of delivery and estimated delivery data available?

Yes, when DHL has captured or computed it. Responses can include a delivered event with a timestamp and recipient signature reference, plus an estimated delivery date for divisions that publish one, alongside the full list of milestone events.