Restrict | border.bot API docs

Check goods against a destination's import prohibitions and restrictions, agency requirements and the origin's export rules with the border.bot API, plus rules of your own, kept as evidence.

Restrict checks items against what the destination prohibits or restricts on import (agency requirements such as FDA or APHIS data at entry), what the origin restricts on export, and rules your workspace adds. The Restrict page explains how it works.

Endpoints#

Endpoint	What it does
`POST /v1/restrictions`	Check up to 100 items
`GET /v1/restrictions/checks`	Your past checks, kept as evidence
`/v1/restrictions/rules`	List, add and remove your workspace's own rules

Check items#

curl -X POST https://api.border.bot/v1/restrictions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BORDERBOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "destinationCountry": "US",
    "originCountry": "CN",
    "items": [
      {
        "sku": "LAPTOP-14",
        "title": "14-inch laptop",
        "hsCode": "8471.30.01.00"
      }
    ]
  }'

const response = await fetch('https://api.border.bot/v1/restrictions', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.BORDERBOT_TOKEN}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "destinationCountry": "US",
    "originCountry": "CN",
    "items": [
      {
        "sku": "LAPTOP-14",
        "title": "14-inch laptop",
        "hsCode": "8471.30.01.00"
      }
    ]
  }),
});
const data = await response.json();

import os

import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.border.bot/v1/restrictions",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['BORDERBOT_TOKEN']}"},
    json={
        "destinationCountry": "US",
        "originCountry": "CN",
        "items": [
            {
                "sku": "LAPTOP-14",
                "title": "14-inch laptop",
                "hsCode": "8471.30.01.00",
            },
        ],
    },
)
data = response.json()

<?php
$ch = curl_init('https://api.border.bot/v1/restrictions');
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'POST',
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
        'Authorization: Bearer ' . getenv('BORDERBOT_TOKEN'),
        'Content-Type: application/json',
    ],
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
        'destinationCountry' => 'US',
        'originCountry' => 'CN',
        'items' => [
            [
                'sku' => 'LAPTOP-14',
                'title' => '14-inch laptop',
                'hsCode' => '8471.30.01.00',
            ],
        ],
    ]),
]);
$data = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);

Give each item its code, a title or description, or both: codes match rules by prefix, and text matches rules by keywords (a keyword match is confirmed by a model and comes with a probability). With originCountry, the origin's export rules and sanctions are checked too.

What comes back#

For each item, its restrictions: each rule's type (prohibition, restriction or observation), the agency and whether its data is required or may_be_required, the title and summary, the source and the confidence. The check says whether anything is prohibited or restricted (hasProhibitions, hasRestrictions) and returns a checkId, the evidence that the goods were checked.

JSON

{
  "data": {
    "items": [
      {
        "sku": "LAPTOP-14",
        "title": "14-inch laptop",
        "hsCode": "8471300100",
        "restrictions": [
          {
            "id": "restriction_17f4af75ba5554",
            "source": "platform",
            "hsCode": "8471300100",
            "imposingCountry": "US",
            "direction": "IMPORT",
            "ruleType": "restriction",
            "title": "FDA: may be required",
            "summary": "FDA data may be required (radiation-emitting electronic products).",
            "agency": "FDA",
            "requirement": "may_be_required",
            "sourceUrl": "https://www.cbp.gov/document/technical-documentation/ace-appendix-pga",
            "confidence": "HIGH",
            "probability": null
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "matchCount": 1,
    "hasProhibitions": false,
    "hasRestrictions": true,
    "upstreamRequestId": null,
    "engine": "borderbot",
    "checkId": "01a15ac1-27b3-72dd-9b4d-5e1f66b46892"
  },
  "credits": {
    "charged": 0,
    "remaining": 96,
    "usageId": "usg_01m5dc29tdkdmpffnd43jmg1w5"
  },
  "replayed": false
}

Costs and limits#

A restricted-goods check costs the Restrict price per item, free by default (GET /v1/pricing), and the response carries credits like other priced calls. Checks are limited to 10 checks a minute per workspace. A destination without coverage returns 422 unsupported_country.

Also from#

MCP: check_restricted_goods (see MCP).
Classify: every code carries the destination's restrictions, so you see them as soon as a product is classified.
Agency filings: for what an agency needs filed at entry (a CPSC certificate or a disclaim), use Comply.