Generic API

If your billing platform isn't one of the natively supported systems (WHMCS, Blesta, Upmind, HostBill), you can still connect it to BrandForge by implementing the Domain Connect integration contract.

Domain Connect needs five capabilities from your platform. As long as your API can fulfil these, BrandForge can drive the full domain flow against it.

The integration contract

Capability	Purpose	Typical inputs	Expected output
List currencies	Build the currency switcher	–	Currencies with code, symbol, id
Get TLD pricing	Show live prices	currency	Per-TLD register/transfer/renew prices
Check availability	Validate before ordering	domain name	available / unavailable
Resolve customer	Find or create the buyer	email, or full details	customer id
Create order	Place order + raise invoice	customer id, domains, periods, payment method	order id, invoice id

An optional sixth capability closes the loop after payment:

Capability	Purpose	Inputs	Output
Order/invoice status	Confirm payment, trigger provisioning	invoice id (+ order id)	paid status; accepted status

Authentication

Domain Connect supports the common patterns; you configure which your platform uses when you add it in BrandForge:

• Key + secret (sent as parameters or headers)
• Bearer token / OAuth
• Basic auth over HTTPS

All traffic must be over HTTPS. Credentials are stored encrypted in BrandForge and never returned to the browser.

Request and response shape

Domain Connect speaks JSON. A pricing response, for example, should resolve to a map your adapter can read per TLD:

{
  "currency": { "id": 1, "code": "EUR", "prefix": "€", "suffix": "" },
  "pricing": {
    "com": { "register": 9.99, "transfer": 9.99, "renew": 11.99 },
    "net": { "register": 11.50, "transfer": 11.50, "renew": 13.00 }
  }
}

An order request carries the resolved customer and the line items:

{
  "clientid": 123,
  "currencyid": 1,
  "domains": [
    { "domain": "example.com", "type": "register", "years": 1 },
    { "domain": "example.net", "type": "register", "years": 1 }
  ],
  "paymentmethod": "your_gateway"
}

And the order response returns the identifiers BrandForge needs to send the customer to payment:

{
  "success": true,
  "orderid": 45,
  "invoiceid": 678,
  "invoiceurl": "https://your-billing.com/viewinvoice.php?id=678"
}

Server-side expectations

For a safe checkout, your adapter (or your platform) should enforce these server-side, never trusting values from the browser:

• Re-check availability at order time, not just at search time.
• Re-validate pricing against your live prices, and lock the agreed price onto the order so the invoice matches what the customer saw.
• Be idempotent: the same submission must not create two orders. Domain Connect sends an idempotency key with each attempt; honour it.
• Collect EPP/auth codes for transfers.

Settings BrandForge stores per connection

These are the values you provide when adding a custom connection, mirroring the native platforms:

• API base URL
• Credentials (key/secret, token, or user/password)
• Payment method identifier
• Invoice URL pattern
• Login URL (for returning customers)
• Default nameservers
• Behaviour toggles (price override, login gate)

Building an adapter

A custom connection is essentially a small adapter that maps the six capabilities above onto your platform's own API calls. Each native integration (WHMCS, Blesta, Upmind, HostBill) is one such adapter. If you'd like help building one for your platform, contact BrandForge support with your API documentation and we'll guide the mapping.

tip

Start with the read-only capabilities (currencies, pricing, availability) and get Test connection passing before wiring up order creation. It isolates authentication and connectivity issues from order-logic issues.