Create a sales return

Creates a sales return for a sales order.

Set finalize_immediately with location_id to receive all returned quantities immediately — the location must be covered by the team’s plan or the request fails with 402. return_number may only contain letters, numbers, hyphens, underscores, and whitespace; auto-generated when omitted.

POSThttps://rest.boxhero-app.com/v1/returns

Authorizations

Authorizationstringrequired

Bearer authentication header of the form Bearer <token>, where <token> is your API token.

Request body

return_numberstring

Return number. Whitespace is ignored and letters are uppercased. Use only letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores. Auto-generated when omitted on create.

return_timestring | number | string

ISO 8601 timestamp or millisecond epoch.

memostringmax length 2000

order_idintegerminimum 0, maximum 2147483647

Source sales order id. Mutually exclusive with order_number.

order_numberstring

Source sales order number. Mutually exclusive with order_id.

order_revisionintegerminimum 0, maximum 9007199254740991

Latest observed source order revision.

itemsarray of objectrequired

Show properties

order_item_idintegerminimum 0, maximum 2147483647required

Source sales order line id. Identifies the line being returned — return lines are matched to source lines by this id (there is no separate return line id to send).

quantitynumberrequired

Quantity. May include up to four decimal places in core data.

finalize_immediatelyboolean

Receive all returned quantities immediately and mark the return done.

location_idintegerminimum 0, maximum 2147483647

Required when finalize_immediately is true.

Responses

201The created return’s id.

idintegerminimum 0, maximum 2147483647required

Created return id.

400Request validation failed or core rejected the return.

idstringrequired

Unique exception id (ex_ followed by 32 lowercase hex chars, no dashes — e.g. ex_8f5c0c8e0e0a4a3c9b3f4f2c4f6c8d2a). Quote this in support tickets so we can find the request in our logs.

typestringrequired

Stable, machine-readable error code (RFC 7807-style URI fragment). Branch your error handling on this, not on title.

Possible values/errors/not-found/errors/invalid-request/errors/invalid-team-mode/errors/tokens/invalid/errors/tokens/required/errors/too-many-requests/errors/core/usage-limit-exceeded/errors/core/forbidden/errors/core/unhandled/errors/unhandled

titlestringrequired

Human-readable summary of the error, in English.

correlationIDstringrequired

Request correlation id (rq_ followed by 32 lowercase hex chars, no dashes — e.g. rq_01abf3...). Identical to the X-Correlation-Id response header. Pass an X-Correlation-Id request header to thread your trace through to ours.

instancestringrequired

Pointer to the specific failing resource (e.g. /items/12345). Path-only, no /v1 version prefix.

codestring

Sub-reason code surfaced from upstream BoxHero core (on core-mapped 4xx) or from the gateway itself (e.g. not-available-for-api-token on 403). Use this for fine-grained branching after dispatching on type.

errorsarray of object

Field-level error details. Present on /errors/invalid-request (400) responses. Each entry locates a single failure via JSONPath-like path segments and a human-readable message.

Show properties

patharray of string | numberrequired

messagestringrequired

401Missing or invalid API token.

idstringrequired

Unique exception id (ex_ followed by 32 lowercase hex chars, no dashes — e.g. ex_8f5c0c8e0e0a4a3c9b3f4f2c4f6c8d2a). Quote this in support tickets so we can find the request in our logs.

typestringrequired

Stable, machine-readable error code (RFC 7807-style URI fragment). Branch your error handling on this, not on title.

titlestringrequired

Human-readable summary of the error, in English.

correlationIDstringrequired

instancestringrequired

Pointer to the specific failing resource (e.g. /items/12345). Path-only, no /v1 version prefix.

codestring

errorsarray of object

Field-level error details. Present on /errors/invalid-request (400) responses. Each entry locates a single failure via JSONPath-like path segments and a human-readable message.

Show properties

patharray of string | numberrequired

messagestringrequired

402The team is over its location plan limit — it has more locations than the current plan covers (for example, extra locations kept after a downgrade), so the finalize_immediately stock write is blocked. The limit is team-wide, so targeting a different location does not help; upgrade the plan or remove excess locations to continue.

idstringrequired

Unique exception id (ex_ followed by 32 lowercase hex chars, no dashes — e.g. ex_8f5c0c8e0e0a4a3c9b3f4f2c4f6c8d2a). Quote this in support tickets so we can find the request in our logs.

typestringrequired

Stable, machine-readable error code (RFC 7807-style URI fragment). Branch your error handling on this, not on title.

titlestringrequired

Human-readable summary of the error, in English.

correlationIDstringrequired

instancestringrequired

Pointer to the specific failing resource (e.g. /items/12345). Path-only, no /v1 version prefix.

codestring

errorsarray of object

Field-level error details. Present on /errors/invalid-request (400) responses. Each entry locates a single failure via JSONPath-like path segments and a human-readable message.

Show properties

patharray of string | numberrequired

messagestringrequired

404No source order with the given id was found in this team.

idstringrequired

Unique exception id (ex_ followed by 32 lowercase hex chars, no dashes — e.g. ex_8f5c0c8e0e0a4a3c9b3f4f2c4f6c8d2a). Quote this in support tickets so we can find the request in our logs.

typestringrequired

Stable, machine-readable error code (RFC 7807-style URI fragment). Branch your error handling on this, not on title.

titlestringrequired

Human-readable summary of the error, in English.

correlationIDstringrequired

instancestringrequired

Pointer to the specific failing resource (e.g. /items/12345). Path-only, no /v1 version prefix.

codestring

errorsarray of object

Field-level error details. Present on /errors/invalid-request (400) responses. Each entry locates a single failure via JSONPath-like path segments and a human-readable message.

Show properties

patharray of string | numberrequired

messagestringrequired

422Returns are only supported for sales orders.

idstringrequired

Unique exception id (ex_ followed by 32 lowercase hex chars, no dashes — e.g. ex_8f5c0c8e0e0a4a3c9b3f4f2c4f6c8d2a). Quote this in support tickets so we can find the request in our logs.

typestringrequired

Stable, machine-readable error code (RFC 7807-style URI fragment). Branch your error handling on this, not on title.

titlestringrequired

Human-readable summary of the error, in English.

correlationIDstringrequired

instancestringrequired

Pointer to the specific failing resource (e.g. /items/12345). Path-only, no /v1 version prefix.

codestring

errorsarray of object

Field-level error details. Present on /errors/invalid-request (400) responses. Each entry locates a single failure via JSONPath-like path segments and a human-readable message.

Show properties

patharray of string | numberrequired

messagestringrequired

429Rate limit exceeded. Check RateLimit, Retry-After, and X-RateLimit-* response headers before retrying.

idstringrequired

Unique exception id (ex_ followed by 32 lowercase hex chars, no dashes — e.g. ex_8f5c0c8e0e0a4a3c9b3f4f2c4f6c8d2a). Quote this in support tickets so we can find the request in our logs.

typestringrequired

Stable, machine-readable error code (RFC 7807-style URI fragment). Branch your error handling on this, not on title.

titlestringrequired

Human-readable summary of the error, in English.

correlationIDstringrequired

instancestringrequired

Pointer to the specific failing resource (e.g. /items/12345). Path-only, no /v1 version prefix.

codestring

errorsarray of object

Field-level error details. Present on /errors/invalid-request (400) responses. Each entry locates a single failure via JSONPath-like path segments and a human-readable message.

Show properties

patharray of string | numberrequired

messagestringrequired

Request

curl --request POST \
  --url 'https://rest.boxhero-app.com/v1/returns' \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $BOXHERO_API_TOKEN" \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
    "return_number": "R-1001",
    "order_number": "SO-2001",
    "return_time": "2026-01-15T09:30:00.000Z",
    "memo": "Damaged on arrival",
    "items": [
      {
        "order_item_id": 700201,
        "quantity": 5
      }
    ]
  }'

const response = await fetch("https://rest.boxhero-app.com/v1/returns", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.BOXHERO_API_TOKEN}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "return_number": "R-1001",
    "order_number": "SO-2001",
    "return_time": "2026-01-15T09:30:00.000Z",
    "memo": "Damaged on arrival",
    "items": [
      {
        "order_item_id": 700201,
        "quantity": 5
      }
    ]
  }),
});
const data = await response.json();

import os
import requests

response = requests.post(
    "https://rest.boxhero-app.com/v1/returns",
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer " + os.environ["BOXHERO_API_TOKEN"],
    },
    json={
        "return_number": "R-1001",
        "order_number": "SO-2001",
        "return_time": "2026-01-15T09:30:00.000Z",
        "memo": "Damaged on arrival",
        "items": [
            {
                "order_item_id": 700201,
                "quantity": 5,
            },
        ],
    },
)
data = response.json()

POST /v1/returns HTTP/1.1
Host: rest.boxhero-app.com
Authorization: Bearer <token>
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "return_number": "R-1001",
  "order_number": "SO-2001",
  "return_time": "2026-01-15T09:30:00.000Z",
  "memo": "Damaged on arrival",
  "items": [
    {
      "order_item_id": 700201,
      "quantity": 5
    }
  ]
}

Response

{
  "id": 90301
}

{
  "id": "ex_8f5c0c8e-0e0a-4a3c-9b3f-4f2c4f6c8d2a",
  "correlationID": "01J9X8K9XZ4ZWV9T8MQ8B7H7C2",
  "type": "/errors/invalid-request",
  "title": "Request validation failed or core rejected the return.",
  "instance": "/returns"
}

{
  "id": "ex_8f5c0c8e-0e0a-4a3c-9b3f-4f2c4f6c8d2a",
  "correlationID": "01J9X8K9XZ4ZWV9T8MQ8B7H7C2",
  "type": "/errors/tokens/required",
  "title": "Missing API token. Provide a Bearer token in the Authorization header.",
  "example": "Bearer wqnot0dlysdg5vymubzi4kiv"
}

{
  "id": "ex_8f5c0c8e-0e0a-4a3c-9b3f-4f2c4f6c8d2a",
  "correlationID": "01J9X8K9XZ4ZWV9T8MQ8B7H7C2",
  "type": "/errors/core/usage-limit-exceeded",
  "title": "The team is over its location plan limit — it has more locations than the current plan covers (for example, extra locations kept after a downgrade), so the finalize_immediately stock write is blocked. The limit is team-wide, so targeting a different location does not help; upgrade the plan or remove excess locations to continue.",
  "instance": "/returns"
}

{
  "id": "ex_8f5c0c8e-0e0a-4a3c-9b3f-4f2c4f6c8d2a",
  "correlationID": "01J9X8K9XZ4ZWV9T8MQ8B7H7C2",
  "type": "/errors/not-found",
  "title": "No source order with the given id was found in this team.",
  "instance": "/returns"
}

{
  "id": "ex_8f5c0c8e-0e0a-4a3c-9b3f-4f2c4f6c8d2a",
  "correlationID": "01J9X8K9XZ4ZWV9T8MQ8B7H7C2",
  "type": "/errors/invalid-request",
  "title": "Returns are only supported for sales orders.",
  "instance": "/returns"
}

{
  "id": "ex_8f5c0c8e-0e0a-4a3c-9b3f-4f2c4f6c8d2a",
  "correlationID": "01J9X8K9XZ4ZWV9T8MQ8B7H7C2",
  "type": "/errors/too-many-requests",
  "title": "Too many requests.",
  "instance": "/returns",
  "retryAfter": 60
}