Send the transfer on its way

POST /transfers/{transferId}/despatch

Units come off the source's shelf and land in the destination's inTransit — sellable at neither end, which is the honest position for stock in a van. Omit lines to send everything outstanding, or name them to send part. The source must hold what is being sent free (409 InsufficientStock counts reserved units as unavailable — they are promised to an order). Appends inventory.transfer-despatched. reference is required and is the idempotency key: a retry with the same reference is acknowledged and appends nothing — which is what makes a partial despatch safe to resend.

Access

Requires stock:write.

How scopes come from roles: Scopes and roles. Getting a token: Authentication and app tokens.

Retries

reference is required and is the idempotency key: a retry with the same reference is acknowledged and appends nothing — which is what makes a partial despatch safe to resend.

A retry with the same key answers 200, with what the first call recorded.

Why every write carries a key: Idempotency and retries.

Facts appended

inventory.transfer-despatched

What a fact is: Facts and the journal.

AI agent tool

Agents call this as inventory_despatch_transfer (Inventory: Despatch transfer), in the stock toolset.

Connecting an agent: AI agents.

Example

curl

curl -X POST 'https://inventory.getmanifold.io/transfers/trf_01a15bd0-1918-7e9f-bf21-92e337bede18/despatch' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $MANIFOLD_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "reference": "TR-00042-despatch-1"
}'

JavaScript (fetch)

const response = await fetch("https://inventory.getmanifold.io/transfers/trf_01a15bd0-1918-7e9f-bf21-92e337bede18/despatch", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.MANIFOLD_TOKEN}`, "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "reference": "TR-00042-despatch-1"
  }),
});
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`${response.status}: ${await response.text()}`);
const answer = await response.json();

Request body · application/json

{
  "reference": "TR-00042-despatch-1"
}

Response · 200 · application/json

{
  "id": "trf_01a15bd0-1918-7e9f-bf21-92e337bede18",
  "number": "TR-00042",
  "fromLocationId": "loc_019cadd3-8330-7e12-aa44-2cd5f05da74a",
  "toLocationId": "loc_019cd06e-3b38-7e92-b496-c92f8184a3aa",
  "status": "in-transit",
  "mode": "two-step",
  "lines": [
    {
      "sku": "WIDGET-BLUE",
      "quantity": 6,
      "despatched": 6,
      "received": 0
    }
  ],
  "reference": "restock-shopfront-2026-10-21",
  "createdAt": "2026-10-21T00:15:27.000Z",
  "updatedAt": "2026-10-21T00:40:00.000Z"
}

The panel writes this call in other languages. It does not send it: Manifold's APIs do not take calls from a web page on another site, so run the call from your own code or terminal. The whole API as OpenAPI: inventory-manager.openapi.json. Base URL https://inventory.getmanifold.io.

Errors

Every refusal is a status and a JSON body whose _tag names it. A refused call changes nothing.

`401`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`Unauthorized` reason	The token is missing, expired or not one Manifold issued.	Get a fresh token and send the call again.
`TokenAlreadyUsed` tokenId	A single-use app token was already spent.	Mint a new token for this call.

`402`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`SubscriptionRequired` status	The organization's subscription has lapsed, so writes are refused.	An owner settles billing. Reads still work meanwhile.

`403`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`TenantRequired` userId	The token names no organization.	Choose the organization, then get a new token.
`ScopeRequired` required	The token's roles do not grant the scope this call needs.	Ask an owner or admin for a role that grants it.

`404`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`TransferNotFound` transferId	No such record in this organization.	Check the id in the path or the body.
`ItemNotFound` sku	No such record in this organization.	Check the id in the path or the body.

`409`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`TransferNotInState` transferId, status, expected	The transfer is not in a state this call accepts.	Read the record: its `status` says where it stands, and `expected` the states this call accepts.
`TransferQuantityExceeded` transferId, sku, outstanding, requested	More units are named than the transfer still has to move. `outstanding` says how many.	Send at most `outstanding` units.
`TransferModeNotAllowed` mode, policy	The organization's transfer policy does not allow this kind of transfer.	Use the mode `policy` allows.
`InsufficientStock` sku, available, requested, locationId	Fewer units are free than the call needs. `available` and `requested` say how many.	Receive or move stock in first, or ask for fewer.
`MirroredFromSource` source	This area is fed by your source system until the organization goes live.	Make the change in the source system, or go live first.

`503`

Refusal	What it means	What to do
`RequestLogUnavailable` tokenId, reason	The service could not record the request, so it did nothing.	Send the same request again, with the same key.

How refusals work everywhere: Errors.

Used in

Running more than one location, step 5: Send it