Partners / Developers

Partner developer guide

Two ways to connect your site to in-tender: a link that opens a tender for your user, and an API that returns what a tender asks for. Both work from the issuer's tender number you already show.

You'll need a partner account for both. Become a partner to get your partner name and API key.

1. Link to a tender

No integration work is needed. Build the link from the tender number and your partner name:

https://in-tender.co.za/tenders/open/?ref=RFQ/123/2026&partner=your-name

ref is the tender number, reference number or OCID as published on the National Treasury eTenders portal. Matching ignores case.
partner is the partner name we give you. Each visit through the link is counted for you.
If exactly one open tender matches, the user lands on it. Otherwise they see in-tender's search results for that number.
Users who aren't signed in are asked to sign in first, then land on the tender.

2. Read a tender's requirements

Send one GET request with your API key in the X-Partner-Key header:

curl "https://in-tender.co.za/api/v1/partner/tenders/requirements/?ref=RFQ/123/2026" \
  -H "X-Partner-Key: <your key>"

ref takes the same values as the link. The response lists every open tender that matches, up to 10, so an empty results list means no open tender has that number.

Response

{
  "results": [{
    "ocid": "ocds-9t57fa-123456",
    "tender_number": "RFQ/123/2026",
    "reference_number": "123456",
    "title": "Supply and delivery of office furniture",
    "organ_of_state": "…",
    "deadline": "2026-11-28",
    "prepare_url": "https://in-tender.co.za/tenders/…/",
    "requirements": [{
      "requirement": "Valid SARS tax compliance status",
      "kind": "document",
      "role": "eligibility",
      "stage": "Eligibility",
      "mandatory": true,
      "threshold": null,
      "source_page": 4
    }]
  }]
}

Tender fields

Field	Meaning
ocid	The tender's ID on the eTenders open data feed.
tender_number	The issuer's tender number.
reference_number	The eTenders reference number.
title, organ_of_state	As published.
deadline	Closing date (YYYY-MM-DD), or null if none was published.
prepare_url	Opens the tender in in-tender. Prefer the partner link above, which counts the visit for you.

Requirement fields

Field	Meaning
requirement	What the tender asks for, in plain words.
kind	One of document, registration, certification, bbbee, ownership, turnover, years_operating, employee_count, location, sector or other.
role	Where it counts in the evaluation, such as eligibility, evaluation, price or preference.
stage	The evaluation stage it belongs to, as named in in-tender.
mandatory	True when missing it disqualifies the bid.
threshold	A minimum or target, such as "3 references" or "10 points", or null.
source_page	The page of the tender documents it was read from, or null.

Requirements are read from the tender documents automatically and can contain mistakes. Show them as a guide and point users to the original tender documents, which remain the authority. The API returns public tender information only: no scores, recommendations or user data.

Errors

Status	When
400	The `ref` parameter is missing or empty.
403	The key is missing, wrong, replaced, or your partner access is switched off.

Keeping your key safe

Call the API from your server, never from a browser or app, so the key isn't exposed.
We show your key once when we issue it and store only a scrambled copy, so we can't read it back to you.
If a key leaks or you lose it, ask us for a new one. The old key stops working immediately.