Connecting ShipStation to CloudFFL

Before you can ship anything through ShipStation, you need to connect your ShipStation account to CloudFFL. This is a one-time setup that takes about five minutes.

What You Will Need

• Your ShipStation account login (to get your API key)
• Administrator access in CloudFFL
• ShipStation access rights enabled on your CloudFFL user account (see below)

Step 1: Enable ShipStation Access Rights in CloudFFL

Before you can see the ShipStation app in CloudFFL, you need to turn on the right permissions for your user account. Even if you are an administrator, the ShipStation module will not appear until this is done.

Go to Settings > Users & Companies > Users (or search for "Users" in the top search bar). Click on your user account. Scroll down to the Access Rights section. Look under the Other heading — you will see a ShipStation dropdown. Select the access level you need:

User — Can view shipping information, export orders, and create batches Manager — Can also sync data, manage carriers, and process shipments Administrator — Full access, including setting up the ShipStation connection and managing all settings Click Save.

For the initial setup, you will need Administrator level access. After setup is complete, you can assign other team members the User or Manager role as needed.

Step 2: Get Your v2 API Key from ShipStation

1. Log into your ShipStation account at shipstation.com.
2. Click your account name in the top-right corner.
3. Go to Account Settings and then API Settings.
4. Look for the v2 API Keys section. If you only see an "API Key" and "API Secret" pair, that is the legacy v1 API — you need the v2 key instead.
5. Click Generate API Key under the v2 section if you do not already have one.
6. Copy your API Key. This is a long string of letters and numbers — treat it like a password.

Step 2:3: Create a ShipStation Connection in CloudFFL

1. In CloudFFL, open the ShipStation app from your home screen.
2. Go to Configuration > Instances.
3. Click Create.
4. Give it a name — something like "ShipStation Production" works fine.
5. In the API Configuration tab, paste your v2 API Key into the API Key field.
6. Leave the API URL as the default (https://api.shipstation.com) unless you were told otherwise.
7. Click Save.

Step 3:4: Test the Connection

1. Click the green Test Connection button at the top of the page.
2. If everything is set up correctly, you will see a success message showing how many carriers were found.
3. If you see an error, double-check that you copied the full API key and that it is a v2 key (not the legacy v1 key/secret pair).

Step 4:5: Sync Your Carriers and Warehouses

1. Click the green Sync All button at the top of the page.
2. CloudFFL will pull in all your shipping carriers (UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc.) along with their available services and package types.
3. It will also pull in all your warehouse locations from ShipStation.
4. You will see a success message when the sync is complete.

After syncing, you can click the Carriers or Warehouses buttons on the right side of the page to see what was imported.

Step 5:6: Register Webhooks

Webhooks let ShipStation notify CloudFFL instantly when something happens — like when a package ships. This is especially important if you use the Export shipping workflow, because webhooks are how tracking numbers and shipping updates get back into CloudFFL automatically.

1. Click the Register Webhooks button in the header of your instance page.
2. CloudFFL automatically creates a secure connection to ShipStation — no manual configuration needed.
3. You will see a confirmation showing how many webhooks were registered.

That is it. CloudFFL handles all the technical details — generating a security key, telling ShipStation where to send updates, and verifying that incoming messages are legitimate.

Step 6:7: Set It as Your Default

1. Go to Settings > Inventory (or Settings > Stock).
2. Scroll down to the ShipStation section.
3. Select your new instance in the Default Instance dropdown.
4. Click Save.

Your ShipStation connection is now ready to use.