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How do I get started with the Nimbio API?
A REST API with official Python and TypeScript/JavaScript SDKs for building on top of Nimbio — open a latch, manage digital keys, and pull access history from your own software.
What the API can do
- Open a gate latch on demand
- Grant or revoke digital keys
- Retrieve access logs and gate-status history
- Check live gate and key status
- Receive events in real time — register a webhook, or open the live event stream (one outbound connection, no server exposed to the internet)
- Set key access schedules and control hold opens, including recurring hold-open schedules
- Issue and revoke GuestLinks and visitor access codes from a booking, work-order, or property-management system
- Sync the unit roster — list, add, edit, and remove homes and units — from the system you already use
- Approve members, and add members or grant, revoke, and disable keys for up to 100 members in a single call
- Read and change community settings, and replay any webhook delivery your receiver missed
- Group homes or units for multi-property management
- Integrate into fleet routing, parking and mobility apps, or self-storage rental workflows
These are the mechanisms that exist for building automation on top of Nimbio — there is no built-in, pre-wired integration with any specific property-management, leasing, or dispatch system. Anything beyond scheduled key expirations is something your own integration builds using this API.
Who can use the API?
API access is an owner, manager, or integrator capability — not a resident-level feature.
Property owners, homeowners, and HOA boards — for a single residential gate.
Commercial property owners and businesses — gates, doors, buzzers, and call boxes.
Software companies — fleet routing, self-storage, and property-management platforms embedding Nimbio into their own product.
Individual residents and tenants can create their own API key at api.nimbio.com/manage, which opens only the gates their Nimbio keys already open. Community-scoped keys are created by a community manager or admin from the portal’s API Access page.
Authentication and a quick example
- Auth is a bearer token — no OAuth, no cookies
- Sandbox testing:
nimbio_test_…keys run the full pipeline with nothing real happening (simulated results) - Real usage:
nimbio_live_…keys trigger real side effects - The raw token is shown once at creation and can’t be recovered afterward — save it immediately
Opening a latch
curl -X POST https://api.nimbio.com/v1/community/latches/{latch_id}/open \
-H "Authorization: Bearer nimbio_live_<your-key>"
from nimbio_community_api import NimbioClient client = NimbioClient(api_key="nimbio_live_<your-key>") client.open_latch(latch_id="<latch_id>")
Official SDKs: Python pip install nimbio-community-api (sync and async) and TypeScript/JavaScript npm install @nimbio/community-api (typed, zero-dependency; Node, browsers, Deno, Bun, and edge) — source on GitHub.
Getting a working key, and things to know before you build
The docs are public — explore first. No credentials are needed to browse the Swagger UI, ReDoc, or OpenAPI spec.
Create a working key in the portal. API access is on for every Nimbio community, so no request is needed. A community manager opens API Access in the Community Manager portal, clicks Create API Key, and picks a mode: Test (no real opens or messages) or Live (will open latches and send messages). The name is optional and helps identify the key in the call log. Start with a test key. To retire a key, open the menu at the end of its row in the Keys list and choose Revoke. Not a Nimbio customer yet, or building for many properties? Email [email protected] with your use case (single home gate, commercial property, fleet routing, parking and mobility apps, self-storage, custom B2B integration) and support will point you at the right scopes.
Rate limits are per-key. Every response carries rate-limit headers — read your own limits from the response headers rather than assuming a fixed number. Each key gets its limits when it is created, a test key and a live key get different ones, and the Keys list in the portal shows the limits for each key.
The API is pre-1.0. Everything currently lives under /v1. Gate opens and community messages accept an idempotency_key (body field or Idempotency-Key header) that makes them retry-safe: for 24 hours, a repeat of the same key replays the original response instead of opening the gate again. One exception to build around: a 504 did_not_open keeps the key, because the open may already have fired — use a new key only if you deliberately want another attempt.
Pricing: residential integrations are priced per home, not per user, driver, or dispatcher — an integration can serve any number of them at the same cost. Commercial integrations use flexible per-active-user pricing.
Security model
HTTPS/TLS only, requests are routed over cellular rather than the property’s local network (which eliminates man-in-the-middle LAN sniffing on that network), every request is credential-attributable, and a compromised integration or departed user’s access can be revoked immediately.
Using the API from an AI assistant (MCP)
Nimbio publishes an official Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that turns the community API into tools an AI assistant can call.
Install with one command. npx -y @nimbio/mcp-server, with your API key in the NIMBIO_API_KEY environment variable. The package is open source (MIT) on GitHub and npm.
Start with a nimbio_test_… key. Test keys run the full pipeline — authentication, rate limiting, scope, validation — and then simulate the effect: no gate opens, no message is sent. Every result is labeled TEST MODE or LIVE.
Read-only by default. A fresh install reads everything and changes nothing. Write tools must be enabled deliberately, and a live key registers no write tools until that opt-in is set.
Irreversible actions wait for a person. Opening a gate, holding one open, revoking a guest link, removing a home, replaying webhook deliveries, switching access-code mode, and messaging every member all show their consequence and ask for confirmation.
54 tools cover gates, members, keys, guest access, access and audit logs, settings, hardware, and webhooks; tools your key cannot use are not shown. Guest link tokens are redacted by default. Configuration details are in the README on GitHub.
Full API reference: api.nimbio.com
This page is just the starting point. Swagger UI, ReDoc, the OpenAPI 3 spec, Postman and Bruno collections, and the official SDKs all live at api.nimbio.com — that’s the canonical, always-current reference for every endpoint. Once you have a key, the API Playground in the community manager portal (API Access → Playground) lets you try every operation your key can reach, grouped by area, with a test key that simulates real effects.
Open api.nimbio.com → Contact us →