How to Integrate Retool with FedEx API

Navigate to developer.fedex.com and log in with your FedEx account credentials. If you do not have a FedEx developer account, create one using your business FedEx account number. Once logged in, click 'Create API Project' and select the APIs you need access to — at minimum, select 'Track' for tracking queries and 'Rate' for rate calculations. If you plan to create shipments, also select 'Ship'. Complete the project creation wizard, selecting whether you want Test environment access (for sandbox testing with simulated shipments) or Production environment access (for real shipment data). After creating the project, FedEx displays your API key and secret key. Copy both values — the secret key is shown only once at project creation. If you lose the secret, you must regenerate it from the project settings page. Note your FedEx account number separately, as it is required for shipment creation and some rating requests. For development and testing, start with the Test environment where you can use simulated tracking numbers beginning with '123456789012'.

In Retool, navigate to the Resources tab and click 'Create New'. Select 'REST API'. Set the Base URL to 'https://apis.fedex.com' for production (or 'https://apis-sandbox.fedex.com' for the test environment). Under Authentication, leave it as 'None' because FedEx uses a token that must be fetched separately via a query before each session. Click 'Save Resource'. Next, store your credentials in Retool Settings → Configuration Variables: add 'FEDEX_API_KEY' and 'FEDEX_SECRET_KEY' as secret variables. FedEx OAuth tokens expire after one hour, so you need a token-fetch query that runs when the app loads. Create a query using the FedEx resource: set method to POST, path to '/oauth/token', body type to 'x-www-form-urlencoded', and body to 'grant_type=client_credentials&client_id={{ retoolContext.configVars.FEDEX_API_KEY }}&client_secret={{ retoolContext.configVars.FEDEX_SECRET_KEY }}'. Enable 'Run this query on page load' so the token is always fresh. Store the resulting access_token in a Retool state variable using the query's success event handler.

1// POST /oauth/token (body: x-www-form-urlencoded)
2// grant_type=client_credentials
3// client_id={{ retoolContext.configVars.FEDEX_API_KEY }}
4// client_secret={{ retoolContext.configVars.FEDEX_SECRET_KEY }}
5
6// On success event handler:
7// storeValue('fedex_token', getToken.data.access_token);
8// storeValue('fedex_token_expires', Date.now() + (data.expires_in * 1000));

Create a tracking query using the FedEx resource. Set the method to POST, the path to '/track/v1/trackingnumbers', and the body type to JSON. Include the Authorization header in the query's Headers section with value 'Bearer {{ appState.fedex_token }}' — this references the token stored during the authentication step. The request body requires a 'trackingInfo' array where each element contains a 'trackingNumberInfo' object with the 'trackingNumber' field. You can include up to 30 tracking numbers in a single request for bulk tracking. Each response item includes 'trackResults' with the current status, estimated delivery window, tracking events array (most recent first), service type (FEDEX_GROUND, PRIORITY_OVERNIGHT, etc.), and any exception information. The 'status' field uses FedEx-specific codes like 'DE' (Delivered), 'IT' (In Transit), 'OD' (Out for Delivery), and 'DL' (Delay). Add a transformer to map these codes to human-readable labels.

1// POST /track/v1/trackingnumbers
2// Headers: Authorization: Bearer {{ appState.fedex_token }}
3// Body (JSON):
4{
5  "trackingInfo": [
6    {
7      "trackingNumberInfo": {
8        "trackingNumber": "{{ trackingInput.value }}"
9      }
10    }
11  ],
12  "includeDetailedScans": true
13}
14
15// Transformer: format tracking response
16const results = data && data.output && data.output.completeTrackResults
17  ? data.output.completeTrackResults
18  : [];
19
20const statusLabels = {
21  'DE': 'Delivered',
22  'IT': 'In Transit',
23  'OD': 'Out for Delivery',
24  'DL': 'Delay',
25  'PU': 'Picked Up',
26  'OC': 'Order Created',
27  'AN': 'At Destination Sort',
28  'SE': 'Exception'
29};
30
31return results.map(result => {
32  const track = result.trackResults && result.trackResults[0]
33    ? result.trackResults[0]
34    : {};
35  const latestEvent = track.trackingEventDetails && track.trackingEventDetails[0]
36    ? track.trackingEventDetails[0]
37    : {};
38
39  return {
40    tracking_number: result.trackingNumber,
41    status_code: track.latestStatusDetail && track.latestStatusDetail.code,
42    status: statusLabels[track.latestStatusDetail && track.latestStatusDetail.code] || track.latestStatusDetail && track.latestStatusDetail.description || 'Unknown',
43    service: track.serviceDetail && track.serviceDetail.description || 'Unknown Service',
44    estimated_delivery: track.dateAndTimes
45      ? (track.dateAndTimes.find(d => d.type === 'ESTIMATED_DELIVERY') || {}).dateTime || 'N/A'
46      : 'N/A',
47    last_event: latestEvent.eventDescription || 'No events',
48    last_location: latestEvent.scanLocation
49      ? `${latestEvent.scanLocation.city || ''}, ${latestEvent.scanLocation.stateOrProvinceCode || ''}`
50      : 'Unknown'
51  };
52});

Create a rate query for calculating shipping options. Set method to POST, path to '/rate/v1/rates/quotes', and include the Authorization header. The FedEx Rate API request body requires an 'accountNumber' object (your FedEx account number), 'requestedShipment' object with origin and destination addresses, ship date, and packaging details including weight and dimensions. The 'requestedPackageLineItems' array defines the package — include 'weight' (in LBS or KG), 'dimensions' (length, width, height in IN or CM), and 'declaredValue' if needed. Set 'rateRequestType' to 'LIST' to get standard list rates, or 'ACCOUNT' to get your negotiated account rates. The response includes 'rateReplyDetails' array with each available service showing serviceType, commit times, and a 'ratedShipmentDetails' array with the rate amounts. Add a transformer that extracts service name, transit days, and total charge from each rate option into a flat array for display in a sortable Retool Table.

1// POST /rate/v1/rates/quotes
2// Headers: Authorization: Bearer {{ appState.fedex_token }}
3// Body (JSON):
4{
5  "accountNumber": {
6    "value": "{{ retoolContext.configVars.FEDEX_ACCOUNT_NUMBER }}"
7  },
8  "requestedShipment": {
9    "shipper": {
10      "address": {
11        "postalCode": "{{ originZip.value }}",
12        "countryCode": "US"
13      }
14    },
15    "recipient": {
16      "address": {
17        "postalCode": "{{ destZip.value }}",
18        "countryCode": "US",
19        "residential": {{ isResidential.value || false }}
20      }
21    },
22    "pickupType": "DROPOFF_AT_FEDEX_LOCATION",
23    "rateRequestType": ["ACCOUNT", "LIST"],
24    "requestedPackageLineItems": [{
25      "weight": {
26        "units": "LB",
27        "value": {{ weightInput.value || 1 }}
28      },
29      "dimensions": {
30        "length": {{ lengthInput.value || 12 }},
31        "width": {{ widthInput.value || 12 }},
32        "height": {{ heightInput.value || 12 }},
33        "units": "IN"
34      }
35    }]
36  }
37}

Build a Retool Container with two panels: a tracking overview Table and a shipment detail panel. The Table shows all shipments from your orders database joined with FedEx tracking status — use a JavaScript query to merge order data (from your database Resource) with the tracking response. Configure row colors in the Table based on the status_code field: green for 'DE' (Delivered), blue for 'OD' (Out for Delivery), yellow for 'IT' (In Transit), and red for 'SE' (Exception) or 'DL' (Delay). When a user selects a row, the detail panel displays the full tracking event history from the trackingEventDetails array, showing each scan with timestamp, event description, and location. Add Retool Stat components at the top of the dashboard showing count of shipments by status category. For proactive exception management, add a Retool Workflow (scheduled daily) that queries all active shipments, identifies exceptions, and posts a summary to a Slack channel using the Slack resource.

1// JavaScript query: merge database orders with FedEx tracking data
2const orders = getOrders.data || [];
3const trackingData = {};
4
5// Build lookup from tracking results
6(getFedExTracking.data || []).forEach(t => {
7  trackingData[t.tracking_number] = t;
8});
9
10return orders.map(order => {
11  const tracking = trackingData[order.tracking_number] || {};
12  return {
13    order_id: order.id,
14    customer_name: order.customer_name,
15    tracking_number: order.tracking_number,
16    order_date: order.created_at,
17    status: tracking.status || 'Not Tracked',
18    status_code: tracking.status_code || '',
19    estimated_delivery: tracking.estimated_delivery || 'Unknown',
20    last_event: tracking.last_event || '',
21    last_location: tracking.last_location || '',
22    is_exception: ['SE', 'DL'].includes(tracking.status_code)
23  };
24}).sort((a, b) => (b.is_exception ? 1 : 0) - (a.is_exception ? 1 : 0));