Getting started with the Port of Antwerp-Bruges Open Data platform

When implementing the APIs available on the Open Data Platform, a number of steps need to be taken before access to the data can be obtained. 

These steps apply to all users, both companies and individual users. Should you have any questions about this topic, please contact the NxtPort Support.

In order to use the Open Data APIs, you can request your registration via the following email address: support@nxtport.com.

On the Open Data platform, you will find a set of APIs that you can integrate in your own application. 

The subscription link, provided with the API’s, will bring you to the “Data user” tab in the console. On the “Subscribe tab”, click on the “Subscribe” button. If specific access for the API is required, this will be mentioned. 

After clicking on the “Subscribe” button, you will be forwarded to the NxtPort Subscription pages. To reach those pages, you will first need to login with the NxtPort credentials you created in the previous step. After logging in, you will be prompted to select an environment: Live = real data, Sandbox (if available) contains dummy data. After selecting the environment, you might need to identify your role. 

Finally, you will need to accept the “Terms & Conditions” governing the API.

After clicking on the “Save” button, you will be redirected to a confirmation page. You have now successfully subscribed to your first API.

Once the registration of your company is completed, create a support ticket by e-mail (support@nxtport.com) or via the ticketing portal, to request your Client Key. Our support team will help with the different environments and setting up the client IDs for your organisation. When making API requests, a Client Key and corresponding Secret are needed in order to authenticate your organisation.

In order to use the Open Data API’s, you need to setup Oauth2 authentication. Once you have received the necessary client information and you have your username, you will be able to set up a connection using the following parameters:

• username: email address of the API-user (of a stakeholder entity, not a software developer) who is subscribed to the API
• password: password of the API-user
• grant_type: password
• client_id: Client ID of the application builder (internal or third party), provided by NxtPort to the software developer (not the stakeholders)
• client_secret: code to verify the client_id, also provided by NxtPort to the software developer (not the stakeholders)
• scope: openid

You can use the above information to request an access token, valid for a period of 1 hour, by visiting https://login.nxtport.com/connect/token (production) or https://login-uat.nxtport.com/connect/token (UAT). This token is required to make successful  API calls.

In order to call a web API:

• include the API key in your request: You can put the API subscription key either in the header as the Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key parameter, or in the query string as the subscription-key parameter. This key can be found in the NxtPort Console (link UAT, link production).
• include the token in your request using a header parameter with name “Authorization" and value “Bearer {TOKEN}”. Replace {TOKEN} with the token that you received in your authentication call and remove the quotes just to indicate the extent of the content. The authorisation token is created using the client key of the application builder.

External software developers will need to use the API key of the subscribed stakeholders for which they are integrating.

If applicable, the following IP addresses should be whitelisted:

• UAT: 20.76.52.43
• Production: 20.76.217.177