Create an API account in Apple Business

Overview

With the Apple Business API, you can edit the devices’ management assignments, view device information, automate device assignment workflows, integrate device inventory data into third-party platforms, or build custom dashboards—tasks that would otherwise require manual web portal navigation. The API supports OAuth 2 so apps authenticate with a set of credentials in exchange for an access token to make authenticated requests to the API.

Before you can use these APIs, you need to create an API account in Apple Business. Only users with the role of Organization Administrator can create an API account.

Note: You can have up to 50 API accounts.

Data access

When the API account is properly configured, that account can allow an app to access the following information:

Category	Permission name	Description
Devices	View device management services, manage default platform assignment, and add devices with Apple Configurator.	Get a list of devices in an organization that enroll using Automated Device Enrollment.
Devices	View device management services, manage default platform assignment, and add devices with Apple Configurator.	Get information about a device in an organization, such as the device model, order number, and part number.
Device management services	View device management services, manage default platform assignment, and add devices with Apple Configurator.	Get a list of device management services in an organization.
Device management services	View device management services, manage default platform assignment, and add devices with Apple Configurator.	Get a list of device serial numbers assigned to a device management service.
Device management services	View device management services, manage default platform assignment, and add devices with Apple Configurator.	Get the assigned device management service ID information for a device.
Device management services	View device management services, manage default platform assignment, and add devices with Apple Configurator.	Get the assigned device management service information for a device.
Device management services	View device management services, manage default platform assignment, and add devices with Apple Configurator.	Get information for an organization device activity that a device management action creates, such as assign or unassign.
Device management services	Assign devices to device management services.	Assign or unassign devices to a device management service.
User management services	Implicit Permission	Get a list of users in an organization.
User management services	Implicit Permission	Get information about a specific user in an organization.
User group management services	Implicit Permission	Get a list of user groups in an organization.
User group management services	Implicit Permission	Get information about a specific user group in an organization.
User group management services	Implicit Permission	Get a list of users assigned to a user group in an organization.
Blueprints	View Blueprints.	Get a list of Blueprints in an organization.
Blueprints	Manage Blueprints.	Create a Blueprint in an organization.
Blueprints	Manage Blueprints.	Get information about a Blueprint in an organization.
Blueprints	Manage Blueprints.	Update a Blueprint in an organization.
Blueprints	Manage Blueprints.	Delete a Blueprint in an organization.
Blueprints	Manage Blueprints.	Get or modify the members of a given type within a Blueprint in an organization.
Configurations	View device configurations.	Get the list of Configurations in an organization.
Configurations	View device configurations.	Get the details of a Configuration in an organization.
Configurations	Create, edit, and delete device configurations.	Create a Configuration in an organization (of type CUSTOM_SETTING).
Configurations	Create, edit, and delete device configurations.	Update a Configuration in an organization (of type CUSTOM_SETTING).
Configurations	Create, edit, and delete device configurations.	Delete a Configuration in an organization.
Packages	View and manage devices using built-in device management.	Get packages in an organization.
Apps	View Apps.	Get the licensed apps in an organization.
Audit events	Access audit events using the Admin API.	Retrieve a list of audit events for an organization, filtered by various criteria. An audit event represents an activity within the organization, for example adding or removing a device.

Generate a private key

To maintain a secure connection to Apple Business, you need to generate a private key. The key’s filename ends in .pem, and you generate it only once.

Create a new API account and download the private key

In Apple Business, sign in with a user who has the role of Organization Administrator.
In your browser, choose Settings > API.
Select Add API Account, enter the name of the user and select their role, then select Next.
Choose one of the following:
- Select Generate & Download to generate and download the key.
  The file automatically downloads to the file download location in your browser preferences or, if there isn’t a location, the system asks where to save the file.
- Select Not Now to generate the private key later.
Select Edit to view the information you need to create the connection.
Review the Apple Developer documentation on how to create the connection.

Edit an existing API account that moved from Apple Business Manager or Apple Business Essentials

If your organization moved from Apple Business Manager or Apple Business Essentials to Apple Business and you had any existing API accounts, those accounts now have a custom role. You can review and edit any API account information.

In Apple Business, sign in with a user who has the role of Organization Administrator.
In your browser, choose Settings > API.
Select Edit next to an existing API account.
If necessary, choose any of the following:
- Change the account name
- Change the role
  The custom role is Device API Manager. To edit the role’s permissions, see Intro to roles and permissions.
- Copy the Client ID to your Clipboard.
- Copy the Key ID to your Clipboard.
- Revoke the private key.
Select Save.
Review the Apple Developer documentation on how to manage the connection.

Helpful?

Apple Business User Guide