Cowrie Integrated Systems Airtime API

High performance airtime/data topup API and network agnostic logical PINs for Nigerian networks Airtel, Glo, 9Mobile and MTN

Cowrie Integrated Systems Limited is an NCC licensed Value Added Service provider of telecommunication products and services. Our Airtime REST API enables developers and service providers to dispense airtime/data plans/logical PINs from their applications. Send a request to info@cowriesys.com to signup for an account.

This repository documents the Airtime REST API and contains bindings for the following languages/platforms

• C#
• Java
• Javascript
• PHP
• Python

To start using the API immeadiately, download the code samples for your chosen platform. The remainder of this document provides the specification for the API and describes how it is implemented.

API Structure

The airtime API is based on a HTTP/REST architecture. API clients issue HTTP GET requests with parameters specified in the query string. API responses use standard HTTP response codes with messages encoded in JSON format.

API Security

Security for the API is enforced through a combination of SSL and HMAC256 signatures. API requests are only accepted over HTTPS.

Request Authentication

API client requests are authenticated and authorized using a supplied ClientId and ClientKey. For every request, the API client must include the ClientId and sign the request using the ClientKey.

Computing the Signature

The algorithm used to compute the signature is described as follows

1. Generate a nonce (it can be any unique string)
2. Concatenate the nonce and the query string including the question mark "?" {nonce}?net={net}&msisdn={msisdn}&amount={amount}&channel={channel}&xref={xref}
3. Convert the base64 encoded ClientKey to bytes
4. Instantiate a SHA256 object from the ClientKey bytes
5. Compute the SHA256 hash of the concatenated nonce and query string. The result yields the signature. Convert the signature to base64 format
6. Apply the ClientId, Signature and Nonce as HTTP headers

API Methods

Name	Description
Balance	Get airtime account balance and discount
Credit	Credit an amount airtime to a phone number on network
Data	Credit a data plan to a phone number on network
Check	Get the details of an airtime transaction using a unique identifier
AllocateSingle	Allocate a single voucher worth an amount

Balance Request

Request URL
https://api.cowriesys.com/airtime/Balance

Request Headers 
ClientId: me@client.com 
Signature: TAP2kgjhhodYUcawFIwsn2GSxjoyVvWWQDZMhHuMFFM= 
Nonce: 20151110202513869

Balance Response

A successful request will return the following JSON encoded response

HTTP 200 OK

{
    balance: 100000,
    discount: 4
}

Credit Request

Request URL
https://api.cowriesys.com/airtime/Credit?net=AIR&msisdn=2348124661601&amount=100&xref=7734c7da7687442

Request Headers 
ClientId: me@client.com 
Signature: TAP2kgjhhodYUcawFIwsn2GSxjoyVvWWQDZMhHuMFFM= 
Nonce: 20151110202513869

Credit Response

A successful request will return the following JSON encoded response

HTTP 200 OK

{
    id: "1253CBF19F431784E610",
    xref: "7734c7da7687442",
    message: "OK"
}

Data Request

Request URL
https://api.cowriesys.com/data/Credit?net=AIR&msisdn=2348124661601&amount=100&xref=7734c7da7687442

Request Headers 
ClientId: me@client.com 
Signature: TAP2kgjhhodYUcawFIwsn2GSxjoyVvWWQDZMhHuMFFM= 
Nonce: 20151110202513869

Data Response

A successful request will return the following JSON encoded response

HTTP 200 OK

{
    id: "1253CBF19F431784E610",
    net: "AIR",
    msisdn: "2348124661601",  
    amount: 100,  
    xref: "7734c7da7687442"
}

Network Codes

The net request parameter for the Credit and Data API methods should be set according to this table

Network	Code
Airtel	AIR
Glo	GLO
MTN	MTN
9Mobile	ETI

Data Plans

The following data plans are available

Airtel

Value	Size	Validity
100	30MB	1 day
200	100MB	3 days
500	750MB	2 weeks
1,000	1.5GB	1 month
2,000	3.5GB	1 month
2,500	5GB	1 month
3,500	7GB	1 month
4,000	9GB	1 month
5,000	10GB	1 month
8,000	16GB	1 month
10,000	22GB	1 month
15,000	30GB	2 months
36,000	50GB	6 months
70,000	100GB	1 year
136,000	200GB	1 year

Glo

Value	Size	Validity
100	70MB	1 day
200	200MB	5 days
500	1.6GB	10 days
1,000	3.2GB	1 month
2,000	7.5GB	1 month
2,500	10GB	1 month
3,000	12GB	1 month
4,000	16GB	1 month
5,000	24GB	1 month
8,000	32GB	1 month
10,000	46GB	1 month
15,000	60GB	1 month
18,000	90GB	1 month

MTN

Value	Size	Validity
100	10MB	1 day
200	500MB	1 day
500	750MB	1 week
1,000	1GB	1 month
2000	5GB	1 month
5,000	10GB	1 month
10,000	22GB	1 month

9Mobile

Value	Size	Validity
200	150MB	1 week
1,000	1GB	1 month
1,200	1.5GB	1 month
2,000	2.5GB	1 month
3,000	4GB	1 month
8,000	11.5GB	1 month
10,000	15GB	1 month
18,000	27.5GB	1 month
27,500	30GB	3 months
55,500	60GB	6 months
84,992	100GB	6 months
110,000	120GB	1 year

Check Request

Request URL
https://api.cowriesys.com/airtime/Check?reference=7734c7da7687442

Request Headers 
ClientId: me@client.com 
Signature: TAP2kgjhhodYUcawFIwsn2GSxjoyVvWWQDZMhHuMFFM= 
Nonce: 20151110202513869

Check Response

A successful request will return the following JSON encoded response

HTTP 200 OK

{
    id: "1253CBF19F431784E610",
    net: "AIR",
    msisdn: "2348124661601",  
    amount: 100,  
    xref: "7734c7da7687442",
    status: "OK"
}

AllocateSingle Pin Request

Request URL
https://api.cowriesys.com/pin/AllocateSingle?unit=110&type=AIRTIME&message=HappyNewYear&xref=20180101215933289

AllocateSingle Pin Response

{
    "serial": "97054",
    "pin": "101436786399",
    "unit": 110,
    "fee": 0,
    "type": "AIRTIME",
    "xref": "20180101215933289",
    "message": "HappyNewYear"
}

Response Error Codes

A failed request will result in one of the following HTTP response error codes.

HTTP Code	HTTP Status	Description
400	Bad Request	Signature does not match or one or more query parameters is incorrect
402	Payment Required	Insufficient balance, client account requires payment
403	Forbidden	One or more required headers are missing
404	Not Found	Network and/or MSISDN are incorrect
409	Conflict	Nonce has been used before
500	Server Error	The server encountered an error