Onboard a client's product

What you'll buildCopy Anchor Link

A draft project for one client: the name, tagline and short description read from their site, a logo, screenshots and a contact email, plus your CRM's id so you can find it later. When readiness.ready is true, the project is ready to launch. A draft costs nothing.

Before you startCopy Anchor Link

• A key. A test key works for every step, and test mode accepts sites on .test. With a live key, use your client's real site.
• What your client gives you. The site's URL, an email address they read, and their logo and 1 to 5 screenshots, as files or URLs.

The contact email matters: some directories register the listing to it and send their emails there. It cannot change once the project launches.

1. Create the project from the URLCopy Anchor Link

Only url is required. Send the contact email, your own id in external_id, and anything else you keep about the client in metadata.

curl https://api.submitator.com/v1/projects \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUBMITATOR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: crm_8812-create" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://ledgerly.test", "contact_email": "founder@ledgerly.test", "external_id": "crm_8812", "metadata": {"account_owner": "Priya"}}'

{
  "object": "project",
  "id": "prj_4QzX1m9Lr2Vb7Nc8Tk3HwP",
  "status": "draft",
  "url": "https://ledgerly.test",
  "name": "Ledgerly",
  "contact_email": "founder@ledgerly.test",
  "logo": null,
  "screenshots": [],
  "autofill": { "status": "running", "name_source": "domain", "filled": [], "image_candidates": [] },
  "readiness": { "ready": false, "missing": ["logo", "screenshots"] },
  "external_id": "crm_8812",
  "metadata": { "account_owner": "Priya" }
}

The Idempotency-Key makes the call safe to send twice: a repeat within 24 hours returns this same project. Each url, contact_email and external_id belongs to one project per mode, so a second project with any of them returns 409 project_exists, with the first one in existing.

2. Wait for the site to be readCopy Anchor Link

Right after the create call, autofill.status is running and name comes from the domain. Read the project again until the status is complete: by then the name, tagline and short description you left empty are filled in.

curl https://api.submitator.com/v1/projects/prj_4QzX1m9Lr2Vb7Nc8Tk3HwP \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUBMITATOR_API_KEY"

{
  "status": "complete",
  "name_source": "site",
  "filled": ["name", "tagline", "short_description"],
  "image_candidates": [
    { "url": "https://ledgerly.test/apple-touch-icon.png", "suggested_as": "logo", "width": 180, "height": 180 },
    { "url": "https://ledgerly.test/og-image.png", "suggested_as": "screenshot", "width": 1200, "height": 630 }
  ]
}

Autofill fills only the fields you left empty, and never sets an image by itself. When it ends failed, the site could not be read: fill in the fields yourself in step 4.

3. Add the imagesCopy Anchor Link

image_candidates lists images on the site that could serve: the site's icon as a logo, its social preview as a screenshot. Pass one as url, or upload your client's own file as multipart/form-data. A project needs 1 logo and 1 to 5 screenshots, in PNG, JPEG, GIF or WebP up to 5 MB.

curl -X PUT https://api.submitator.com/v1/projects/prj_4QzX1m9Lr2Vb7Nc8Tk3HwP/logo \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUBMITATOR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://ledgerly.test/apple-touch-icon.png"}'

curl https://api.submitator.com/v1/projects/prj_4QzX1m9Lr2Vb7Nc8Tk3HwP/screenshots \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUBMITATOR_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@dashboard.png"

{
  "object": "project",
  "id": "prj_4QzX1m9Lr2Vb7Nc8Tk3HwP",
  "logo": { "object": "image", "id": "img_5Mx2Kq8Wt3Lr9Vb7Nz1HdQ", "status": "ready", "error": null },
  "screenshots": [
    { "object": "image", "id": "img_2Kr9Lx3Wq7Mt5Vb8Nz1HcF", "status": "ready", "error": null }
  ],
  "readiness": { "ready": true, "missing": [] }
}

Directories that take a single screenshot use the first one, so add the strongest first. You can also pass logo_url and screenshot_urls in the create call, and they import in the background.

4. Fill in what directories ask forCopy Anchor Link

Directories ask for more than a name: a category, the pricing, tags and the maker. Send what you know with PATCH; a field you leave out keeps its value.

curl -X PATCH https://api.submitator.com/v1/projects/prj_4QzX1m9Lr2Vb7Nc8Tk3HwP \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUBMITATOR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"maker_name": "Maya Chen", "category": "saas", "pricing_model": "freemium", "price_amount_cents": 1200, "price_period": "monthly", "tags": ["accounting", "bookkeeping", "invoicing"]}'

null or an empty string clears a field. A list you send, such as tags, replaces the whole list.

5. Check that it is readyCopy Anchor Link

GET /projects/{project_id}/readiness is free. It says whether the project can launch, how many directories a launch would get now, and what would unlock more.

curl https://api.submitator.com/v1/projects/prj_4QzX1m9Lr2Vb7Nc8Tk3HwP/readiness \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUBMITATOR_API_KEY"

{
  "object": "readiness",
  "ready": true,
  "missing": [],
  "directories": { "selected": 87, "limit": 100, "top_domain_rating": 92, "median_domain_rating": 48 },
  "unlocks": [
    { "requirement": "badge", "directories": 9, "how": "Install the badge on https://ledgerly.test and verify it." }
  ],
  "cost": { "launches": 1, "available": 100 }
}

Until ready is true, missing names what to add: contact_email, logo or screenshots.

Check it workedCopy Anchor Link

• GET /projects?external_id=crm_8812 returns the project, so your CRM can find it by its own id.
• readiness.ready is true on the project and on GET /projects/prj_4QzX1m9Lr2Vb7Nc8Tk3HwP/readiness.
• autofill.status is complete, or you filled in the name, tagline and short description yourself.

What can go wrongCopy Anchor Link

Next stepsCopy Anchor Link

• Launch and track: spend 1 launch and follow each listing.
• Reach more directories: what the unlocks mean and how to get them.
• Install the badge: the unlock most projects can get.