PostNL

Interact with PostNL API

Actions17

Shipping Status Actions
Confirming Actions
- Confirm Shipment
Labelling Actions
- Generate Label
Shipment Actions
- Generate Label
Barcode Actions
- Generate Barcode
Checkout Actions
- Checkout
Deliverydate Actions
- Calculate Delivery Date
- Calculate Shipping Date
Locations Actions
Postalcode Check Actions
- Checkout Postalcode Check
Timeframes Actions
- Retrieve Delivery Timeframes

Overview

This node interacts with the PostNL API to retrieve shipping status information based on a customer reference ID. It is useful for tracking shipments by querying their current and optionally historical statuses. Typical use cases include logistics automation, customer service workflows, or shipment monitoring systems where you want to programmatically check the delivery status of parcels using known customer identifiers.

For example, a user can input a customer code, customer number, and a reference ID associated with a shipment to get the latest status updates from PostNL. Optionally, they can request detailed history and specify the language of the response.

Properties

Name	Meaning
Customer Code	Customer code as registered at PostNL Pakketten (e.g., "DEVC").
Customer Number	Customer number as registered at PostNL Pakketten (e.g., "11223344").
Reference Id	The customer reference ID linked to the shipment (e.g., "REF-12345").
Detail	Boolean option to include old/historical statuses in the response (true/false).
Language	Language for shipment and status descriptions. Options: NL (Dutch), EN (English), CN, DE, FR.
Max Days	Limits the search period in days for statuses (default 14 days; max 90 days allowed).

Output

The node outputs JSON data containing the shipping status information retrieved from the PostNL API. This includes current shipment status details and, if requested, historical status entries. The structure typically contains fields describing the shipment progress, timestamps, location info, and descriptive status messages in the selected language.

No binary data output is indicated by the source code or properties.

Dependencies

Requires an API key credential for authenticating with the PostNL API.
The node uses the PostNL environment URL configured in credentials.
Depends on the @devlikeapro/n8n-openapi-node package for OpenAPI integration.
Requires network access to PostNL's API endpoints.

Troubleshooting

Common issues:
- Invalid or missing API credentials will cause authentication failures.
- Incorrect customer code, number, or reference ID may result in no data found or errors.
- Requesting too large a date range (maxDays) might degrade performance or time out.
- Language codes outside the supported set will likely default or cause errors.
Error messages:
- Authentication errors: Verify that the API key credential is correctly configured.
- Not found or empty responses: Check that the reference ID and customer details are correct.
- Timeout or slow responses: Reduce the maxDays parameter to limit the query scope.