Distributing Passes

After creating an Apple or Google Wallet pass with POST /v0/passes,
you will want to prompt the user to add the pass to their device. Our API provides you with an easy to use solution for distributing your created passes to be installed.

πŸ“˜

Info

Apple Wallet passes are binary files, while Google passes are cloud-hosted. Due to this distinction, we provide an additional buffer property for the file. This can be utilized to distribute the pass via email or SMS attachments.

Sample distribution payload:

  "distribution": {
        "google": {
          "url": "https://api.ethpass.xyz/api/link/D9VgVhxABvRJdEuCuCKGNY1le964CZzB"
        },
        "apple": {
          "url": "https://api.ethpass.xyz/api/link/99NoxIDVCSoARhraVTEcfXEH0FqrTbX1",
          "buffer": {
            "type": "Buffer",
            "data": [80, 75, 3, 4, 10, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ...]
          },

        },
    }

Working With the File Buffer

Your language of choice should have a library or built-in method for working with file buffers. In Javascript, you can use the built-in method like so:
For more on this, you can reference our email example below.

const buffer = {
    "type": "Buffer",
    "data": [80, 75, 3, 4, 10, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ...]
};
const file = Buffer.from(buffer.data).toString("base64");

Obtaining Distribution Data

You can obtain distribution data in two ways:

1. Response from POST /v0/passes:

const body = {...};

// Create pass
const response = await fetch("https://api.ethpass.xyz/api/v0/passes", {
  method: "POST",
  body: JSON.stringify(body),
  headers: new Headers({
      "content-type": "application/json",
      "X-API-KEY": "YOUR_SECRET_API_KEY"
  }),
});

// Extract distribution info from result
const { id, distribution } = await response.json();

const passId = "5450c91b-9929-46a5-a2cc-3bbe7e728a45";

const response = await fetch(
  `https://api.ethpass.xyz/api/v0/passes/${passId}/distribute`,
  {
    method: "POST",
    body: JSON.stringify(body),
    headers: new Headers({
      "content-type": "application/json",
      "X-API-KEY": "YOUR_SECRET_API_KEY",
    }),
  }
);

const { distribution } = await response.json();

Distribution Examples

Once you have the distribution data, you can expose it to a user in a number of ways:

  • Download upon scanning a QR code
  • Direct download
  • Email
  • Text

Download Pass via QR Code

An easy and mobile-friendly way to prompt users to download their pass is with a QR code.

You can use an open source tool like qrcode to generate a barcode from the distribution URL.

If the user scans the QR code with their device, they will be routed to the distribution URL and prompted to install the pass into their wallet.

Please note: this example relies solely on the URL, and should only be used when a pass is first created. After the initial creation period, you may need to work with the file buffer.

// EXAMPLE IN REACT

import QRCode from "qrcode";
import { useEffect, useState } from "react";

const DownloadQRCode = () => {
  const fileURL =
    "https://api.ethpass.xyz/api/link/D9VgVhxABvRJdEuCuCKGNY1le964CZuG;
  const [qrCode, setQrCode] = useState();

  // Generate QR code from URL
  useEffect(() => {
    QRCode.toDataURL(fileURL, (err, url) => {
      if (!err) setQrCode(url);
    });
  }, []);

  // Render QR code
  return <img src={qrCode} alt="QR Code" width={250} height={250} />;
};

Direct Download

To prompt a direct download of a pass, you can expose a button which will route to the distribution URL.

Please note: this example relies solely on the URL, and should only be used when a pass is first created. After the initial creation period, you may need to work with the file buffer.

// EXAMPLE IN REACT

const DirectDownload = () => {
  const fileURL =
    "https://api.ethpass.xyz/api/download/T3EPFmwiA9K2dy17swY6FbHnWBn7N83D";

  return (
    <a target="_blank" href={fileURL} rel="noreferrer">
      Click Here to Add to Your Wallet
    </a>
  );
};

Email

If you would like to send email confirmations to pass holders, you can prompt users to download passes via email.

As an important note, Google Wallet and Apple Wallet passes are implemented differently, so the below example takes this into account.

Our example uses sendgrid to send emails (requires an API key).

// EXAMPLE IN JAVASCRIPT

import sgMail from "@sendgrid/mail"

const sendEmail = () => {
	// Obtained from POST v0/passes or GET /v0/passes/{passId}/distribute
	const fileURL = "https://api.ethpass.xyz/api/download/T3EPFmwiA9K2dy17swY6FbHnWBn7N83D";
	const buffer = {
		type: "Buffer",
        data: [80, 75, 3, 4, 10, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ...]
	};

	// Your Information
	const recipient = "[email protected]";
	const sender = "[email protected]"; // Use a verified sender
	const eventName = "Your Event";

	// Email Details
	let html = ""; // Google passes are URLs, can be included in HTML
	let attachments = []; 	// Apple passes are files, and must be attached

	if (platform === "apple") {
		attachments = [
          {
            content: Buffer.from(buffer.data).toString("base64"),
            filename: `${eventName}.pkpass`,
            type: "application/vnd.apple.pkpass",
            disposition: "attachment",
          },
        ];
	} else if (platform === "google") {
        html = `<a href="${fileURL}">Add Pass To Your Wallet</a>`;
	}

	const msg = {
	  to: recipient,
	  from: sender,
	  subject: `${eventName}: Download Your Tickets`,
	  html,
	  attachments
	}

	return sgMail.send(msg);
}

Assets

We are happy to supply these assets for your Add to Wallet buttons: