xero-ruby

The xero-ruby SDK makes it easy for developers to access Xero's APIs in their Ruby code, and build robust applications and software using small business & general ledger accounting data.

Table of Contents

• API Client documentation
• Sample Applications
• Xero Account Requirements
• Installation
• Configuration
• Authentication
• Custom Connections
• App Store Subscriptions
• API Clients
• Helper Methods
• Usage Examples
• SDK conventions
• Contributing

---

API Client documentation

This SDK supports full method coverage for the following Xero API sets:

API Set	Description
Accounting	The Accounting API exposes accounting functions of the main Xero application (most commonly used)
Assets	The Assets API exposes fixed asset related functions of the Xero Accounting application
Files	The Files API provides access to the files, folders, and the association of files within a Xero organisation
Projects	Xero Projects allows businesses to track time and costs on projects/jobs and report on profitability
Payroll (AU)	The (AU) Payroll API exposes payroll related functions of the payroll Xero application
Payroll (UK)	The (UK) Payroll API exposes payroll related functions of the payroll Xero application
Payroll (NZ)	The (NZ) Payroll API exposes payroll related functions of the payroll Xero application
Ruby Models	Directory of markdown files, describing the object models for all supported API sets

---

Sample Applications

Sample apps can get you started quickly with simple auth flows to advanced usage. | Sample App | Description | Screenshot | | --- | --- | --- | | xero-ruby-oauth2-starter | A Sinatra application showing the basic getting started code to work with the sdk | | xero-ruby-oauth2-app | Complete rails app with +95% of api set examples, complex filters, pagination, and user/token management in postgres | | xero-ruby-custom-connections-starter | A getting started Sinatra app showing Custom Connections - a Xero premium option for building M2M integrations to a single org | | xero-ruby-sso-form | A basic Sinatra app showing how to implement SSU to Lead |

---

Xero Account Requirements

• Create a free Xero user account
• Login to your Xero developer dashboard and create an API application
• Copy the credentials from your API app and store them using a secure ENV variable strategy
• Decide the neccesary scopes for your app's functionality

Installation

To install this gem to your project

gem install 'xero-ruby'

Or add to your gemfile and run bundle install

gem 'xero-ruby'

---

Configuration

require 'xero-ruby'

creds = {
  client_id: ENV['CLIENT_ID'],
  client_secret: ENV['CLIENT_SECRET'],
  redirect_uri: ENV['REDIRECT_URI'],
  scopes: ENV['SCOPES'],
  state: "Optional value to pass through auth flow"
}
xero_client ||= XeroRuby::ApiClient.new(credentials: creds)

For additional config options you can pass an optional named parameter config: {}

config = { timeout: 30, debugging: true }
@xero_client ||= XeroRuby::ApiClient.new(credentials: creds, config: config)

---

Authentication

All API requests go through Xero's OAuth2.0 gateway and require a valid access_token to be set on the xero_client, which autmoatically appends the access_token JWT to the header of each request.

If you are making an API call for the first time:

1. Send the user to the Xero authorization URL ruby @authorization_url = xero_client.authorization_url redirect_to @authorization_url
2. The user will authorize your API application and be sent to your redirect_uri ruby ENV['REDIRECT_URI'] => /xero-callback?code=xyz123
3. You exchange a temporary authorization_code for a valid token_set ruby @token_set = @xero_client.get_token_set_from_callback(params) # save the @token_set

It is reccomended that you store this token set JSON in a datastore in relation to the user who has authenticated the Xero API connection. Each time you want to call the Xero API, you will need to access the previously generated token set, initialize it on the SDK xero_client, and refresh the access_token prior to making API calls.

Token Set

key	value	description
id_token:	"xxx.yyy.zzz"	OpenID Connect token returned if openid profile email scopes accepted
access_token:	"xxx.yyy.zzz"	Bearer token with a 30 minute expiration required for all API calls
expires_in:	1800	Time in seconds till the token expires - 1800s is 30m
refresh_token:	"XXXXXXX"	Alphanumeric string used to obtain a new Token Set w/ a fresh access_token - 60 day expiry
scope:	"email profile openid accounting.transactions offline_access"	The Xero permissions that are embedded in the access_token

Example Token Set JSON:

{
  "id_token": "xxx.yyy.zz",
  "access_token": "xxx.yyy.zzz",
  "expires_in": 1800,
  "token_type": "Bearer",
  "refresh_token": "xxxxxxxxx",
  "scope": "email profile openid accounting.transactions offline_access"
}

---

Custom Connections

Custom Connections are a Xero premium option used for building M2M integrations to a single organisation. A custom connection uses OAuth2.0's client_credentials grant which eliminates the step of exchanging the temporary code for a token set.

To use this SDK with a Custom Connections:

CREDENTIALS = {
  client_id: ENV['CLIENT_ID'],
  client_secret: ENV['CLIENT_SECRET'],
  grant_type: 'client_credentials'
}

xero_client = XeroRuby::ApiClient.new(credentials: CREDENTIALS)

@token_set = xero_client.get_client_credentials_token
# save @token_set

@invoices = xero_client.accounting_api.get_invoices('').invoices

Because Custom Connections are only valid for a single organisation you don't need to pass the xero-tenant-id as the first parameter to every method.

However - due to the nature of how our SDK's are generated from our OpenAPI spec, the parameter remains which requires you to pass an empty string for now to use the SDK with a Custom Connection.

---

App Store Subscriptions

If you are implementing subscriptions to participate in Xero's App Store you will need to setup App Store subscriptions endpoints.

When a plan is successfully purchased, the user is redirected back to the URL specified in the setup process. The Xero App Store appends the subscription Id to this URL so you can immediately determine what plan the user has subscribed to through the subscriptions API.

With your app credentials you can create a client via client_credentials grant_type with the marketplace.billing scope. This unique access_token will allow you to query any functions in appStoreApi. Client Credentials tokens to query app store endpoints will only work for apps that have completed the App Store on-boarding process.

// => /post-purchase-url?subscriptionId=03bc74f2-1237-4477-b782-2dfb1a6d8b21

subscription_id = params[:subscriptionId]

xero_app_store_client ||= XeroRuby::ApiClient.new(credentials: {
  client_id: ENV['CLIENT_ID'],
  client_secret: ENV['CLIENT_SECRET'],
  grant_type: 'client_credentials'
  scopes: ['marketplace.billing']
})

xero_app_store_client.get_client_credentials_token

@subscription = xero_app_store_client.app_store_api.get_subscription(subscription_id)

puts @subscription.to_attributes
{
  :current_period_end => Thu, 02 Sep 2021 14:08:58 +0000,
  :id => "03bc74f2-1237-4477-b782-2dfb1a6d8b21",
  :organisation_id => "79e8b2e5-c63d-4dce-888f-e0f3e9eac647",
  :plans => [
    {
      :id => "6abc26f3-9390-4194-8b25-ce8b9942fda9",
      :name => "Small",
      :status => "ACTIVE",
      :subscription_items => [
        {
          :id => "834cff4c-b753-4de2-9e7a-3451e14fa17a",
          :price => {
            :amount => 0.1e0,
            :currency => "NZD",
            :id => "2310de92-c7c0-4bcb-b972-fb7612177bc7"
          },
          :product => {
            :id => "9586421f-7325-4493-bac9-d93be06a6a38",
            :name => "",
            :type => "FIXED"
          },
          :start_date => Mon, 02 Aug 2021 14:08:58 +0000,
          :test_mode => true
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  :start_date => Mon, 02 Aug 2021 14:08:58 +0000,
  :status => "ACTIVE",
  :test_mode => true
}

You should use this subscription data to provision user access/permissions to your application.

App Store Subscription Webhooks

In additon to a subscription Id being passed through the URL, when a purchase or an upgrade takes place you will be notified via a webhook. You can then use the subscription Id in the webhook payload to query the AppStore endpoints and determine what plan the user purchased, upgraded, downgraded or cancelled.

Refer to Xero's documenation to learn more about setting up and receiving webhooks.

https://developer.xero.com/documentation/guides/webhooks/overview/

API Clients

You can access the different API sets and their available methods through the following:

xero_client = XeroRuby::ApiClient.new(credentials: creds)

xero_client.accounting_api
xero_client.asset_api
xero_client.project_api
xero_client.files_api
xero_client.payroll_au_api
xero_client.payroll_nz_api
xero_client.payroll_uk_api

---

Helper Methods

Once you have a valid Token Set in your datastore, the next time you want to call the Xero API simply initialize a new xero_client and refresh the token set.

xero_client = XeroRuby::ApiClient.new(credentials: creds)

if xero_client.token_expired?
  @token_set = xero_client.refresh_token_set(user.token_set)
else
  @token_set = xero_client.set_token_set(user.token_set)
end

# example strategy
user.token_set = @token_set if !@token_set["error"]
user.xero_connections = xero_client.connections
user.active_tenant_id = xero_client.last_connection
user.save!

xero_client.accounting_api.get_invoices(xero_client.last_connection['tenantId']).invoices

This will set the access_token on the client and return the refreshed token_set that you need to save in your datastore to keep the connection alive until you or the user disconnect.

A full list of the SDK client's methods:

method	description
xero_client.authorization_url	returns the authorize URL string to send a new user to for API authorization
xero_client.get_token_set_from_callback(params)	returns and generates a token_set from a temporary code for an authorization_code configured client only. Params are the url params.
xero_client.get_client_credentials_token	returns and generates a token_set for a client_credentials configured client only
xero_client.refresh_token_set(token_set)	returns a refreshed token_set
xero_client.revoke_token(token_set)	removes all a user's org connections and revokes the refresh_token
xero_client.disconnect(connection_id)	disconnects an org connection from a user's token permissions
xero_client.connections	returns an array of the user's currently connected Xero orgs
xero_client.last_connection	returns the xero-tenant-id of the most recently connected Xero org
xero_client.set_token_set(token_set)	returns a boolean and sets a token on the client - token_set containing an access_token & refresh_token
xero_client.set_access_token(access_token)	How you can set an access_token by itself
xero_client.set_id_token(id_token)	How you can set an id_token by itself
xero_client.token_expired?	returns a boolean if token_set['access_token'] is expired
xero_client.token_set	returns the token set if one is set on the client
xero_client.access_token	returns the access_token if one is set on the client
xero_client.id_token	returns the id_token if one is set on the client
xero_client.decoded_access_token	Decoded JWT exposing OAuth2.0 meta details about the token
xero_client.decoded_id_token	Decoded JWT containing the user meta details that can be used to implement SSO or SSU to Lead

---

Usage Examples

Accounting API

require 'xero-ruby'

xero_client.refresh_token_set(user_token_set)
tenant_id = xero_client.last_connection

# Get Accounts
accounts = xero_client.accounting_api.get_accounts(tenant_id).accounts

# Create Invoice
invoices = { invoices: [{ type: XeroRuby::Accounting::Invoice::ACCREC, contact: { contact_id: contacts[0].contact_id }, line_items: [{ description: "Big Agency", quantity: BigDecimal("2.0"), unit_amount: BigDecimal("50.99"), account_code: "600", tax_type: XeroRuby::Accounting::TaxType::NONE }], date: "2019-03-11", due_date: "2018-12-10", reference: "Website Design", status: XeroRuby::Accounting::Invoice::DRAFT }]}
invoice = xero_client.accounting_api.create_invoices(tenant_id, invoices).invoices.first

# return data as a snake_case hash
puts invoices.to_attributes
=> {type: 'ACCREC', line_items: [...]}

puts invoices.to_hash(downcase: false)
=> {'Type': 'ACCREC', 'LineItems': [...]}

# Create History
payment = xero_client.accounting_api.get_payments(tenant_id).payments.first
history_records = { history_records: [{ details: "This payment now has some History!" }]}
payment_history = xero_client.accounting_api.create_payment_history(tenant_id, payment.payment_id, history_records)

# Create Attachment
account = xero_client.accounting_api.get_accounts(tenant_id).accounts.first
file_name = "an-account-filename.png"
opts = {
  include_online: true
}
file = File.read(Rails.root.join('app/assets/images/xero-api.png'))
attachment = xero_client.accounting_api.create_account_attachment_by_file_name(tenant_id, @account.account_id, file_name, file, opts)

---

SDK conventions

BigDecimal

All monetary and fields and a couple quantity fields utilize BigDecimal

  puts invoice.unit_amount
  => 0.2099e2

  puts invoice.unit_amount.class 
  => BigDecimal

  puts invoice.unit_amount.to_s("F")
  => "20.99"

  # Rails method-number_to_currency
  number_to_currency(invoice.unit_amount, :unit => "$")

Querying & Filtering

Examples for opts (aka options) parameters that most endpoints support. If you have a complex filering/sorting/where usage that is not supported please open an issue.

# Invoices
 opts = {
  page: 1,
  where: {
    type: ['=', XeroRuby::Accounting::Invoice::ACCREC],
    fully_paid_on_date: (DateTime.now - 6.month)..DateTime.now,
    amount_due: ['>=', 0],
    reference: ['=', "Website Design"],
    invoice_number: ['=', "INV-0001"],
    contact_id: ['=', 'contact-uuid-xxxx-xxx-xxxxxxx'],
    contact_number: ['=', "the-contact-number"],
    date: (DateTime.now - 2.year)..DateTime.now
    # ▲ you can pass a range ▼ or a date & operator
    date: ['>=', DateTime.now - 2.year],
    status: ['=', XeroRuby::Accounting::Invoice::PAID]
  }
}
xero_client.accounting_api.get_invoices(tenant_id, opts).invoices

# Contacts 
opts = {
  if_modified_since: (DateTime.now - 1.weeks).to_s,
  # ▼ ordering by strings needs PascalCase convention
  order: 'UpdatedDateUtc DESC',
  where: {
    is_customer: ['==', true],
    is_supplier: ['==', true],
    name: ['StartsWith', 'Rick']
  }
}
xero_client.accounting_api.get_contacts(tenant_id, opts).contacts

# for more complex chained filtering that requires a null check pass those in as a string
# see https://developer.xero.com/documentation/api/requests-and-responses for more
opts = {
  where: {
    email_address: '!=null&&EmailAddress.StartsWith("chris.knight@")'
  }
}

# Bank Transactions
opts = {
  if_modified_since: (DateTime.now - 1.year).to_s,
  where: { type: ['==', XeroRuby::Accounting::BankTransaction::SPEND] },
  order: 'UpdatedDateUtc DESC',
  page: 2,
  unitdp: 4 # (Unit Decimal Places)
}
xero_client.accounting_api.get_bank_transactions(tenant_id, opts).bank_transactions

# Bank Transfers
opts = {
  if_modified_since: (DateTime.now - 1.month).to_s,
  where: {
    amount: [">=" , 999.99]
  },
  order: 'Amount ASC'
}
xero_client.accounting_api.get_bank_transfers(tenant_id, opts).bank_transfers

• Not all opts parameter combinations are available for all endpoints

• Some opts string values may need PascalCasing to match casing defined in our core API docs like opts = { order: 'UpdatedDateUtc DESC'}

---

Contributing

PRs, issues, and discussion are highly appreciated and encouraged. Note that the majority of this project is generated code based on Xero's OpenAPI specs - PR's will be evaluated and pre-merge will be incorporated into the root generation templates.

Please add tests for net new functionality and make existing test suite succeeds.

$ rspec spec/

Versioning

We do our best to keep OS industry semver standards, but we can make mistakes! If something is not accurately reflected in a version's release notes please let the team know.

Developing locally

To develop or test this gem locally against your project we find the following development pattern easiest

cd xero-ruby
gem build
mv xero-ruby-<vsn>.gem xero-ruby.gem
pwd
=> /Users/your.user/code/sdks/xero-ruby/

cd ..
cd xero-ruby-oauth2-app/

# xero-ruby-oauth2-app/Gemfile
gem 'xero-ruby', path: '/Users/your.user/code/sdks/xero-ruby/'
bundle install

Participating in Xero’s developer community

This SDK is one of a number of SDK’s that the Xero Developer team builds and maintains. We are grateful for all the contributions that the community makes.

Here are a few things you should be aware of as a contributor:

• Xero has adopted the Contributor Covenant Code of Conduct, we expect all contributors in our community to adhere to it
• If you raise an issue then please make sure to fill out the github issue template, doing so helps us help you
• You’re welcome to raise PRs. As our SDKs are generated we may use your code in the core SDK build instead of merging your code
• We have a contribution guide for you to follow when contributing to this SDK
• Curious about how we generate our SDK’s? Have a read of our process and have a look at our OpenAPISpec
• This software is published under the MIT License

For questions that aren’t related to SDKs please refer to our developer support page.