Detailed answers about Labels43 APIs, Claude Code and Codex, source code, SQL access, inventory, carrier rates, existing WMS integrations, and hosting for 3PLs.
Headless WMS basics
What is a headless warehouse management system?
A headless WMS separates warehouse operations from the screens used to run them. Labels43 provides APIs for inventory and warehouse work, while your team builds the interfaces and workflows that suit the operation. A pack station, mobile receiving screen, supervisor report, or customer portal can all use the same underlying services. You keep control of the user experience without having to operate the hosting and concurrency infrastructure yourself.
Who is Labels43 built for?
Labels43 is built for 3PLs and warehouse teams that want control over their processes. It can be useful when several brands need different workflows, when a standard WMS interface slows down a particular task, or when your team wants to connect a carrier or tool that is missing from its current system. You can use Labels43 as the headless warehouse foundation or as an interface around an existing WMS.
How is a headless WMS different from a conventional WMS?
A conventional WMS usually combines inventory logic, workflows, and a prescribed interface. With a headless approach, the interface is a separate choice. Your developers or coding agents can create a focused screen for each job instead of fitting every task into one dashboard. Labels43 handles the connected warehouse services, while you decide how your staff, customers, and other systems interact with them.
Does headless mean the warehouse has no user interface?
No. It means the interface is yours to choose and build. A warehouse can still use scanners, tablets, phones, printers, workstations, and reports. Those tools call the APIs behind the scenes. You can build a small screen for one task, keep a familiar interface from another system, or develop a broader application for your own operation.
Can Labels43 run as a standalone WMS?
Yes. In a full headless deployment, Labels43 is the inventory authority and connects your warehouse workflows with shopping channels and carriers. Your team builds the screens and processes around its APIs. The setup should define inventory ownership, warehouse locations, operational rules, users, integrations, and the cutover plan before it becomes the system used on the floor.
Can we keep our existing WMS or ERP?
Yes. A mixed deployment keeps your existing WMS or ERP at the center of the operation. Labels43 adds an API interface, carrier connections, custom workflows, and supported writeback. Your team can continue working in its current system while Labels43 handles a particular task or connection. The existing WMS remains the inventory authority, with clear rules for what Labels43 reads, changes, and syncs back.
AI agents, interfaces, and setup
How do Claude Code and Codex work with Labels43?
Your coding agent uses the source code, API documentation, and context you provide to build or modify your warehouse tools. That can include a receiving screen, a packing workflow, a report, or a new integration. The agent works on your code and submits changes for your review. It does not need to become the inventory database or make shipping decisions without the permissions and rules you give it.
What can our agent build on top of the APIs?
Common projects include custom dashboards, labor analyses, pack station screens, exception queues, order lookup tools, customer portals, and operational notifications. Start with one task and the data it needs, then use the documented API contract to build the interface. A narrow tool is often easier for operators to use and easier for your team to validate than a large dashboard that tries to cover every process at once.
Can we build warehouse interfaces for phones and tablets?
Yes. Your interfaces can be web applications designed for the devices your team uses. A phone receiving screen may need a large scan field and a short confirmation flow, while a packing workstation may need a wider layout and printer controls. The API approach lets you tailor each interface to the task. Device support, scanners, browsers, network conditions, and printing should be tested in the actual warehouse.
Do we need a developer to use a headless WMS?
You need someone responsible for the tools and changes your operation runs. That person may use Claude Code or Codex to do much of the implementation, but the work still needs clear requirements, review, and testing. Labels43 provides the hosted foundation and documentation. Your team decides which workflows to build, checks that they behave correctly, and controls when they are deployed.
How do we get API access and documentation?
Start from the API access page on this site. Your account uses a client ID and API token, and the customer API guide is available through the authenticated documentation endpoint. Give your agent the current guide rather than an old example copied from a conversation. The guide is the source of truth for supported endpoints, authentication, request fields, and response formats.
How quickly can a warehouse get set up?
The scope depends on whether you are adding one workflow or replacing an existing warehouse system. A focused connection has fewer moving parts than a full inventory cutover. Plan for credentials, data mapping, operational rules, test orders, printing, and operator validation. We use those requirements to agree on an onboarding scope rather than promising the same timeline for every warehouse.
Source code, SQL, and hosted forks
Do we get access to the WMS source code?
Yes. The hosted open-source version is intended to give your team visibility into every line of code and the deployment it runs. You can inspect how a workflow works, ask your agent to propose a change, and maintain a version that fits your warehouse. The source license and your hosting agreement set out the rights and services included with your setup.
Can we submit a PR and deploy changes to our own environment?
Yes. Your team can have its agent implement a change, submit a pull request, review the result, and deploy it to the fork we host for you. That lets you work on requirements even when our team does not have bandwidth to build the feature. Your deployment process should include validation, migration review, and a way to recover if a change does not behave as expected.
Who owns the database, and do we get SQL access?
You own your business data and get full SQL access for your deployment. That makes it possible to inspect records directly, build reports, investigate a workflow, or connect your own analysis tools. Source access does not make the database public. Access for staff, agents, and reporting tools should be limited to the credentials and permissions you deliberately grant.
Can we add fields, migrations, and database indices?
Yes. You can extend your version with new fields, write database migrations, and add indices for the queries your operation needs. Review those changes against the code that reads and writes the affected records. Test migrations and query performance before applying them to a live warehouse, especially when a change touches inventory, shipments, or operational audit records.
Can we build our own reports and labor analyses?
Yes. You can use API data and SQL access to build reports around your own definitions of productivity, work, and exceptions. That might mean comparing packing throughput, examining a bottleneck, or joining warehouse events with information from another business system. Decide which events and time windows a metric represents so that people using the report understand what it measures.
Do customizations have to wait for the Labels43 roadmap?
No. The point of source access and a hosted fork is to let you make changes that matter to your own operation. You can develop a specialized workflow without waiting for it to become a general product feature. Changes that affect shared integrations, public interfaces, or hosting requirements should be coordinated so the responsibilities for deployment and support remain clear.
Inventory and warehouse workflows
Which warehouse workflows can Labels43 support?
The headless model covers inbound and outbound work such as receiving, put away, replenishment, picking, packing, and shipping. Your interfaces and process rules determine how staff perform those tasks. The exact operations available to an account are described in its API documentation and connector setup. A mixed deployment can use only the parts needed around the existing WMS.
How does Labels43 keep inventory changes traceable?
Inventory accuracy is a central responsibility of the system. Changes should be transactional and each interaction should leave an audit trail, so your team can understand what changed and which workflow caused it. In a standalone deployment, Labels43 owns the inventory record. In a mixed deployment, the integration must respect the inventory authority and writeback rules of the existing WMS.
Can several operators work at the same time?
Yes. Labels43 handles the hosted services and concurrency behind the APIs so that several people can work against the same operational system. Your interfaces still need to handle the responses they receive, including conflicts or a record that has changed since it was loaded. Test the situations that matter to your floor, such as two pack stations working on related orders or a retry after a network interruption.
Can we keep our own picking and packing logic?
Yes. You can use our process optimizations or connect your own logic. That may involve a specialist system for cartonization, voice picking, or pick path planning. The important part is defining which system makes a decision, which system records the resulting work, and how failures or changes are handled. The headless interface gives your team room to build that workflow explicitly.
What happens to an order with several cartons?
The packing workflow can handle an order one carton at a time. Each carton has its own contents, package details, and shipping output. That lets the warehouse record what was actually packed instead of assuming the order fits into one package. Use the current customer API guide for the supported carton and shipment request format in your account.
Shipping, carriers, and integrations
Can we use our existing carrier rates?
Yes. You can bring your own carrier accounts and negotiated rates. A larger 3PL may already have contracts that suit its shipping profile, so there is no reason to replace them just to use the warehouse APIs. You can also combine your own accounts with other supported services. Account setup determines which carriers and services are available for each workflow.
Can a smaller 3PL use Labels43’s negotiated rates?
Yes. Access to our negotiated shipping rates can be part of your setup. The right service depends on origin, destination, package dimensions, weight, carrier coverage, and account requirements. We confirm the services and commercial terms for your operation rather than treating one advertised rate as a promise for every package.
Can Labels43 connect a carrier that our WMS does not support?
That is one of the reasons to use a mixed deployment. Labels43 can provide the headless connection for supported rates and label generation, then return shipment results to your existing system. Your team can keep its normal WMS workflow. The integration should define how labels, tracking numbers, shipping costs, and exceptions are passed back.
Which shopping channels, WMS platforms, and carriers can we connect?
The integrations section groups the systems we work with or can discuss connecting, including shopping channels such as Shopify and WooCommerce, warehouse and ERP platforms, and major and regional carriers. During setup, we map your required operations and account permissions to the relevant connections.
Can we connect Slack, Gmail, printers, cameras, or ADP?
Your warehouse can use operational events and integrations to connect communications, printing, camera systems, and workforce tools. Examples include sending a shipment update, routing a label to the correct printer, or connecting operational data with another business system. The scope depends on the provider’s API and your permissions. Decide what information each tool actually needs before giving an agent or integration access.
Do shipping dates and rates stay the same after a label is generated?
Shipping estimates depend on the shipment information, carrier service, and account configuration used for the request. Carrier adjustments, restrictions, surcharges, and delivery conditions can still apply. Accurate dimensions, weights, destinations, and service rules help the warehouse choose an appropriate option. Your agreement and the carrier’s terms govern the commercial details.
Hosting, reliability, and rollout
Who hosts and operates Labels43?
We host the services and the environment agreed for your deployment. That lets your team concentrate on warehouse workflows and tools while retaining visibility into the code and deployment. Hosting arrangements, environments, support, backups, and operating responsibilities should be recorded during onboarding so that your team knows what it controls and what we operate.
How does Labels43 scale with warehouse throughput?
The APIs are designed to support a warehouse whose usage changes through the day and grows with the business. Capacity planning still needs a real workload: orders, cartons, concurrent stations, peak periods, and connected provider limits. We use those details to plan the deployment. A carrier or WMS API can impose limits even when the Labels43 side has capacity available.
Can we start with one workflow before a larger migration?
Yes. You can begin with a focused workflow such as a carrier connection or a packing tool while leaving the current WMS in place. That creates a smaller scope to validate with real operators. If you later move to a full deployment, treat inventory reconciliation, data ownership, cutover, and recovery as a separate rollout plan rather than assuming the first integration automatically replaces the whole system.
How should we test a change before deploying it to the warehouse?
Use representative orders and the actual devices, printers, and connected systems involved. Check the normal flow as well as retries, conflicting updates, missing information, and external service failures. Review any database migration and confirm the expected inventory and shipment results. Your team should know which version is being deployed and how to return to a working version if needed.
What does Labels43 cost?
The commercial setup depends on hosting, usage, integrations, support, and the shipping services you choose. Open source access and hosted service fees are separate parts of that arrangement. Talk with us about your warehouse and expected usage so you receive terms that match the deployment. Your order form or service agreement is the source of truth for prices and included services.
What should we bring to an introductory call?
Bring your current WMS or ERP, shopping channels, carrier accounts, typical order and carton volumes, and the workflow you want to improve. It helps to show one real example of the task, the devices used on the floor, and the result you need written back. We can then discuss a standalone deployment or a narrow integration around the system you already use.