Quickstart

By the end of this page you’ll have priced a real policy and have a link you could send to a client.

Get an API key

Bridgeline turns on the API for your agency, then an agency admin creates a key in the Bridgeline portal under API Keys. The full key is shown once, so put it straight into your secret manager.Start with a test key if you can. A bl_test_ key gets real pricing with no real-world effects: nobody is emailed, and test quotes are kept apart from live ones. Test mode is enabled per agency, so ask your Bridgeline contact to enable test mode. Live keys (bl_live_) are by invitation during the beta, and they’re safe to build with too: creating a quote prices it and stores it, and nothing reaches your client until you send them the link. See test and live mode.Store the key in an environment variable:

export BRIDGELINE_API_KEY="bl_test_..."   # or bl_live_...

Check the key

GET /v1/whoami tells you which agency the key belongs to and which broker it acts as.

curl https://portal.bridgelinepf.com/api/v1/whoami \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BRIDGELINE_API_KEY"

const res = await fetch('https://portal.bridgelinepf.com/api/v1/whoami', {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.BRIDGELINE_API_KEY}` },
})
console.log(await res.json())

import os
import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://portal.bridgelinepf.com/api/v1/whoami",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['BRIDGELINE_API_KEY']}"},
    timeout=30,
)
print(res.json())

Response

{
  "object": "whoami",
  "livemode": true,
  "brokerage": { "name": "Lone Star Risk Partners" },
  "acting_broker": { "email": "maria@lonestarrisk.example", "name": "Maria Delgado" },
  "api_key": { "type": "agency", "scopes": ["quotes:read", "quotes:write"] },
  "api_version": "2026-09-23"
}

A 403 with API_ACCESS_NOT_ENABLED (a live key) or TEST_MODE_NOT_ENABLED (a test key) means that mode isn’t switched on for your agency yet. Ask your Bridgeline contact.

Create a quote

Send the insured’s name and state, and for each policy its premium, minimum earned premium, dates, carrier and coverage. That’s enough to price.The state must be a two-letter USPS code, such as TX. A full name like "Texas" is refused with a 422 whose message names the code to send (Use the two-letter state code, e.g. "TX" for Texas.). Today we finance insureds in Texas; any other valid code still gets a quote, marked ineligible.

curl https://portal.bridgelinepf.com/api/v1/quotes \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BRIDGELINE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -d '{
    "insured": {
      "name": "Lone Star Fabrication LLC",
      "address": { "state": "TX" }
    },
    "policies": [{
      "premium": "46100.00",
      "minimum_earned": { "rate": 0.25 },
      "effective_date": "2026-10-15",
      "expiration_date": "2027-10-15",
      "carrier": { "name": "Scottsdale Insurance Company" },
      "coverages": [{ "type": "general_liability" }]
    }]
  }'

const res = await fetch('https://portal.bridgelinepf.com/api/v1/quotes', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.BRIDGELINE_API_KEY}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Idempotency-Key': crypto.randomUUID(),
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    insured: {
      name: 'Lone Star Fabrication LLC',
      address: { state: 'TX' },
    },
    policies: [{
      premium: '46100.00',
      minimum_earned: { rate: 0.25 },
      effective_date: '2026-10-15',
      expiration_date: '2027-10-15',
      carrier: { name: 'Scottsdale Insurance Company' },
      coverages: [{ type: 'general_liability' }],
    }],
  }),
})
const quote = await res.json()

import os
import uuid
import requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://portal.bridgelinepf.com/api/v1/quotes",
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['BRIDGELINE_API_KEY']}",
        "Idempotency-Key": str(uuid.uuid4()),
    },
    json={
        "insured": {
            "name": "Lone Star Fabrication LLC",
            "address": {"state": "TX"},
        },
        "policies": [{
            "premium": "46100.00",
            "minimum_earned": {"rate": 0.25},
            "effective_date": "2026-10-15",
            "expiration_date": "2027-10-15",
            "carrier": {"name": "Scottsdale Insurance Company"},
            "coverages": [{"type": "general_liability"}],
        }],
    },
    timeout=30,
)
quote = res.json()

Money is a decimal string ("46100.00") and rates are fractions (0.25 means 25%). The policy dates must be within the last 30 days or in the future; change them if you run this later.The quote comes back as 201 Created. If you’re quoting for a colleague, add "broker_email" to the body; otherwise the quote belongs to the key’s default broker.

Read the options

The response is the whole quote. These are the parts you’ll use first (abridged, illustrative figures):

201 Created

{
  "id": "qte_2lo4LFk5rf8toDFJHSUZ2O",
  "object": "quote",
  "status": "active",
  "expires_at": "2026-11-03T15:04:05Z",
  "hosted_url": "https://portal.bridgelinepf.com/q/p98_xZUO2zaltiX49vC59BgOE1EUoRZSpIGtWjFUs0M",
  "eligibility": { "status": "eligible", "checks": [ ... ], "reasons": [] },
  "assumptions": [
    {
      "code": "TAXES_AND_FEES_NOT_PROVIDED",
      "param": "policies[0].taxes_and_fees",
      "message": "No taxes or fees provided; the amount financed is the premium only."
    },
    {
      "code": "AUDITABLE_ASSUMED",
      "param": "policies[0].auditable",
      "message": "Not provided; assumed auditable (the conservative choice)."
    }
  ],
  "recommended_option_id": "opt_25_10",
  "options": [
    {
      "id": "opt_25_10",
      "down_payment_rate": 0.25,
      "term_months": 10,
      "apr": 0.1195,
      "down_payment": "11525.00",
      "amount_financed": "34575.00",
      "monthly_payment": "3649.71",
      "finance_charge": "1922.08",
      "total_of_payments": "36497.08",
      "total_cost": "48022.08",
      "spread_clamped": false
    }
  ]
}

options is every down payment and term we can offer: 30 of them here, five down payments by six terms.
recommended_option_id is a sensible one to show first. It’s a default, not advice.
assumptions lists what we filled in because you didn’t send it. Send the real value and quote again to remove one.
eligibility.status is eligible or ineligible. A deal we can’t finance still returns 201, with the reasons and no options.

The full response also has policies, totals, warnings and binding_readiness. Quote in one call walks through all of it.

Send your client the link

hosted_url opens a page where your client compares every option, picks one and taps I’m interested. Email or text it to them yourself; we don’t send it for you.

hosted_url is returned only when the quote is created. Store it. If you lose it, get a new link; the old one stops working.

When your client responds, we email your broker, and GET /v1/quotes/{id} shows status: "interested" with their choice and note.

Next steps

Quote in one call

Taxes and fees, several policies, your own ids, and every field in the response.

The interactive quote

What your client sees and how their response reaches you.

Retries and idempotency

Make every call safe to retry.

Errors

Branch on stable codes, not messages.

Get started

Guides

Going to production

Concepts

Resources

Next steps

Quote in one call

The interactive quote

Retries and idempotency

Errors

​Next steps

Quote in one call

The interactive quote

Retries and idempotency

Errors

Next steps