5 Minutes

Quickstart Guide

Create your first e-invoice in under 5 minutes. No SDK required – just an HTTP request.

Create API Key

Send Request

Send your invoice data as JSON to our API.

Receive E-Invoice

Receive a validated XRechnung or ZUGFeRD back.

Create API Key

Create a free account and generate your API key in the dashboard. You will receive two keys:

Test
sk_test_...
For development and testing (no cost)
Live
sk_live_...
For production (pay-per-use)

Your API Key

sk_test_abc123xyz...

Keep your API key secret. Never share it publicly.

Create First E-Invoice

Send a POST request to /api/v1/invoice/de/xrechnung/generate with your invoice data. Here is a complete example:

POSThttps://service.invoice-api.xhub.io/api/v1/invoice/de/xrechnung/generate

bash

1curl -X POST https://service.invoice-api.xhub.io/api/v1/invoice/de/xrechnung/generate \
2  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_test_abc123..." \
3  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
4  -d '{
5    "invoice": {
6      "invoiceNumber": "RE-2026-001",
7      "type": "invoice",
8      "issueDate": "2026-04-10",
9      "dueDate": "2026-05-10",
10      "currency": "EUR",
11      "seller": {
12        "name": "Meine Firma GmbH",
13        "vatId": "DE123456789",
14        "street": "Musterstraße 1",
15        "city": "Berlin",
16        "postalCode": "10115",
17        "countryCode": "DE",
18        "bankAccount": { "iban": "DE89370400440532013000", "bic": "COBADEFFXXX" }
19      },
20      "buyer": {
21        "name": "Kunde AG",
22        "vatId": "DE987654321",
23        "street": "Kundenweg 42",
24        "city": "München",
25        "postalCode": "80331",
26        "countryCode": "DE"
27      },
28      "countrySpecific": { "countryCode": "DE", "buyerReference": "BUYER-REF-001" },
29      "items": [
30        {
31          "position": 1,
32          "description": "Beratungsleistung",
33          "quantity": 10,
34          "unit": "HUR",
35          "unitPrice": 150.00,
36          "taxRate": 19,
37          "netAmount": 1500.00,
38          "taxAmount": 285.00,
39          "grossAmount": 1785.00
40        }
41      ],
42      "subtotal": 1500.00,
43      "total": 1785.00,
44      "taxSummary": [{ "taxRate": 19, "netAmount": 1500.00, "taxAmount": 285.00 }],
45      "paymentTerms": { "dueDays": 30 },
46      "paymentMethods": [{ "type": "bank_transfer" }]
47    }
48  }'

Understand the Response

On success you receive a 200 OK with the created invoice. The response contains validation results and download URLs:

json

1{
2  "success": true,
3  "format": "xrechnung",
4  "filename": "invoice-2025-001.xml",
5  "mimeType": "application/xml",
6  "hash": "sha256:abc123...",
7  "data": "PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIj8+...",
8  "errors": [],
9  "warnings": []
10}

success

true means the invoice was successfully generated.

data

Base64-encoded document (XML or PDF depending on format).

errors / warnings

Validation errors and warnings as array.

Code Examples

Node.js / TypeScript

typescript

1const response = await fetch('https://service.invoice-api.xhub.io/api/v1/invoice/de/xrechnung/generate', {
2  method: 'POST',
3  headers: {
4    'Authorization': 'Bearer sk_test_abc123...',
5    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
6  },
7  body: JSON.stringify({
8    invoice: {
9      invoiceNumber: 'RE-2026-001',
10      type: 'invoice',
11      issueDate: '2026-04-10',
12      dueDate: '2026-05-10',
13      currency: 'EUR',
14      seller: {
15        name: 'Meine Firma GmbH', vatId: 'DE123456789',
16        street: 'Musterstraße 1', city: 'Berlin', postalCode: '10115', countryCode: 'DE',
17        bankAccount: { iban: 'DE89370400440532013000', bic: 'COBADEFFXXX' }
18      },
19      buyer: {
20        name: 'Kunde AG', vatId: 'DE987654321',
21        street: 'Kundenweg 42', city: 'München', postalCode: '80331', countryCode: 'DE'
22      },
23      countrySpecific: { countryCode: 'DE', buyerReference: 'BUYER-REF-001' },
24      items: [
25        { position: 1, description: 'Beratungsleistung', quantity: 10, unit: 'HUR',
26          unitPrice: 150, taxRate: 19, netAmount: 1500, taxAmount: 285, grossAmount: 1785 }
27      ],
28      subtotal: 1500, total: 1785,
29      taxSummary: [{ taxRate: 19, netAmount: 1500, taxAmount: 285 }],
30      paymentTerms: { dueDays: 30 },
31      paymentMethods: [{ type: 'bank_transfer' }]
32    }
33  })
34});
35 
36const result = await response.json();
37const xmlData = atob(result.data); // Base64 decode to get XML

Python

python

1import requests
2import base64
3 
4response = requests.post(
5    'https://service.invoice-api.xhub.io/api/v1/invoice/de/xrechnung/generate',
6    headers={
7        'Authorization': 'Bearer sk_test_abc123...',
8        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
9    },
10    json={
11        'invoice': {
12            'invoiceNumber': 'RE-2026-001',
13            'type': 'invoice',
14            'issueDate': '2026-04-10',
15            'dueDate': '2026-05-10',
16            'currency': 'EUR',
17            'seller': {
18                'name': 'Meine Firma GmbH', 'vatId': 'DE123456789',
19                'street': 'Musterstraße 1', 'city': 'Berlin', 'postalCode': '10115', 'countryCode': 'DE',
20                'bankAccount': {'iban': 'DE89370400440532013000', 'bic': 'COBADEFFXXX'}
21            },
22            'buyer': {
23                'name': 'Kunde AG', 'vatId': 'DE987654321',
24                'street': 'Kundenweg 42', 'city': 'München', 'postalCode': '80331', 'countryCode': 'DE'
25            },
26            'countrySpecific': {'countryCode': 'DE', 'buyerReference': 'BUYER-REF-001'},
27            'items': [
28                {'position': 1, 'description': 'Beratungsleistung', 'quantity': 10, 'unit': 'HUR',
29                 'unitPrice': 150, 'taxRate': 19, 'netAmount': 1500, 'taxAmount': 285, 'grossAmount': 1785}
30            ],
31            'subtotal': 1500, 'total': 1785,
32            'taxSummary': [{'taxRate': 19, 'netAmount': 1500, 'taxAmount': 285}],
33            'paymentTerms': {'dueDays': 30},
34            'paymentMethods': [{'type': 'bank_transfer'}]
35        }
36    }
37)
38 
39result = response.json()
40xml_data = base64.b64decode(result['data'])  # Base64 decode to get XML

Next Steps

Authentication

Understand API keys and security

Creator API

Full API reference

Validator API

Validate invoices

Error Handling

Understand and handle errors

Ready to get started?

Test the API directly in the Playground – no account needed.