How to Connect ShipStation to Excel – Query Shipping Data with SQL

Connect · ShipStation to Excel

Get data from ShipStation into Excel

Pull live rows from your ShipStation account into Excel and refresh them whenever you like. No ODBC driver, no exports, no macros. About ten minutes the first time, and the Free plan covers it.

About 10 minutes No coding needed Credentials stay with you Excel anywhere, even on the web

What you’ll end up with

A worksheet showing the live results of a SQL query against your ShipStation account, with a button that pulls the latest rows whenever the data changes. Like this:

Sales.xlsx — Excel

HomeInsertDataQuery Streams

	A	B	C	D	E
1	customer_id	first_name	last_name	country	total
2	1042	Maria	Alvarez	USA	1,284.50
3	1043	Daniel	Okafor	USA	612.00
4	1047	Priya	Nair	USA	2,090.75
5	1051	Thomas	Berg	USA	338.20
6	1056	Lucía	Ferreira	USA	1,455.00
7	1060	Kenji	Sato	USA	874.10
8

Sheet1 Live from ShipStation

ShipStation holds your data behind its API. Getting it into Excel usually means exporting a CSV from the ShipStation dashboard every time you need fresh numbers. Query Streams skips that: a small helper program called the Agent runs the query where your data is, and an Excel add-in asks it for the rows you want. Only the results travel, over an encrypted link, and Excel can be anywhere: your laptop at home, a colleague’s machine across the country, or Excel on the web.

What you’ll need

A Query Streams account

The Free plan is enough for this guide. Sign up at my.querystreams.com.

The Agent on any always-on computer

A small program that runs in the background and calls ShipStation when Excel asks. It just needs internet access.

Your ShipStation login

You will sign in to ShipStation once and allow read access. No passwords are typed into Query Streams.

Connect it in five steps

1. Create your account

   Go to my.querystreams.com and sign up. Pick the Free plan. It is a real plan, not a trial, and it covers connecting your ShipStation account and running queries from Excel.

2. Install the Agent on any always-on computer

   Sign in, open Download, and install the Agent on any always-on computer or server with internet access. It takes a minute and starts on its own from then on.

   Why a small program instead of a driver? The Agent is one install for Windows, Mac or Linux (about 85 MB on Windows, a little over 100 MB on Mac and Linux) that runs quietly in the background. It makes one outbound, encrypted connection to Query Streams, the same way a browser does, so you open no firewall port and set up no VPN. Your keys stay on that machine, and the rows travel to wherever you are, across the internet if need be. The only thing on your side is the add-in.

   The Download page shows Your Access Key. Paste it into the Agent when it asks, and wait for the badge to read Connected to Query Streams. That is the only thing you do on the Agent itself.

   Full walkthroughs if you want them: Windows, Mac, Linux.

3. Point it at your ShipStation account

   Back in your browser, open Data Agents (under Data in the top menu). Your Agent is listed there. Click Add connector and choose ShipStation. Need your ShipStation credentials first? Open the walkthrough, then fill in:

   Create your ShipStation credentials (about 5 minutes)

   Follow this with ShipStation open in another tab. Query Streams keeps what you create here so your Agent can use it, and only ever reads from ShipStation.

   Who can do this

   Account Owner (ShipStation lets only the Account Owner generate API keys)

   Recommended

   ShipStation V2 API key (Production Key)

   Before you start

   • A ShipStation plan with API access: Standard, Accelerate, Premium or higher. Free and Starter plans have no API access.
   • The Account Owner’s ShipStation login, and access to the owner’s email inbox (the first time, ShipStation emails a verification link before it will create a key).
   • If your company uses ShipStation API (the developer product formerly called ShipEngine) instead of the ShipStation web app, your key is in the ShipStation API dashboard at https://api-portal.shipstation.com/ instead: switch to the Production environment and copy a production key, then go straight to the wizard. Keys that start with TEST_ are sandbox keys.
   • The Query Streams wizard open in another tab: Data Agents → Add connector → ShipStation.

   Steps

   1. Sign in to ShipStation as the Account Owner

      Open ShipStation in a new tab and sign in with the Account Owner’s login. Only the Account Owner can generate API keys, and ShipStation shows a new key only once, only to the person who generated it.

      Not the owner? Ask the owner to do steps 1 to 11 and paste the key into the Query Streams wizard themselves, or send it to you through a password manager. If you are unsure who the owner is, ShipStation support ([email protected]) can tell you.

   2. Open Settings

      Click the gear icon (Settings) in the dark toolbar at the top right of the screen, between the printer icon and the question-mark icon.

      Some accounts also reach the same settings area from the person icon → My Profile.

   3. Open API Settings

      In the left sidebar, expand Account (if it is collapsed) and click API Settings. The page title reads API Settings, with an API Keys box underneath. Once you are signed in, the link opens this page directly.

      If the page says your plan does not support API access, the account is on Free or Starter. Upgrade to Standard or higher under Account → Payment & Subscription first.

   4. Choose V2 API

      In the Select API Version dropdown, choose V2 API.

      The dropdown can open on V1 API. Query Streams uses ShipStation’s V2 API. A V1 key comes as an API Key plus a Secret Key, and it fails Test connection with Invalid API key.

   5. Check whether a V2 key already exists

      If the box shows a Generate API Key button, go to step 6. If it instead shows a Production Key row with a hidden key, a copy icon and a trash-can icon, the account already has its one allowed V2 key.

      If that existing key is saved somewhere safe (a password manager, or another tool’s setup you can copy from), use it and go straight to the wizard. If not, click the trash-can icon, then Delete Key in the Delete API Key popup. Deleting cannot be undone, and any other tool that uses the old key stops working until you give it the new one.

   6. Click Generate API Key

      Click Generate API Key on the right of the box. If a popup titled Generate API Key opens, skip to step 9. If a blue notice appears instead (“Email verification required. Click the verification link we sent to your user email address then retry.”), do steps 7 and 8.

      ShipStation asks for this email check before the account’s first key. New accounts must verify their email before they can generate keys at all.

   7. Click the verification link in your email

      Open the email ShipStation sent to the Account Owner’s address and click the verification link in it.

      No email after a few minutes? Check spam and promotions folders.

   8. Click Generate API Key again

      Go back to the API Settings tab, check that Select API Version still shows V2 API, and click Generate API Key again.

      The button resets once the email is verified. If the blue notice is still there, reload the page and choose V2 API again.

   9. Pick an expiration and click Generate

      In the Generate API Key popup, under Set key expiration, choose 12 months, 6 months or 3 months, then click Generate.

      The key stops working on that date, and your ShipStation sync stops with it. Choose 12 months and put a reminder in your calendar; ShipStation also emails a reminder before the key expires.

   10. Copy the API Key

       A popup titled API Key Created opens with a warning that this is the only time the key will be visible. Click the copy icon (two overlapping squares) to the right of API Key.

       Paste it straight into the Query Streams wizard (or a password manager), not into email or chat. If the popup also shows a Secret Key row, you created a V1 key: click Done, go back to step 4 and choose V2 API.

   11. Click Done

       Click Done. Back on API Settings, the key now shows hidden. ShipStation will not reveal it again; if it is lost, you delete it and generate a new one.

   Permissions to grant

   Resource	Access	Used for
   V2 API key (Select API Version → V2 API)	Full account access. ShipStation has no read-only or limited keys.	Every shipstation.* table: shipments, labels and fulfillments (on by default), plus carriers, carrier_services, warehouses, products, batches, manifests, pickups, tags, users and webhooks. Query Streams only sends read requests.
   Plan: Standard, Accelerate, Premium or higher	Required	Without it ShipStation answers with 402 and no table syncs. Free and Starter plans have no API access.
   Inventory API (Settings → Add-Ons)	Included on Standard and higher; an add-on on lower plans	inventory and inventory_locations tables. A key that only has the add-on (plan below Standard) still fails Test connection, because the test reads shipments.
   Account Owner	Required to generate the key	No table. ShipStation lets only the Account Owner create API keys.

   Paste into Query Streams

   ShipStation API Key

   The API Key you copied in step 10: one value, no secret. A key that starts with TEST_ is a sandbox key and shows only sandbox data. Query Streams stores the key for your Agent and only ever reads with it.

   Common problems

   Test connection shows a red result: Invalid API key.

   Why: A V1 key or its Secret Key was pasted, the value picked up extra spaces, or the key was deleted or has expired.

   Fix: Generate a V2 key (steps 4 to 11) and paste only the API Key value. Click Test connection until it says Connected.

   Test connection shows API error: PaymentRequired.

   Why: ShipStation answered 402: the account is on a plan below Standard (Free or Starter), or it has only the Inventory API add-on.

   Fix: Upgrade to Standard or higher under Account → Payment & Subscription, then click Test again with the same key.

   You cannot generate a key: Generate API Key keeps showing Email verification required, or the person setting up is not allowed to create keys.

   Why: Only the Account Owner can generate keys, and only after verifying their email address.

   Fix: Sign in as the Account Owner, click the link in ShipStation’s verification email, then click Generate API Key again.

   The connection worked for months, then ShipStation syncs stop and Test connection says Invalid API key.

   Why: The key reached its 3, 6 or 12 month expiration, or someone deleted it to make a new key for another tool (the account can hold only one V2 key).

   Fix: Generate a new V2 key, then in Data Agents edit the ShipStation connection, paste the new key into ShipStation API Key and click Test connection. Give the same new key to any other tool that used the old one.

   Tables are empty or show only test shipments, and syncs are slow.

   Why: A sandbox key (starts with TEST_) from the ShipStation API dashboard was used. Sandbox data is separate from your real shipments, and sandbox keys are limited to 20 requests per minute.

   Fix: Paste a Production key (no TEST_ prefix) and click Test connection.

   Some ShipStation tables are behind, and the Agent log shows TooManyRequests.

   Why: ShipStation allows 200 requests per minute per account, shared by every app connected to it. Another integration is using most of that budget.

   Fix: Nothing to change in Query Streams: the table tries again on its next scheduled sync. If it happens every day, ask ShipStation for a higher limit at [email protected].

   Limits to know

   • 200 requests per minute per ShipStation account by default, shared by every app and integration that uses the account; above it ShipStation answers 429 Too Many Requests. The Agent paces itself to a small share of this. Higher limits: email [email protected].
   • Sandbox keys (TEST_ prefix, ShipStation API customers only): 20 requests per minute, sandbox data only. ShipStation web app (platform) accounts have no sandbox, so every key reads live data.
   • API keys expire after 3, 6 or 12 months, chosen when you generate them. ShipStation emails a reminder before expiry.
   • One V2 key per account at a time; the same key can be used by several apps.
   • No API access on Free and Starter plans. Below Standard, V2 keys get 402 except for the Inventory API add-on’s inventory endpoints.
   • V1 API (legacy, deprecated) uses an API Key plus Secret Key pair at a different address, limited to 40 requests per minute per pair. Query Streams does not use V1.

   Steps verified 8 October 2026. Sources: help.shipstation.com/hc/en-us/articles/360025856212-ShipS…, docs.shipstation.com/authentication, docs.shipstation.com/getting-started, docs.shipstation.com/rate-limits, docs.shipstation.com/sandbox, docs.shipstation.com/products-and-plans, docs.shipstation.com/plans/shipstation-free-starter, docs.shipstation.com/plans/shipstation-standard-premium, docs.shipstation.com/apis/shipengine/docs/guides/auth, docs.shipstation.com/apis/shipengine/docs/guides/rate-limits, docs.shipstation.com/apis/shipstation-v1/docs/start-here/…, nango.dev/docs/integrations/all/shipstation-v2/connect.

   Connection name

   Any name you will recognise later, like Sales database.

   ShipStation API Key

   Your ShipStation API key, found in ShipStation under Settings, Account, API Settings.

   Click Test connection. When it reads Connected, click Save. The connection reaches your Agent within a few seconds.

   Open Data Agents

   Test failed? Usually a missing permission, or a credential from the wrong ShipStation account. The walkthrough above lists the common problems and their fixes.

4. See your data in Query Builder Optional

   You can look at your ShipStation account before Excel is involved at all. Open Query Builder in the portal and pick the connection you just made. The Schema tab lists your tables and columns, and clicking one puts its name in the editor, so you can write a query without remembering exact names. Click Run and the rows appear under Results. Query Builder is on every plan, Free included.

   On Business plans you can also ask Nova in plain English (“show me customers in the USA”) and it writes the SQL for you. When the query looks right, save it: from Personal Core up it shows in the add-in’s Saved Queries list, and on any plan you can copy the SQL into the next step.

5. Add Query Streams to Excel

   In Excel, go to Insert → Get Add-ins, search for Query Streams, and click Add. Or open it straight from Query Streams on Microsoft AppSource. A Query Streams button appears on the ribbon. Sign in with the same account.

   Works in Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows and Mac, and in Excel on the web.

6. Pull in your first table

   Click the Query Streams button, choose Stream a Query, and pick the connection you just made.

   Type the query you want to run. This one pulls a few columns from a shipstation.shipments table:

   Example · SQL

   SELECT shipment_id, shipment_status, ship_date, carrier_id
   FROM shipstation.shipments
   ORDER BY created_at DESC
   LIMIT 100;

   Under Destination Sheet choose Create a new sheet, then press the play button (the ▶ arrow). The rows land in Excel in a second or two. Press it again any time the data has changed and the sheet updates in place.

   Don’t know SQL? Build it in Query Builder first and paste it here, or pick it from Saved Queries if you saved it.

Good next moves

• Save the query in the portal so you can run it again with one click, from Excel or Google Sheets.
• Add a filter such as a date range, so the same query can answer “this month” without editing.
• Share the results with a colleague. They see the rows, not your credentials.

Questions people ask

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