GetCustomerByExternalKey

CRM service 1.4: Finds the customer mapped to an ID in an external system and returns it, optionally with custom fields and all its external keys.


Service	CRM 1.4
Endpoint	`POST https://app{server-number}.timelog.com/{account}/WebServices/CRM/V1_4/CRMServiceSecure.svc`
SOAPAction	`http://api.timelog.com/services/crm/1_4/ICRMService/GetCustomerByExternalKey`
Content-Type	`text/xml; charset=utf-8`
Authentication	A token from GetToken
Changes data	No
Safe to retry	Yes

How it works

The external system must be registered on the account. Set loadExternalKeys to see every key the customer has. Outcomes: unknown system = ResponseState Invalid; no customer mapped = Error 40001 'The external key … was not found …'; mapping to a customer that no longer exists = Error 40001.

Parameters

Each parameter has one label: Required, Conditional (required depending on other values) or Optional. Send them in the order shown.

externalKeystring

Required

The customer's ID in the external system.

systemNamestring

Required

Registered external-system name.

loadCustomFieldsboolean

Optional. Default false. true = fill CustomFields.

loadExternalKeysboolean

Optional. Default false. true = fill ExternalKeys with every key of the customer.

tokenSecurityToken

Required

The token from GetToken: Initials, Expires and Hash, sent back unchanged.

Request

POST /{account}/WebServices/CRM/V1_4/CRMServiceSecure.svc HTTP/1.1
Host: app{server-number}.timelog.com
Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8
SOAPAction: "http://api.timelog.com/services/crm/1_4/ICRMService/GetCustomerByExternalKey"

<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
                  xmlns:crm="http://api.timelog.com/services/crm/1_4"
                  xmlns:tok="http://www.timelog.com/api/tlp/v1_3">
  <soapenv:Body>
    <crm:GetCustomerByExternalKey>
      <crm:externalKey>{externalKey}</crm:externalKey>
      <crm:systemName>{systemName}</crm:systemName>
      <crm:loadCustomFields>false</crm:loadCustomFields>
      <crm:loadExternalKeys>false</crm:loadExternalKeys>
      <crm:token>
        <tok:Initials>{Initials from GetToken}</tok:Initials>
        <tok:Expires>{Expires from GetToken, unchanged}</tok:Expires>
        <tok:Hash>{Hash from GetToken}</tok:Hash>
      </crm:token>
    </crm:GetCustomerByExternalKey>
  </soapenv:Body>
</soapenv:Envelope>

curl -X POST "https://app{server-number}.timelog.com/{account}/WebServices/CRM/V1_4/CRMServiceSecure.svc" \
  -H "Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8" \
  -H 'SOAPAction: "http://api.timelog.com/services/crm/1_4/ICRMService/GetCustomerByExternalKey"' \
  --data-binary @request.xml

import requests

URL = "https://app{server-number}.timelog.com/{account}/WebServices/CRM/V1_4/CRMServiceSecure.svc"
SOAP_ACTION = '"http://api.timelog.com/services/crm/1_4/ICRMService/GetCustomerByExternalKey"'

envelope = """<soapenv:Envelope xmlns:soapenv="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/"
                  xmlns:crm="http://api.timelog.com/services/crm/1_4"
                  xmlns:tok="http://www.timelog.com/api/tlp/v1_3">
  <soapenv:Body>
    <crm:GetCustomerByExternalKey>
      <crm:externalKey>{externalKey}</crm:externalKey>
      <crm:systemName>{systemName}</crm:systemName>
      <crm:loadCustomFields>false</crm:loadCustomFields>
      <crm:loadExternalKeys>false</crm:loadExternalKeys>
      <crm:token>
        <tok:Initials>{Initials from GetToken}</tok:Initials>
        <tok:Expires>{Expires from GetToken, unchanged}</tok:Expires>
        <tok:Hash>{Hash from GetToken}</tok:Hash>
      </crm:token>
    </crm:GetCustomerByExternalKey>
  </soapenv:Body>
</soapenv:Envelope>"""

response = requests.post(
    URL,
    data=envelope.encode("utf-8"),
    headers={"Content-Type": "text/xml; charset=utf-8", "SOAPAction": SOAP_ACTION},
    timeout=60,
)
result = parse_result(response)  # see "Responses and errors"

Replace every {…} placeholder with your own value.

Response

The call returns the standard response envelope. Check ResponseState first: a failed call still returns HTTP 200.

ResponseStatestring

Required

Success, Invalid or Error.

ErrorCodeinteger

0 on success, otherwise the error code. See Errors.

ReturnCustomer[]

Response<Customer>: Return[0] = the mapped customer. Messages holds only the call duration. Never empty on success: no mapping is an Error; unknown system is Invalid.

Example response

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8

<s:Envelope xmlns:s="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <s:Body>
    <GetCustomerByExternalKeyResponse xmlns="http://api.timelog.com/services/crm/1_4">
      <GetCustomerByExternalKeyResult xmlns:a="http://api.timelog.com"
                                      xmlns:b="http://api.timelog.com/services/crm/1_4"
                                      xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
        <a:Return>
          <b:Customer>
            <a:Action>Original</a:Action>
            <a:IsCustomFieldsLoaded>false</a:IsCustomFieldsLoaded>
            <a:CustomFields i:nil="true"/>
            <a:IsExternalKeysLoaded>false</a:IsExternalKeysLoaded>
            <a:ExternalKeys i:nil="true"/>
            <b:ID>1001</b:ID>
            <b:GUID>3f2504e0-4f89-41d3-9a0c-305000000001</b:GUID>
            <b:Name>Example </b:Name>
            <b:No>1001</b:No>
            <b:TimeStamp>AAAAAAAAAAA=</b:TimeStamp>
            <b:VAT>0</b:VAT>
            <b:CalculateVAT>false</b:CalculateVAT>
            <b:DefaultDiscountPercent>0</b:DefaultDiscountPercent>
            <b:Address>
              <a:Address1>Example</a:Address1>
              <a:Address2>Example</a:Address2>
              <a:Address3>Example</a:Address3>
              <a:ZipCode>1000</a:ZipCode>
              <a:City>Copenhagen</a:City>
              <a:State>Example</a:State>
              <a:Country>DK</a:Country>
            </b:Address>
            <b:Fax>+45 00 00 00 00</b:Fax>
            <b:WebSite>https://www.example.com</b:WebSite>
            <b:Phone>+45 00 00 00 00</b:Phone>
            <b:Email>info@example.com</b:Email>
            <b:KAM>Example</b:KAM>
            <b:EAN>Example</b:EAN>
            <b:IsOIOCustomer>false</b:IsOIOCustomer>
            <b:CreditorID>Example</b:CreditorID>
            <b:AccountNo>1001</b:AccountNo>
            <b:Contacts>
              <b:ContactHeader>
                <b:GUID>3f2504e0-4f89-41d3-9a0c-305000000002</b:GUID>
                <b:FirstName>Example first</b:FirstName>
                <b:LastName>Example last</b:LastName>
              </b:ContactHeader>
            </b:Contacts>
            <b:Industry>Example</b:Industry>
            <b:Status>Example</b:Status>
            <b:VATNo>1001</b:VATNo>
            <b:Currency>DKK</b:Currency>
            <b:PaymentTermId>1001</b:PaymentTermId>
            <b:InvoicingAddress>
              <a:Address1>Example</a:Address1>
              <a:Address2>Example</a:Address2>
              <a:Address3>Example</a:Address3>
              <a:ZipCode>1000</a:ZipCode>
              <a:City>Copenhagen</a:City>
              <a:State>Example</a:State>
              <a:Country>DK</a:Country>
            </b:InvoicingAddress>
            <b:InvoicingName>Example invoicing</b:InvoicingName>
            <b:UseInvoicingAddress>false</b:UseInvoicingAddress>
            <b:CustomerSinceDate>2026-10-01T00:00:00</b:CustomerSinceDate>
            <b:NickName>Example nick</b:NickName>
            <b:OrganizationNumber>1001</b:OrganizationNumber>
            <b:KAM2>Example</b:KAM2>
            <b:Details>
              <b:Status>
                <b:ID>1001</b:ID>
                <b:Name>Example </b:Name>
                <b:Type>IsShownInCustomers</b:Type>
              </b:Status>
              <b:Industry>
                <b:ID>1001</b:ID>
                <b:Branche>Example</b:Branche>
              </b:Industry>
              <b:Currency>
                <a:ID>1001</a:ID>
                <a:Abbreviation>DKK</a:Abbreviation>
                <a:Rate>0</a:Rate>
                <a:RateDate>2026-10-01T00:00:00</a:RateDate>
                <a:DescriptiveName>Example descriptive</a:DescriptiveName>
              </b:Currency>
              <b:KAM>
                <a:ID>1001</a:ID>
                <a:Initials>ABC</a:Initials>
                <a:FullName>Example full</a:FullName>
              </b:KAM>
              <b:KAM2>
                <a:ID>1001</a:ID>
                <a:Initials>ABC</a:Initials>
                <a:FullName>Example full</a:FullName>
              </b:KAM2>
            </b:Details>
          </b:Customer>
        </a:Return>
        <a:ReturnTypeDescription>Customer</a:ReturnTypeDescription>
        <a:Request>…</a:Request>
        <a:ResponseState>Success</a:ResponseState>
        <a:Messages>
          <a:APIMessage>
            <a:Message>Duration of call was 0,0421337 sec.</a:Message>
            <a:Severity>Message</a:Severity>
            <a:ErrorCode>0</a:ErrorCode>
          </a:APIMessage>
        </a:Messages>
        <a:ErrorCode>0</a:ErrorCode>
        <a:IsReturnPaged>false</a:IsReturnPaged>
        <a:TotalPageCount>0</a:TotalPageCount>
      </GetCustomerByExternalKeyResult>
    </GetCustomerByExternalKeyResponse>
  </s:Body>
</s:Envelope>

Illustrative example: built from the service description (WSDL) in the same format as a real response, with made-up values. The Request block is shortened.

Errors

All errors come back with HTTP 200: check ResponseState, ErrorCode and Messages. The errors every operation can return (expired or invalid token, API not enabled, HTTPS required, general errors) are listed once in Responses and errors.

Errors specific to this operation:

ResponseState	ErrorCode	Message	What it means	What to do
Invalid	30021	Unknown External System: {systemName}. Enter the name in Timelog system administration	systemName is not registered.	—
Error	40001	Error during call on TimeLog.API, Message 'The external key "{externalID}" was not found for the chosen external system "{systemName}".'	No customer is mapped to externalKey for that system.	Create the contact first; a not-found is a normal outcome for sync look-ups.
Error	40001	Error during call on TimeLog.API, Message 'Unable to retrieve result from … with GUID{guid}'	The mapping points to a customer GUID that no longer exists.	Check the customer GUID.

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