Rate shopping

Shippo's AI distribution surfaces: Agent Skills + plugins for Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, ClawHub, and the Claude apps.

Install

npx -y skills add goshippo/ai --skill rate-shopping

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Compare multi-carrier shipping rates, find cheapest/fastest options, and get shipping recommendations via the Shippo API

SKILL.md

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Rate Shopping and Comparison

Get Rates for a Shipment

Collect: origin address, destination address, parcel (length, width, height, distance_unit, weight, mass_unit). All dimension and weight values must be strings (e.g., "10" not 10).
Optionally validate both addresses with ValidateAddress (see Address Validation).
Call CreateShipment with address_from, address_to (as inline address objects using v1 field names -- street1, city, state, zip, country -- not object IDs), and parcels.
The response rates array contains available options. Present a table: carrier, service level, price, estimated days.
Note: the same carrier may return duplicate rates from multiple carrier accounts. Present the best rate per carrier/service combination.
Each rate carries an object_id. To buy a label, pass the chosen rate's object_id to the purchase flow (see Label Purchase); you do not re-send the address or parcel.

Rate Expiration

Rates expire after 7 days. If a user tries to purchase a rate that was retrieved more than 7 days ago, create a new shipment to get fresh rates.

Filter by Speed

Map user requests: "overnight" = estimated_days 1, "2-day" = estimated_days <= 2, "within N days" = estimated_days <= N. Filter the rates array accordingly. If nothing matches, show the fastest available option.

International Rates

Some carriers may return international rates without a customs declaration, but others will not. If no rates are returned, try attaching a customs declaration to the shipment. Some carriers also require a phone number on the destination address for international rate retrieval. Inform the user that customs will be required at label purchase time regardless. See shippo/references/customs-guide.md for customs details.

Checkout Rates (Line Items)

Call CreateLiveRate instead of CreateShipment. Accepts address_from, address_to, and line_items (each with title, quantity, total_price, currency, weight, weight_unit).

Rates in a Specific Currency

Call ListShipmentRatesByCurrencyCode with the preferred ISO currency code (USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, etc.).

Recommendation

Identify the cheapest (lowest amount), fastest (lowest estimated_days), and best-value options from the rates array. These are not API fields -- compute them by sorting the rates array yourself. State the trade-off: "Option A is $X cheaper but takes Y more days than Option B."

Troubleshooting: No Rates

Verify both addresses passed validation (most common cause).
Confirm parcel dimensions are reasonable (not zero, not exceeding carrier limits).
Shippo provides managed carrier accounts by default for major carriers. If no rates are returned, the issue is more likely address validation, unsupported route, or parcel dimensions -- not missing carrier accounts. You can verify with ListCarrierAccounts if needed.
Rates expire after 7 days. If stale, create a new shipment to get fresh rates.

Quick Reference

Get rates: (optional) ValidateAddress (x2) -> CreateShipment (with inline addresses) -> read rates array