Use Benchling In Vivo's developer platform and documentation base

Benchling In Vivo’s developer platform enables you to integrate external systems, automate data operations, and extend Benchling In Vivo functionality. The platform includes:

• REST APIs for reading and writing structured data
• Webhooks for monitoring events so your integrations can automatically trigger actions

The In Vivo API uses predictable, resource-oriented URLs. It accepts form-encoded request bodies, returns JSON responses, and follows standard HTTP response codes, authentication, and verbs. Benchling’s developer platform is available on any In Vivo tenant with valid API credentials and the right permissions.

Access developer documentation

Benchling In Vivo’s developer documentation is available as a downloadable html.zip file in this help article. 

• Current API version: v2022-12-14 

Note: The version name indicates the date of the last breaking change to the API, not the last update to the documentation.

To access In Vivo’s API reference document:

1. Download the html.zip file attached to this help article
2. Unzip the file on your computer
3. Open the file in your browser
4. Use the left-hand panel or scroll to navigate through the sections

Authenticate and use the API

To use Benchling In Vivo’s API, you’ll need an API key. Only administrators can create API keys. Each tenant can have multiple keys, with scopes defined per key.

To create an API key:

1. Click on the Manage Team icon
2. Navigate to Integrations and select API keys
3. Click Create API key
4. Specify the name of the API key and select the relevant scope using the checkboxes 
5. Click Create API key

Note: The client ID and secret key are generated immediately when the key is created. You can view the client ID later, but the secret key is only shown once; store it securely. If you lose the secret key, delete the API key and create a new one.

Your Benchling In Vivo tenant URL is required for API access.

• Standard tenant URL format: [your_tenant_name][test/dev].invivo.benchling.com
  • Example: BiotechCompany.invivo.benchling.com
• API URL format: [your_tenant_name]-api.invivo.benchling.com
  • Example: https://BiotechCompany-api.invivo.benchling.com/api/public/v1/users, where the path api/public/v1/users has been added to list all users in the tenant

Note: If your tenant URL ends with overwatchresearch.com, replace invivo.benchling with overwatchresearch in the above examples. If you are unsure of your specific tenant web address and URL domain, please contact Benchling Support.

Enable Webhooks

Listen for events from your In Vivo tenant so your integration can automatically trigger reactions when animals, dosages, measurements, or other resources change.

When something changes in your In Vivo tenant, an animal is created, a measurement is recorded, a dosage is deleted, In Vivo sends an event as an HTTP POST request to the webhook endpoints you configure. Your application receives the event and takes action.

In Vivo sends a JSON payload to the endpoint and so this endpoint must accept a Content-Type of application/json. 

This guide walks you through creating a webhook endpoint, choosing which events to subscribe to and verifying signatures. You can find the details of all available webhooks in the API reference document linked in this article. 

1. Click on the Manage Team icon
2. Navigate to Integrations and select Webhooks
3. Click Add webhook
4. Give the webhook a descriptive name that identifies its purpose, for example, "Sync - Animals". This name appears in the webhook list and helps you identify endpoints later.
5. Enter the full HTTPS endpoint URL where you want In Vivo to send events. This must be a publicly accessible HTTPS URL.
6. Provide one or more custom headers that In Vivo includes with every webhook delivery. Your server should check these headers to confirm the request is authorized. You can add multiple headers if your endpoint requires them.
7. Choose which events this endpoint should receive. Only subscribe to the events your integration needs, receiving unnecessary events puts extra load on your server. You can browse the full list of available events in the API documentation attached to this article. 
8. Click Add webhook to save. In Vivo will begin delivering matching events to your endpoint immediately.

Webhook signatures

Find details about webhook signatures in the #webhook-security section of the API documentation attached.  

Accessing the Signing secret:

1. Click on Signing Secret from the ... menu to the right of this webhook row
2. Use the buttons to view, copy and regenerate this signing secret
3. Store your Signing Secret securely in an environment variable or secrets manager.

Download API docs

• In-Vivo-API-2026-04-22.zip200 KB