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Real-Time Inventory Sync via RESTlet API

πŸ“¦ Business Use Case

Your eCommerce site or WMS (Warehouse Management System) tracks product inventory changes β€” but your NetSuite item records are out of sync. You need a way to push updated stock quantities to NetSuite in real time, automatically, and securely.

πŸš€ Solution: RESTlet for Inventory Updates

Instead of manual CSV imports or scheduled Map/Reduce jobs, use a RESTlet that:

  1. Accepts a JSON payload from your external system (e.g., WMS, Shopify, or middleware).
  2. Updates Inventory Detail or Quantity On Hand on Inventory Items, by location.
  3. Returns a clean API response with status and error handling.

🧠 RESTlet Design Pattern

  • Accepts: POST /app/site/hosting/restlet.nl?script=xxx&deploy=1
  • Payload:
{
  "external_id": "sku-abc123",
  "location_id": 3,
  "quantity_on_hand": 48
}
  • Response:
{
  "success": true,
  "item_id": 1278,
  "location_id": 3,
  "quantity_set": 48
}

🧩 SuiteScript 2.1: RESTlet to Sync Inventory

/**
 * @NApiVersion 2.1
 * @NScriptType Restlet
 * @author The NetSuite Pro
 * @description Updates inventory quantity for a given item and location
 */
define(['N/record', 'N/search', 'N/log'], (record, search, log) => {
  
  function post(request) {
    const { external_id, location_id, quantity_on_hand } = request;

    if (!external_id || !location_id || typeof quantity_on_hand !== 'number') {
      return { success: false, error: 'Missing required parameters' };
    }

    try {
      // Lookup inventory item by External ID (or use custom field if needed)
      const itemId = getItemIdByExternalId(external_id);
      if (!itemId) return { success: false, error: `Item not found for external_id: ${external_id}` };

      // Load the Inventory Item
      const rec = record.load({
        type: record.Type.INVENTORY_ITEM,
        id: itemId,
        isDynamic: true
      });

      // Go to 'Locations' sublist and find the line for the given location
      const lineCount = rec.getLineCount({ sublistId: 'locations' });
      let lineIndex = -1;
      for (let i = 0; i < lineCount; i++) {
        const loc = rec.getSublistValue({ sublistId: 'locations', fieldId: 'location', line: i });
        if (Number(loc) === Number(location_id)) {
          lineIndex = i;
          break;
        }
      }

      if (lineIndex === -1) return { success: false, error: 'Location not assigned to item' };

      rec.setSublistValue({
        sublistId: 'locations',
        fieldId: 'quantityonhand',
        line: lineIndex,
        value: quantity_on_hand
      });

      const id = rec.save({ enableSourcing: true, ignoreMandatoryFields: false });

      return { success: true, item_id: id, location_id, quantity_set: quantity_on_hand };

    } catch (e) {
      log.error('Inventory Sync Error', e.message);
      return { success: false, error: e.message };
    }
  }

  function getItemIdByExternalId(external_id) {
    const results = search.lookupFields({
      type: search.Type.ITEM,
      id: external_id,
      columns: ['internalid']
    });
    return results && results.internalid && results.internalid[0] && results.internalid[0].value;
  }

  return { post };
});

πŸ” Authentication & Security Tips

  • Use Token-Based Authentication (TBA) or OAuth 2.0.
  • Restrict to specific roles with permission to only update Inventory Items.
  • Implement API key validation if calling from an external server.
  • Log all calls using N/log for traceability.
  • Optional: create a custom record log of updates.

πŸ§ͺ Test Example

Use Postman or curl to simulate:

curl -X POST \
  https://ACCOUNT_ID.restlets.api.netsuite.com/app/site/hosting/restlet.nl?script=1234&deploy=1 \
  -H "Authorization: NLAuth ..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
        "external_id": "sku-abc123",
        "location_id": 3,
        "quantity_on_hand": 48
      }'

πŸ“Œ Best Practices

  • Don’t overwrite committed or on-order quantities β€” only use for real-time on-hand values.
  • If you use multiple locations, make sure the item record has that location enabled.
  • Use a middleware queue (like Boomi, Celigo, or AWS Lambda) for high-volume systems.
  • Add retry/backoff logic if you expect concurrency issues.
  • Use SuiteQL if you prefer pulling inventory values from NetSuite instead of pushing.

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