Documentation Industry-specific AutoTrader

Industry integration

AutoTrader

AutoTrader integration overview
  • CategoryIndustry
  • AuthClient credentials

Overview

AutoTrader connects to MessageMind through the Client ID and Client Secret that AutoTrader Connect issues when it approves your integration, plus your dealership Advertiser ID. On save the pair is authenticated against AutoTrader (production first, then sandbox) and a single page of forecourt stock is probed on your Advertiser ID. Once validated, MessageMind polls your live forecourt once an hour and keeps the AI's catalogue in step so vehicle questions are answered from your actual stock. The integration is listed as Disabled on the Integrations page until a dealer connects it.

What MessageMind can do with it

  • Pull your current forecourt stock from AutoTrader (vehicles whose lifecycle state is FORECOURT) and keep it synced on an hourly schedule.
  • Format each vehicle into a product row the AI can quote: year, mileage band, description, images, price, features, and a link to the public advert page.
  • Retire vehicles automatically. When AutoTrader stops returning a car, it is removed from what the AI offers on the next pass.
  • Trigger an on-demand sync from the dashboard (POST /v1/autotrader/sync-now) when you need the catalogue refreshed sooner than the hourly tick.
  • Tag every synced product row with an autotraderId of the form <advertiserId>:<stockId> so a reconnect to the same Advertiser ID lines rows up without duplicates.

Requirements

  • An approved AutoTrader Connect integration. Submit a partnership request at autotrader.co.uk/partners/retailer/platform/autotrader-connect/add-to-an-integration; approval typically takes 1-3 weeks.
  • The Client ID and Client Secret pair that AutoTrader's Integration Manager sends you in the credentials email once the integration is approved. A live pair or a sandbox pair both work.
  • The dealership Advertiser ID (DID). It is shown directly under your dealership name when you click your account name at the top right of the AutoTrader portal, and must be a number of up to 12 digits.
  • A MessageMind account configured for eCommerce for Physical Goods. AutoTrader stock will only sync into that account kind.

How to connect

  1. In the MessageMind dashboard, open Integrations and click the AutoTrader card. The 'Connect AutoTrader' modal opens with three fields in a fixed order: Client ID, Client Secret, Advertiser ID.
  2. Paste the Client ID (placeholder 'Paste your AutoTrader Connect Client ID'), the Client Secret (password field, placeholder 'Paste your AutoTrader Connect Client Secret') and the Advertiser ID (placeholder 'e.g. 12345') and save. The labels are the wire keys, and the server wants exactly these three.
  3. MessageMind authenticates the pair against AutoTrader's /authenticate endpoint, production first and then sandbox, and probes one page of your advertiser's forecourt. An empty forecourt still counts as a good connection.
  4. Once validated, hourly stock syncs begin automatically. You can also trigger a manual sync at any time from the AutoTrader card in Integrations.

Authentication and permissions

Mechanism
OAuth-style Client ID and Client Secret exchanged for a short-lived bearer token at AutoTrader's /authenticate endpoint. The token is cached for its stated lifetime (around 14 minutes) and re-minted automatically before expiry.
Credentials
Client ID, Client Secret (stored encrypted on your MessageMind tenant), and Advertiser ID. If the Secret is lost, contact [email protected] to have it reissued.

Available data and actions

Reads

  • Your advertiser's forecourt stock, paged at up to 100 vehicles per page, filtered to vehicles whose lifecycle state is FORECOURT.
  • For each vehicle: make, model, derivative, year of manufacture, first registration date, plate (where valid), mileage, description, features list, images, price, and advert status across AutoTrader's retail channels.

Writes

  • The AI's product catalogue inside MessageMind is rewritten from each sync pass, with each row tagged by its autotraderId (<advertiserId>:<stockId>) so later passes line up. Nothing is written back to AutoTrader; the integration is read-only on AutoTrader's side.

AI agent use cases

  • Answer stock questions in chat: when a customer asks what SUVs under 30,000 miles you have, the AI quotes vehicles from the live forecourt rather than a stale list.
  • Send the public advert link for a specific car once the customer has decided which one they want to see.
  • Keep retired vehicles out of conversations: a car sold overnight is gone from what the AI offers the same morning.

Configuration

  • The hourly poll is the only automatic sync channel. Trigger a manual sync at any time from the AutoTrader card in Integrations (POST /v1/autotrader/sync-now, which requires the integrations.configure permission).
  • Vehicle rows are capped at 20 images and 40 feature entries per car.
  • Mileage is grouped into named bands (under 10,000, 10,000 to 20,000, and so on up to over 100,000) so the AI can match loose customer phrasing.
  • AutoTrader Connect notifications arrive on POST /v1/webhooks/autotrader. The endpoint is listen-only until AutoTrader's Autotrader-Signature header check is wired up, so it does not drive syncs yet.

Example workflows

Hourly forecourt sync

  1. The scheduled job wakes up for your account.
  2. A bearer token is minted (or reused from cache) using your Client ID and Secret against /authenticate.
  3. MessageMind walks every page of your advertiser's FORECOURT stock from AutoTrader, up to 100 vehicles per page.
  4. Each vehicle is mapped to a product row with price, mileage band, images, features, and the public advert link, and tagged with its autotraderId.
  5. The catalogue is saved and the AI starts quoting the new state. A car that disappeared from AutoTrader is removed from what the AI offers.

Limitations

  • No live webhooks yet. The /v1/webhooks/autotrader endpoint is listen-only pending Autotrader-Signature verification, so AutoTrader stock changes are picked up by the hourly poll rather than pushed in real time (a sold car will typically be gone within one cycle).
  • Only vehicles whose lifecycle state is FORECOURT are synced. Draft, archived or sold stock does not reach the AI.
  • The integration only runs on an eCommerce for Physical Goods MessageMind account.
  • If AutoTrader returns zero vehicles unexpectedly, the previous catalogue is kept rather than wiped, as a safety guard. The AI continues quoting the last known state until AutoTrader reports vehicles again.
  • Nothing is written to AutoTrader from MessageMind. The integration is read-only on AutoTrader's side.

Troubleshooting

The connection form reports that the Client ID and Client Secret were refused.

Check the pair against the credentials email your AutoTrader Integration Manager sent when the integration was approved, and connect again. A live pair and a sandbox pair are both accepted; if the Secret is lost, contact [email protected] to have it reissued.

The connection form says the Advertiser ID is not valid.

The Advertiser ID is a number of up to 12 digits (for example 10045684). Open your AutoTrader portal, click your account name at the top right, and copy the DID shown directly under your dealership name.

The credentials are accepted but the probe says access to the advertiser is not permitted.

Your Client ID and Secret are valid but are not linked to this Advertiser ID. Confirm the Advertiser ID, or ask your AutoTrader account manager to grant your integration access to it, then reconnect.

Disconnect and reconnect

  • In the MessageMind dashboard, open Integrations and choose Disconnect on the AutoTrader card. The stored Client ID, encrypted Client Secret, and Advertiser ID are removed from your tenant and the hourly sync stops.
  • To reconnect, enter the Client ID, Client Secret, and Advertiser ID in the connection form again. Because synced rows carry an autotraderId of the form <advertiserId>:<stockId>, reconnecting against the same Advertiser ID lines the catalogue back up on the next sync rather than duplicating stock.