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REST API Reference

Use this page as the entry point to Benchling's API, event, and webhook reference docs. Choose the API version you need, then browse endpoint families, webhook schemas, and supporting reference material.

Use this page as the stable entry point to the reference material: the generated REST API docs, webhook schemas, and the supporting pages that explain authentication, delivery models, and API behavior. If you’re building an event-driven workflow, branch from here into Getting Started with EventBridge or Getting Started with Webhooks.

Where the generated reference lives

Per-endpoint REST API documentation is generated from Benchling’s OpenAPI spec and served on your tenant at https://{tenant_name}.benchling.com/api/reference. Use this page as the landing point for internal docs links, then pick the version and endpoint family you need.

The V3 reference and its OpenAPI spec are also public and need no login: V3 API reference and V3 OpenAPI specification.

Choose a version

VersionWhen to use it
v3Use this for new development. Broader coverage than V2, plus batch writes, field selection, and typed filters. Served from /api/v3, with beta operations enabled per request via the EARLY-ACCESS: true header.
v2Use for the endpoints V3 does not cover yet, and for the Python SDK, which still targets V2. Fully supported and not being retired.

Both versions accept the same token and can be called from the same integration. See What’s new in v3 for the V3 conventions, and V3 Stability Guidelines and V2 Stability for what each version guarantees and what notice you get before a change.

The v3-alpha and v3-beta base paths are being retired

If you have references to /api/v3-alpha/ or /api/v3-beta/, migrate them to /api/v3/. The 90-day migration window that opened on June 15, 2026 closes in mid-September 2026.

Common event-driven pattern

  1. Receive a webhook or EventBridge delivery.
  2. Identify the relevant resource ID from the payload.
  3. Open the matching REST API version and endpoint family in the reference.
  4. Fetch the current resource state before mutating data, syncing another system, or triggering follow-on work.
curl -u sk_YOUR_SECRET_KEY: \
  "https://your-tenant.benchling.com/api/v3/entry/etr_123456"

Step 4 matters because event payloads are point-in-time snapshots that can arrive late or out of order. See Outdated event payloads.