Send and receive satellite messages via Garmin inReach's IPC Inbound API
domain: developer.garmin.com/inReach · 6 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
Sampled — shipped under file-level sampling, not individually fact-checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Steps
Log into explore.garmin.com, go to Admin Controls then Portal Connect, and enable Inbound Settings to obtain the tenant-specific Inbound Base URL
Generate an API key from the same Inbound Settings screen (up to 3 concurrent keys, configurable expiry, default 1 year)
Send the key via the X-API-Key header on every request to endpoints such as Messaging.svc, Location.svc, Tracking.svc, Emergency.svc, Pingback.svc, and Configuration.svc
Implement the four supported outbound commands: Message (text, up to 160 characters), Locate, Track On/Off, and Track Interval (30-65,535 seconds)
Handle JSON responses and standard HTTP status codes, including the documented error object fields and the Retry-After header on 429 responses
Implement the separate IPC Outbound API/webhook guide if device-to-server data (rather than server-to-device commands) is also needed
Known gotchas
Every command that reaches the device incurs a real per-byte Iridium airtime charge against the subscriber's plan; only GET queries against cached portal data are free
Field validation is strict with dedicated error codes (message length, altitude range, speed range, tracking interval range, base64 payload size); out-of-range values return specific documented errors rather than a generic 400
Legacy 1.x inReach hardware has tighter device-specific limits than the general API envelope (e.g. lower max altitude and speed), so validate against actual device capability or commands can silently fail on older hardware
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