How to connect a distributor that has no prebuilt Tire Base integration?

TB Sync · vendors · Last updated September 15, 2026 · Version 1

This process works in apps: TB Sync

This article will teach you how to bring a distributor into Sync using a file feed when there is no native API yet.

Tire Base has prebuilt live APIs for a short list of distributors today. Every other supplier — regional warehouses, buying groups, and national distributors we have not integrated yet — still works, just through a file feed instead of a live API. If the distributor can produce an inventory file with part numbers, quantities, and cost, Sync can read it and show it alongside your other vendors.

Steps

• Ask the distributor for an inventory or price file, and how they can deliver it: SFTP file drop, or a spreadsheet your team uploads.
• If they can publish over SFTP, create an FTP / SFTP Vendor in Sync and click Provision SFTP. Tire Base generates the host, username, password, and port — copy them and send them to the distributor. See How to generate SFTP credentials for a vendor in Sync.
• If they can only hand over a spreadsheet, create a Manual Upload Vendor in Sync → Vendors instead.
• Load the first file, then map columns to Tire Base fields in the vendor Field Mapping tab. For a file that only has part number, quantity, and cost, import your catalog first, then turn on Match by part number only.
• Search a known size in Inventory Catalog and confirm the new vendor tab returns the same quantities as the distributor file.
• Tell Tire Base support which distributor you want as a native API integration so we can log the request against future roadmap work.

Conclusion & best practices

A file feed is not a downgrade for most shops — it covers pricing, availability, and purchasing decisions on whatever schedule the distributor publishes. Keep the mapping stable: if the distributor changes their column headers, re-run the mapping step before trusting the numbers. Ask for the freshest publish schedule they support, since stale files are the main cause of surprise backorders.