If your MLS runs FlexMLS, its RESO Web API is delivered through Spark. Both are made by FBS, and MLSImport connects to Spark markets out of the box. What you need from your MLS is a Spark server token.
FlexMLS is the software you log in to. Spark is the API behind it. On the RESO certification directory, a FlexMLS market shows Spark as its Web API server.
What Spark issues
Spark issues a server token, sometimes called an API access token or a private replication access token. It is one long string. It is not a client ID and secret pair, and it is not your FlexMLS login.
That last point causes real confusion. Your FlexMLS username and password sign you in to the MLS software and give a website nothing. Ask your MLS for API access specifically, worded as RESO Web API or Spark API access for your website domain.
Spark server tokens do not expire the way OAuth session tokens do. MLSImport stores yours and sends it unchanged on every request. A Spark connection that stops working is almost never an expired token, so check the dataset and the domain approval first.
Getting the token
- Confirm the server. Open your MLS on the RESO certification directory and check that the Web API Server line reads Spark.
- Contact your MLS support team and request RESO Web API access through Spark for your website domain.
- Ask specifically for the Spark API server token for your MLS dataset. Some boards can enable this from your member account, and others need their data team to issue it.
- Note the dataset name or the Spark API endpoint if they give you one. It helps us confirm you are pointed at the right market.
Expected result: your MLS issues a single long token tied to your account and your domain.
If your MLS is not in the list yet
Spark serves hundreds of boards, and each one is activated on our side individually. Being a Spark market does not automatically put your MLS in the Your MLS search.
- Send us the exact MLS name and the token. Activation is quick because no new server work is needed, only the dataset entry.
- When we confirm it is live, open MLS Import Settings, go to the Tools tab and click Clear Plugin Cached Data. The MLS list is cached for 24 hours, so without this the new entry will not appear.
- Search for your MLS again in Your MLS, paste the token into Your API Server token – provided by your MLS, and save.
- Run the connection test.
If your MLS is missing from the search and you have an active subscription, that is the activation case above. If the search returns nothing at all for any MLS, the subscription itself is not connected, which is a different fix.
Frequently asked questions
Is FlexMLS the same as Spark?
They are two parts of the same product family from FBS. FlexMLS is the MLS system agents work in, and Spark is the developer platform that exposes the RESO Web API for it. Your listings come through Spark either way.
Can I use my FlexMLS login instead of a token?
No. A member login and an API credential are different things, and MLSImport has nowhere to put a FlexMLS password. Request an API access token from your MLS.
My board says they do not offer API access. Is that final?
It is worth asking again in the right words. Some boards answer no to a general question about data feeds but do have a Spark route for members with an approved website. Ask about RESO Web API access through Spark for your own domain.
Does a Spark token cover more than one MLS?
No. A token is issued for the dataset you were approved for. Listings from a second MLS need their own approval, their own token, and a separate WordPress install, because MLSImport connects one MLS per site.
Related
- What RESO Web API access is and why you need it
- My MLS runs a server you do not support yet
- Connecting your MLS in the wizard
- Verifying your MLS connection
Send us your Spark token and the MLS name and we will activate the market and confirm the connection with you.