RESO Web API access is a data connection your MLS grants you, letting a program read listing data directly instead of a person reading it on a screen. You need it to import listings with MLSImport, but you don’t need to write code: the plugin reads the feed once you paste in the credentials. MLSImport cannot create the connection for you. Your MLS issues it, to you, for your website.
This page explains what the access is, what your MLS hands over when it is approved, and how to find out what your MLS runs before you apply.
What RESO Web API means
RESO is the Real Estate Standards Organization, which defines how listing data is described and transmitted. The Web API is its modern delivery method: an OData feed your site queries over HTTPS, returning listing records in a standard shape. RESO’s own Web API page puts it as “the modern way to transport data in the real estate industry”, built on open standards, and names OData as the protocol at the core of it, while describing RETS as a deprecated transport the industry is moving off. Checked August 19, 2026.
Standard shape is the part that matters to you. It means the field holding a price is called ListPrice whether your MLS is in Florida or Alberta, so a plugin can map that field once and work across hundreds of markets.
Two older delivery methods still get offered and neither works here.
- RETS. The previous generation of MLS data transfer. MLSImport does not read RETS. If your MLS offers both, ask for Web API.
- A frameable IDX link or a hosted search widget. Someone else’s search running inside a frame on your page. Nothing is imported, so nothing is yours.
What you need to have
- MLS membership. You are an agent, broker, or office with a current MLS account, or you are building for someone who is.
- An approved data access application. Your MLS reviews and approves the request, usually naming the domain the data will be displayed on.
- Web API chosen as the delivery method. Where an MLS portal offers a choice, pick Web API rather than RETS or IDX framing.
- The credentials that approval produces. Either a single server token, or a client ID and a client secret. Which one you get depends on the server your MLS runs.
The RESO Web API connection details box on the mlsimport.com order form only checks that it is not empty. Any text gets you through it. The field exists to make the requirement visible before you pay, and your real credentials are entered later inside the plugin.
Finding the server your MLS runs on
Your MLS does not usually operate its own API server. It publishes through a platform, and that platform decides which credentials you receive and whether MLSImport already connects to it.
- Open the RESO MLS list and find your MLS. Note its UOI, an identifier like
M00000105. - Open the RESO certification directory, search the same name, and open its summary.
- Read the Web API Server line. It names the platform: Trestle, Bridge, Spark, Paragon, Rapattoni, and so on.
The certification site is a JavaScript application, so open it in a browser. Fetching the URL with a script returns an empty page.
Which servers MLSImport connects to
MLSImport connects to CoreLogic Trestle, Bridge, Spark (the platform behind FlexMLS), Paragon, Rapattoni, ConnectMLS and Realcomp, BrightMLS, RMLS, UtahRealEstate, Realtor.ca DDF, and PropTx AMPRE. Each link is the credential guide for that server; BrightMLS, RMLS and UtahRealEstate have no separate guide yet.
This list was checked on August 19, 2026 and left unchanged. The search your MLS box in the plugin’s account step is the live authority, because servers are added between checks.
If your MLS runs one of those, the work is on the MLS side: get approved, get your credentials, enter them. If it runs something else, the server can be added. That case has its own article.
MLS Grid works too. MLS Grid normally wants every listing photo copied onto your own server, and MLSImport shows photos without filling your media library. So before you connect, ask MLS Grid ([email protected]) to set your feed up on their image CDN, at media.mlsgrid.com. See MLS Grid and MLSImport.
RESO certification tells you the MLS can deliver a standards-compliant feed. It does not tell you your account is entitled to one. Treat a certification listing as a good sign and confirm your own eligibility with the MLS before you buy anything.
What the credentials look like
Servers issue one of two credential shapes, and the plugin shows the fields matching the MLS you select.
- A server token. One long string, used as-is. Bridge, Spark, RMLS, UtahRealEstate, and PropTx work this way.
- A client ID and client secret. The plugin exchanges the pair for a short-lived access token on every run. Trestle, Realtor.ca, Paragon, BrightMLS, and Realcomp work this way.
Rapattoni is the exception that needs four values: a client ID, a client secret, and an API username and password. ConnectMLS needs a username and password only.
None of these is your MLS login. The username and password you use to search the MLS do nothing for a website feed. ConnectMLS’s API username and password are separate from your MLS login too. Where you find the values depends on the platform:
- Bridge: copy the Server Token from your Bridge credentials list, not the Browser Token.
- Trestle: copy the Client ID and the current Client Secret from your approved subscription. The secret expires on a schedule.
- Spark, Paragon, Rapattoni and ConnectMLS: your MLS support team sends the values. Ask for them by name.
Copy each value fresh from where it was issued. A trailing space picked up from a PDF or an email makes a good value fail. While you set up, ask the MLS not to lock the token to one IP address, because that blocks the first connection test.
Frequently asked questions
Does having MLS membership automatically include RESO Web API access?
No. Membership makes you eligible to ask; the MLS decides whether you get it. Feed access is a separate approval on top of your account, and boards differ on who qualifies: some grant it to brokers only, some require a broker’s written authorisation before an agent can hold credentials, some charge for it, and some approve it per domain. A licence and a current MLS account are the entry requirement, not the grant.
Can MLSImport get the API access for me?
No. We are not an MLS vendor and cannot apply, sign, or hold credentials on your behalf. The application is made by you or your broker directly with the MLS, and the credentials are issued to your account. We verify them and connect the site once you have them.
My MLS offers RETS and Web API. Does it matter which I request?
Yes, request Web API. MLSImport reads the RESO Web API and does not support RETS. An approved RETS feed cannot be converted on our side, so requesting the wrong one means going back to the MLS.
Do I need one set of credentials per website?
Yes in practice, because MLS approvals name the domain the data is displayed on. Two sites means two approvals and two subscriptions.
The MLS asked who my vendor is. What do I answer?
Answer according to their form. Some MLSs have a member route with no third party vendor and a separate vendor route, and members applying for their own feed usually take the member route. If the form requires a vendor to be named, ask the MLS which option fits a member using their own plugin on their own site.
Who do I ask for the access: my MLS or Trestle and Bridge?
Your MLS, first. Trestle, Bridge or Spark hand over the credentials only after your MLS approves you, and you sign up with the platform when your MLS tells you to. In one email, ask your MLS: “I need RESO Web API access for my own website at [domain]. Which platform sends the feed, which credentials will I get, what does it cost, and does my broker need to sign?” Give your real domain, not a staging address. The full approval path is in how to connect your website to your MLS.
Is Trestle the same as Bridge?
No. They are two platforms from two companies doing the same job. Trestle comes from Cotality, the company once called CoreLogic, and issues a client ID and a client secret. Bridge comes from Zillow Group and issues one server token. The data can differ too: Miami through Bridge carries map coordinates and Miami through Trestle does not, so ask your MLS which fields each feed includes. Credential steps: Trestle and Bridge.
Is Spark the same as Flexmls?
No, but they come together. Flexmls is the MLS software you log in to, and Spark is the data platform behind it; both are made by FBS. Your Flexmls username and password will not work as a feed login. You need a separate Spark server token from your MLS. See Spark and Flexmls: getting your server token.
Can my MLS use more than one platform?
Yes. Miami offers both Bridge and Trestle, with different fees and different rules on who can use each. Cape Cod & Islands MLS lets you choose Spark or Bridge. The certification directory may show only the platform that was tested, so ask your MLS which platforms are open to your account before you apply.
Related
- Who needs to hold the credentials
- My MLS runs a server you do not support yet
- Requirements before you buy
- Connecting your MLS in the wizard
Send us your MLS name and we will tell you which server it runs on and which credentials to ask for.
