Activate a card
const url = 'https://api.elephants.inc/api/v1/cards/2489E9AD-2EE2-8E00-8EC9-32D5F69181C0/activate';const options = {method: 'POST', headers: {Authorization: 'Bearer <token>'}};
try { const response = await fetch(url, options); const data = await response.json(); console.log(data);} catch (error) { console.error(error);}curl --request POST \ --url https://api.elephants.inc/api/v1/cards/2489E9AD-2EE2-8E00-8EC9-32D5F69181C0/activate \ --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>'Activates a physical card that has been received by its holder.
The card must belong to the authenticated user. Activation is a one-way
transition; a card that is already active is unchanged. A blocked card
cannot be activated and returns card_blocked. Set a PIN with
setCardPin once the card is active.
Authorizations
Section titled “Authorizations”Parameters
Section titled “Parameters”Path Parameters
Section titled “Path Parameters”The card’s ID
Responses
Section titled “Responses”The activated card
object
Last four digits of the card number
object
Billing period the limit resets on. Always “monthly” today.
Percentage of the monthly limit spent so far, on a 0-100 scale (NOT a 0-1 fraction), rounded to the nearest whole percent.
The physical card, if one has been ordered. The card works online and in phone wallets regardless of this state; only the plastic waits for activation.
object
True when the card has been reissued as a replacement. A replacement may carry a new card number; last_four is always the current number.
None: no physical card ordered. awaiting_activation: ordered or shipped, and declined at terminals and ATMs until activated. active: activated.
object
object
Cardholder user, null for organization-owned cards
Example
{ "available_actions": [ "order_physical" ], "card_provider": "reap", "limit": { "currency": "USD", "period": "monthly" }, "physical": { "state": "none" }, "status": "active"}Invalid request parameters or body
Error response. error.type is the machine-readable code — branch on it, never on error.message or the HTTP status. error.message is display-grade prose safe to render to a user; when a failure has no specific copy it falls back to a generic sentence, so it never carries a machine code. Unrecognised failures collapse to the generic unprocessable_entity code, so treat type as an open enum: match the codes you handle and fall through to a default branch for the rest.
object
object
Structured error details (e.g. validation errors), when present
Display-grade message, safe to render verbatim. Never a machine code — do not branch on it.
Correlation ID for this request (also in the x-request-id response header). Include it when contacting support.
object
Method used to deliver this challenge
Challenge expiry
Sudo session ID returned to completeStepUp
3-digit number-matching code. This response is the ORIGINATING surface: display the code; a user approving from the Ele mobile app is asked to enter it. Null only for challenges minted before match codes existed.
Available verification methods
The step-up authentication this challenge was minted from — a DIFFERENT id from id (the sudo session). completeStepUp takes id as sudo_session_id; requestStepUpFallback takes this one.
object
object
Machine-readable error code from a stable vocabulary (open enum — handle unknown values)
Example generated
{ "error": { "details": "example", "message": "example", "request_id": "example", "step_up": { "delivery": "example", "expires_at": "2026-04-15T12:00:00Z", "id": "example", "match_code": "example", "methods": [ "example" ], "step_up_authentication_id": "2489E9AD-2EE2-8E00-8EC9-32D5F69181C0", "webauthn": { "allow_credentials": [ { "id": "example", "transports": [ "example" ], "type": "example" } ], "challenge": "example", "challenge_id": "2489E9AD-2EE2-8E00-8EC9-32D5F69181C0", "rp_id": "example", "timeout": 1, "user_verification": "example" } }, "type": "example" }}Missing, invalid, or expired bearer token
Error response. error.type is the machine-readable code — branch on it, never on error.message or the HTTP status. error.message is display-grade prose safe to render to a user; when a failure has no specific copy it falls back to a generic sentence, so it never carries a machine code. Unrecognised failures collapse to the generic unprocessable_entity code, so treat type as an open enum: match the codes you handle and fall through to a default branch for the rest.
object
object
Structured error details (e.g. validation errors), when present
Display-grade message, safe to render verbatim. Never a machine code — do not branch on it.
Correlation ID for this request (also in the x-request-id response header). Include it when contacting support.
object
Method used to deliver this challenge
Challenge expiry
Sudo session ID returned to completeStepUp
3-digit number-matching code. This response is the ORIGINATING surface: display the code; a user approving from the Ele mobile app is asked to enter it. Null only for challenges minted before match codes existed.
Available verification methods
The step-up authentication this challenge was minted from — a DIFFERENT id from id (the sudo session). completeStepUp takes id as sudo_session_id; requestStepUpFallback takes this one.
object
object
Machine-readable error code from a stable vocabulary (open enum — handle unknown values)
Example generated
{ "error": { "details": "example", "message": "example", "request_id": "example", "step_up": { "delivery": "example", "expires_at": "2026-04-15T12:00:00Z", "id": "example", "match_code": "example", "methods": [ "example" ], "step_up_authentication_id": "2489E9AD-2EE2-8E00-8EC9-32D5F69181C0", "webauthn": { "allow_credentials": [ { "id": "example", "transports": [ "example" ], "type": "example" } ], "challenge": "example", "challenge_id": "2489E9AD-2EE2-8E00-8EC9-32D5F69181C0", "rp_id": "example", "timeout": 1, "user_verification": "example" } }, "type": "example" }}Error response. error.type is the machine-readable code — branch on it, never on error.message or the HTTP status. error.message is display-grade prose safe to render to a user; when a failure has no specific copy it falls back to a generic sentence, so it never carries a machine code. Unrecognised failures collapse to the generic unprocessable_entity code, so treat type as an open enum: match the codes you handle and fall through to a default branch for the rest.
Error response. error.type is the machine-readable code — branch on it, never on error.message or the HTTP status. error.message is display-grade prose safe to render to a user; when a failure has no specific copy it falls back to a generic sentence, so it never carries a machine code. Unrecognised failures collapse to the generic unprocessable_entity code, so treat type as an open enum: match the codes you handle and fall through to a default branch for the rest.
object
object
Structured error details (e.g. validation errors), when present
Display-grade message, safe to render verbatim. Never a machine code — do not branch on it.
Correlation ID for this request (also in the x-request-id response header). Include it when contacting support.
object
Method used to deliver this challenge
Challenge expiry
Sudo session ID returned to completeStepUp
3-digit number-matching code. This response is the ORIGINATING surface: display the code; a user approving from the Ele mobile app is asked to enter it. Null only for challenges minted before match codes existed.
Available verification methods
The step-up authentication this challenge was minted from — a DIFFERENT id from id (the sudo session). completeStepUp takes id as sudo_session_id; requestStepUpFallback takes this one.
object
object
Machine-readable error code from a stable vocabulary (open enum — handle unknown values)
Example generated
{ "error": { "details": "example", "message": "example", "request_id": "example", "step_up": { "delivery": "example", "expires_at": "2026-04-15T12:00:00Z", "id": "example", "match_code": "example", "methods": [ "example" ], "step_up_authentication_id": "2489E9AD-2EE2-8E00-8EC9-32D5F69181C0", "webauthn": { "allow_credentials": [ { "id": "example", "transports": [ "example" ], "type": "example" } ], "challenge": "example", "challenge_id": "2489E9AD-2EE2-8E00-8EC9-32D5F69181C0", "rp_id": "example", "timeout": 1, "user_verification": "example" } }, "type": "example" }}Error response. error.type is the machine-readable code — branch on it, never on error.message or the HTTP status. error.message is display-grade prose safe to render to a user; when a failure has no specific copy it falls back to a generic sentence, so it never carries a machine code. Unrecognised failures collapse to the generic unprocessable_entity code, so treat type as an open enum: match the codes you handle and fall through to a default branch for the rest.
Error response. error.type is the machine-readable code — branch on it, never on error.message or the HTTP status. error.message is display-grade prose safe to render to a user; when a failure has no specific copy it falls back to a generic sentence, so it never carries a machine code. Unrecognised failures collapse to the generic unprocessable_entity code, so treat type as an open enum: match the codes you handle and fall through to a default branch for the rest.
object
object
Structured error details (e.g. validation errors), when present
Display-grade message, safe to render verbatim. Never a machine code — do not branch on it.
Correlation ID for this request (also in the x-request-id response header). Include it when contacting support.
object
Method used to deliver this challenge
Challenge expiry
Sudo session ID returned to completeStepUp
3-digit number-matching code. This response is the ORIGINATING surface: display the code; a user approving from the Ele mobile app is asked to enter it. Null only for challenges minted before match codes existed.
Available verification methods
The step-up authentication this challenge was minted from — a DIFFERENT id from id (the sudo session). completeStepUp takes id as sudo_session_id; requestStepUpFallback takes this one.
object
object
Machine-readable error code from a stable vocabulary (open enum — handle unknown values)
Example generated
{ "error": { "details": "example", "message": "example", "request_id": "example", "step_up": { "delivery": "example", "expires_at": "2026-04-15T12:00:00Z", "id": "example", "match_code": "example", "methods": [ "example" ], "step_up_authentication_id": "2489E9AD-2EE2-8E00-8EC9-32D5F69181C0", "webauthn": { "allow_credentials": [ { "id": "example", "transports": [ "example" ], "type": "example" } ], "challenge": "example", "challenge_id": "2489E9AD-2EE2-8E00-8EC9-32D5F69181C0", "rp_id": "example", "timeout": 1, "user_verification": "example" } }, "type": "example" }}Error response. error.type is the machine-readable code — branch on it, never on error.message or the HTTP status. error.message is display-grade prose safe to render to a user; when a failure has no specific copy it falls back to a generic sentence, so it never carries a machine code. Unrecognised failures collapse to the generic unprocessable_entity code, so treat type as an open enum: match the codes you handle and fall through to a default branch for the rest.
Error response. error.type is the machine-readable code — branch on it, never on error.message or the HTTP status. error.message is display-grade prose safe to render to a user; when a failure has no specific copy it falls back to a generic sentence, so it never carries a machine code. Unrecognised failures collapse to the generic unprocessable_entity code, so treat type as an open enum: match the codes you handle and fall through to a default branch for the rest.
object
object
Structured error details (e.g. validation errors), when present
Display-grade message, safe to render verbatim. Never a machine code — do not branch on it.
Correlation ID for this request (also in the x-request-id response header). Include it when contacting support.
object
Method used to deliver this challenge
Challenge expiry
Sudo session ID returned to completeStepUp
3-digit number-matching code. This response is the ORIGINATING surface: display the code; a user approving from the Ele mobile app is asked to enter it. Null only for challenges minted before match codes existed.
Available verification methods
The step-up authentication this challenge was minted from — a DIFFERENT id from id (the sudo session). completeStepUp takes id as sudo_session_id; requestStepUpFallback takes this one.
object
object
Machine-readable error code from a stable vocabulary (open enum — handle unknown values)
Example generated
{ "error": { "details": "example", "message": "example", "request_id": "example", "step_up": { "delivery": "example", "expires_at": "2026-04-15T12:00:00Z", "id": "example", "match_code": "example", "methods": [ "example" ], "step_up_authentication_id": "2489E9AD-2EE2-8E00-8EC9-32D5F69181C0", "webauthn": { "allow_credentials": [ { "id": "example", "transports": [ "example" ], "type": "example" } ], "challenge": "example", "challenge_id": "2489E9AD-2EE2-8E00-8EC9-32D5F69181C0", "rp_id": "example", "timeout": 1, "user_verification": "example" } }, "type": "example" }}Too many requests
object
object
Structured error details (e.g. validation errors), when present
Display-grade message, safe to render verbatim. Never a machine code — do not branch on it.
Correlation ID for this request (also in the x-request-id response header). Include it when contacting support.
object
Method used to deliver this challenge
Challenge expiry
Sudo session ID returned to completeStepUp
3-digit number-matching code. This response is the ORIGINATING surface: display the code; a user approving from the Ele mobile app is asked to enter it. Null only for challenges minted before match codes existed.
Available verification methods
The step-up authentication this challenge was minted from — a DIFFERENT id from id (the sudo session). completeStepUp takes id as sudo_session_id; requestStepUpFallback takes this one.
object
object
Machine-readable error code from a stable vocabulary (open enum — handle unknown values)
object
Example
{ "error": { "type": "rate_limited" }}Headers
Section titled “Headers”How long to wait before retrying, expressed as delay seconds or an HTTP date
Unexpected server error
Error response. error.type is the machine-readable code — branch on it, never on error.message or the HTTP status. error.message is display-grade prose safe to render to a user; when a failure has no specific copy it falls back to a generic sentence, so it never carries a machine code. Unrecognised failures collapse to the generic unprocessable_entity code, so treat type as an open enum: match the codes you handle and fall through to a default branch for the rest.
object
object
Structured error details (e.g. validation errors), when present
Display-grade message, safe to render verbatim. Never a machine code — do not branch on it.
Correlation ID for this request (also in the x-request-id response header). Include it when contacting support.
object
Method used to deliver this challenge
Challenge expiry
Sudo session ID returned to completeStepUp
3-digit number-matching code. This response is the ORIGINATING surface: display the code; a user approving from the Ele mobile app is asked to enter it. Null only for challenges minted before match codes existed.
Available verification methods
The step-up authentication this challenge was minted from — a DIFFERENT id from id (the sudo session). completeStepUp takes id as sudo_session_id; requestStepUpFallback takes this one.
object
object
Machine-readable error code from a stable vocabulary (open enum — handle unknown values)
Example generated
{ "error": { "details": "example", "message": "example", "request_id": "example", "step_up": { "delivery": "example", "expires_at": "2026-04-15T12:00:00Z", "id": "example", "match_code": "example", "methods": [ "example" ], "step_up_authentication_id": "2489E9AD-2EE2-8E00-8EC9-32D5F69181C0", "webauthn": { "allow_credentials": [ { "id": "example", "transports": [ "example" ], "type": "example" } ], "challenge": "example", "challenge_id": "2489E9AD-2EE2-8E00-8EC9-32D5F69181C0", "rp_id": "example", "timeout": 1, "user_verification": "example" } }, "type": "example" }}