Quickstart
This quickstart follows the normal integrator path: complete onboarding in the CSCS AOS portal, wait for approval, confirm your API key, and then make your first request from your backend service.
Signup verification, business registration, approval checks, sign-in, API key rotation, wallet credits, and history review are portal activities. Use the API only after your business has been approved and an active API key has been issued.
1. Verify your email
Open the CSCS AOS portal and start from the email verification screen. Enter the work email address that will own the partner account, then continue so the portal can confirm that the email is eligible for registration.
Use a shared operational mailbox only if that is your approved internal process. The email address used here should be the same address used when creating the business account.
2. Create the business account
Complete the portal registration form with the account type, company name, full name, work email, password, and email OTP. Review and accept the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy before submitting the form.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|
| Account Type | The partner category being registered, such as Broker. |
| Company Name | The legal or approved business name. |
| Full Name | The primary user or administrator name. |
| Work Email | The same email address used during verification. |
| Password | A secure password for portal access. |
| Email OTP | The verification code sent to the work email address. |
3. Wait for approval
After registration, the account enters pending approval. During this stage, the portal shows that your registration has been received and is under administrator review.
Use Check approval status from the pending approval screen to refresh the review state. Protected account opening and lookup operations remain unavailable until the business account is approved.
4. Sign in to the portal
Once approved, return to Partner Login and sign in with the registered email address and password. From the portal, confirm that the business account is active before configuring any backend integration.
5. Confirm the API key
Go to Settings > API Keys in the portal. The API Keys screen shows whether the current key is active, when it was first generated, when it was last rotated, and who generated it.
If a new key is generated or regenerated, copy the secret immediately and store it in a backend secret manager. The plain-text secret is shown only once.
Point your backend integration at the sandbox base URL while testing.
| Environment | Base URL |
|---|
| Staging | https://api-sandbox.cscs.ng |
| Production | https://api-live.cscs.ng |
7. Make your first operational request
Use the API Reference with approved staging credentials and test data. For example, an investor lookup request includes your API key and an idempotency key:
curl --request GET "https://api-sandbox.cscs.ng/v1/lookup?cscsNo=0000000123" \
--header "x-api-key: <api-key>" \
--header "Idempotency-Key: <unique-request-key>"
x-api-key: <api-key>
Idempotency-Key: <unique-request-key>
Idempotency-Key for every account creation or lookup request unless you are intentionally retrying the same request.
What to do next
Use Guides > Create Investor Account when you are ready to create Individual, Corporate, or Minor investor accounts. Use Guides > Investor Lookup to understand the lookup options available to approved integrators.