Source: https://docs.debitura.com/collection-partners/concepts/automating-case-updates

# Automating Case Updates

Send case activity and payments through the API instead of completing the monthly case update in the Partner Portal.

<a id="how-it-works"></a>

## How It Works

By default, Debitura generates recurring case update requests for eligible active cases assigned to you, surfaced in the Partner Portal as **Update Case Status** tasks. A case must pass the scheduler's timing and eligibility gates: legacy cases, cases without a collection start date, cases with an unresolved prior request, and cases not yet due are skipped.

Once your integration is feeding case activity and payments, Debitura switches your partner account to a mode where those monthly requests are no longer generated. You report continuously through the API; the recurring manual task stops.

```text
Default          Debitura → monthly update request → you complete it in the portal

Automated        You → case activity + payments via API → Debitura
                 (no monthly update request generated)
```

The setting is on your partner account, not per case. It applies to every case assigned to you.

<a id="what-you-need-to-send"></a>

## What You Need to Send

Two data types cover what the monthly update collects:

| Data | Endpoint | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Payments** | `POST /cases/{id}/payments` | Omit the payout split and Debitura computes it from the case terms. See [Record Payments](https://docs.debitura.com/collection-partners/integration-guides/record-payments.md). |
| **Case activity** | `POST /cases/{id}/notes` | One note per activity, posted as it happens. See [Update Case Progress](https://docs.debitura.com/collection-partners/integration-guides/update-case-progress.md). |

Both must arrive on a regular cadence, and both must reference cases that resolve — see [Case matching](https://docs.debitura.com/collection-partners/concepts/automating-case-updates.md#case-matching) below.

Case activity is free text. There is no activity-type field: `POST /cases/{id}/notes` takes a `description` and an optional `eventDate`. Back-date `eventDate` so the timeline reflects when the activity actually happened rather than when you posted it.

<a id="case-matching"></a>

## Case Matching

Every row you send must resolve to a Debitura case. Rows that do not match are not applied.

Resolve case IDs ahead of time using your own reference:

-   `GET /cases/by-partner-reference/{reference}` — single lookup
-   `GET /cases/by-partner-reference?references=` — batch, up to 100
-   `GET /cases/by-creditor-reference` — by the creditor's reference

Set your reference on cases before you start sending data.

Silent under-reporting

Unmatched references are the most common reason an automated feed silently under-reports.

<a id="checking-your-own-state"></a>

## Checking Your Own State

`GET /me` returns `surveyCadenceMode`:

| Value | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `Standard` | Monthly update requests are generated for your cases |
| `DecisionPointOnly` | No monthly update requests are generated |

Case responses also embed `collectionPartner.surveyCadenceMode`, but there it is a deprecated number (`0` = `Standard`, `1` = `DecisionPointOnly`) kept for existing integrations. Read your own setting from `GET /me`.

<a id="what-still-requires-the-portal"></a>

## What Still Requires the Portal

Automating case updates replaces recurring reporting. It does not replace decisions.

**No API endpoint exists** for these — handle them in the Partner Portal:

-   Pausing a case
-   Extending the collection period (promise to pay, payment agreement)
-   Registering a debtor dispute
-   Legal escalation and legal quotes

**Available via the API**, though many partners still handle them manually:

-   `POST /cases/{id}/close` — closing a case, with a close code
-   `POST /cases/{id}/start` — accepting and starting a case

<a id="the-end-of-the-collection-period"></a>

## The End of the Collection Period

When a case's exclusive collection period approaches its end, the next step is a judgement call: continue, escalate to legal, extend, or recommend closure.

When an Active collection period is within 30 days of ending, a `DecisionPointOnly` case becomes eligible for the same **Update Case Status** scheduler used by the routine cadence. The window bypasses the cadence-mode suppression; it does not bypass the other lifecycle, start-date, prior-request, and 30-day due gates. This surviving update exists to capture the end-of-period judgement call, and an unresolved case-update task prevents another from being created on top of it.

You can also track the period yourself instead of waiting for the task:

```http
GET /cases/{id}/exclusive-period
```

This returns the full period chain, including any extensions triggered by debtor actions. Poll it, or check it when a case's activity slows, if you want to anticipate the period end before the task appears.

<a id="effect-on-your-quality-score"></a>

## Effect on Your Quality Score

The SLA component of your quality score weights case-update responses alongside case verification and chat replies. When update requests are no longer generated for you, the score **renormalises across the remaining task types** rather than counting the absent ones as missed. Automating your updates does not reduce your SLA score. The occasional period-end task described above is scored normally when it appears — it isn't held against you, and it's the reason this task type won't always be fully absent from your history.

<a id="getting-switched-over"></a>

## Getting Switched Over

This is enabled by Debitura on your partner account, not self-serve. Contact [partner@debitura.com](mailto:partner@debitura.com) once your integration is sending payments and case activity on a regular cadence with references that resolve.

**Business context:** See [Automate Your Monthly Case Updates](https://support.debitura.com/en/articles/16149627-collection-partners-automate-your-monthly-case-updates) for the full onboarding process, and for the file-based submission route if API integration isn't an option for you.

<a id="api-endpoints"></a>

## API Endpoints

| Endpoint | Purpose |
| --- | --- |
| `POST /cases/{id}/payments` | Record a payment |
| `POST /cases/{id}/notes` | Record case activity on one case |
| `GET /cases/by-partner-reference/{reference}` | Resolve your reference to a case, single lookup |
| `GET /cases/by-partner-reference?references=` | Resolve your reference to a case, batch lookup up to 100 |
| `GET /cases/by-creditor-reference` | Resolve the creditor's reference to a case |
| `GET /cases/{id}/exclusive-period` | Collection period chain and end date |
| `GET /me` | Your partner account, including `surveyCadenceMode` |

For full endpoint documentation, see the [API Reference](https://docs.debitura.com/api/collection-partner.md).