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Delivering Access Methods

Learn how to deliver key cards, PIN codes, mobile keys, and Instant Keys to your users.

Early Access Preview. The Access Grants API is currently in Alpha. We're actively developing it and seeking early feedback at [email protected]. Expect breaking changes as we refine the design.

The access_method.is_issued property and event let you know when an access method is ready to deliver to your user. Once an access method is ready to deliver, retrieve the access method by ID. Remember, the returned Access Grant includes the IDs of all the requested access methods. Then, deliver the access method to your user. The delivery mechanism varies for different access method modes.

If you've created an Access Grant that includes a mobile key, the Access Grant also contains the corresponding Instant Key URL, for added efficiency. In this case, you do not need to retrieve the access method. Instead, you can identify the Instant Key URL directly from the returned Access Grant.

This topic describes how to deliver the various access method modes.

PIN Codes

You can retrieve the access method by ID. The returned access method resource includes the code that you can share with your user.

Code:

seam.access_methods.get(
  access_method_id = "f47ac10b-58cc-4372-a567-0e02b2c3d479"
)

Output:

AccessMethod(
  access_method_id="f47ac10b-58cc-4372-a567-0e02b2c3d479",
  display_name="PIN Code",
  mode="code",
  created_at="2025-06-16T16:54:19.946606Z",
  is_issued=true,
  issued_at="2025-06-16T16:55:03.924353Z",
  code="1234",
  ...
)

Plastic Key Cards

Some access systems require you to encode plastic key cards. In this case, the access method's is_encoding_required property is true. You can use the Seam API or Seam Console to encode and scan the cards. For details, see Working with Card Encoders and Scanners.

Once you've encoded the card, the access method's is_encoding_required property changes to false, and its is_issued property changes to true. The card is ready to be delivered to your user.

Mobile Keys

You deliver a mobile key to your user within your own mobile app that you develop using the Seam mobile SDKs. For mobile keys, the access method includes a client_session_id property that you can use to identify the client session and client session token that you need to initialize the Seam client on your user's mobile device. Then, your user simply taps a button in your app to unlock the door. For details, see Mobile Access.

Code:

seam.access_methods.get(
  access_method_id = "6ba7b810-9dad-11d1-80b4-00c04fd430c8"
)

Output:

AccessMethod(
  access_method_id="6ba7b810-9dad-11d1-80b4-00c04fd430c8",
  display_name="Mobile Key",
  mode="mobile_key",
  created_at="2025-06-16T16:54:19.946606Z",
  is_issued=true,
  issued_at="2025-06-16T16:55:03.924353Z",
  client_session_id="3f2504e0-4f89-11d3-9a0c-0305e82c3301",
  instant_key_url="https://ik.seam.co/ABCXYZ",
  ...
)

Instant Keys

Each mobile key that you create also includes an Instant Key. Seam Instant Keys are the most streamlined mobile access experience available today. Both the Access Grant and the mobile key access method include the instant_key_url property. You deliver this URL to your user by sending it through text or email. No app download is required. You can also embed an Instant Key in your own app. For details, see Instant Keys and Delivering Instant Keys.

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