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Dispatch vs. Dragonfly routing

Immediate dispatch, or orders held for daily optimized routes.

Every API-enabled account handles incoming orders in one of two ways. Dragonfly sets the mode for your account during onboarding, to match how you deliver.

Dispatched on receipt

Each order is dispatched as soon as it arrives:

• One dropoff goes to an on-demand / catering driver.
• 2–25 dropoffs go out as one multi-stop route, in the order you sent them.

dispatchedTo in the create response says which. This fits catering, events and on-demand deliveries.

Routed by Dragonfly

The order is stored and waits for Dragonfly to build the day's routes from all of your orders. Dragonfly optimizes stop order and the number of drivers around your delivery windows, then dispatches the routes. This fits pharmacies, meal kits, grocery and any daily run with many single deliveries.

What you'll see:

1. Create returns "dispatchedTo": "dragonfly_routing" and "status": "PENDING".
2. The order stays PENDING until its route is assigned to a driver.
3. From then on, the order follows its own stop on the route: ASSIGNED → PICKED_UP (the route is underway) → DELIVERED once your stop is completed. If the stop fails, the order is FAILED.
4. trackingUrl appears once the route is dispatched.

How to send orders in this mode:

• One order per recipient (dropoff, not dropoffs).
• Always send a dropoff window. The window's date decides which delivery day the order joins.
• Send orders before your daily cutoff (agreed with your account manager) so they make that day's routes.
• You can cancel until the order is placed on a route. After that, call or email support and dispatch will pull it from the route.

See the daily routes guide for a worked example.

Something unclear or missing? Tell us.