Written by Josh Hutter

Welcome to the latest edition of FMTC’s Tech Corner. 

When integrating with the FMTC Deals API, understanding how deal statuses change over time is critical to maintaining an accurate and reliable system. Deals move through distinct lifecycle states, and how those states appear, or intentionally don’t appear, in the API directly affects how partners manage and clean up their own data.

This post explains:

  • How the Deals API handles active, expired, and deleted deals
  • Why recently expired deals remain visible for a short time
  • Best practices to keep your database clean, accurate, and fully in sync with FMTC

How Deal Statuses Work in the Deals API

By default, the Deals API returns active deals. However, there is one intentional exception: recently expired deals may continue to appear for a limited time.

This behavior exists to help partners reliably remove expired deals from their systems—not to artificially extend the life of a promotion.

Active Deals

Active deals are currently valid and available to end users. By default, the Deals API returns:

  • Deals with a status of active
  • Full deal payloads with all standard fields

If a deal is active in FMTC, it will be returned as active in the API. No additional parameters or filtering are required.

Expired Deals (72-Hour Visibility Window)

When a deal expires, its status changes from active to expired. At that point:

  • The deal remains in the Deals API
  • The status field explicitly returns expired
  • The deal continues to return a full payload
  • The deal remains visible for 72 hours after expiration

This 72-hour window is intentional. It provides integrators who store deals locally with a clear, deterministic signal that a deal has expired, allowing them to update or remove it from their own databases.

Without this window, expired deals would simply disappear from the feed, making it impossible to distinguish between a deal that expired naturally and one that was intentionally removed.

After 72 Hours

Once the 72-hour window has passed:

  • The expired deal is removed from the Deals API
  • It will no longer appear in any subsequent API responses

At this point, FMTC considers the deal lifecycle complete.

Deleted Deals: Immediate and Permanent Removal

Deleted deals behave very differently from expired deals.

A deal may be deleted when:

  • A program explicitly requests removal, or
  • The deal fails FMTC’s internal QA or retesting processes

When a deal is deleted:

  • It is removed immediately from the API
  • It will not appear in the next API call
  • There is no grace period
  • There is no intermediate expired state

Once deleted, a deal is permanently removed and cannot be relied on for cleanup or status reconciliation.

Deal Status Comparison

State Appears in API Status Field Duration
Active Yes active Until expiration
Expired Yes expired 72 hours
Deleted No N/A Immediate removal
  • Expired deals are intentionally visible so you can react to them.
  • Deleted deals are intentionally invisible and should not be relied on for cleanup logic.

Best Practices for Integrators

To keep your system accurate and in sync with FMTC, we recommend the following:

1. Always process expired deals

If a deal appears with a status of expired, ensure it is marked as expired or removed in your system before it disappears from the feed.

2. Do not assume missing deals are expired

A deal that no longer appears in the API may have been deleted, not expired. Absence alone should not be used as an expiration signal.

3. Use the 72-hour window intentionally

This window allows you to reconcile deal states cleanly and deterministically—rather than guessing after the fact.

4. Treat deleted deals as final

Deleted deals will not reappear and should not be expected to provide cleanup signals. Your system should already be aligned by the time a deal reaches this state.

When the Standard Feed Isn’t Enough

Every integration has unique requirements, and in some cases the standard Deals API may not provide the exact data structure or behavior your system needs. If your use case requires more granular control, additional signals, or custom data workflows, FMTC can build custom APIs tailored to your specific requirements. Whether you need specialized filtering, alternative lifecycle handling, or access to additional datasets, our team can help design a solution that fits how your platform actually operates.

Need Assistance?

We’re always here to help. If you have questions or concerns, contact your account manager or email us at support@fmtc.co.

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