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How to use the PassKit C# SDK

The PassKit C# QuickStart provides working examples for creating and managing Apple Wallet and Google Wallet passes using the PassKit C#/.NET SDK.

Written by Claudia

The QuickStart includes examples for:

  • Membership and loyalty cards

  • Coupons

  • Event tickets

  • Boarding passes

This guide will help you configure your credentials, run the C# QuickStart and test the included examples.

Before You Start

Before using the C# QuickStart, you will need:

  • A PassKit account.

  • Your PassKit SDK credentials.

  • .NET 8 SDK or a newer supported .NET SDK/runtime.

  • An Apple Wallet certificate if you want to run the flights example.

You can use any C# compatible development environment or code editor.

Download the QuickStart

The C# QuickStart is available from the PassKit C# QuickStart repository.

Clone the repository and restore the project dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/PassKit/passkit-c-sharp-quickstart.git 
cd passkit-c-sharp-quickstart dotnet restore c-sharp-quickstart.csproj

Alternatively, download the repository as a ZIP from GitHub, extract it and open a terminal in the extracted folder.

Get Your PassKit SDK Credentials

The PassKit SDK uses SDK credentials to securely authenticate with the PassKit API.

To generate and download your SDK credentials:

  1. Log in to your PassKit account.

  2. Click your account icon in the bottom-left corner, then select Account from the menu.

  3. Select Developer Tools.

  4. Under Account Credentials, locate SDK Credentials.

  5. Follow the on-screen instructions to generate your credentials.

When generating your SDK credentials, you will be asked to create a password. This password encrypts your private key and is separate from your PassKit account password.

Your SDK credentials contain three files:

  • certificate.pem

  • key.pem

  • ca-chain.pem

Keep your SDK credential password and credential files secure.

Important: Do not commit or share your SDK credentials. Generating a new set of SDK credentials will invalidate your existing credentials.

Add Your SDK Credentials

In the root of the QuickStart repository, create a folder named:

certs

Add all three SDK credential files to this folder.

Your project should contain:

passkit-c-sharp-quickstart/ 
├── certs/ 
│   ├── ca-chain.pem 
│   ├── certificate.pem 
│   └── key.pem

The QuickStart is already configured to ignore the credential files in Git.

You do not need to manually decrypt key.pem. The SDK can use the encrypted private key with the password you created when generating your SDK credentials.

Configure the QuickStart

Create your local .env file by copying .env.example.

On macOS or Linux:

cp .env.example .env

On Windows PowerShell:

Copy-Item .env.example .env

Open .env and configure your PassKit environment and SDK credential password.

The default configuration is:

PASSKIT_ENVIRONMENT=pub1 PASSKIT_CERTIFICATE=certs/certificate.pem PASSKIT_PRIVATE_KEY=certs/key.pem PASSKIT_ROOT_CERT=certs/ca-chain.pem PASSKIT_PASSPHRASE=replace-with-your-sdk-credential-password PASSKIT_POOL_SIZE=5 PASSKIT_RECIPIENT_EMAIL= PASSKIT_APPLE_CERTIFICATE= PASSKIT_KEEP_ASSETS=false

Replace:

replace-with-your-sdk-credential-password

with the password you created when generating your SDK credentials.

Both the .env file and credential files are ignored by Git and should not be committed to source control.

Configure Your API Region

Your PASSKIT_ENVIRONMENT must match the API region associated with your PassKit account.

You can find your API region under Developer Tools → API Region in your PassKit account.

Use:

  • pub1 for Europe

  • pub2 for the United States

For example, if your account uses the European region:

PASSKIT_ENVIRONMENT=pub1

Your PassKit account and its data belong to a specific region, so make sure this value matches the region shown in your account.

Run the QuickStart

Once your credentials and .env file have been configured, run:

dotnet run --project c-sharp-quickstart.csproj

The QuickStart will display a menu:

Choose an example:   1. loyalty   2. coupons   3. tickets   4. flights Selection [1]:

Select the example you want to run.

You can also run a specific example directly from the terminal:

dotnet run --project c-sharp-quickstart.csproj -- loyalty dotnet run --project c-sharp-quickstart.csproj -- coupons dotnet run --project c-sharp-quickstart.csproj -- tickets dotnet run --project c-sharp-quickstart.csproj -- flights

Open Your Wallet Pass

When an example completes successfully, the QuickStart outputs a PassKit pass URL.

Open the URL on a compatible mobile device to add the pass to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet.

If you open the URL on a desktop, the PassKit page displays a QR code that you can scan with your phone.

What the Examples Demonstrate

Each example demonstrates a different part of the PassKit API.

Loyalty

The loyalty example demonstrates:

  • Creating templates

  • Creating a membership or loyalty program

  • Creating tiers

  • Enrolling a member

  • Looking up a member using an external ID

  • Checking a member in and out

  • Earning points

  • Burning points

Coupons

The coupons example demonstrates:

  • Creating templates

  • Creating a campaign

  • Creating offers

  • Issuing coupons

  • Looking up coupons

  • Redeeming coupons

  • Voiding coupons

Event Tickets

The tickets example demonstrates:

  • Creating a template

  • Creating a production

  • Creating a venue

  • Creating an event

  • Creating a ticket type

  • Issuing an event ticket

  • Validating a ticket

  • Redeeming a ticket

Flights

The flights example demonstrates:

  • Creating a boarding pass template

  • Creating a carrier

  • Creating airports

  • Creating a flight

  • Creating a scheduled flight designator

  • Adding boarding pass fields

  • Issuing passenger and infant boarding passes

Running the Flights Example

The flights example requires an Apple Wallet pass certificate to be uploaded to your PassKit account.

Add the Pass Type Identifier for your Apple Wallet certificate to .env:

PASSKIT_APPLE_CERTIFICATE=pass.com.example.airline

Replace the example value with your own Pass Type Identifier.

If PASSKIT_APPLE_CERTIFICATE is empty, the flights example will explain that an Apple Wallet certificate is required and exit without creating the flight resources.

Keeping Generated Resources

By default, the QuickStart automatically removes the test resources it creates after running an example.

This helps prevent test programs, campaigns, tickets and other objects from accumulating in your PassKit account.

If you want to inspect the generated resources in your PassKit account, change the following setting in .env:

PASSKIT_KEEP_ASSETS=true

When this is enabled, you will need to delete the generated resources manually.

For normal QuickStart use, leave:

PASSKIT_KEEP_ASSETS=false

Sending a Welcome Email

If you want the QuickStart to send the generated pass to an email address, set:

PASSKIT_RECIPIENT_EMAIL=

to the email address you want to use.

For example:

PASSKIT_RECIPIENT_EMAIL=example@example.com

Leave this value empty if you do not want to send a welcome email.

Troubleshooting

Credential files cannot be found

Check that certificate.pem, key.pem and ca-chain.pem are all inside the certs folder and that their filenames have not been changed.

You should also run the QuickStart commands from the repository's root folder.

Private key or certificate cannot be loaded

Check the value of:

PASSKIT_PASSPHRASE

This must be the password you created when generating your SDK credentials, not your PassKit account password.

If you no longer have the password or credential files, generate a new set of SDK credentials and replace all three files.

Authentication or connection fails

Check Developer Tools → API Region in your PassKit account and confirm that PASSKIT_ENVIRONMENT matches your account:

  • pub1 for Europe

  • pub2 for the United States

You should also check whether a VPN, firewall or network policy is blocking outbound HTTPS or gRPC connections.

Flights do not run

Confirm that an Apple Wallet certificate has been uploaded to PassKit and that its Pass Type Identifier has been added to:

PASSKIT_APPLE_CERTIFICATE

Generated resources remain in your account

The QuickStart attempts to clean up the resources created during each example.

If resources remain after an example, check the terminal output for any cleanup errors and remove the remaining resources from your PassKit account.

Also confirm that:

PASSKIT_KEEP_ASSETS=false

Next Steps

Once you have successfully run the C# QuickStart, you can use the examples as a reference when implementing PassKit in your own C#/.NET application.

For additional methods, request fields and response definitions, refer to the PassKit developer documentation.

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