# Create a Pirate Ship SCAN Form and book a pickup

> Close the shipping day in Pirate Ship: one USPS SCAN Form for today's labels and a free next-day USPS pickup, with UPS pickups only on your OK.

Source: https://cotlet.dev/integrations/pirate-ship-api-mcp-server/scan-form-and-pickup

The last label of the day is printed and the packages are stacked by the door. You still have to open End of Day for the SCAN Form, then Schedule a Pickup, count the parcels and guess the total weight before the 3 AM cutoff.

Cotlet does it in your own Pirate Ship account with list\_shipments, create\_scan\_form and schedule\_pickup, called by your AI agent, an n8n workflow or a script.

[Request access](https://cotlet.dev/app/signup?app=pirate-ship) [All Pirate Ship tools](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/pirate-ship-api-mcp-server)

Hosted · nothing to install or maintain

Official options

## Can Pirate Ship do this on its own?

Pirate Ship has no API for SCAN Forms or pickups (checked 12 Oct 2026). It does create the day's SCAN Form on its own every evening if you do not click the button. Pickups get no such help: each USPS pickup is requested by hand in the web app, and UPS pickups on Pirate Ship are manual only, since UPS Smart Pickups are not offered there.

By hand

## How you do it in Pirate Ship today

1. On the Ship page, click End of Day; Pirate Ship groups USPS labels by Ship Date and, with several Ship From Addresses, a drop-down at the top switches between them.
2. Click Create SCAN Form next to today's group, then Print SCAN Form for the letter-size PDF you hand to USPS with the packages.
3. Back on the Ship page, click the blue Schedule a Pickup button, then Request Pickup > USPS, choose the Pickup Location and where the packages will be left.
4. Check the package count and total estimated weight that Pirate Ship pre-fills from today's Ship Date, and correct them if only part of the pile is going.
5. UPS goes through Request Pickup > UPS with a service, a count per service and a paid On Call fee. Doing both carriers every evening is easy to skip, and a missed USPS request means the parcels sit until the day after.

With an agent

## How to create a Pirate Ship SCAN Form and book a pickup

Prompt

```
When today's labels are done, make the SCAN Form for the USPS ones and book a free USPS pickup at the front porch for tomorrow. For UPS, tell me the count and ask before booking.
```

1. 01  
### Count what actually ships today  
list\_shipments since today, split by carrier, gives the package count. Labels already refunded are left out, and USPS labels bought after 8:00 PM local time are counted for tomorrow, the same way Pirate Ship groups them.
2. 02  
### Make the SCAN Form once, then only for stragglers  
create\_scan\_form runs for today's Ship Date and each Ship From Address you used. If a form already exists and more USPS labels came in later, the agent makes a second form for those rather than looking for a way to edit the first.
3. 03  
### Check the USPS pickup qualifies  
USPS will not collect a pile that is only Media Mail. The agent checks that at least one Ground Advantage, Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express or international label is in the pickup, and otherwise tells you to drop the parcels at the Post Office.
4. 04  
### Book USPS for the next pickup day  
schedule\_pickup with carrier usps, the count, a total weight from the day's batches and the spot you named. A request made on Saturday or Sunday lands on Monday, and the agent says so in the report.
5. 05  
### Treat UPS as a paid choice  
For UPS labels the agent stops and shows the count with the fee before calling schedule\_pickup, because free drop-off at a UPS location is the alternative. A late-day request for tomorrow may be charged as same-day, so it books UPS early.

### What you get back

Example data

```
Monday 12 Oct 2026, Ship From: Garage studio.
USPS: 24 labels on SCAN Form 1 (PDF ready). 3 labels bought at 8:40 PM moved to tomorrow's form.
USPS pickup booked for Tuesday 13 Oct, 24 packages, 31 lb total, left at the front porch. Free.
UPS: 4 labels (UPS Ground). Next-day pickup costs $4.75; waiting for your OK or drop-off at The UPS Store.
```

### Other ways to ask

- Every weekday at 6 PM, create the SCAN Form for the Warehouse address only and book the USPS pickup at the side door.
- Just make a SCAN Form for batch b\_7Q4K2M so the friend who prints my labels gets it with the Share Link.
- It's Friday: create the form and book USPS for Saturday, and book UPS for Monday morning only if there are more than 10 UPS parcels.

Before you automate it

## What Pirate Ship allows, and what to know first

- Pirate Ship SCAN Forms cover USPS labels only, cannot be edited once created, and stay on the End of Day page for 14 days.
- USPS labels bought in Pirate Ship after 8:00 PM local time fall onto the next day's SCAN Form.
- The cutoff for a free next-day USPS pickup booked through Pirate Ship is 3 AM ET, and USPS picks up every day except Sunday. A specific time slot costs $25 directly at usps.com.
- Pirate Ship lists next-day UPS pickups at $4.75 and same-day at $10, plus a Saturday or Delivery Area surcharge where it applies. A late request for tomorrow may be treated as same-day.
- Pirate Ship's insurance provider does not accept a SCAN Form as proof that a package entered the mail; a tracking scan is required for an InsureShield claim.

schedule\_pickup asks for your OK by default. To run it daily without you, switch confirmation off for that tool in your dashboard.

Sources: [Can I print an End of Day SCAN Form?](https://support.pirateship.com/en/articles/1068447-can-i-print-an-end-of-day-scan-form) · [How do I schedule a USPS pickup?](https://support.pirateship.com/en/articles/1068237-how-do-i-schedule-a-usps-pickup) · [How do I schedule a UPS pickup?](https://support.pirateship.com/en/articles/5611367-how-do-i-schedule-a-ups-pickup)

REST

## Call schedule\_pickup from a script

curl

```
curl https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/pirate-ship/schedule_pickup \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"carrier":"usps","date":"2026-10-13","package_count":24,"total_weight_oz":496,"location":"front porch"}'
```

Example response

```
{
"carrier": "USPS",
"date": "2026-10-13",
"package_count": 12,
"total_weight_oz": 264,
"fee_usd": 0,
"status": "scheduled"
}
```

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the tool is pirate-ship\_schedule\_pickup. Example data.

[Schedule it in n8n, Make, Zapier or cron](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/pirate-ship-api-mcp-server#automations)

Tools

## Pirate Ship tools this automation uses

__Cotlet Pirate Ship tools used to create a Pirate Ship SCAN Form and book a pickup__
| Tool | Parameters |
| ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| list\_shipments | search, status, service, since, cursor |
| create\_scan\_form | ship\_date, batch\_id, from\_address\_id |
| schedule\_pickup | carrier, date, package\_count, total\_weight\_oz, location |

[All 14 Pirate Ship tools with descriptions](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/pirate-ship-api-mcp-server#tools)

## Frequently asked questions

### What if USPS does not show up for the pickup?

Pirate Ship books the request, but your local Post Office carries it out, and the carrier comes around the usual mail time. For repeated misses Pirate Ship advises asking the Postmaster at your local Post Office. Your agent can book again for the next day.

### Can I give a SCAN Form that lists a label I am not shipping?

Yes. Pirate Ship says a label on the form that you do not hand over, or that you refund, does not affect the other labels or the refund.

## More Pirate Ship automations

- [Buy Pirate Ship shipping labels in bulk](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/pirate-ship-api-mcp-server/buy-shipping-labels-in-bulk)
- [Refund unused Pirate Ship labels](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/pirate-ship-api-mcp-server/refund-unused-labels)
- [Pirate Ship API and MCP server: every tool](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/pirate-ship-api-mcp-server)
- [All use cases](https://cotlet.dev/use-cases)

## Give your agent access to Pirate Ship.

Free 7-day trial with 5,000 credits, no card needed. Cotlet is independent and not affiliated with Pirate Ship.

[Request access](https://cotlet.dev/app/signup?app=pirate-ship)