Open APIs

Hello everyone,

In our end-to-end quoting process, we would like to capture the moment when a sales representative starts creating a quote - i.e., to persist the quote metadata such as owner, creation date, and initial state (draft).

However, according to the TMF648 specification, the quoteItem array is mandatory in the Quote_Create schema. This means it's not possible to create a quote record without at least one quote item.

We're wondering:

• What are the business or design reasons behind requiring at least one quoteItem when creating a Quote?

• Has anyone faced a similar use case where you needed to create a draft quote (e.g., before any product lines are added)?

• If so, how did you approach this requirement - did you extend the API, use a custom status, or handle it outside the TMF648 model?

Thanks in advance for any insights or experience you can share!

------------------------------
Jan Brnka
T-Mobile Czech & Slovak Telekom, a.s.
------------------------------

Hi,

I checked the OAS v5 and found no Quote_Create schema, but the minItems: 1 requirement for quoteItem appears both in the base Quote schema and in Quote_FVO used for POST.

This is surprising and may be an oversight from TM Forum. In real telecom systems, carts, quotes and orders can always be created empty because:

• The header holds the customer, channel and context.

• Items are added only after selecting offerings.

• Users often remove all items and restart during negotiation, without creating a new quote.

I would assume all of us!

In my experience, requiring at least one item is fine only if tied to the state model. For example: allow empty quote in Draft, then enforce business rules when moving to later states. This mirrors real-world behaviour far better than a blanket rule that "a quote must always contain at least one item", which is very user-unfriendly, btw.

If you need this flexibility, a practical solution is to customise your OAS and relax this constraint.

PS: the requirement is also inconsistent: Shopping Cart does not requires items, Product Order does.

------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Nov 20, 2025 11:06
From: Jan Brnka
Subject: Creating a Quote without Quote Items

Hello everyone,

In our end-to-end quoting process, we would like to capture the moment when a sales representative starts creating a quote - i.e., to persist the quote metadata such as owner, creation date, and initial state (draft).

However, according to the TMF648 specification, the quoteItem array is mandatory in the Quote_Create schema. This means it's not possible to create a quote record without at least one quote item.

We're wondering:

• What are the business or design reasons behind requiring at least one quoteItem when creating a Quote?

• Has anyone faced a similar use case where you needed to create a draft quote (e.g., before any product lines are added)?

• If so, how did you approach this requirement - did you extend the API, use a custom status, or handle it outside the TMF648 model?

Thanks in advance for any insights or experience you can share!

------------------------------
Jan Brnka
T-Mobile Czech & Slovak Telekom, a.s.
------------------------------

Thank you, Matthieu, for your answer.

Could you clarify what the formal process is within TM Forum for proposing a change/correction to the API specification (e.g., relaxing the minItems constraint in the Quote schema)? Is this handled through a formal change request, contribution to the OAS, or another channel?

And if there is a way I can support this, I'd be glad to contribute.

Hi,

I checked the OAS v5 and found no Quote_Create schema, but the minItems: 1 requirement for quoteItem appears both in the base Quote schema and in Quote_FVO used for POST.

This is surprising and may be an oversight from TM Forum. In real telecom systems, carts, quotes and orders can always be created empty because:

• The header holds the customer, channel and context.

• Items are added only after selecting offerings.

• Users often remove all items and restart during negotiation, without creating a new quote.

I would assume all of us!

In my experience, requiring at least one item is fine only if tied to the state model. For example: allow empty quote in Draft, then enforce business rules when moving to later states. This mirrors real-world behaviour far better than a blanket rule that "a quote must always contain at least one item", which is very user-unfriendly, btw.

If you need this flexibility, a practical solution is to customise your OAS and relax this constraint.

PS: the requirement is also inconsistent: Shopping Cart does not requires items, Product Order does.

------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Nov 20, 2025 11:06
From: Jan Brnka
Subject: Creating a Quote without Quote Items

Hello everyone,

In our end-to-end quoting process, we would like to capture the moment when a sales representative starts creating a quote - i.e., to persist the quote metadata such as owner, creation date, and initial state (draft).

However, according to the TMF648 specification, the quoteItem array is mandatory in the Quote_Create schema. This means it's not possible to create a quote record without at least one quote item.

We're wondering:

• What are the business or design reasons behind requiring at least one quoteItem when creating a Quote?

• Has anyone faced a similar use case where you needed to create a draft quote (e.g., before any product lines are added)?

• If so, how did you approach this requirement - did you extend the API, use a custom status, or handle it outside the TMF648 model?

Thanks in advance for any insights or experience you can share!

------------------------------
Jan Brnka
T-Mobile Czech & Slovak Telekom, a.s.
------------------------------

I have no idea how this works. It's usually difficult to contact the API team. I've made several requests to correct OAS files or improve them by sending email to the owner of the API or the API projects but never got response. I wish there would be a formal process with a website where we can make request and interact with the API owner.

Thank you, Matthieu, for your answer.

Could you clarify what the formal process is within TM Forum for proposing a change/correction to the API specification (e.g., relaxing the minItems constraint in the Quote schema)? Is this handled through a formal change request, contribution to the OAS, or another channel?

And if there is a way I can support this, I'd be glad to contribute.

Hi,

I checked the OAS v5 and found no Quote_Create schema, but the minItems: 1 requirement for quoteItem appears both in the base Quote schema and in Quote_FVO used for POST.

This is surprising and may be an oversight from TM Forum. In real telecom systems, carts, quotes and orders can always be created empty because:

• The header holds the customer, channel and context.

• Items are added only after selecting offerings.

• Users often remove all items and restart during negotiation, without creating a new quote.

I would assume all of us!

In my experience, requiring at least one item is fine only if tied to the state model. For example: allow empty quote in Draft, then enforce business rules when moving to later states. This mirrors real-world behaviour far better than a blanket rule that "a quote must always contain at least one item", which is very user-unfriendly, btw.

If you need this flexibility, a practical solution is to customise your OAS and relax this constraint.

PS: the requirement is also inconsistent: Shopping Cart does not requires items, Product Order does.

------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: Nov 20, 2025 11:06
From: Jan Brnka
Subject: Creating a Quote without Quote Items

Hello everyone,

In our end-to-end quoting process, we would like to capture the moment when a sales representative starts creating a quote - i.e., to persist the quote metadata such as owner, creation date, and initial state (draft).

However, according to the TMF648 specification, the quoteItem array is mandatory in the Quote_Create schema. This means it's not possible to create a quote record without at least one quote item.

We're wondering:

• What are the business or design reasons behind requiring at least one quoteItem when creating a Quote?

• Has anyone faced a similar use case where you needed to create a draft quote (e.g., before any product lines are added)?

• If so, how did you approach this requirement - did you extend the API, use a custom status, or handle it outside the TMF648 model?

Thanks in advance for any insights or experience you can share!

------------------------------
Jan Brnka
T-Mobile Czech & Slovak Telekom, a.s.
------------------------------

Hello everyone,

In our end-to-end quoting process, we would like to capture the moment when a sales representative starts creating a quote - i.e., to persist the quote metadata such as owner, creation date, and initial state (draft).

However, according to the TMF648 specification, the quoteItem array is mandatory in the Quote_Create schema. This means it's not possible to create a quote record without at least one quote item.

We're wondering:

• What are the business or design reasons behind requiring at least one quoteItem when creating a Quote?

• Has anyone faced a similar use case where you needed to create a draft quote (e.g., before any product lines are added)?

• If so, how did you approach this requirement - did you extend the API, use a custom status, or handle it outside the TMF648 model?

Thanks in advance for any insights or experience you can share!

Hi Jan,

The TMF648 Quote API is primarily intended to generate a quote from a set of ProductOffering, which is why quoteItems are mandatory-issuing a quote without pricing at least one target product is not supported. This ensures the quote is complete and accurate, delivering a clear estimate to the customer.

Other APIs, such as TMF699, can be used to track sales opportunities. In that case, you are simply capturing the prospect's intent until they clearly signal a willingness to purchase or request a quotation, which can then evolve into a ProductOrder or a Quote.

Best Regards,

Hello everyone,

In our end-to-end quoting process, we would like to capture the moment when a sales representative starts creating a quote - i.e., to persist the quote metadata such as owner, creation date, and initial state (draft).

However, according to the TMF648 specification, the quoteItem array is mandatory in the Quote_Create schema. This means it's not possible to create a quote record without at least one quote item.

We're wondering:

• What are the business or design reasons behind requiring at least one quoteItem when creating a Quote?

• Has anyone faced a similar use case where you needed to create a draft quote (e.g., before any product lines are added)?

• If so, how did you approach this requirement - did you extend the API, use a custom status, or handle it outside the TMF648 model?

Thanks in advance for any insights or experience you can share!

Hello everyone,

In our end-to-end quoting process, we would like to capture the moment when a sales representative starts creating a quote - i.e., to persist the quote metadata such as owner, creation date, and initial state (draft).

However, according to the TMF648 specification, the quoteItem array is mandatory in the Quote_Create schema. This means it's not possible to create a quote record without at least one quote item.

We're wondering:

• What are the business or design reasons behind requiring at least one quoteItem when creating a Quote?

• Has anyone faced a similar use case where you needed to create a draft quote (e.g., before any product lines are added)?

• If so, how did you approach this requirement - did you extend the API, use a custom status, or handle it outside the TMF648 model?

Thanks in advance for any insights or experience you can share!

Hello everyone,

In our end-to-end quoting process, we would like to capture the moment when a sales representative starts creating a quote - i.e., to persist the quote metadata such as owner, creation date, and initial state (draft).

However, according to the TMF648 specification, the quoteItem array is mandatory in the Quote_Create schema. This means it's not possible to create a quote record without at least one quote item.

We're wondering:

• What are the business or design reasons behind requiring at least one quoteItem when creating a Quote?

• Has anyone faced a similar use case where you needed to create a draft quote (e.g., before any product lines are added)?

• If so, how did you approach this requirement - did you extend the API, use a custom status, or handle it outside the TMF648 model?

Thanks in advance for any insights or experience you can share!

The TMF648 Quote API is primarily intended to generate a quote from a set of ProductOffering, which is why quoteItems are mandatory-issuing a quote without pricing at least one target product is not supported on the current versions. 

Other APIs, such as TMF699, can be used to track sales opportunities. In that case, you are simply capturing the prospect's intent until they clearly signal a willingness to purchase or request a quotation, which can then evolve into a ProductOrder or a Quote.

Hello everyone,

In our end-to-end quoting process, we would like to capture the moment when a sales representative starts creating a quote - i.e., to persist the quote metadata such as owner, creation date, and initial state (draft).

However, according to the TMF648 specification, the quoteItem array is mandatory in the Quote_Create schema. This means it's not possible to create a quote record without at least one quote item.

We're wondering:

• What are the business or design reasons behind requiring at least one quoteItem when creating a Quote?

• Has anyone faced a similar use case where you needed to create a draft quote (e.g., before any product lines are added)?

• If so, how did you approach this requirement - did you extend the API, use a custom status, or handle it outside the TMF648 model?

Thanks in advance for any insights or experience you can share!