List customers used as parents

When to use this endpoint

Use Customers_listParents to populate a “parent customer” filter with only customers that actually have a direct site/child relationship.

This is not a list of every customer eligible to become a parent. Use Customers_list for a general parent picker.

Authentication and permissions

The request must authenticate with signed API-key fields or a logged-in CRM session. The handler performs no additional page or role-permission check.

The lookup and any write use the authenticated tenant; an ID from another tenant cannot be addressed through this call.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`active`	Integer string	No	Only the exact integer value `1` adds `is_active=1` to the parent query. Omitted, zero, and other values include active and inactive parents.

Example request

$parents = FM_api('Customers_listParents', [
	'active' => '1',
]);

Example response

[
  {
    "id": "1001",
    "name": "Northwind Group"
  }
]

Errors and unusual responses

Response	Condition
`{"error":"not logged in"}`	No authenticated tenant context is available. Invalid signed credentials can be rejected by the dispatcher before the handler runs.
`[]`	No non-deleted customer is referenced as a positive parent ID by a non-deleted child.

Legacy application errors may be returned with HTTP 200. Check the decoded response for error, not only the HTTP status.

Behaviour and edge cases

Both the returned parent and at least one referencing child must have deleted=0. The child’s active state is not checked.
Only direct stored relationships determine membership; the endpoint does not return descendants or relationship counts.
Rows are ordered by parent name using the database collation. IDs with no corresponding non-deleted parent row are omitted.
There is no pagination or result-size limit.

See it in Fieldmotion

CRM1

CRM1 uses Customers_listParents for the parent filter on Customers and for parent filters on Jobs and report-data pages. Change the active filter on Customers and watch the endpoint reload with the matching active value.

CRM2

CRM2 loads Customers_listParents for Customers, Assets Timeline, Schedule of Rates, and report-data filters. Filter Network requests by the function name while opening one of those pages.

Related endpoints

Customer_getSubsidiaries returns the direct children of one parent.
Customer_getChildrenDT returns all descendants for one customer.
Customer_setParentId changes the relationship that makes a customer appear here.