Their API now looks much more interesting to me 
https://shapeshift.io/api.html#sendamount
We can now automate transactions where we exchange crypto to NBT, via http post! This gives access to an aweful load of possible application.
url: shapeshift.io/shift
method: POST
data type: JSON
data required:
withdrawal = the address for resulting coin to be sent to
pair = what coins are being exchanged in the form <input coin>_<output coin> ie btc_ltc
returnAddress = (Optional) address to return deposit to if anything goes wrong with exchange
example data: {"withdrawal":"AAAAAAAAAAAAA", "pair":"btc_ltc", returnAddress:"BBBBBBBBBBB"}
Success Output:
{
deposit:<Deposit Address>,
depositType:<Deposit Type>, //BTC
withdrawal:<Withdrawal Address>, // <-- will match address submitted in post
withdrawalType:<Withdrawal Type> //LTC
}
I 'll have a play with it when I get a chance.
EDIT: The workflow could go like this with BTC
-
Prepare the transaction by specifying the input coin, the NBT output address and the return address (BTC) in case something goes wrong
HTTP post shapeshift.io/shift
post data: {“withdrawal”:“BFree3gZJDHm1u2VQw4JyTDsF44sj9UcNr”, “pair”:“btc_nbt”, returnAddress:“1EtEH9fUNmuepkoqurz1zTvR9uNQYbmJGu”}
-
Parse the response and obtain the [BTC deposit Address]
-
Read the maximum limit of BTC we can send via API https://shapeshift.io/limit/btc_nbt
-
Send BTC to [BTC deposit Address] (within 10 minutes) and store the [txid]
-
(Optional) Ask for a receipt via email sending an HTTP post shapeshift.io/shift shapeshift.io/mail
post data {“email”:“mail@example.com”, “txid”:" [txid]"}