# StrideHQ API

> Creator payments infrastructure, built for developers.

[Read the API docs](https://developers.stridehq.ai/docs/get-started/introduction) · [Request access](https://developers.stridehq.ai/docs/support) · [Looking for the StrideHQ MCP instead?](https://stridehq.ai/stridehq-mcp.md)

Example: prepare a payment run.

```bash
curl https://api.sandbox.stridehq.ai/v1/payment_runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STRIDEHQ_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: quickstart-run-001" \
  -d '{
    "due_within_days": 7,
    "include_overdue": true
  }'
```

```json
{
  "id": "run_8Kd2Lx",
  "reference": "PR-STRIDE-26-053",
  "status": "pending_approval",
  "payment_count": 11,
  "skipped": [
    {
      "invoice_id": "inv_5Rb8",
      "reason": "over_po_amount"
    }
  ]
}
```

201 Created. Run prepared. Waiting for a person to approve it in StrideHQ.

## Two ways to connect
Use the API when your systems do the work. Use MCP when your team asks an AI assistant. Many teams use both.

- API, for your systems: connect accounting software, a data warehouse or internal tools. The same work runs automatically, every time.
- MCP, for AI assistants: your team asks Claude or another AI assistant to prepare runs and find problems, each person signed in as themselves.

## Everything behind creator payments, through one API
Paying creators means onboarding, invoices, purchase orders, compliance checks, payment runs and records. The API lets your systems work with each step.

- Creators: add, search, get and update creators. Check whether each one can be paid, and why not.
- Invoices: submit invoices as data or as a file, track their status and download the original.
- Purchase orders: read purchase orders and how much is left on each, to support invoice matching.
- Payment runs: prepare a run from approved invoices, see what was left out and why, and track it to paid.
- Payments: get each payment in a run and its status, so your systems know when a creator has been paid.
- Webhooks and events: get notified when creators, invoices and payment runs change, with signed, retried deliveries.

## Start building in the sandbox
Build and test your integration against demo creators, invoices and money before you connect to production. [Read the sandbox guide](https://developers.stridehq.ai/docs/api-reference/environments-and-sandbox)

- Use test keys and demo data. No real money moves.
- Approve, fund and complete runs with test helpers, without signing in.
- Test successful and failed payments.
- Set up webhook endpoints and test every event.

## Built for the way developers work
- REST API: predictable JSON, scoped keys, idempotent writes, cursor pagination and one error format.
- Webhooks: signed event notifications, so your systems react to changes without polling.
- MCP: connect AI assistants such as Claude to StrideHQ, each person signed in as themselves.
- Documentation: Quickstart, guides, a full API reference with code in curl, JavaScript and Python, and a changelog.

## Automation, with financial control built in
Your systems prepare the work. People approve it. Nothing is paid until an authorised person approves the run in StrideHQ.

- The API prepares payment runs. It can't approve, fund or release them.
- Creators add their own bank details through StrideHQ onboarding. The API can't change them.
- Every key has scopes, and Owners can revoke a key instantly.
- Every change made through the API is logged with the key's name.

MCP connections work differently: each person signs in as themselves, and an Owner can choose to allow approvals from AI assistants.

## API FAQ
### Who is the API for?
Talent agencies and brands that want their own systems, such as accounting software, a data warehouse or internal tools, to work with StrideHQ directly.

### Can the API pay creators?
No. The API can prepare a payment run, but a person with approval permission approves every run in StrideHQ. No key can approve, fund or release a run.

### How do I get access?
API access is set up as part of your StrideHQ onboarding. Request access and we'll set up your sandbox.

### API or MCP, which should I use?
Use the API when your systems need to do the same work automatically. Use MCP when people want to ask an AI assistant to do the work for them. Many teams use both.

### Is there a sandbox?
Yes. Every organisation with API access gets a sandbox with demo data, separate from production, so you can build and test without moving real money.

## Start building with StrideHQ
Read the docs, try the sandbox and connect your systems to creator payments.

[Read the API docs](https://developers.stridehq.ai/docs/get-started/introduction) · [Request access](https://developers.stridehq.ai/docs/support)