> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.usemandate.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Mandate: Trust Layer for Autonomous Agent Payments

> Mandate verifies agent identity and enforces spending policies before any payment moves. Register agents, set mandates, and handle x402 in minutes.

Mandate is the trust and authorization layer for autonomous agent commerce. When your AI agent encounters a paid API, Mandate verifies the agent's identity, checks its spending policy, and either approves the payment or blocks it — in real time, before any USDC leaves the account.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quick Start" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart">
    Create your first agent and mandate in under 5 minutes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="How It Works" icon="diagram-project" href="/concepts/how-it-works">
    Understand the full x402 payment flow from challenge to proof.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Agent Developer SDK" icon="code" href="/sdk/overview">
    Add the `@mandate/sdk` to your agent and handle 402 payments automatically.
  </Card>

  <Card title="API Seller Middleware" icon="shield-check" href="/sdk/middleware">
    Protect your API endpoints with `requireKyaPayment()` in 5 lines.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## What Mandate does

Every autonomous agent that makes purchases needs two things: an identity that sellers can trust, and a spending policy that its owner controls. Mandate provides both.

* **Agent registry** — Register your AI agent and get a stable `agent_id` that sellers can verify
* **Mandates** — Set per-transaction limits, total budgets, allowed merchants, and expiration dates
* **Policy engine** — Every payment attempt runs through 9 real-time checks before approval
* **x402 support** — Native support for the HTTP 402 payment protocol with USDC on Base
* **Audit log** — Tamper-evident record of every policy decision and transaction

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Core Concepts" icon="book-open" href="/concepts/how-it-works">
    Learn about agents, mandates, and the policy engine.
  </Card>

  <Card title="API Reference" icon="brackets-curly" href="/api/authentication">
    Full reference for all REST endpoints.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Sandbox Testing" icon="flask" href="/sandbox">
    Test your integration end-to-end without real payments.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Dashboard Guide" icon="gauge" href="/guides/dashboard">
    Manage agents, mandates, and transactions from the UI.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Who uses Mandate

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Agent Developers">
    You're building an AI agent that needs to call paid APIs — data providers, compute services, tools that charge per request. Install `@mandate/sdk`, create an agent, attach a mandate, and your agent handles payments automatically without storing credentials.

    **Start here:** [Agent Developer Guide](/guides/agent-developer)
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="API Sellers">
    You're building an API that charges per request or per resource. Add `requireKyaPayment()` middleware to any endpoint and it automatically handles the x402 challenge/proof flow — no payment logic to write yourself.

    **Start here:** [API Seller Guide](/guides/api-seller)
  </Tab>
</Tabs>