Scoped API Keys for Payment Platforms

Scoped API keys for teams that need merchant-bound server auth, narrower permissions, and a safer operational model than broad all-access secrets.

Teams searching scoped API keys usually need more than a secret string. They need merchant-bound credentials, explicit permissions, revocation, and a clear model for safe server-to-server access.

Flint external API keys are merchant-scoped machine credentials rather than floating user-owned tokens, which keeps the auth model clearer for real integrations.

Scopes are explicit on the public key-management surface, so teams can narrow access instead of handing every service one broad secret.

The same public API exposes creation, listing, retrieval, update, and revocation, which makes auth governance part of the platform rather than a support-only task.

Open the Technical Surface

Quickstart

Start with the first request.

API Reference

Open the REST surface.

Orders First

See the core model.

Benchmark

Compare developer workflows.

Use This Platform Shape When

Platform 1

Different services need different permissions, and a broad all-access key would create unnecessary operational risk.

Platform 2

Your platform needs merchant-bound machine credentials rather than user-session tokens or floating account-wide secrets.

Platform 3

You want create, revoke, rotate, and inspect key metadata through the public API instead of treating auth as a support-only workflow.

Scenario 1

Split execution from observability

Give payment-execution services only the write scopes they need while keeping developer log access on a separate operational key.

Scenario 2

Merchant-bound backend auth

Run each integration with a merchant-scoped external key so access follows the merchant contract instead of the human who created the app.

Scenario 3

Safer incident response

Revoke or rotate one compromised credential without taking down unrelated services or every merchant integration at once.

Scenario 4

Cleaner support debugging

Trace request failures by the exact key that made them when auth errors, missing scopes, or wrong-merchant traffic need investigation.

Choose Something Narrower When

Use hosted OAuth install when a third-party app needs merchant approval and renewable grants instead of one direct API key.

Use the request-logs page when the problem is debugging current key traffic rather than designing the auth contract itself.

Use organization-scoped settings when the primary concern is shared platform defaults, not server-to-server authentication boundaries.

Implementation References

Reference the platform-level surfaces

API Keys

Create, scope, list, update, and revoke merchant-bound external API keys.

Error Handling Guide

See how Flint reports invalid-key, missing-scope, and auth-shape errors on the public API.

API Request Logs

Use per-key request logs when auth issues, scope mistakes, or wrong-merchant access need debugging.

Explore auth boundaries, logs, and multi-merchant controls

These pages connect key scoping to the rest of Flint's operational and platform architecture.

OAuth for Commerce Integrations

Use OAuth installs when third-party apps need merchant approval and renewable grants instead of one direct API key.

API Request Logs for Payment Integrators

Useful when key scoping and auth rules need request-level debugging and operational visibility.

Organization-Scoped Settings API

A good adjacent page when permission boundaries and shared settings policies need to work together across merchants.

Next Step

Wire the platform boundary first

Define auth, merchant scope, and install flow first, then let the narrower payment and checkout pages sit underneath it.