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

# How GOL works

> Understand projects, credentials, accounts, and owner-approved mandates.

GOL separates **who is calling the API** from **who has authorized money to move**. That distinction shapes every integration.

## Your project and API key

A project groups developer resources and credentials. Its test and live environments are separate. A scoped API key identifies your server and limits which API operations it may request. Store the key on your server, never in browser code or a public repository.

An API key cannot create an owner's mandate, widen its limits, sign for the owner, or move funds by itself. The current `whoami` endpoint lets you check the key's project, environment, and scopes.

## The owner's account and mandate

GOL is designed to work with a **user-provided compatible account**. GOL does not create an account for the owner or hold the owner's private key. A mandate is an owner-approved envelope of authority for a named agent. The intended bounded mode restricts actions through explicit rules; a separate full-control mode requires explicit owner approval and still reserves ownership and authority administration to the owner.

For an agent action that affects value, the security-critical rules must be enforced on-chain as part of that action. A platform check can improve the experience, but it is not the final authority boundary. The owner must be able to pause or revoke future agent actions without the agent's cooperation.

## A future payment flow

Once GOL publishes an Active compatibility profile and the public API and SDK for execution, the flow will be:

1. The owner uses a supported account configuration and approves a specific mandate.
2. A developer's server requests an action using its own credential.
3. The mandate integration evaluates the agent's authority on-chain.
4. GOL reports the result and makes independent verification possible.

This is the product model, not an available payment tutorial. For the currently usable workflow, [create a test project](/get-started/test-project).