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

# Introduction

> Accept online card payments with the Flowlix Payments API

The Flowlix Payments API lets your business accept and manage online card
payments in the European Economic Area. It is a RESTful JSON API with
predictable resource-oriented URLs, Bearer token authentication, built-in
idempotency, and cursor-based pagination.

## Two ways to integrate

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Hosted Payment Page" icon="globe" href="/guides/hosted-payment-page">
    The fastest way to get paid. Create a payment, redirect your customer to a
    Flowlix-hosted page, and let us handle card entry, 3D Secure, and PCI
    compliance. No card data ever touches your servers.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Direct API" icon="server" href="/guides/direct-api">
    Full control over the checkout experience. Collect card details in your own
    UI and charge them server-to-server. Requires PCI DSS compliance for
    handling cardholder data.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Not sure which one to pick? Start with the
[Hosted Payment Page quickstart](/guides/quickstart) — your first test payment
takes about five minutes.

## Base URL

All API requests are made over HTTPS to:

```text theme={null}
https://api.flowlix.dev
```

Endpoints are versioned under `/v1`, for example
`https://api.flowlix.dev/v1/payments`. Test mode and live mode share the same
host; the mode is selected by your [API key](/guides/authentication).

## Core concepts

| Concept         | Description                                                                                                                                  |
| --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Payment**     | One attempt to collect funds from a customer. Identified by an opaque `pay_...` ID.                                                          |
| **Refund**      | A full or partial return of a succeeded payment. Identified by a `ref_...` ID.                                                               |
| **Amounts**     | Always expressed in **minor units** of the currency: `4999` in EUR means €49.99.                                                             |
| **Idempotency** | Every `POST` request requires an `Idempotency-Key` header so retries never create duplicate charges. See [Idempotency](/guides/idempotency). |
| **Statuses**    | Payments move through a defined lifecycle (`PENDING` → … → `SUCCEEDED`/`FAILED`). See [Payment lifecycle](/guides/payment-lifecycle).        |

## Get started

<Steps>
  <Step title="Get your API keys">
    Sign in to the Merchant Portal and copy your test secret key
    (`api_test_sk_...`) from the Developers section.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Make your first payment">
    Follow the [quickstart](/guides/quickstart) to create a hosted payment page
    payment and complete it with a test card.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Track the result">
    Poll [`GET /v1/payments/{id}`](/payments-api/payments/retrieve-a-payment)
    or subscribe to [webhooks](/guides/webhooks) to learn the final outcome.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Need help?

Contact Flowlix Developer Support at
[developers@flowlix.eu](mailto:developers@flowlix.eu). Include the `Request-Id`
response header from any failing API call — it lets us trace your request
end to end.