Should I connect via MCP or REST?
Use MCP if your agent already runs on an MCP-capable client or framework (Claude, Cursor, VS Code, the OpenAI Agents SDK, LangChain) — you get 7 tools (get_budget, list_payees, list_rules, check_policy, request_payment, get_credential, report_receipt) with no custom HTTP client to write. Use REST if your agent framework doesn't speak MCP, or you want direct control over the HTTP calls; both paths run against the same policy engine and sandbox workspace.
How do I test a payment before actually requesting one?
Call POST /v1/payments/check (REST) or pink.check_policy (MCP) first — it's a dry run that returns would_allow, would_ask, or would_block along with the full rule trace, without creating a real payment request.
What does a payment request actually return?
POST /v1/payments returns one of three states: 201 if the rules allow it immediately, 202 if it's pending human approval, or 403 if it's blocked. For a pending request, you poll GET /v1/payments/{id} until it resolves, which returns the credential once approved. Sending an Idempotency-Key header makes retries of the same request safe.
Is the sandbox connected to real money?
No. The sandbox is live: create a free sandbox workspace at https://agentic-sandbox.pinkwallet.com/ (test credentials only, no money moves). Production is not yet available.