● Getting started

Authentication.

Every request carries a bearer protocol key. Keys are organization-bound and scope-limited: an operation runs only if the key holds its scope (60 scopes across the surface, e.g. judgments:validate, packets:export).

Authorization: Bearer md_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MD-Version: 2026-06-11
Idempotency-Key: 4f8a-bd31   # all write operations, 24h replay window

Envelope headers

Header
MD-Version	Date-pinned API version. Pinned at first call if omitted; breaking changes only ship under a new date.
Idempotency-Key	Safe retries on every write. Same key + same body inside 24h returns the original result.
MD-Request-Id	Returned on every response. Quote it in support and audit queries.
MD-Signature	HMAC-SHA256 signature on every webhook delivery: `t=<ts>,v1=<sig>`.

The gates are the contract

Three domain gates sit above scopes and never soft-pass: authority_required, sanctions_gate, stay_in_effect. A blocked call is the protocol working as designed. See errors →