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API Key And Runtime

This page explains how PubFi API-key auth, billing-account admission, request allowance, usage facts, and runtime execution fit together from a public-docs perspective.

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Runtime Surfaces

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API Key Boundary

PubFi API keys are caller credentials for gateway, capability, and MCP execution. Billing-account management and readback use the authenticated dashboard account session instead. Keys should be loaded from a secret store or environment variable, not pasted into prompts, public docs, issue comments, screenshots, or code examples. Create keys from the PubFi dashboard under Manage application keys. Copy the key when it is shown, because the full secret is displayed only once. Supported public auth shapes:

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Billing Account And Usage Model

PubFi groups API keys and product usage under billing accounts. Public docs should describe the model at a high level:
  • API keys authenticate the caller.
  • Scopes determine what the caller can do.
  • invoke_provider is required for provider-backed gateway or capability execution.
  • A fresh active admission snapshot and sufficient meter-specific allocation are required before provider execution.
  • The dashboard displays the allocated request_count allowance as request credits; that label is not money, pricing, or a PubFi-owned financial ledger.
  • Usage facts record immutable raw-unit observations and execution outcomes.
  • The billing-account /billing route is the authoritative billing read. PubFi usage rows are not billing truth.

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Execution Preflight

A route can execute only when these gates pass:
  • valid PubFi API key;
  • required scope;
  • fresh active billing admission and sufficient raw-unit allocation;
  • supported capability or route id;
  • current provider readiness;
  • server-side upstream credential configuration;
  • source freshness evidence;
  • request input validation.

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Public Docs Rule

Public docs may explain the auth, admission, allowance, usage, and billing-read model, but they must not publish real keys, account ids, usage rows, billing-provider payloads, customer data, or production financial records.