Use this table when documenting, debugging payouts, or designing UI copy. Full detail and APIs: referrals.md.
| Referral | Affiliate | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary goal | Attribute signups and share purchase revenue (50/40/10) plus signup/qualified bonuses | Charge a markup on specific usage; affiliate earns the markup |
| Typical share URL | /login?ref=CODE (also referral_code=) |
/login?affiliate=CODE |
| Apply / link API | POST /api/v1/referrals/apply |
POST /api/v1/affiliates/link (and header X-Affiliate-Code on API calls) |
| “My code / link” API | GET /api/v1/referrals (flat JSON: code, total_referrals, is_active) |
GET / POST / PUT /api/v1/affiliates |
| Revenue source | Stripe checkout + x402 purchases (splits) | Auto top-up + MCP (markup) |
| Double-dip | No — same transaction does not run referral splits and affiliate markup | Same rule |
Why two programs: Referral economics are baked into purchase price distribution (must sum to 100%). Affiliate economics are optional markup on certain flows so cost is visible to the end customer and we never over-allocate platform revenue.