# Introduction

Explore pre-agreed refund rights for open payments. Understand the model, inspect a purchase, and follow a refund from decision to collection.

Developer sandbox: fictional data, no live funds. [Quickstart](quickstart.html) · [Sandbox](https://sandbox.cleard.ai/)

## Start here

[Run the quickstart](quickstart.html): Read the capability manifest and inspect your first example purchase.

[Explore the sandbox](https://sandbox.cleard.ai/): Follow the public walkthrough, then try your own saved experiment.

[Connect an AI reader](agents.html): Give your agent a compact entry point and the same source documentation.

## How it works

A merchant agrees to bounded refund authority before payment. The buyer pays through a supported existing route. If the agreed decision authority approves a qualifying claim, a separate refund can execute from eligible enrolled funds without fresh discretionary merchant approval.

Original payment: Buyer → Merchant. Settlement remains final.

Separate refund: Enrolled funds → Agreed beneficiary, after a qualifying decision and subject to available funds.

The original payment remains final. A refund approval and a funded refund are different outcomes: an approved amount may remain partly or fully unpaid.

## What you can use today

| Available today | Still to build |
| --- | --- |
| Public documentation and a guided sandbox walkthrough | Verified commercial merchant identity |
| Private saved workspaces with test-signed records | Independent merchant, buyer and reviewer accounts |
| Authenticated simulation HTTP operations | Scoped agent credentials and a client SDK |
| Partial refunds and recovery in a simulated ledger | Enforceable testnet collection and BLISK integration |

The public walkthrough explains a sample run; it creates no records. Sign in to the same sandbox to save your own experiments. All merchants, DEMO amounts and payments are fictional. No contract is deployed and no real funds move.

## Find your next step

New to the model? Read [Core concepts](concepts.html). Looking for fields? Open [Purchase commitment](purchase.html). Need a definition? Use the [Glossary](glossary.html).