> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.niobi.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# API Overview

> REST API for collecting payments, sending payouts, and managing multi-currency wallets across Africa and global corridors.

Niobi's REST API gives you a single interface for collections, disbursements, and balance queries across 17+ African markets.

## Before You Begin

Two requirements must be met before any API call will succeed in either environment:

1. **Whitelist your server IP.** Requests from non-whitelisted IPs are blocked before authentication is checked. See the [IP Whitelisting Guide](/ip-whitelisting).
2. **Sign every request.** Each call requires a unique HMAC signature computed from your credentials, timestamp, salt, and payload. Signatures cannot be reused. See the [Authentication Guide](/authentication/basics).

## Environments

<div className="api-env-grid">
  <div className="api-env-card api-env-card--sandbox">
    <div className="api-env-card-header">
      <span className="api-env-badge api-env-badge--sandbox">Sandbox</span>
      <span className="api-env-label">Development and Testing</span>
    </div>

    <code className="api-env-url">[https://sandbox.users.niobi.co](https://sandbox.users.niobi.co)</code>
  </div>

  <div className="api-env-card api-env-card--production">
    <div className="api-env-card-header">
      <span className="api-env-badge api-env-badge--production">Production</span>
      <span className="api-env-label">Live Transactions</span>
    </div>

    <code className="api-env-url">[https://users.niobi.co](https://users.niobi.co)</code>
  </div>
</div>

Both environments enforce IP whitelisting and signature validation independently. Credentials are not shared between environments.

## Endpoints

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Authentication" icon="key" href="/api-reference/authentication/generate-signature">
    Generate and verify the HMAC signature required on every request.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Collections" icon="arrow-down-to-line" href="/api-reference/collections/unified-collections">
    Accept payments via mobile money, bank transfer, and payment links.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Disbursements" icon="arrow-up-from-line" href="/api-reference/disbursement/unified-disbursement">
    Send payouts to mobile wallets and bank accounts across supported markets.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Account Balance" icon="wallet" href="/api-reference/get-account-balance">
    Retrieve live wallet balances across all currencies in your account.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<a href="/initial-steps" className="api-quickstart-banner">
  <div className="api-quickstart-banner-text">
    <span className="api-quickstart-banner-title">New to the API?</span>
    <span className="api-quickstart-banner-sub">Follow the Quickstart to make your first authenticated request.</span>
  </div>

  <span className="api-quickstart-banner-cta">
    Start Quickstart

    <Icon icon="arrow-right" size={14} aria-hidden="true" />
  </span>
</a>