# How Affitor Works

> From affiliate click to attributed revenue and payout: signup-anchored tracking via server-side API or Stripe metadata, with a verification loop you — or your AI agent — can run before launch.

Affitor layers on top of your existing stack — your site, signup flow, and checkout stay unchanged. It adds tracking, attribution, commission calculation, and partner payout workflow.

![How Affitor Works - 7 Step Affiliate Lifecycle](/images/how-it-works-diagram.png)

## The affiliate lifecycle

### 1. Advertiser creates a program
You define commission rules, partner approval criteria, and payout/hold settings.

### 2. Partner joins and gets a referral link
Approved partners receive links that identify their traffic.

### 3. Partner promotes your product
Partners share links through content, social, communities, newsletters, or direct outreach.

### 4. Customer clicks and is tracked
Affitor records the visit and stores the click-to-customer relationship needed for attribution.

### 5. Customer signs up and pays
You send signup attribution with your internal customer ID, then record revenue either through:
- Server-side tracking — your backend calls POST /api/v1/track/sale, or
- Stripe integration — Stripe metadata + webhook handling

### 6. Commission is created
Affitor calculates commission from the program's applicable rules and moves it into the commission workflow.

### 7. Payout operations continue in Affitor
Validated commissions move through review, hold, and payout operations for partners.

## Key points

**Flexible integration paths** — Affitor supports browser-side signup tracking, server-side tracking vs Stripe integration, and server-side lead APIs.

**Agent-completable integration** — `npx affitor onboard` (or the `@affitor/mcp` server for AI agents) detects your stack, installs tracking, and fires a synthetic click, lead, and sale through the live pipeline, returning `integration_verified: true` when the chain holds.

**60-day default attribution window** — Affitor documents a 60-day default window for affiliate attribution.

**Invoice billing model** — Advertisers charge customers through their own Stripe or payment setup. Affitor attributes conversions and manages billing and payout operations through its workflow.

## Next steps

<FeatureCards>
  <FeatureCard icon="zap" title="Create Your Program" href="/brand/quickstart/create-account">Set up commission rules, partner approval criteria, and payout settings.</FeatureCard>
  <FeatureCard icon="card" title="Understand Pricing" href="/getting-started/pricing-performance-model">Learn how Affitor's performance-based pricing model works.</FeatureCard>
</FeatureCards>

Or start now: [create your program at affitor.com](https://affitor.com) — $0/month, with a 3.5% fee only after your first $10,000 in affiliate-driven revenue.