A working endpoint is only the beginning of partner onboarding. The practical test is whether a new team can authenticate, submit, follow, and reconcile its first test payment without a chain of support calls.
Start with a runnable request
Give developers a current API reference, a clear authentication flow, and an example that matches the sandbox's actual behavior.
Document the unhappy path
Show errors, timeouts, retry rules, and idempotency with realistic examples. A partner must know the difference between a safe retry and a request that may already have moved money.
Make callbacks testable
Explain signature verification, duplicate delivery, delayed events, and state transitions. Replaying a test event should lead to one correct result.
Share the evidence
Connect request identifiers, partner references, payout status, and settlement records. Engineering, support, and finance should be able to find the same payment.
Agree on readiness
Use a common acceptance checklist across engineering, operations, finance, and compliance. Include success, failure, recovery, and reconciliation. Measure time to the first successful test transaction and investigate where that path stalls.