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

# Introduction

> Manage your company's jobs on Sorce programmatically.

The Sorce API lets partners run hiring without touching the dashboard:
create and edit jobs, search locations, set spend budgets, and publish
listings.

All requests go to:

```text theme={null}
https://www.sorce.jobs/api/external/v1
```

Authenticate with a **partner key** (`sk_ext_…`) bound to your company.
See [Authentication](/authentication). Keys are issued by the Sorce team;
contact us at [employers@sorce.jobs](mailto:employers@sorce.jobs).

A partner key can only ever touch your company's jobs. Requests for another
company's jobs return `404`.

## The shape of a job

A job moves through a small lifecycle:

```text theme={null}
DRAFT → ACTIVE ⇄ PAUSED → CLOSED
              ↘ EXPIRED (30 days after publish)
```

* **Drafts** are free-form: any subset of fields, saved as you go.
* **Publishing** requires the listing to be complete (title, description,
  workplace type, job type, level, salary range, a bid per qualified
  applicant, and at least one required qualification), your organization to
  have accepted the current terms in the dashboard, and a payment method on
  file. See [Publishing](/guides/publishing).
* **Live edits are validated**: a change that would blank a required field
  out of an ACTIVE listing is rejected whole, so candidates never see a
  half-edited job.
* Once a job has applications, its qualifications and questions **freeze**
  (candidates were screened against them); everything else stays editable.
* **Applicant basics are automatic.** Every application carries the
  candidate's name, email, phone, location, and resume - you never configure
  these. `questions` are additional, custom screening questions layered on
  top; don't re-add the basics there.

## Billing in one paragraph

You pay per qualified applicant, at the bid the job carried when the
application arrived. Balances collect monthly against your card on file.
[Spend budgets](/guides/budgets) cap what a job or your whole company can
spend per day, week, month, or lifetime. Applications that would cross a
cap are still delivered, just never billed.