Create Program

Set up your affiliate program with commission rates, cookie duration, payout rules, and approval settings.

A program is the core unit in AgentRef. It defines how affiliates earn commissions, how long attribution cookies last, and when payouts happen. You can run multiple programs under one merchant account.

Create a program

1. Via the dashboard

   After connecting Stripe, the onboarding flow walks you through creating your first program. You can also create additional programs from Programs > New Program at any time.

2. Via the API

   cURL

   curl -X POST https://www.agentref.co/api/v1/programs \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer ak_live_YOUR_KEY" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{
       "name": "My SaaS Affiliate Program",
       "commissionType": "recurring",
       "commissionPercent": 25,
       "cookieDuration": 30,
       "payoutThreshold": 5000,
       "payoutFrequency": "monthly",
       "autoApproveAffiliates": true,
       "currency": "usd"
     }'
   

Program settings

Required settings

Setting	Type	Description
name	string	Display name for your program. Shown to affiliates and in the marketplace. Max 100 characters.
commissionType	string	How commissions are calculated. See commission types below.
commissionPercent	number	Percentage of each sale the affiliate earns. Range: 1–100.

Optional settings

Setting	Default	Description
description	null	Program description (max 500 characters). Shown in marketplace listings.
landingPageUrl	null	Default URL where affiliate links redirect visitors.
cookieDuration	30	Days the attribution cookie persists. Range: 1–365.
payoutThreshold	5000	Minimum commission balance (in cents) before an affiliate is eligible for payout. Range: 1,000–100,000.
payoutFrequency	monthly	How often payouts are processed: weekly, monthly, or quarterly.
autoApproveAffiliates	false	Whether new affiliates are approved automatically or require manual review.
commissionLimitMonths	null	For recurring_limited type only. Number of months commissions are paid. Range: 1–36.
portalSlug	null	Custom slug for your affiliate portal URL. Lowercase alphanumeric and hyphens only.
currency	usd	Currency code for commissions and payouts.

The payoutThreshold is specified in cents. A value of 5000 means $50.00.

Commission types

AgentRef supports three commission models:

One-time (one_time)

The affiliate earns a commission on the first payment only. If a customer upgrades, renews, or makes additional purchases, no further commissions are generated.

Best for: One-time purchases, lifetime deals, products without subscriptions.

Recurring (recurring)

The affiliate earns a commission on every payment the referred customer makes, for the lifetime of the subscription. If the customer pays monthly, the affiliate earns every month.

Best for: SaaS with subscriptions. This is the most popular model because it incentivizes affiliates to refer customers who stick around.

Recurring with limit (recurring_limited)

Same as recurring, but commissions stop after a configured number of months (commissionLimitMonths). For example, 25% for the first 12 months.

Best for: SaaS that wants to cap lifetime affiliate payouts while still rewarding ongoing referrals during the customer’s early months.

Type	First payment	Subsequent payments	Cap
one_time	Commission earned	No commission	N/A
recurring	Commission earned	Commission earned	None
recurring_limited	Commission earned	Commission earned	Stops after N months

Program status lifecycle

Every program has a status that controls whether it is actively tracking conversions:

Status	Behavior
active	Tracking is live. New clicks, conversions, and commissions are processed normally.
paused	Tracking stops. Existing data is preserved but no new conversions are created. Affiliate links still resolve but clicks are not recorded.
archived	Program is soft-deleted. It no longer appears in listings or API responses (unless explicitly filtered). Existing conversions and payouts are preserved for historical records.

Update a program’s status via the API:

cURL

curl -X PATCH https://www.agentref.co/api/v1/programs/PROGRAM_ID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ak_live_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"status": "paused"}'

Program readiness

AgentRef tracks whether your program is fully configured and ready to process conversions. The readiness field on a program can be:

Readiness	Meaning
setup	Initial state. Stripe is not connected and tracking is not installed.
partial	Some steps are complete but the program is not fully operational. For example, Stripe is connected but the tracking script has not been verified.
ready	Stripe is connected, tracking script is verified, and the program can process conversions end-to-end.

Check readiness via the API by fetching the program detail:

cURL

curl https://www.agentref.co/api/v1/programs/PROGRAM_ID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ak_live_YOUR_KEY"

Recommended starting settings

If you are unsure where to start, these are industry-standard defaults for SaaS affiliate programs:

Setting	Recommendation	Why
Commission type	recurring	Incentivizes affiliates to refer customers who stick around.
Commission rate	20–30%	Competitive enough to attract affiliates. Industry standard for SaaS.
Cookie duration	30 days	Balances fair attribution with a reasonable conversion window.
Payout threshold	$50	Low enough to keep affiliates motivated, high enough to avoid micro-payouts.
Payout frequency	Monthly	Standard cadence. Weekly works for high-volume programs.
Auto-approve	Yes	Reduces friction. You can always block bad actors later.

You can change all of these settings later. Start simple and adjust based on real performance data.

What’s next

Connect Stripe

Link your Stripe account if you haven’t already.

Install Tracking

Add the tracking script to your website to start capturing clicks.