# Getting started

Before you start the process of integrating with the Ripple Payments Direct 1.0 API, you'll need to address the following items:

- [Tooling](#tooling)
- [User creation](#user-creation)
- [API credentials](#api-credentials)
- [Postman collection](#postman-collection)
- [Test identities](#test-identities)


## Tooling

To prepare for integrating with the Ripple Payments Direct 1.0 API:

- Install [Postman](https://www.postman.com/downloads/) (as an alternative, [curl](https://curl.se) examples are provided in documentation)
- Set up a password manager for API keys.
- [Allowlist your IPs](https://docs.ripple.com/payments-direct/api-docs/best-practices/ip-allowlisting/) and set up a proxy.
- Confirm with your Ripple liaison that your test receiver instance is ready.


## User creation

To set up accounts for developers, your organization administrator must:

1. Access the [Ripple Payments UI](https://home.ripple.com/).
2. Navigate to **Settings**, then click **Users**.
3. Click the **New User** button.
4. Check **Can Read** API Credentials permission.
5. Check **Can Edit** API Credentials permission.
6. Save the user and repeat the process for each developer on the team.


## API credentials

To set up API credentials, each developer must:

1. Access the [Ripple Payments UI](https://home.ripple.com/), click **Settings**, and then click **API Credentials** in the Integration section.
2. Click **New Credential**.
3. Enter a name for your new credential.
4. Click **Save & Generate Key**.
5. Copy the credential and store it in a secure location to use for API calls.
6. To finish credential creation, click **Close**.


## Postman collection

Contact your Ripple liaison to get a Postman collection of Ripple Payments Direct 1.0 API calls.

## Get test identities

If you are developing your integration for a third-party payment use case contact your Ripple liaison to get the originator identity token for testing purposes.