ZATA

ZATA is the credit unit used to pay for storage, compute, bandwidth, queries, and API calls across the Zatabase platform. You buy ZATA with USD and spend it on database operations. Every ZATA movement is signed, durable, and recorded in an auditable ledger. Current rates apply at checkout and are shown in your dashboard.

Overview

• USD billing: Purchase ZATA in USD via Stripe checkout
• Signed and durable: Every transaction is cryptographically signed and persisted
• Auditable ledger: Every ZATA movement is recorded with a stable sequence and transaction id
• Escrow support: Lock ZATA for pending service, release on completion, refund if cancelled

All ZATA operations require authentication and are scoped to the authenticated organization.

API Endpoints

All ZATA endpoints are mounted under /v1/credits:

Endpoint	Method	Description
/v1/credits/balance	GET	Get current balance
/v1/credits/purchase	POST	Purchase ZATA
/v1/credits/transactions	GET	List transaction history
/v1/credits/transactions/:tx_id	GET	Get single transaction
/v1/credits/escrow/lock	POST	Lock ZATA in escrow
/v1/credits/escrow/:id/release	POST	Release escrowed ZATA
/v1/credits/escrow/:id/refund	POST	Refund escrowed ZATA
/v1/credits/escrow	GET	List active escrows

Balance

Check your organization’s ZATA balance:

curl -s https://your-project.zatabase.io/v1/credits/balance \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ZATABASE_TOKEN" | jq

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "available": "500.00",
    "locked": "50.00",
    "total": "550.00"
  }
}

• available: ZATA ready to spend
• locked: ZATA held in active escrow locks
• total: Sum of available + locked

Purchasing ZATA

Initiate a ZATA purchase via Stripe:

curl -s -X POST https://your-project.zatabase.io/v1/credits/purchase \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ZATABASE_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount_usd_cents": 1000
  }' | jq

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "checkout_url": "https://checkout.stripe.com/...",
    "credits_to_receive": "1000000.00"
  }
}

The amount of ZATA you receive depends on the current rate, shown in the checkout response. Current rates apply at checkout and are visible in your dashboard.

Transaction History

List recent transactions with pagination:

curl -s "https://your-project.zatabase.io/v1/credits/transactions?limit=20&offset=0" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ZATABASE_TOKEN" | jq

Each transaction includes:

{
  "tx_id": "01HQRS...",
  "tx_type": {"Mint": {"source": {"StripePurchase": {"payment_intent_id": "pi_..."}}}},
  "amount": "100.00",
  "balance_after": "600.00",
  "locked_after": "50.00",
  "sequence": 42,
  "signature": "...",
  "created_at": "2026-03-01T12:00:00Z"
}

Transaction Types

Type	Description
Mint	ZATA added (via Stripe, ACH, node reward, or promotion)
Burn	ZATA removed (redemption, expiry, or account closure)
Transfer	ZATA moved between accounts
EscrowLock	ZATA locked for pending service
EscrowRelease	Locked ZATA released to provider
EscrowRefund	Locked ZATA returned to locker
Fee	Platform, processing, or withdrawal fee

Escrow

Escrow locks reserve ZATA for pending service consumption. This ensures providers can be paid without risk of insufficient balance.

Lock ZATA

curl -s -X POST https://your-project.zatabase.io/v1/credits/escrow/lock \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ZATABASE_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount": "100.00",
    "service": "compute",
    "expires_in_hours": 24
  }' | jq

The service field is a free-form string used to tag the escrow for your own accounting.

Release to Provider

Release escrowed ZATA to the service provider after work is completed:

curl -s -X POST https://your-project.zatabase.io/v1/credits/escrow/{escrow_id}/release \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ZATABASE_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount": "75.00",
    "recipient_org_id": 42
  }'

Partial releases are supported. The remainder stays locked until explicitly released or refunded.

Refund

Return escrowed ZATA to the original account:

curl -s -X POST https://your-project.zatabase.io/v1/credits/escrow/{escrow_id}/refund \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ZATABASE_TOKEN"

List Active Escrows

curl -s https://your-project.zatabase.io/v1/credits/escrow \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ZATABASE_TOKEN" | jq

Escrow Lifecycle

Locked ──> PartiallyReleased ──> Released
  │
  ├──> Refunded
  │
  └──> Expired (automatic, past expires_at)

Stale escrows are automatically expired by a background cleanup task.

Node Operator Payouts

Anyone can run a Zatabase node and earn ZATA for serving database traffic. ZATA can be redeemed for USD via your configured payout method. Vultr and Hetzner are supported out of the box; you can also bring your own server. See the Edge Cache docs for node operator details.