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

# Lit Protocol

> One programmable runtime for everything between an event and a signed action. Read from any source, compute inside a chain-secured TEE, write to any chain or API — with no backend to trust.

Lit is a programmable runtime that reads data from any source, runs your JavaScript inside a chain-secured TEE, and signs on any chain or API. Keys never leave the enclave, and the code that's allowed to use them is governed on-chain. You get the speed and expressiveness of a single trusted runtime, with the auditability of a smart contract.

<Card title="Start here: Quick Start" icon="rocket" href="/quickstart" horizontal>
  Create an account, fund it, and run your first Lit Action in a few minutes — via the Dashboard or the REST API.
</Card>

## Build

The fastest paths to a running integration.

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Dashboard" icon="browser" href="/management/dashboard">
    Web GUI for accounts, API keys, wallets (PKPs), IPFS actions, and groups.
  </Card>

  <Card title="REST API" icon="code" href="/management/api_direct">
    Drive the same workflows from cURL, the lightweight JS SDK, or your own client built from the OpenAPI spec.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Lit Actions" icon="bolt" href="/lit-actions/index">
    JavaScript that runs inside the network's TEE — read, decide, sign, in one file.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Use cases

Patterns you can build on one programmable runtime.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Cross-chain actions" icon="arrows-left-right" href="/lit-actions/examples">
    Read state on one chain, sign on another — bridges, mirrors, and replays without a multisig in the middle.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Custom oracles" icon="globe" href="/lit-actions/examples">
    Aggregate any HTTP or RPC feed inside the TEE, sign the result with a PKP, deliver it anywhere a signature is trusted.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Conditional signing" icon="shield-check" href="/lit-actions/examples">
    Sign only when on- or off-chain conditions hold — sanctions screens, price thresholds, KYC checks, dispute windows.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Encrypted secrets" icon="lock" href="/lit-actions/examples#2-encrypt-a-secret">
    Encrypt API keys, credentials, or user data under a PKP — decryptable only by an action you've authorized on-chain.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Concepts

How the runtime works and how trust is established.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Chain Secured" icon="link" href="/architecture/chain-secured">
    Your keys' authority lives on-chain; an attested TEE enforces it by reading the chain.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Architecture" icon="layer-group" href="/architecture/index">
    The three layers: chain-secured TEE, on-chain permissions, and IPFS-hosted actions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Auth Model" icon="shield-check" href="/architecture/authModel">
    How API keys, scopes, and account ownership combine to authorize requests.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Groups" icon="folder-tree" href="/architecture/groups">
    Bind Programmable Key Pairs to permitted action CIDs and usage keys.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Verification" icon="badge-check" href="/architecture/verification/index">
    Attest that the enclave is running the code it claims to be running.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Operate

Account ownership, billing, and key management.

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Account Modes" icon="users-gear" href="/management/account_modes">
    API mode vs. ChainSecured mode — picking an ownership model and migrating between them.
  </Card>

  <Card title="API Keys" icon="key" href="/management/api_keys">
    Account keys vs. usage keys, and how to scope them.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Pricing" icon="credit-card" href="/management/pricing">
    Credit-based billing, how requests are metered, and how to add funds.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Self-Hosting" icon="server" href="/architecture/self-hosting">
    Open-source repos, deployment ownership, and the tradeoffs of operating your own Lit stack.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Reference

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Lit Actions SDK" icon="book" href="/lit-actions/chipotle">
    Functions available inside an action: signing, encryption, HTTP, response.
  </Card>

  <Card title="OpenAPI / Swagger" icon="file-code" href="https://api.chipotle.litprotocol.com/core/v1/swagger-ui">
    Full REST API schema — generate clients in any language.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>