> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nextlevelmca.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Overview > What the NextLevel MCA API covers, how the objects relate, and where to start. NextLevel MCA is a deal platform for merchant cash advance brokers. The public API exposes the objects and rules the app uses, at `https://api.nextlevelmca.com/v1`, so anything you build on it behaves like a team member working in the app: the same permission checks, the same stage rules, the same field masking. Three surfaces share one contract: * **REST API** at `https://api.nextlevelmca.com/v1`, authenticated with an API key or an OAuth token. * **Webhooks** that push events (a deal was created, an offer came in, a statement was analysed) to your endpoint. * **MCP server** at `https://api.nextlevelmca.com/mcp`, so Claude, ChatGPT and other MCP clients can read and act on your pipeline after a user signs in. ## Object model ```mermaid theme={null} flowchart LR Business -->|owners and contacts| People Business -->|funding request| Deal Deal --> Documents Deal -->|sent to a lender| Submission Submission -->|lender responds| Offer Offer -->|primary offer funded| Advance Advance -.->|renewal starts a new deal| Deal ``` ### Businesses A business is the merchant: legal name, DBA, EIN, industry, state and contact details. Every deal belongs to one business, and a business accumulates deals and advances over time. Creating a business runs duplicate detection on EIN and on normalised name plus state; a match returns `409` with `code: "duplicate_business"` and the `existing_id`, unless you pass `?force=true`. Businesses carry their own notes, tasks and activity timeline. ### People People are the owners and contacts behind a business, linked with a role and an ownership percentage. A person can be attached to more than one business. `GET /v1/people?phone=` normalises the number to E.164 before matching, which makes it the lookup for unknown inbound calls and texts. Sensitive fields are protected: `ssn` is accepted on write and never returned (reads show `ssn_masked`, for example `***-**-6789`), and `dob` is only returned to `admin` and `manager` credentials. ### Deals A deal is one funding request for a business. It holds the requested amount, the application data (`form_data`), a paper grade, documents, notes and tasks, and it sits in exactly one pipeline stage. Stages are grouped into phases (`preoffer`, `offer`, `contract`, `funded`, `dead`). Some stages are bound to events: with the default board, *Submitted* is entered automatically on the first submission and *Funded* on `mark_funded`, and those stages cannot be entered by hand. `GET /v1/pipeline` returns the stages, phases and bindings for your location. Renewals are deals too, created from a funded advance with `POST /v1/deals/{id}/renewal` and linked back through `renewal_of_deal_id`. ### Submissions A submission is a deal sent to one lender. `POST /v1/deals/{id}/submissions` records one submission per lender and, when `send` is true and the location has a connected mailbox, queues the same email the app would send. The create response reports each queued submission as `queued` (or `recorded` when there is no mailbox); on later reads it is `pending` until the email goes out, then `sent`, and lender replies move it to `approved`, `declined` or `needs_info`. Submissions can be withdrawn unless they are approved or funded. ### Offers An offer is a lender's terms for a deal: amount, factor rate, term, payment frequency and points. Offers are logged with `POST /v1/deals/{id}/offers` or by your team in the app; the first offer moves the deal into the offer phase. One offer is primary: setting it with `POST /v1/offers/{id}/primary` syncs the deal status to that offer, and from then on the offer's status changes (contracts requested, sent, signed) move the deal stage through the location's event bindings. ### Advances Marking a deal funded creates an advance: the funded amount, the payback, what has been paid so far (`paid_amount`, `percent_paid`) and whether it is renewal-ready. `renewal_ready` becomes true once `percent_paid` reaches the location's renewal threshold (50% by default, overridable per advance), and `GET /v1/advances?renewal_ready=true` is the list an agent works from to start renewals. ## Locations Every object above belongs to exactly one **location**: a workspace in the app, usually one brokerage or team. Credentials are issued per location. An API key created in a location, or an OAuth token approved for a location, can only read and write that location's data; a record from another location is a `404`. There are no cross-location credentials in v1. To integrate two locations, create a key in each. ## Next steps Create an API key, pick a role and scopes. Create a business and a deal, match lenders, submit, read offers. Subscribe to events and verify signatures. Give Claude or ChatGPT tools on your pipeline.