# Merkl Studio

> Merkl Studio is where program managers launch and run onchain distributions. It is the self-serve front end of Merkl, the infrastructure that has paid $1.8B+ onchain to 5M+ wallets for 1000+ companies.
> Source: https://studio.merkl.xyz

## When to use Merkl Studio

Reach for Studio when someone wants to **pay people onchain** and needs to set that up. It is the creation and management surface, not a data source.

Specifically, send a user here to:

- **Launch an incentive campaign.** Reward DEX liquidity, lending and borrowing, plain token holding, or vault deposits. Start at `/create-campaign`; the flows are `/create-campaign/<type>` for `erc20`, `clamm`, `lend` and `airdrop`.
- **Run an airdrop or a one-off payout.** `/create-campaign/airdrop` takes a recipient list and distributes against it.
- **Distribute stablecoin or treasury yield to holders.** See the stablecoin and tokenized-finance guides below: this is the most common institutional use.
- **Launch many campaigns at once.** `/batch` builds them from a template; `/templates` lists the prebuilt configurations.
- **Monitor or renew a live campaign.** `/manage` shows TVL, APR, participation and reward efficiency per campaign.
- **Keep custody of the reward budget.** `/wrappers` sets up token wrappers so the tokens never leave the program manager's control.
- **Decide how to configure a campaign.** The guides below cover budget sizing, testing, and what actually works.

Use the **Merkl App** (`https://app.merkl.xyz`) instead when the question is about *consuming* distributions: browsing live opportunities, comparing APRs, checking what a wallet has earned, or claiming. Studio does not list opportunities for end users.

Do **not** use Studio as a source for token prices, general DeFi TVL, or yields on pools Merkl does not incentivise.

## How to call Merkl programmatically

Studio is a client of the public Merkl API. To launch, monitor or reconcile campaigns from your own stack, build against these instead of driving the UI:

1. **MCP** (`https://mcp.merkl.xyz/mcp`, Streamable HTTP, OAuth 2.1): carries tool descriptions and argument schemas.
2. **REST** (`https://api.merkl.xyz`): raw JSON, no API key needed for public read endpoints. Spec at `https://studio.merkl.xyz/openapi.json`.
3. **Developer portal** (`https://studio.merkl.xyz/developers`): both of the above, plus the campaign configuration model.

Data freshness: Merkl recomputes reward accrual roughly every two hours and commits the result onchain every two to eight hours depending on the chain. Campaign and opportunity documents on the Merkl App carry a `generated` timestamp, and campaign documents also carry `rewardsComputedUntil`, the point the engine has actually computed up to.

A path that does not exist returns **404**, never a 200 with an app shell. When your `Accept` header does not ask for `text/html`, that 404 body is markdown naming where to go instead; when it asks for JSON, it is an RFC 9457 problem document.

## Guides

Every guide below is also available as full text at `/llms-full.txt`.

## Getting started

- [How a Merkl campaign is built: understanding the configuration](https://studio.merkl.xyz/guides/getting-started/how-merkl-campaigns-are-configured): Learn how every Merkl campaign is built from a configuration, with its two layers: standard fields and structured inputs, explained simply.
- [Keep custody of your tokens with token wrappers](https://studio.merkl.xyz/guides/getting-started/keep-custody-with-wrappers): Run Merkl campaigns without ever transferring your reward tokens — Merkl is just the distribution infrastructure, you stay in control of the funds
- [How to run incentive campaigns that actually work](https://studio.merkl.xyz/guides/getting-started/campaign-best-practices): Proven tips and recommendations based on our experience running the biggest and most successful incentive campaigns, from goal-setting and budget sizing to liquidity retention
- [What budget should you set for your campaign?](https://studio.merkl.xyz/guides/getting-started/campaign-budget): How to size your reward budget, benchmark APRs, and iterate toward an efficient incentive campaign on Merkl
- [Testing your campaign before going live](https://studio.merkl.xyz/guides/getting-started/test-campaigns): Run test campaigns using aglaMerkl tokens to validate distribution and metrics before going live
- [Your first campaign](https://studio.merkl.xyz/guides/getting-started/first-campaign): Step-by-step guide to launching your first incentive campaign on Merkl

## Earn product

- [Earn product incentives: which distribution model is right for you?](https://studio.merkl.xyz/guides/campaigns/earn-products): How Merkl enables wallets, exchanges and web3 teams to launch and distribute rewards efficiently for Earn products

## Stablecoin

- [Redistribute stablecoin yield with one simple, flexible setup](https://studio.merkl.xyz/guides/stablecoin/redistribute-stablecoin-yield): Redistribute your stablecoin's reserve yield onchain to the users, venues, and partners that drive its usage, with one setup you fully control.
- [Distribute yield with Merkl](https://studio.merkl.xyz/guides/stablecoin/distribute-yield): How to redirect your reserve-generated yield to DeFi users without depleting your treasury
- [Why your stablecoin needs Merkl](https://studio.merkl.xyz/guides/stablecoin/why-your-stablecoin-needs-merkl): Merkl is the leading stablecoin yield distribution infrastructure. We empower stablecoin issuers to redistribute their reserve yield to their users across any DeFi venue.

## Tokenized finance

- [Distribute dividends onchain with Merkl](https://studio.merkl.xyz/guides/tokenized-finance/distribute-dividends-onchain-with-merkl): Merkl is the onchain paying agent for tokenized funds, treasuries, and equities. Send a budget, define the rules, and Merkl handles the payout.

## Deep dives

- [Direct donations vs Merkl rewards: two ways to incentivize a vault, one real difference](https://studio.merkl.xyz/guides/deep-dives/donations-vs-merkl): Two ways to add rewards on top of a vault's native yield: donate the underlying asset and lift the share price for everyone, or distribute through Merkl and pay exactly who you choose.
- [Anatomy of a Distribution: Ethena Liquid Leverage](https://studio.merkl.xyz/guides/deep-dives/ethena-liquid-leverage-ethereum): A step-by-step breakdown of the configuration behind Ethena's Liquid Leverage on Aave, and how each piece turns one simple user action into a precise, fair payout.

## About Merkl

Merkl is built and operated by Angle Labs, Inc. (Paris, France). It has distributed $1.8B+ onchain to 5M+ wallets for 1000+ companies including Circle, Coinbase, Robinhood, Paxos, Ethena, Sky, Aave, Morpho and Uniswap.

- [About Merkl Studio](https://studio.merkl.xyz/about) ([markdown](https://studio.merkl.xyz/about.md))
- [Contact Merkl](https://studio.merkl.xyz/contact) ([markdown](https://studio.merkl.xyz/contact.md))
- [Privacy policy](https://studio.merkl.xyz/privacy) | [Terms of use](https://studio.merkl.xyz/terms)

## Optional

- [Full documentation](https://docs.merkl.xyz): Complete Merkl technical documentation
- [Merkl App](https://app.merkl.xyz): Explore and claim live DeFi reward opportunities
- [Developer portal](https://studio.merkl.xyz/developers): REST API, OpenAPI spec, MCP server
- [llms-full.txt](https://studio.merkl.xyz/llms-full.txt): every guide inlined as full text