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| 1 | +--- |
| 2 | +title: Lit Resources & Abilities |
| 3 | +description: "Understand which resource prefixes the Lit network recognises, the abilities each unlocks, and how capability objects scope them." |
| 4 | +--- |
| 5 | + |
| 6 | +# Overview |
| 7 | + |
| 8 | +Lit Resources describe **what** you want a delegated capability to touch. Lit Abilities describe **which operation** the holder may perform against that resource. Every delegation or session signature lists both so downstream nodes can enforce the scope before a request executes. |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +This page summarises the resource prefixes supported by the Lit nodes today, the abilities each exposes, and how wildcard scoping works when building capability objects (e.g., SIWE + ReCap or `createAuthManager` flows). |
| 11 | + |
| 12 | +## Resource catalogue |
| 13 | + |
| 14 | +| Prefix | Shorthand | Description | Resource key format | Supported abilities | |
| 15 | +| ------ | --------- | ----------- | ------------------- | ------------------- |Ç |
| 16 | +| `lit-accesscontrolcondition` | `ACC` | Access control condition hashes. Used when decrypting or signing data gated by a condition. | `lit-accesscontrolcondition://<hash>` | `access-control-condition-decryption`, `access-control-condition-signing` | |
| 17 | +| `lit-pkp` | `PKP` | Programmable Key Pair NFT token IDs. Grants threshold signing with that PKP. | `lit-pkp://<tokenId>` | `pkp-signing` | |
| 18 | +| `lit-litaction` | `LA` | Lit Action IPFS content identifiers. Authorises deterministic JavaScript execution hosted by the network. | `lit-litaction://<cid>` | `lit-action-execution` | |
| 19 | +| `lit-paymentdelegation` | `PD` | Payment delegation tokens proving prepaid usage. Lets a delegate authenticate against the payment delegation balance. | `lit-paymentdelegation://<tokenId>` | `lit-payment-delegation` | |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +<Note> |
| 22 | +The Lit nodes reserve an additional prefix, `lit-resolvedauthcontext`, for internal bookkeeping. End-user delegations should only target the four prefixes in the table above. |
| 23 | +</Note> |
| 24 | + |
| 25 | +### Wildcards |
| 26 | + |
| 27 | +- Use `prefix://*` to authorise every resource under a prefix (for example, `lit-pkp://*` allows PKP signing with any PKP controlled by the delegator). |
| 28 | +- Use `*/*` within a capability object to wildcard every ability for a resource entry. This is rarely necessary; prefer enumerating the specific ability (e.g., `Threshold/Decryption`) whenever possible. |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | +## Ability mapping |
| 31 | + |
| 32 | +Internally, each ability maps into a Recap namespace/action pair: |
| 33 | + |
| 34 | +| Lit ability | Recap namespace / ability | Typical operation | |
| 35 | +| ----------- | ------------------------ | ----------------- | |
| 36 | +| `access-control-condition-decryption` | `Threshold/Decryption` | Decrypting symmetric keys or JWT payloads behind an access control condition. | |
| 37 | +| `access-control-condition-signing` | `Threshold/Signing` | Threshold signing checks required by some access control conditions. | |
| 38 | +| `pkp-signing` | `Threshold/Signing` | Using a PKP NFT for message or transaction signing. | |
| 39 | +| `lit-action-execution` | `Threshold/Execution` | Running Lit Actions (`executeJs`) hosted on IPFS or supplied inline. | |
| 40 | +| `lit-payment-delegation` | `Auth/Auth` | Presenting a payment delegation token to prove prepaid execution quota. | |
| 41 | + |
| 42 | +The Lit SDK builds these mappings automatically when you call helpers such as `generatePkpDelegationAuthSig` or `createAuthManager`. When constructing capability objects manually (for example, via SIWE + ReCap), ensure you choose the namespace/action pair that matches the desired Lit ability. |
| 43 | + |
| 44 | +## Capability enforcement |
| 45 | + |
| 46 | +- Delegations are only honoured if the resource key and ability pair appear in the capability object obtained during authentication. |
| 47 | +- The node accepts either an exact resource key or a wildcard entry under the same prefix. If neither exists, the request is rejected before any signing, decryption, or execution occurs. |
| 48 | +- Mixing unrelated prefixes or abilities (for example, requesting `lit-action-execution` for a PKP resource) fails validation because the node cross-checks the allowed combinations at verification time. |
| 49 | + |
| 50 | +By scoping to precise resources and short expirations, you can safely hand session materials (like delegation auth signatures) to backend services without granting broader access than intended. |
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