Skip to main contentCore responsibilities of an agent
- Discover payment requirements: Interrogate endpoints to determine price, payment type, and supported networks using x402 standard responses.
- Create and authorize payment: Using the agent’s wallet or configured payment method.
- Access paid resources: Retry requests to paid endpoints, attaching payment headers, to unlock responses.
- Manage funds and keys: Securely handle wallet credentials or API keys for authorized payment and access flows.
Key benefits for agents
- Universal compatibility: Any HTTP client, any payment method, any merchant or network.
- Sub-second settlement: Paid resources are unlocked instantly.
- Automatic payment handling: Integrate with helper SDKs for seamless retries, header generation, and error recovery.
- Programmable discovery: Agents can autonomously search, filter, and consume new paid APIs and digital services.
How agents fit the payment flow
- The agent (client, buyer, or autonomous bot) requests a resource (API endpoint or digital asset) from a merchant.
- If the resource is protected, the merchant responds with a
402 Payment Required challenge, detailing payment terms and supported networks.
- The agent’s x402-compatible client parses the challenge, constructs a payment payload, and initiates the payment using its configured wallet.
- The agent attaches proof of payment in the required header (typically
X-PAYMENT) and retries the request.
- The merchant and facilitator verify and settle the payment on-chain, after which the agent receives access to the paid resource instantly.
