Agents can now pay for API calls on their own. 402flow governs those payments. It checks each one against your policy before it goes out, then keeps the record: which agent paid for what, how much, whether the payment settled, and whether the merchant delivered.
One paid request, as 402flow records it
The questions below walk through a request step by step, each next to the part of the 402flow record that answers it.
Every agent has its own credential, so every request carries a name. Before any money moves, 402flow checks the request against your organization’s default posture and each policy that covers this agent and this merchant. A request that fails stops here with the reason recorded, and nothing is paid.
The record names the merchant, the endpoint, and the amount, along with the protocol, network, and wallet that paid. When more than one of your wallets could pay, 402flow picks one by a fixed rule, so the choice is predictable.
A successful payment call does not prove the money arrived. 402flow watches the chain separately from the payment attempt. The receipt starts as provisional and becomes confirmed once the transaction reaches finality.
Payment and delivery can fail in different ways, so 402flow records them separately. Here the money arrived and the merchant returned an error. 402flow marks the request as paid but not delivered, and keeps the receipt with it.
A paid request that was not delivered opens an exception for your operators. It links the request, the payment attempt, the receipt, and the policy decision, so whoever picks it up can chase the merchant or reconcile the spend without searching logs.
Reports roll these records up by agent, merchant, and network. They show denials with their reasons, and which agents keep running into their limits. Open the live console (opens in a new tab)
Register the agent in the 402flow console. It gets its own key, and every request it makes is tied to that identity.
Swap direct payment code for one SDK call. If policy denies the request, your code gets a typed error with the reason, before anything is paid.
Start with allow-and-monitor to learn from real traffic, then tighten. Or start with deny-by-default and allow only the merchants and budgets you expect.
import { AgentPayClient, FetchPaidError } from '@402flow/sdk';
const client = new AgentPayClient({
controlPlaneBaseUrl: 'https://api.402flow.ai',
organization: 'your-org',
agent: 'research-worker',
auth: {
type: 'bootstrapKey',
bootstrapKey: process.env.X402FLOW_BOOTSTRAP_KEY ?? '',
},
});
try {
const result = await client.fetchPaid(merchantUrl, request, {
description: 'research brief',
idempotencyKey: 'brief-2026-09-26',
});
if (result.kind === 'success') console.log(result.receiptId);
} catch (error) {
if (!(error instanceof FetchPaidError)) throw error;
// 'denied': policy stopped it, nothing was paid.
// 'paid_fulfillment_failed': paid, not delivered, receipt kept.
console.log(error.kind, error.reason, error.receiptId);
}Agents that build their own requests can use a three-tool flow instead: prepare, execute, and read the result. Payment can also be handed to Dexter or pay.sh. Read the SDK
402flow is pre-launch. This is what a pilot can use now.
| Protocol | x402L402 and MPP are planned |
|---|---|
| Networks | Base and Solana, mainnet and testnetTempo is planned, for MPP |
| Asset | USDC |
| Policy scope | Organization, agent, or merchant |
| Limits | Per request, or per day, week, or month |
| Default posture | Allow and monitor, or deny by default |
| Settlement | Confirmed onchain after finality |
| Records | Receipts, audit log, exceptions, reports |
| Integration | TypeScript SDK (Node 20+) and hosted console |
| Payers | 402flow, Dexter, or pay.sh |
We’d rather prove 402flow on one of your workflows than describe it here.
A pilot runs for up to 60 days on one agent workflow that pays for APIs. It can stay in a test or controlled payment environment. Production and mainnet spend happen only if both sides agree. We help set up agent credentials, wallets, and policies, and we meet once a week. There’s no software fee. Each side covers its own engineering time and network costs.
You bring one technical owner and one representative workflow. At the end, we write up what worked, what didn’t, and what production would take.
The 402flow team