x402 Payment Gateway Template

A production-ready, self-hosted payment gateway that implements the x402 protocol — HTTP-native micropayments for APIs. Accept stablecoin payments (USDC) per-request with no API keys, no subscriptions, and no intermediaries.

Fork this repo, configure your backend, and start accepting crypto micropayments in minutes.

What is x402?

x402 uses the HTTP 402 Payment Required status code to create a machine-readable payment flow:

1. Agent/client calls your API
2. Gateway returns 402 with payment requirements (chain, amount, token)
3. Agent signs a USDC transfer authorization
4. Agent retries with signed payment in header
5. Gateway verifies signature, settles on-chain, proxies to your backend
6. Client gets the API response + payment receipt

No wallets to integrate. No payment pages. Just HTTP headers.

Features

• Multi-chain support — Accept USDC on Base, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, Avalanche, Unichain, Linea, Sonic, HyperEVM, Ink, Monad, Abstract, and Solana out of the box
• MegaETH support — USDM (18 decimals) via Meridian facilitator
• Hybrid settlement — Local on-chain settlement via viem + optional external facilitators
• Solana support — SVM payments via @x402/svm facilitator pattern
• Replay protection — Redis-backed nonce tracking prevents double-spending
• Idempotency — payment-identifier extension for safe retries without double-charging
• Agent discovery — /accepted endpoint with full pricing, schemas, and network info
• x402 well-known — /.well-known/x402 discovery document
• Zero lock-in — Your backend never knows about x402; it just gets authenticated requests
• Deploy anywhere — Docker-based; works on GCP Cloud Run, AWS ECS/Fargate, Railway, Fly.io, or bare metal

Quick Start

# Clone the template
git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/x402-gateway-template.git
cd x402-gateway-template

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Configure
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your values (see Configuration section)

# Run locally
npm run dev

# Test
curl http://localhost:8080/health
curl http://localhost:8080/accepted

Architecture

Client/Agent request
  → x402 Gateway (this service)
    → Verify payment signature (EIP-712 / SVM)
    → Settle on-chain (USDC transfer)
    → Proxy to your backend API (with internal auth)
    → Return response + payment receipt header

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  x402 Gateway                    │
│                                                  │
│  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐  ┌───────────────┐ │
│  │ Payment  │→ │ On-chain │→ │ Backend Proxy │ │
│  │ Verify   │  │ Settle   │  │ (your API)    │ │
│  └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └───────────────┘ │
│       │              │                           │
│  ┌──────────┐  ┌──────────┐                     │
│  │  Redis   │  │  RPC     │                     │
│  │ (nonces) │  │ (chains) │                     │
│  └──────────┘  └──────────┘                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Configuration

1. Define Your Routes

Edit src/config/routes.js to define your paid API endpoints:

export const ROUTE_CONFIG = {
  // Each key becomes a route prefix: /v1/{key}/*
  myapi: {
    path: '/v1/myapi/*',
    backendName: 'My API',
    get backendUrl() { return process.env.MY_BACKEND_URL; },
    backendApiKeyEnv: 'MY_BACKEND_API_KEY',
    backendApiKeyHeader: 'x-api-key',       // Header name your backend expects
    get price() { return process.env.MY_PRICE || '$0.01'; },
    get priceAtomic() { return process.env.MY_PRICE_ATOMIC || '10000'; }, // 0.01 USDC in 6-decimal units
    get payTo() { return process.env.MY_PAY_TO_ADDRESS || process.env.PAY_TO_ADDRESS; },
    get payToSol() { return process.env.MY_PAY_TO_ADDRESS_SOL; },
    description: 'Description of your API for agent discovery',
    mimeType: 'application/json',
  },
};

2. Environment Variables

Required

Variable	Description
SETTLEMENT_PRIVATE_KEY	Private key (0x hex) for the gas-paying settlement wallet
PAY_TO_ADDRESS	Default EVM wallet that receives USDC payments
BASE_RPC_URL	At least one RPC URL (Base recommended for low fees)

Backend (per route)

Variable	Description
MY_BACKEND_URL	Your backend API base URL
MY_BACKEND_API_KEY	Internal API key for your backend

RPC URLs (only configured chains are advertised)

Variable	Chain	Required Gas Token
BASE_RPC_URL	Base	ETH (~$5)
ETHEREUM_RPC_URL	Ethereum	ETH (~$20-50)
ARBITRUM_RPC_URL	Arbitrum	ETH (~$5)
OPTIMISM_RPC_URL	Optimism	ETH (~$5)
POLYGON_RPC_URL	Polygon	POL (~$2)
AVALANCHE_RPC_URL	Avalanche	AVAX (~$2)
UNICHAIN_RPC_URL	Unichain	ETH (~$2)
LINEA_RPC_URL	Linea	ETH (~$2)
MEGAETH_RPC_URL	MegaETH	N/A (facilitator pays)
SONIC_RPC_URL	Sonic	S (~$2)
HYPEREVM_RPC_URL	HyperEVM	HYPE (~$15-20)
INK_RPC_URL	Ink	ETH (~$2)
MONAD_RPC_URL	Monad	MON (~$2)
ABSTRACT_RPC_URL	Abstract	None (gas sponsored via paymaster)
SOLANA_RPC_URL	Solana	SOL (~$2)

Solana (optional)

Variable	Description
SOLANA_FACILITATOR_PRIVATE_KEY	Base58 private key for Solana fee payer
MY_PAY_TO_ADDRESS_SOL	Solana wallet to receive USDC payments

Redis (required for replay protection)

Variable	Description
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL	Upstash Redis REST URL
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN	Upstash Redis REST token

Tip: Upstash has a generous free tier. Any Redis with REST API works.

Optional Overrides

Variable	Description
PORT	Server port (default: 8080)
MY_PRICE	Display price (e.g., "$0.05")
MY_PRICE_ATOMIC	Price in token atomic units (e.g., "50000" for $0.05 USDC)

3. Settlement Wallet

The settlement wallet only pays gas to submit transferWithAuthorization on-chain. It never holds or receives stablecoins — payments flow directly from the payer to your payTo address.

Payer → (USDC) → Your payTo wallet     ← receives payment
Settlement wallet → (gas) → on-chain    ← only pays gas fees

Fund it with small amounts of native gas tokens on each chain you enable.

Adding Routes

Basic Route

1. Add route config in src/config/routes.js
2. Register the route in src/index.js:

// Paid route
app.all('/v1/myapi/{*path}', x402PaymentMiddleware('myapi'), async (req, res) => {
  const subpath = getSubpath(req.params);
  const route = ROUTE_CONFIG.myapi;
  await proxyToBackend({
    req, res,
    targetBase: route.backendUrl,
    targetPath: '/api/' + subpath,
    apiKey: process.env[route.backendApiKeyEnv],
    apiKeyHeader: route.backendApiKeyHeader,
  });
});

// Free route (no middleware)
app.get('/v1/myapi/health', async (req, res) => {
  // Proxy directly without payment
});

Path Aliases

Map user-friendly paths to your backend's actual routes:

const PATH_ALIASES = {
  'analyze': 'internal-analyze-endpoint',
  'report':  'generate-full-report',
};
const resolvedSubpath = PATH_ALIASES[subpath] || subpath;

Adding Chains

New EVM Chain

1. Verify the chain has native Circle USDC with EIP-3009 support
2. Add to src/config/routes.js:

const MY_CHAIN = {
  vm: 'evm',
  caip2: 'eip155:CHAIN_ID',
  chainId: CHAIN_ID,
  rpcEnvVar: 'MY_CHAIN_RPC_URL',
  token: usdc('0xUSDC_CONTRACT_ADDRESS'),
};

1. Register in ALL_NETWORKS
2. Add RPC URL to .env
3. Fund settlement wallet with gas on that chain
4. Add the viem chain import in src/middleware/x402.js

New EVM Chain with Facilitator

For chains where USDC doesn't support EIP-3009 yet:

const MY_CHAIN = {
  vm: 'evm',
  caip2: 'eip155:CHAIN_ID',
  chainId: CHAIN_ID,
  rpcEnvVar: 'MY_CHAIN_RPC_URL',
  facilitator: {
    url: 'https://facilitator-api.example.com/v1',
    apiKeyEnv: 'FACILITATOR_API_KEY',
    networkName: 'mychain',              // If facilitator uses short names
    facilitatorContract: '0x...',        // Facilitator's contract address
    x402Version: 1,                      // Facilitator's x402 version
  },
  token: {
    address: '0x...',
    name: 'Token Name',
    version: '1',
    decimals: 18,
  },
};

Solana

Solana support uses the @x402/svm facilitator pattern where:

• The client partially signs a transaction
• Your facilitator wallet co-signs as fee payer and submits

Requirements:

• SOLANA_FACILITATOR_PRIVATE_KEY — Base58 private key
• SOLANA_RPC_URL — Solana RPC endpoint
• *_PAY_TO_ADDRESS_SOL — Solana wallet per route

Deployment

Docker (any platform)

docker build -t x402-gateway .
docker run -p 8080:8080 --env-file .env x402-gateway

GCP Cloud Run

See docs/deploy-gcp.md for full Cloud Run deployment with Secret Manager.

# Quick deploy
gcloud run deploy x402-gateway \
  --source . \
  --region us-east1 \
  --allow-unauthenticated \
  --set-env-vars "BASE_RPC_URL=https://..." \
  --set-secrets "SETTLEMENT_PRIVATE_KEY=x402-settlement-key:latest"

AWS ECS / Fargate

See docs/deploy-aws.md.

Railway / Fly.io / Render

See docs/deploy-paas.md.

API Endpoints

Method	Path	Auth	Description
GET	/health	Free	Gateway health + backend status
GET	/accepted	Free	Agent discovery — pricing, networks, schemas
GET	/.well-known/x402	Free	x402 discovery document
ALL	/v1/{route}/*	Paid	Your protected API routes

Agent Discovery

Agents call GET /accepted to discover your API before making paid requests:

curl https://your-gateway.com/accepted

Returns supported networks, pricing, and input/output schemas for each route. Compatible with Bazaar agent discovery protocol.

Compatible Agent Wallets

Any wallet that supports the x402 protocol works:

Wallet	Description
@x402/fetch	Official SDK — drop-in fetch replacement
OpenClaw / Lobster	Agent framework with built-in x402
AgentWallet (frames.ag)	x402 endpoint for agents
Vincent	MPC wallet with policy controls
Sponge	x402_fetch one-liner integration

Client Example

import { x402Fetch } from '@x402/fetch';

const res = await x402Fetch('https://your-gateway.com/v1/myapi/endpoint', {
  method: 'POST',
  body: JSON.stringify({ key: 'value' }),
  wallet  // any x402-compatible wallet
});

const data = await res.json();

Project Structure

├── src/
│   ├── index.js              # Express app, route registration
│   ├── proxy.js              # Backend proxy (injects internal auth)
│   ├── middleware/
│   │   └── x402.js           # Payment verification + settlement
│   ├── config/
│   │   └── routes.js         # Route definitions + network registry
│   └── utils/
│       └── redis.js          # Nonce tracking + idempotency cache
├── public/
│   └── index.html            # Landing page (optional)
├── docs/
│   ├── deploy-gcp.md         # GCP Cloud Run guide
│   ├── deploy-aws.md         # AWS ECS/Fargate guide
│   └── deploy-paas.md        # Railway/Fly.io/Render guide
├── Dockerfile
├── cloudbuild.yaml           # GCP Cloud Build config
├── .env.example
└── package.json

Credit System

The gateway includes an optional credit system that compensates payers when their request settles on-chain but the backend returns an error. Instead of refunding on-chain (which costs gas), the gateway issues credits that can be redeemed on subsequent requests.

How It Works

1. Agent pays for a request → gateway settles on-chain → backend returns 5xx
2. Gateway asynchronously issues a credit for that payer + route
3. On the next request, the agent signs a new payment (proving wallet ownership)
4. Gateway detects the credit, skips settlement, proxies to backend
5. Response includes X-x402-Credit: consumed header

No on-chain refund, no extra gas, no special tokens. The agent retries identically and it just works.

Enable

Set ENABLE_CREDIT_SYSTEM=true in your .env. The system ships disabled by default.

Configuration

Global defaults are in CREDIT_DEFAULTS in routes.js. Override per-route:

myapi: {
  // ... other route config ...
  creditOnStatusCodes: [500, 502, 503, 504],  // Which backend errors earn credits
  maxCreditsPerPayer: 10,                       // Cap per payer per route
  creditTtl: 86400,                             // 24 hours
},

Set creditOnStatusCodes: [] to disable credits for a specific route.

Security

• Identity: Payer address is extracted from the cryptographically verified signature — cannot be spoofed
• Isolation: Credits are scoped per payer address per route — a credit on one route can't be used on another
• Capped: maxCreditsPerPayer prevents unlimited accumulation from a degraded backend
• Atomic: Redis Lua scripts prevent race conditions on concurrent requests
• Graceful degradation: If Redis is down, credits silently disable and normal payment flow continues

Security Considerations

• Settlement key — Store in a secrets manager (GCP Secret Manager, AWS Secrets Manager, etc.), never in env vars or code
• Settlement wallet — Only holds gas tokens, never stablecoins. If compromised, attacker can only drain small gas balances
• Pay-to address — This is YOUR wallet. Payments go directly from payer to you on-chain. The gateway never custodies funds
• Redis — Used for nonce tracking. If Redis is down, the gateway fails open on reads (settlement still checks on-chain) and fails closed on writes (rejects payment to be safe)
• Backend API keys — The gateway injects these server-side. Your backend never sees x402 traffic directly

License

MIT - fork it, ship it, make money with it.

Links

• x402 Protocol Spec
• x402 GitHub
• @x402/fetch SDK
• @x402/svm SDK
• Bazaar Discovery Protocol