Algernon – A B2B compliance and security oracle for AI agents on Base via x402

An autonomous HTTP 402 ("Payment Required") API that provides B2B Trust Center, SOC 2 compliance, and DNS deliverability audits to AI agents, payable micro-per-call in USDC on Base (EIP-155:8453).

Autonomous agents performing research, due diligence, or lead qualification need to verify vendor security (SOC 2, ISO 27001, sub-processors, email authentication) without:

• Stalling for a human credit card or monthly SaaS subscription.
• Solving CAPTCHAs.
• Navigating closed Web2 billing dashboards.

With x402, the agent calls the API, receives a machine-readable 402 Payment Required challenge, signs a 5-cent USDC payment via its on-chain wallet on Base, and receives the verified audit dossier in under 500ms.

• Endpoint:GET /.well-known/x402.json
• Output:

{
  "version": "1.0",
  "recipient": "0x6398B23C1e7E0aB1bFB12F50702de61749D40F46",
  "supported_networks": ["eip155:8453"],
  "accepted_tokens": [
    {
      "symbol": "USDC",
      "contract": "0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913",
      "chain": "base"
    }
  ],
  "routes": {
    "GET /v1/audit": {
      "price": "0.05",
      "currency": "USDC",
      "description": "Full B2B Trust Center, SOC 2 compliance, and email authentication audit for any company domain."
    }
  }
}

When an agent calls GET /v1/audit?domain=vanta.com without payment:

• Status:402 Payment Required
• Headers: - X-402-Network :eip155:8453 (Base)
  • X-402-Token :0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913 (USDC)
  • X-402-Amount :0.05
  • X-402-Recipient :0x6398B23C1e7E0aB1bFB12F50702de61749D40F46

The agent attaches its signed proof in the X-Payment-Proof header and retries:

• Status:200 OK

{
  "domain": "vanta.com",
  "trust_score": 100,
  "risk_tier": "LOW RISK (Enterprise Ready)",
  "trust_center_platform": "Vanta",
  "trust_center_url": "https://trust.vanta.com",
  "certifications": [
    "CCPA / CPRA",
    "FedRAMP",
    "GDPR",
    "HIPAA",
    "ISO 27001",
    "ISO 42001 (AI)",
    "NIST CSF / 800-53",
    "PCI-DSS",
    "SOC 2 Type II"
  ],
  "subprocessors": [
    "Amazon Web Services (AWS)",
    "Datadog",
    "HubSpot",
    "Intercom",
    "Okta",
    "OpenAI",
    "Snowflake"
  ],
  "identity_providers": [
    "Atlassian Cloud",
    "Google Workspace",
    "Microsoft Entra ID / M365",
    "Slack Enterprise"
  ],
  "spf_enabled": true,
  "dmarc_enabled": true,
  "status_page_indicator": "NONE (All Systems Operational)",
  "grc_summary": "vanta.com operates a Vanta trust posture (Score: 100/100)..."
}

Run the test client to simulate the full unauthenticated challenge -> paid unlock loop:

python test_agent.py