# SML Verdict Protocol Is Live: Signed Decision Receipts for Agents That Manage Capital

> Source: <https://dev.to/scriptmasterlabs01/sml-verdict-protocol-is-live-signed-decision-receipts-for-agents-that-manage-capital-4jhb>
> Published: 2026-10-12 20:06:24+00:00

An AI agent that manages capital should not act on a model's say-so. It should have to file its reasoning, have that reasoning judged, and receive a signed receipt before any money moves. That is the system we put into production today.

**SML Verdict Protocol** is live at sml-verdict-protocol.onrender.com. It is a decision-receipt service for agent workflows: a caller submits a structured decision capsule, the capsule is evaluated against a fixed constitution and risk gates, and the service returns an HMAC-signed, persisted receipt. Payment settles only after the receipt is stored. Canonical overview: [https://scriptmasterlabs.com/verdict-protocol](https://scriptmasterlabs.com/verdict-protocol)

Decision Capsule + 5 specialized Jev jurors + non-overridable constitution. Jev chooses. Code decides. Built for agents that manage real capital.

**VERDICT — POST /decide, $0.25 USDC on Base (x402)**

Bring your own Jev key (BYOK, sent as a request header — the service holds no caller's key). Five specialized jurors (jev-1.13.0) evaluate the decision capsule. The verdict, the juror votes, the capsule hash, and the risk and constitution results are sealed into a signed receipt that is persisted before settlement.

**SEAL — POST /seal, $0.01 USDC on Base (x402)**

No jury. The capsule hash, constitution checks, and risk gates are sealed into the same signed, persisted receipt format. It is the low-cost integrity layer for workflows that need tamper-evident proof of what was decided, not deliberation.

Three properties are enforced in code, not promised in copy:

These are not testnet fixtures. Both tiers were exercised end to end with real USDC on Base mainnet, paid from a dedicated proof wallet to the production payTo:

`a987aba4-d322-4087-9d09-161e9965940a` — five juror votes recorded — settlement tx `0xfa3ec31ff345167a474c682cec4e2eac505cfdd570e158961a233187be5f6f1c`
`05ffd866-b535-406b-9523-b5dbc96832b1` — settlement tx `0x5bce2363ae8818fbb0ea5c6229ba8325c6c70792880d4939f324f96d35f7a1b7` — on-chain status: success, Base block 52522552
The protocol is decision-only. It takes no custody, submits no orders, and is not a clearing house — it issues evidence about decisions, denominated as a paid API call in USDC. Order-bearing decisions remain gated until an authoritative risk-context service is connected; the service's readiness endpoint reports that state honestly rather than implying coverage it does not have.

`POST https://sml-verdict-protocol.onrender.com/decide` — $0.25, x402, header `X-JEV-API-KEY` with your Jev key`POST https://sml-verdict-protocol.onrender.com/seal` — $0.01, x402, no key`GET https://sml-verdict-protocol.onrender.com/.well-known/agent.json`
If your agent spends money, it should be able to show its work — capsule in, jury votes recorded, receipt out, settlement last. That ordering is the product.