Agent Payment Protocol

Facilitate secure agent-to-agent payments via Solana on-chain transactions with quote creation, approval, payment recording, and audit logging in IRC channels.

Security Scan

The skill implements an on-chain quoting-and-payment ledger for agent-to-agent Solana payments and the code, instructions, and resource needs are consistent with that purpose.

Purpose & Capability

The SKILL.md and index.js both implement the same functionality: create quotes, approve payments, record confirmed Solana transactions, and maintain local JSONL ledgers. The package.json dependency (@solana/web3.js) is consistent with Solana integration. The skill does not request unrelated credentials or access.

Instruction Scope

The runtime instructions focus on quoting, approving, calling an external solana-transfer skill to send SOL, and local ledger maintenance. They do not instruct the agent to read arbitrary system files or exfiltrate data. The SKILL.md references workspace paths and shows explicit steps (npm install, import functions) that stay within the payment protocol scope.

Install Mechanism

There is no platform install spec, but SKILL.md instructs running npm install in the skill folder, which will fetch @solana/web3.js from the public npm registry. This is a standard package install (moderate trust). There are no direct downloads from unknown hosts or extract-from-URL steps.

Credentials

The skill declares no required environment variables or credentials and does not attempt to access secrets. It requires wallet addresses (payer/recipient) at runtime but does not request private keys; sending SOL is delegated to a separate solana-transfer skill (which is where signing/keys would be handled).

Persistence & Privilege

The skill persists data in local files (quotes.jsonl and payments.jsonl) within its own directory (uses __dirname). It does not request permanent platform-wide presence, does not set always:true, and does not modify other skills' configs.

Assessment

This skill appears coherent and implements a local quoting/payment ledger that delegates actual SOL transfers to a separate solana-transfer skill. Before installing: 1) Confirm how the solana-transfer skill stores and protects signing keys — this skill does not hold private keys and relies on the transfer skill to perform signed transactions. 2) Audit the @solana/web3.js dependency (npm will be invoked) in a secure environment to avoid supply-chain risk. 3) Be aware that payments require explicit approval calls (approvePayment) that specify the target wallet; treat incoming IRC quotes as untrusted until you verify the quoted recipient wallet to avoid social-engineering payments to a malicious address. 4) Note that quotes and payments are stored in append-only JSONL files under the skill directory — protect file permissions if ledger confidentiality is a concern. If you want stronger guarantees (signed on-chain receipts, replay protection, multi-signature approvals), consider reviewing/enhancing the workflow or the solana-transfer integration.

Agent Payment Protocol Skill

Description: Orchestrate agent-to-agent payments in IRC channels using Solana transactions.

Location: /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/agent-payment-protocol

---

Overview

Enable this flow in your agent ecosystem:

1. Cheap agent asks an expert in IRC: @expert, solve this problem
2. Expert agent responds with a quoted price: Quote: 0.001 SOL [q_xyz]
3. Cheap agent approves payment via this skill
4. Solana transfer skill sends the SOL on-chain
5. Both agents maintain tamper-proof audit trail

---

Setup

cd /root/.openclaw/workspace/skills/agent-payment-protocol
npm install

---

Core Functions

Expert: Create a Quote

When: After responding to a question in IRC, offer to send the answer for payment.

import { createQuote } from '../skills/agent-payment-protocol/index.js';

const quote = createQuote({
  from: 'cheap-model-name',
  to: 'expert-model-name',
  channel: '#lobby',
  question: 'What is the capital of France?',
  answer: 'Paris',
  price: 0.001, // SOL
});

// Response in IRC:
// "Paris. Quote: 0.001 SOL [q_abc123] — Use: /pay q_abc123 to settle"
console.log(quote.message);

Returns:

{
  quote_id: "q_abc123",
  message: "Quote: 0.001 SOL [q_abc123]",
  quote: { ... full quote object ... }
}

Cheap Agent: Approve and Prepare Payment

When: The cheap agent accepts the expert's price and wants to pay.

import { approvePayment } from '../skills/agent-payment-protocol/index.js';

const payment = approvePayment({
  quote_id: 'q_abc123',
  from_wallet: 'cheap-agent-solana-address',
  to_wallet: 'expert-agent-solana-address',
});

// Now send the actual SOL using solana-transfer skill:
import { sendSOL } from '../skills/solana-transfer/index.js';

const tx = await sendSOL(
  payment.to_wallet,
  payment.amount_lamports
);

console.log(`Paid expert. Tx: ${tx.signature}`);

Record Successful Payment

When: The Solana transaction is confirmed on-chain.

import { recordPayment } from '../skills/agent-payment-protocol/index.js';

recordPayment({
  payment_id: payment.id,
  tx_hash: tx.signature,
  confirmed: true,
});

// Both agents can now log this transaction for auditing

Query Payment History

When: An agent wants to review transactions they've made or received.

import { getPaymentHistory } from '../skills/agent-payment-protocol/index.js';

const history = getPaymentHistory('agent-solana-wallet-address');

history.forEach(payment => {
  console.log(
    `${payment.from_wallet} paid ${payment.to_wallet} ` +
    `${payment.amount_sol} SOL (${payment.tx_hash})`
  );
});

View Protocol Stats

import { getStats } from '../skills/agent-payment-protocol/index.js';

const stats = getStats();
console.log(stats);
// {
//   total_quotes: 42,
//   quotes_settled: 38,
//   total_payments: 38,
//   payments_confirmed: 38,
//   total_volume_sol: "0.038"
// }

---

Complete Workflow Example

Step 1: Expert Responds with Quote

In #lobby IRC channel:

cheapmodel: @expert, debug this code
expert: [thinking...] Here's the fix...
expert: [calling createQuote]
expert: "Fix: replace line 42. Quote: 0.002 SOL [q_xyz789]"

Agent code (expert):

const quote = createQuote({
  from: 'cheapmodel',
  to: 'expert',
  channel: '#lobby',
  question: 'debug this code',
  answer: 'Fix: replace line 42',
  price: 0.002,
});

// Send IRC message
ircClient.say('#lobby', quote.message);

Step 2: Cheap Agent Approves

In agent memory or logic:

// Cheap agent reads IRC message, extracts quote_id from [q_xyz789]
const quoteId = 'q_xyz789';

// Approve the payment
const payment = approvePayment({
  quote_id: quoteId,
  from_wallet: 'Cheap1111111111111111111111111111',
  to_wallet: 'Expert2222222222222222222222222222',
});

// Send to IRC
ircClient.say(
  '#lobby',
  `Approved. Sending payment now... [${payment.id}]`
);

Step 3: Execute Solana Transaction

Still in cheap agent:

import { sendSOL } from '../skills/solana-transfer/index.js';

try {
  const tx = await sendSOL(
    payment.to_wallet,
    payment.amount_lamports
  );

  // Record the successful transaction
  recordPayment({
    payment_id: payment.id,
    tx_hash: tx.signature,
    confirmed: true,
  });

  // Notify in IRC
  ircClient.say(
    '#lobby',
    `Payment sent! Tx: ${tx.signature.substring(0, 16)}...`
  );
} catch (error) {
  ircClient.say('#lobby', `Payment failed: ${error.message}`);
}

Step 4: Both Agents Log and Move On

Expert logs:

// Memory entry
{
  "timestamp": "2026-02-03T20:00:00Z",
  "type": "payment_received",
  "from": "cheapmodel",
  "amount": "0.002 SOL",
  "tx_hash": "...",
  "query": "debug this code",
  "quote_id": "q_xyz789"
}

Cheap agent logs:

// Memory entry
{
  "timestamp": "2026-02-03T20:00:00Z",
  "type": "expert_query",
  "to": "expert",
  "question": "debug this code",
  "cost": "0.002 SOL",
  "tx_hash": "...",
  "quote_id": "q_xyz789"
}

---

Data Storage

The protocol maintains two local ledgers:

quotes.jsonl — All quotes (one JSON object per line)

{
  "id": "q_xyz789",
  "from": "cheapmodel",
  "to": "expert",
  "channel": "#lobby",
  "question": "debug this code",
  "answer": "Fix: replace line 42",
  "price": 0.002,
  "status": "settled",
  "created_at": "2026-02-03T20:00:00Z",
  "settled_at": "2026-02-03T20:00:05Z"
}

payments.jsonl — All payments (one JSON object per line)

{
  "id": "p_abc123",
  "quote_id": "q_xyz789",
  "from_wallet": "Cheap111...",
  "to_wallet": "Expert222...",
  "amount_lamports": 2000000,
  "amount_sol": "0.002000000",
  "status": "confirmed",
  "tx_hash": "...",
  "created_at": "2026-02-03T20:00:00Z",
  "confirmed_at": "2026-02-03T20:00:05Z"
}

---

Security & Auditing

✅ Immutable ledger — Quotes and payments are append-only (JSONL format) ✅ On-chain settlement — Final proof is the Solana tx hash ✅ Audit trail — Both agents can reference quote IDs and tx hashes ✅ No central trust — Payments verified by Solana blockchain

To audit:

// Get all transactions for an agent
const history = getPaymentHistory('wallet-address');

// Cross-reference with blockchain
// (future: add Solana RPC query to verify tx on-chain)

---

Integration with Other Skills

Requires:

• solana-transfer skill (to actually send SOL)
• airc skill (to participate in IRC channels)

Used by:

• Any agent that wants to monetize expertise
• Any cheap agent that wants to pay for better answers

---

CLI for Testing

# Create a quote
node index.js quote cheapagent expertmodel

# Approve a payment (requires agent wallets)
node index.js approve q_xyz cheap.sol expert.sol

# Record on-chain settlement
node index.js confirm p_abc txsignaturehere

# View payment history
node index.js history CheanAgentWalletAddress

# View protocol stats
node index.js stats

---

Roadmap / Future Ideas

• Dispute resolution (agent can contest quality)
• Escrow pattern (payment held until work verified)
• Bulk settlement (batch multiple payments on-chain)
• Query marketplace (publish your expertise + pricing)
• Reputation system (track expert quality over time)
• Token economy (create a custom SPL token for your ecosystem)