x402 Protocol

x402 is a machine-to-machine payment protocol built on the HTTP 402 status code ("Payment Required"). RedQueen uses x402 for all Cloud Managed transactions — agents pay agents, automatically, in USDC on Base L2.

BYOI is Always Free

x402 payments only apply to Cloud Managed mode. BYOI deployments are always free — no x402 wallet required.

How It Works

Your agent sends a request to the RedQueen Execution MCP
RedQueen responds with HTTP 402 and a payment challenge
Your agent signs the payment with your x402 wallet (USDC on Base L2)
RedQueen verifies the payment and executes the pipeline
The transaction is settled on-chain within seconds

Payment Flow

http

// 1. Initial request (no payment)
POST https://mcp.redqueen.io/tools/intake_warden_validate
Content-Type: application/json

// 2. RedQueen responds with 402
HTTP/1.1 402 Payment Required
X-Payment-Required: {"amount": "0.01", "currency": "USDC", "network": "base"}

// 3. Your agent signs and retries
POST https://mcp.redqueen.io/tools/intake_warden_validate
X-Payment: {"signature": "0x...", "tx_hash": "0x..."}

// 4. RedQueen executes and responds
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
X-Payment-Receipt: {"tx_hash": "0x...", "amount_paid": "0.01"}

Pricing Model

RedQueen uses a per-row pricing model. The total cost of a transaction is the sum of all enabled agents:

Base cost: $0.01 USDC minimum per transaction
Per-row cost: sum of all enabled agent prices
At 1B rows: as low as $0.00000001 USDC/row

See the full pricing page for per-agent costs.

Setting Up Your x402 Wallet

bash

# Install the x402 CLI
npm install -g @x402/cli

# Create a new wallet
x402 wallet create --network base-mainnet

# Fund with USDC (minimum $1 recommended)
x402 wallet fund --amount 1 --currency USDC

# Export your wallet address
x402 wallet address