verify402-mcp
MCP server for verify402: a free, fail-closed preflight gate before an
agent signs a payment or a chain transaction, plus five paid on-chain checks
paid per call over x402.
Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, OpenCode, and any MCP client that speaks
stdio. The free gate needs no wallet. The public demo's paid tools use a
dedicated hot wallet funded with Base Sepolia testnet USDC (eip155:84532).
The analysis reads mainnet chain data, but the demo never settles mainnet
payments. The bridge never signs or sends a trade.
Published package note: [email protected] is published to npm and
defaults paid calls to Base Sepolia testnet (eip155:84532) for the public
demo. Base mainnet (eip155:8453) requires an explicit VERIFY402_NETWORKS
opt-in in a separate deployment and is not enabled by this release. The
previously published 1.0.8, 1.0.6, 1.0.5, and 1.0.4 packages are
immutable, and 1.0.4 used Base mainnet by default. Do not republish or
overwrite any of them.
Tools
preflight_gate is the front door. Call it before signing any crypto
transaction or x402 payment request. If sign_allowed is false, do not
sign. If requires_ack is true, surface the reasons to the operator. The
receipt expires (default 90s); call again instead of reusing it.
For payment intents, policy.allowedResourceHosts binds the host in
payment.resource; a matching host can PASS and a foreign host is BLOCK.
Without allowedResourceHosts or expectedResource, an otherwise valid
resource is CAUTION resource_identity_unverified and resource identity is
listed in notChecked. The bridge forwards this policy to the server; the
server enforces it.
Two optional caller-supplied checks are forwarded as-is:
payment.idempotencyKey + policy.obligation.settledKeys rejects a key the
caller already settled; policy.obligation.spentUsd + grantUsd rejects
cumulative spend over the grant. The bridge does not persist this state.
policy.sellerPayoutWallets is a caller-supplied payout allowlist. A
mismatch is BLOCK, but a match is not provenance and never adds
payee_payout_binding.
policy.sellerPayoutManifest fetches a seller-signed manifest from a
caller-pinned HTTPS origin outside the 402. Only a verified manifest whose
payTo list matches adds payee_payout_binding. The response includes
payeeBinding with the source, origin, signer, expiry, and manifest hash.
The gate is advisory at this layer: the bridge does not hold the agent's
transaction key and cannot stop an agent that ignores the answer. Enforcement
belongs in the executor that signs — verify the receipt, then sign. See
examples/preflight-guard.mjs
for a deny-by-default reference that refuses to call the signer without a
verified receipt.
Distribution & Run
The package is officially published on npm as verify402-mcp and indexed on the official Model Context Protocol Registry.
Run directly via npx (stdio transport):
You can also install it globally:
Or run from source:
AI Agent Integration (Step-by-Step)
Step 1: Free Mode (Zero Config, No Wallet)
To give your AI agent the free preflight_gate (checks transaction calldata, payment challenges, payee/amount, approvals, and block freshness before signing), paste this into your client configuration. The paid check_token_safety check adds a quote-based sellability check; it does not execute a transfer and is not a honeypot guarantee.
Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json) or Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json):
Step 2: Paid Mode (Setting Up the Hot Wallet)
To enable the 5 deep on-chain truth checks (verify_arbitrage, check_token_safety, get_best_route, verify_quote_fairness, get_trade_depth), configure a dedicated hot wallet that pays per call in USDC via x402:
- Create a Dedicated Hot Wallet:
- Create a brand new wallet in MetaMask, Rabby, or via
cast wallet new.
- ⚠️ SECURITY WARNING: Never use your primary personal wallet, cold storage, or vault.
- Fund the Wallet on Base Sepolia testnet (EIP-155:84532):
- USDC: Get Base Sepolia testnet USDC from a faucet (the bridge pays per call: $0.03 to $0.10 in testnet USDC).
- Gas (ETH on Base Sepolia): Get a small amount of Base Sepolia testnet ETH for gas if your client needs it. No mainnet funds are required for the public demo.
- Configure Environment Variables in Your MCP Client:
- Set
EVM_PRIVATE_KEY to the 64-character private key of the hot wallet.
- Set
VERIFY402_NETWORKS to eip155:84532 (Base Sepolia testnet).
- Set safety caps
MAX_PAYMENT_USD (e.g., "0.25") and MAX_DAILY_USD (e.g., "1.00").
Paid Configuration Block (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, Windsurf):
OpenCode V2 Configuration
In opencode.jsonc (or ~/.config/opencode/opencode.jsonc):
How AI Agents Use verify402 (Prompt Examples)
Once configured, your agent automatically sees the tools in its context. You can prompt it directly:
- Preflight Gate (Free):
"Before signing this transaction, call preflight_gate on the payment request / calldata. If it returns BLOCK, abort and explain why."
- Token Quote-Based Sellability Check ($0.10, not a code audit):
"Analyze token 0x95aD61b0a150d79219dCF64E1E6Cc01f0B64C4cE using check_token_safety. Can it be sold at a realistic size on the configured venues, what is the round-trip cost, and is the result TRUST / CAUTION / AVOID? Read notChecked for transfer restrictions."
- Arbitrage Verification ($0.05):
"Use verify_arbitrage to verify if there is an arbitrage opportunity between Uniswap V3 and Sushiswap for WETH/USDC on chain 1 at the current block."
- Quote Fairness Audit ($0.05):
"I was offered 0.35 WETH for 1,000 USDC. Run verify_quote_fairness to see if this is fair or if I'm overpaying."
- Market Depth & Capacity ($0.05):
"Check get_trade_depth for WETH on Uniswap V3 to see how much slippage and impact a $50,000 swap would suffer."
Safety
- The bridge signs x402 payments only. It never signs or broadcasts a trade.
- Each paid tool call mints one
crypto.randomUUID() idempotency key and sends it
as x-idempotency-key. A timeout or lost response is retried with the same
key, so the server replays the settled verdict (recovery.replayed: true)
instead of charging twice. A 402 or 409 is never auto-retried; the error is
surfaced to the MCP client. The key is a secret and is never logged or returned.
- Before signing, the paid client requires the 402 to come from the configured
server and a known paid route, on an allowlisted EVM network, to the
verify402 payee. It accepts only recognized default assets (USDC), caps the
amount at
MAX_PAYMENT_USD, and refuses redirects.
- The whole 402 challenge is checked, not just the option the client picks:
every offered requirement must use an allowlisted network, the configured
payee, the canonical USDC contract and the canonical EIP-712 domain for
that network, an
extra.assetTransferMethod of eip3009, a
maxTimeoutSeconds that is a positive integer no greater than 300, and an
amount inside the cap. A challenge that also offers Base mainnet is refused
as a whole rather than filtered down to the testnet option. The client also
proves that the requirement it signs is the exact object the server sent.
- The allowlist can be narrowed or pointed at another deployment with
VERIFY402_NETWORKS, VERIFY402_PAY_TO, and VERIFY402_RESOURCE_PREFIX.
The bridge defaults are Base Sepolia testnet (eip155:84532) and the
public verify402 payee. VERIFY402_NETWORKS is constrained to the supported
map (eip155:84532, eip155:8453); an explicitly empty value fails closed
instead of falling back to a default.
MAX_PAYMENT_USD is enforced inside the x402 client, before a signature
exists; removing it is a security regression. The caps limit what the bridge
can authorize; they do not protect a compromised private key.
- The bridge sends
X-Verify402-Client: verify402-mcp/<version> and the same
version in its User-Agent. This is an anonymous label for /usage, not an
account: it contains no wallet, key, or user id, and the server treats it as
self-declared and spoofable.
preflight_gate is a check, not a guarantee. Read notChecked: it does not
screen recipient reputation or sanctions, audit contracts, simulate full
balance deltas, audit the counterparty, independently prove payee ownership,
persist an obligation ledger across processes, scan tool descriptions or
responses for prompt injection, or protect against MEV. It catches the
measurable signing mistakes, not every scam.
- Use the reference executor
when you want enforcement rather than advice.
Dependencies and npm audit
This package no longer depends on @x402/axios or @x402/evm. The x402 payer
(PAYMENT-REQUIRED / PAYMENT-SIGNATURE / PAYMENT-RESPONSE, scheme exact,
EIP-3009 authorization) is implemented here on viem, and the runtime
dependency list is: the MCP SDK, axios, dotenv, viem, zod 4.
Why: @x402 2.28.0 depended on zod ^3.24.2, which resolves into
GHSA-mrhx-c7xc-m3w5
(memory-exhaustion DoS while validating oversized arrays; the advisory covers
all zod < 4.6.6, and no patched 3.x exists). npm ignores overrides declared
inside a dependency, so installs of 1.0.8 and earlier showed a "high severity"
audit banner. The upstream request is
x402-foundation/x402#3953.
The current package, installed from its tarball:
The bridge pays the same wire protocol. The only behavior change is cosmetic:
npm ls @x402 shows nothing, and the install is 5 packages smaller. The
paid-call policy (network allowlist, configured payee, canonical USDC,
per-payment cap, tool-bound resource) is unchanged and still runs before any
signature exists, in payment-policy.mjs.
Explicit mainnet configuration (not the public demo)
Mainnet settlement is a separate deployment choice, not a bridge or demo
default. Do not point this client at mainnet until the service-side mainnet
readiness checks, facilitator, always-on host, and wallet funding have been
verified independently.
The public demo offers eip155:84532; a mainnet-only policy will refuse that
challenge instead of silently spending mainnet funds. The reverse is also
enforced: the demo policy refuses a mainnet-only challenge.
Development
License
Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE and NOTICE.
You may use, modify, and distribute this package, including in commercial agent
systems and bots. If you redistribute it or a product containing it, keep the
copyright notice, the license text, and the NOTICE file. The verify402 name
and logo are not licensed for endorsement.