Introduction
Welcome to the ampersend documentation!
What is x402?
x402 is a payment protocol developed by Coinbase that enables autonomous agents and services to make payments on the blockchain. Built as part of Google's Agentic Commerce initiative, x402 provides a standardized way for AI agents to authorize and execute payments using Ethereum smart contracts and EIP-3009 transfer authorizations.
x402 enables:
- Authorization-based payments: Agents can authorize payments off-chain that are later settled on-chain
- Deferred settlement: Payments can be batched and collected later for efficiency
- Standardized payment flows: A consistent protocol for agent-to-service payments across different platforms
ampersend supports both the exact and deferred payment schemes. Learn more about the x402 Deferred Scheme, which was contributed by Edge & Node to enable trust-minimized micro-payments.
What is ampersend?
ampersend is a management platform for agent payments and operations, built by Edge & Node that leverages x402, along with A2A (Account-to-Account) and MCP (Model Context Protocol).
Edge & Node, the founding team behind The Graph, is launching ampersend, a management platform for agent payments and operations built on Coinbase's x402 payment protocol and Google's A2A framework.
As autonomous agents multiply across the AI and blockchain ecosystems, they are beginning to transact, communicate, and collaborate independently. However, today there is no standardized way to manage these interactions. Agent operations remain fragmented, invisible, and difficult to control at scale.
ampersend solves this problem by providing the missing management layer for the emerging agent economy. It extends Coinbase's x402 payment protocol and Google's A2A communication standard with observability, automation, and compliance-ready controls. The result is a unified dashboard where developers, startups, and enterprises can see how agents interact, set policies, manage budgets, and ensure reliability.
The platform is designed to help the industry adopt and scale open standards for decentralized agent ecosystems. Working closely with Coinbase, Google, and the Ethereum Foundation's dAI team, Edge & Node has been contributing to foundational standards such as x402 for payments, and ERC-8004 for agent discovery and reputation. ampersend ties these innovations together into one operational system.
It enables:
- Creation of agent wallets that integrate with A2A and MCP
- Automation of authorizations, top-ups, and spend limits
- Visibility through real-time dashboards of agent payment flows
- Control for enterprise compliance, reporting, and accounting
For more details about why ampersend exists, the problems it solves, and how it works, see the Overview.
ampersend SDK vs. ampersend Platform
ampersend consists of two complementary components that work together:
ampersend SDK (Developer Tool)
- What it is: A software development kit (SDK) for integrating x402 payments into agents
- Purpose: Enables developers to add payment capabilities to their agent code
- Used by: Developers building agents
- Provides:
- Payment middleware (X402Client, X402McpClient)
- Wallet integration (AccountWallet, SmartAccountWallet)
- Treasurer for payment authorization
- Automatic payment handling in code
ampersend Platform (Management Software)
- What it is: A management platform for agent payments and operations
- Purpose: Provides visibility, control, and management of agent payments
- Used by: Developers, operators, finance teams, enterprises
- Provides:
- Dashboard for payment visibility
- Budget controls and spend limits
- Analytics and reporting
- Enterprise compliance features
- Wallet management and automation
The Relationship
ampersend SDK = The code you use to add payments to your agents
ampersend Platform = The dashboard you use to manage those payments
They work together:
- Developers use the SDK to build agents with payment capabilities
- The Platform provides the management layer to monitor, control, and manage those payments at scale
Think of it like:
- SDK = The engine (enables payments in code)
- Platform = The dashboard (manages and monitors those payments)
The SDK handles the payment flow; the platform provides the operational management layer on top.