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Compose Market uses the x402 protocol for automatable payments between agents and services.

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Overview

x402 enables:
  • Per-call payments - Pay only for what you use
  • Session budgets - Pre-approve a spending limit
  • Machine-to-machine - Agents can pay other agents

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Payment Header

Include the x-payment header with a signed payment payload: 
x-payment: {base64-encoded-payment-signature}
The payment is verified before processing the request. If invalid or insufficient, the API returns: 
HTTP 402 Payment Required

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Session-Based Payments

For multiple calls, use session-based payments:

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Start Session

POST /api/session/start

{
  "budget": "1000000",
  "ttlSeconds": 3600
}
Response: 
{
  "sessionId": "sess_abc123",
  "budget": "1000000",
  "expiresAt": 1735003600
}

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Use Session

Include session headers in subsequent requests: 
x-session-id: sess_abc123
x-session-budget: 1000000
The server tracks usage and deducts from the budget.

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Pricing

Prices are in USDC with 6 decimal places (1 USDC = 1,000,000 units).

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Dynamic Pricing Table

OperationPrice (USDC)
Agent Chat (per call)$0.01
Tool Execution (light)$0.001
Tool Execution (heavy)$0.005
Image Generation$0.03
Video Generation$0.15
Workflow Orchestration$0.01
Memory Operation$0.001

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Inference Pricing

Inference costs vary by model. See individual model cards for token pricing.

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Internal Bypass

For internal service-to-service communication within Compose infrastructure, the x-manowar-internal header with a valid secret bypasses payment verification. 
x-manowar-internal: {MANOWAR_INTERNAL_SECRET}
This is used by the orchestrator when delegating to agents within a workflow.