> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.base.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Payments and Transactions

> How your agent pays for services, receives payments, and executes onchain actions

Your agent has a wallet. Now it needs to use it. This page covers two key concepts: how your agent pays for services automatically using the x402 protocol, and how skills define the actions your agent can perform.

<iframe className="w-full aspect-video rounded-xl" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b5Wx2NAeY2E?si=r1FumIsbGt6nAt29" title="Payments and transactions for agents" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowFullScreen />

## x402: pay-per-request with stablecoins

x402 lets your agent pay for API requests using <Tooltip tip="Cryptocurrencies pegged to a stable asset like the US dollar (e.g., USDC). 1 USDC is designed to always equal $1.">stablecoins</Tooltip> without subscriptions or API keys. Your agent requests a resource, the server tells it the price, your agent pays, and the server delivers the data.

The name comes from HTTP status code `402 Payment Required`, which has been reserved in the HTTP specification since the 1990s but was never widely adopted. x402 finally puts it to use.

### How x402 works

<Steps>
  <Step title="Your agent makes a request">
    Your agent sends a standard HTTP request to an API endpoint, just like any other API call.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The server responds with 402 Payment Required">
    Instead of returning data, the server responds with a `402` status code and includes payment details: how much it costs, which stablecoin to pay in, and where to send the payment.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Your agent pays">
    Your agent's wallet constructs and sends a onchain payment based on the server's instructions. This happens automatically, no human approval needed.
  </Step>

  <Step title="The server delivers the data">
    Once the payment is confirmed, the server returns the requested data. The entire flow takes seconds.
  </Step>
</Steps>

This model is powerful for agents because it requires no pre-existing relationship between your agent and the service. Any agent with a funded wallet can pay for any x402-enabled API on the fly.

[Learn more about x402 →](https://www.x402.org/)

## Skills: actions your agent can perform

Skills are typed function definitions that describe an action your agent can invoke. Each skill specifies a name, expected inputs, and return type similar to a tool or function schema in any LLM tool-use integration. Your agent parses these definitions at runtime and calls them when relevant.

Skills cover actions like checking a token balance, executing a swap, sending a payment, or calling a <Tooltip tip="A program deployed onchain that automatically executes when conditions are met">smart contract</Tooltip>.

### What a skill looks like

A skill definition includes the action name, a description of what it does, the required inputs, and the expected output. Here's a simplified example:

```json Title "Conceptual skill definition" theme={null}
{
  "skill": "check-balance",
  "description": "Check the token balance of a wallet address",
  "inputs": {
    "wallet_address": "The address to check",
    "token": "The token symbol (e.g., USDC, ETH)"
  },
  "output": "The current balance of the specified token"
}
```

Your agent reads this definition, understands what inputs it needs to provide, and calls the skill when it's relevant to the task at hand.

### Skill providers

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="BANKR Skills">
    **What they are:** Pre-built skills for agents running on OpenClaw. BANKR skills cover common actions like token swaps, balance checks, and DeFi interactions.

    **Best for:** Agents using OpenClaw or BANKR that need ready-to-use onchain capabilities.

    [Browse BANKR skills →](https://github.com/BankrBot/openclaw-skills)
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="CDP Skills">
    **What they are:** Skills provided by Coinbase's developer platform. CDP skills integrate with the Agentic Wallet and cover wallet management, token operations, and protocol interactions.

    **Best for:** Agents using Agent SDK with a CDP Agentic Wallet.

    [Browse CDP skills →](https://docs.cdp.coinbase.com/agentic-wallet/skills/overview)
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Next step

<Card title="Identity, verification, and auth" icon="arrow-right" href="/ai-agents/core-concepts/identity-verification-auth">
  Make your agent discoverable and verifiable so other agents and services can trust it.
</Card>