Pay Per Use

x402 Crypto Payments

Pay per request with USDC on Base. No account required. Send crypto, get research.

Base URL: https://airesearchos.com/api/x402

Overview

Pay per research request with USDC on the Base network. No account, no API key, no subscription required. Payment is settled on-chain via the x402 protocol.

Hit a paid endpoint without payment - get a 402 response with price, wallet, and network details

Sign a USDC payment with your wallet (EIP-3009 TransferWithAuthorization)

Re-send the request with the X-Payment header - research starts, payment settled on-chain

Pricing

Mode	Endpoint	Price
scan	/api/x402/research/scan	$0.50 USDC
dueDiligence	/api/x402/research/due-diligence	$1.50 USDC
missionCritical	/api/x402/research/mission-critical	$5.00 USDC

Making a Request

Every paid request follows a two-step flow: first get payment requirements, then re-send with a signed payment.

Step 1 - Request without payment (get requirements)

curl -X POST https://airesearchos.com/api/x402/research/scan \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "Top AI startups in climate tech for 2025-2026"}'

Server responds with 402 Payment Required:

{
  "error": "Payment Required",
  "requirements": {
    "scheme": "exact",
    "network": "base",
    "maxAmountRequired": "500000",
    "payTo": "0x...",
    "asset": "0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913",
    "description": "Scan research - $0.50 USDC",
    "maxTimeoutSeconds": 300,
    "extra": { "name": "USD Coin", "version": "2" }
  }
}

Step 2 - Re-send with signed payment

Using the requirements from step 1, sign an EIP-3009 TransferWithAuthorization with your wallet, base64-encode the payment payload, and include it as the X-Payment header:

curl -X POST https://airesearchos.com/api/x402/research/scan \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Payment: eyJ4NDAyVmVyc2lvbiI6MSwic2NoZW1lIjoiZXhhY3QiLC..." \
  -d '{"query": "Top AI startups in climate tech for 2025-2026"}'

The X-Payment header is a base64-encoded JSON object:

{
  "x402Version": 1,
  "scheme": "exact",
  "network": "base",
  "payload": {
    "signature": "0xabcdef...",
    "authorization": {
      "from": "0xYourWalletAddress",
      "to": "0xPayToAddress",
      "value": "500000",
      "validAfter": "0",
      "validBefore": "1707580800",
      "nonce": "0xrandom32bytes..."
    }
  }
}

Success Response

Payment is verified and settled on-chain. Research starts immediately:

{
  "id": "a944163d-3b7d-48c6-8a8d-7171a0f9af5b",
  "status": "queued",
  "mode": "scan",
  "query": "Top AI startups in climate tech for 2025-2026",
  "paymentMethod": "x402",
  "createdAt": "2026-02-10T19:41:00.848Z"
}

The response also includes an X-Payment-Response header with the on-chain settlement transaction hash.

Create Research Endpoints

POST

/api/x402/research/scan

Quick validation with 10-20 sources. ~10 minutes.

Price

$0.50 USDC (500000 atomic units)

Request Body

Field	Type	Required	Description
query	string	yes	Research prompt (10-2000 characters)
reportLength	enum	no	"concise" \| "standard" (default) \| "extended"
includeSocialSources	boolean	no	Include blogs, forums, Reddit, and social media. Default: true

POST

/api/x402/research/due-diligence

Decision-grade research with 50-100 sources. ~30 minutes.

Price

$1.50 USDC (1500000 atomic units)

Request Body

Field	Type	Required	Description
query	string	yes	Research prompt (10-2000 characters)
reportLength	enum	no	"concise" \| "standard" (default) \| "extended"
includeSocialSources	boolean	no	Include blogs, forums, Reddit, and social media. Default: true

POST

/api/x402/research/mission-critical

Maximum coverage with 150-300+ sources. ~90 minutes. For when being wrong is expensive.

Price

$5.00 USDC (5000000 atomic units)

Request Body

Field	Type	Required	Description
query	string	yes	Research prompt (10-2000 characters)
reportLength	enum	no	"concise" \| "standard" (default) \| "extended"
includeSocialSources	boolean	no	Include blogs, forums, Reddit, and social media. Default: true

Retrieve Results

After creating a research job, poll for status and retrieve the completed report. No payment required for these endpoints.

GET

/api/x402/research/{id}

Poll research status and progress. Suggested polling interval: every 10 seconds.

Example Request

curl https://airesearchos.com/api/x402/research/a944163d-3b7d-48c6-8a8d-7171a0f9af5b

Response

{
  "id": "a944163d-3b7d-48c6-8a8d-7171a0f9af5b",
  "status": "searching",
  "progress": 45,
  "currentStep": "Searching source 2 of 4...",
  "query": "Top AI startups in climate tech for 2025-2026",
  "mode": "scan"
}

GET

/api/x402/research/{id}/output

Get full structured report with sources and metadata. Only available when status is "completed".

Example Request

curl https://airesearchos.com/api/x402/research/a944163d-3b7d-48c6-8a8d-7171a0f9af5b/output

Response

{
  "id": "a944163d-...",
  "query": "Top AI startups in climate tech...",
  "report": {
    "markdown": "# Full Report...\n\n## Executive Summary\n...",
    "sections": [{ "title": "Executive Summary", "content": "..." }]
  },
  "sources": ["https://..."],
  "metadata": {
    "mode": "scan",
    "totalSources": 12,
    "processingTimeSeconds": 549,
    "paymentMethod": "x402"
  }
}

Request Body

Field	Type	Required	Description
query	string	yes	Research prompt (10-2000 characters)
reportLength	enum	no	"concise" \| "standard" (default) \| "extended"
includeSocialSources	boolean	no	Include blogs, forums, Reddit, and social media. Default: true. Set to false for authoritative-only sourcing.

Network

All x402 payments are processed on the Base network using USDC.

Base (L2)

USDC Contract: 0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913

Near-zero gas fees. Payments settle in seconds.