Algernon – A B2B compliance and security oracle for AI agents on Base via x402

An autonomous HTTP 402 ("Payment Required") API that provides B2B Trust Center, SOC 2 compliance, and DNS deliverability audits to AI agents, payable micro-per-call in USDC on Base (EIP-155:8453).

Autonomous agents performing research, due diligence, or lead qualification need to verify vendor security (SOC 2, ISO 27001, sub-processors, email authentication) without:

With x402, the agent calls the API, receives a machine-readable 402 Payment Required challenge, signs a 5-cent USDC payment via its on-chain wallet on Base, and receives the verified audit dossier in under 500ms.

1. Agent Discovery Manifest

Endpoint: GET /.well-known/x402.json

Output:

{ "version": "1.0", "recipient": "0x6398B23C1e7E0aB1bFB12F50702de61749D40F46", "supported_networks": ["eip155:8453"], "accepted_tokens": [ { "symbol": "USDC", "contract": "0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913", "chain": "base" } ], "routes": { "GET /v1/audit": { "price": "0.05", "currency": "USDC", "description": "Full B2B Trust Center, SOC 2 compliance, and email authentication audit for any company domain." } } }

2. The 402 Challenge Flow

When an agent calls GET /v1/audit?domain=vanta.com without payment:

The agent attaches its signed proof in the X-Payment-Proof header and retries:

{ "domain": "vanta.com", "trust_score": 100, "risk_tier": "LOW RISK (Enterprise Ready)", "trust_center_platform": "Vanta", "trust_center_url": "https://trust.vanta.com", "certifications": [ "CCPA / CPRA", "FedRAMP", "GDPR", "HIPAA", "ISO 27001", "ISO 42001 (AI)", "NIST CSF / 800-53", "PCI-DSS", "SOC 2 Type II" ], "subprocessors": [ "Amazon Web Services (AWS)", "Datadog", "HubSpot", "Intercom", "Okta", "OpenAI", "Snowflake" ], "identity_providers": [ "Atlassian Cloud", "Google Workspace", "Microsoft Entra ID / M365", "Slack Enterprise" ], "spf_enabled": true, "dmarc_enabled": true, "status_page_indicator": "NONE (All Systems Operational)", "grc_summary": "vanta.com operates a Vanta trust posture (Score: 100/100)..." }

🛠️ Local Verification & Testing

Run the test client to simulate the full unauthenticated challenge -> paid unlock loop: