# Paddock

Agent payments have no chargeback. Paddock is pre-payment verification for AI agents.

It checks that an x402 API is real, live, and fairly priced before your agent pays it, and it measures what AI agents actually pay each other on x402 across Base and Solana.

Paddock snapshots the live agent economy, transaction volume, spend, buyers, providers, category share, and reliability, and serves it through a set of MCP tools and an HTTP API that agents can call directly, paying per query with x402 or with a subscription key.

> **Note on `openapi.json`:** The `openapi.json` in this repository is a byte-for-byte mirror of the live specification served at `paddock.finance/openapi.json`, which is generated from the site's route and is the source of truth. Both declare the same `info.version` (currently `3.8.0`); if they ever disagree, the live specification is correct and this file is stale. Use either for tool discovery and client generation.

## Why agents call it

- **Should I pay this endpoint right now?** `verify_before_pay` probes the target live, checks the contract against what you expect and the seller's own published config, then adds settlement recency, the circular signal, and price versus market, before your agent authorizes a payment it cannot take back.
- **Find the best live provider.** Rank providers in a category by a composite of reliability (7-day success rate), reputation (unique buyers), and price, so an agent can route to the strongest option, not just the cheapest.
- **Is this service still up?** Per-domain liveness lookup, up/down, 7-day probe success rate, and latency, before an agent commits a paid call to a provider.
- **Where's demand moving?** Diff today's snapshot against a past date to see new services, retired services, category share movements, and top movers, so an agent knows where spend is shifting.

## The MCP tools

Twelve tools are live, across three access tiers. `get_market_summary` needs no authentication at all. Five tools are covered by a **free key**, 10 calls per UTC day, shared across all five, issued instantly from an email address. The rest are premium: a Paddock API key, an x402/MPP per-query payment, or one free trial call per day (where noted).

| Tool | Price | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `verify_before_pay` | Free key, or $0.25 USDC / query | The pre-payment check no seller can self-report. Probes the target live for its 402, checks the contract against what you expect and the seller's own published config, then adds settlement recency, the circular signal, and price versus market. Returns `route` true/false/inconclusive, each with dated evidence. Call this before your agent authorizes any x402 payment. |
| `get_market_summary` | Free | Current AI agent commerce market overview: total daily transaction volume, USDC spend, unique buyer agents, live service providers, and the top spending categories with their share of volume. |
| `get_category_detail` | Free key | All services in a specific category (`llm`, `data`, `search`, `infra`, `content`, `markets`, `payments`, `comms`; aliases accepted) with transaction counts, pricing, provider count, and reliability scores. |
| `get_niche_gaps` | Free key, or $0.01 USDC / query | Ranks every category by `opportunity_score` (high volume, few providers) with share, top-provider concentration, and an Open/Tightening/Consolidating/Mature signal. Answers "where should I build an x402 service?" |
| `get_best_value_provider` | $0.02 USDC / query | Ranks providers in one category by a composite of reliability (7-day success rate), reputation (unique buyers), and price. |
| `get_liveness` | Free key, or $0.001 USDC / query | Per-domain liveness for **any domain TrustBench probes**, with full probe detail: up/down (7-day probe success rate >= 0.95), score, latency p50/p95, sample count, endpoint count, and last-probe time. Reads the same nightly rollup as `get_category_detail`; the difference is reach and depth, not freshness, it answers for domains that have no x402 volume at all, which the category tool cannot. |
| `get_changes` | $0.10 USDC / query | Diffs today's market snapshot against a past date (up to 90 days back): new services, retired services, category share movements, and top movers. |
| `get_circular_signal` | $0.99 USDC / query | Wash/circular-settlement signal, aggregate per facilitator: cluster count, cluster volume (30d/7d), self-funding %, external-payer count, flagged share of settlement, and trend. Aggregate only, no wallet addresses or operator identity. |
| `get_whale_activity` | $0.99 USDC / query | Large settlements and movers over a window, aggregate by facilitator, category, and size band: amounts, counts, and per-category mover counts. Describes size and where, never who. |
| `get_token_metrics` | Free key, or $0.01 USDC / query | First-party chart/time-series data by metric and date range: spend share over time, daily transactions, category concentration, new services, liveness score, and the Agent Commerce Index (ACI). |
| `get_provider_revenue` | $0.99 USDC / query | Which providers earn the most over a window of daily snapshots, and how much of the market that answer can see. Attributed universe only, facilitator pass-through and circular-flagged wallets are excluded, and unresolved wallets are not dropped but surface as one explicit `unattributed` row (transaction share only; no dollar figure exists for them). Reports whether the recipient list was complete on every aggregated day. |
| `get_report_data` | Free metadata + $0.99 USDC / query for full data | Free metadata (title, table of contents, executive summary excerpt) at the unauthenticated `/api/paddock/mcp/report-data` route; full structured JSON of the monthly State of Agent Commerce report, ecosystem trends, category breakdowns, the Agent Commerce Index (ACI) with component decomposition, protocol comparison, and reliability data, via the x402-hardened `/api/paddock/mcp/report-data/paid` route. |

The paid tools (`verify_before_pay`, `get_niche_gaps`, `get_best_value_provider`, `get_liveness`, `get_changes`, `get_circular_signal`, `get_whale_activity`, `get_token_metrics`, `get_provider_revenue`) each allow one free trial call per day per IP. `get_report_data` has no free trial on the full-data route; only its metadata is free.

> `get_report_data` is published with two paths. The free-metadata route (`/api/paddock/mcp/report-data`) is declared with `security: []` and is deliberately excluded from x402scan indexing; the full-data route (`/api/paddock/mcp/report-data/paid`) carries the x402 payment scheme. Both are visible in `openapi.json`.

## Signed attestations

Paddock can emit a signed attestation for any pre-payment check: a portable JSON record carrying the observed payment terms, the settlement history it was checked against, the observation window, and the verdict, signed Ed25519 over an RFC 8785 canonical form. The signing key is published at a well-known path, and records verify standalone with no API access and no trust in Paddock. This is the attested-evidence format proposed for the x402 dispute-resolution extension.

- The public key path: `/.well-known/paddock-attestation-key`
- Verify it yourself: fetch the record, canonicalize per RFC 8785, check the Ed25519 signature against the published key.
- Live example: [https://paddock.finance/a/mFxHpIcBGHR0NsmkpT8rHb0wvX_8tIr3K0xOl_4W4UY](https://paddock.finance/a/mFxHpIcBGHR0NsmkpT8rHb0wvX_8tIr3K0xOl_4W4UY)

## Connecting from Claude Desktop

In Claude Desktop, open **Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector**, then paste the Paddock MCP URL below. Claude discovers the tools automatically.

```
https://paddock.finance/api/mcp/mcp
```

The free tools work over the connector with no authentication. The paid tools work over the connector too: pass your Paddock API key as the `api_key` argument on the tool call and the server forwards it as the `X-Paddock-Key` header, billing the call against your subscription. Omit `api_key` to use the once-per-day free trial, or to settle the tool's USDC price via x402 pay-per-query.

## Connecting from other MCP clients

Paddock exposes a standard MCP HTTP transport at the same URL: point any MCP-compatible client at it:

```
https://paddock.finance/api/mcp/mcp
```

For tool discovery, schemas, and the full route map, see [`openapi.json`](./openapi.json) in this repository (mirrored to `paddock.finance/openapi.json`).

## The free key

**New here? [Build on Paddock](./BUILDING.md)** is the walkthrough: 60-second start, what each free tool is actually good for, five worked examples, and how to size your usage. The rest of this README is reference.


`get_market_summary` is open to everyone with no key, no signup, and no rate limit. It is the citation surface. If you are quoting a Paddock figure, quote it from here.

Five more tools, `verify_before_pay`, `get_category_detail`, `get_niche_gaps`, `get_token_metrics`, `get_liveness`, are covered by a free key. One request gets you one:

```bash
curl -X POST https://paddock.finance/api/keys/free \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"you@example.com"}'
```

The key is returned in the response and emailed to you. Pass it as the `X-Paddock-Key` header, or as the `api_key` argument over the MCP connector.

- **10 calls per UTC day, shared across all five tools**, one counter, not 10 each.
- Every successful response carries a `usage` object (`used`, `limit`, `remaining`, `resets_at`) so you can meter yourself.
- Over the limit returns a structured 429 naming the reset time and both paid paths.
- Premium tools are never on a free key. Calling one returns a structured 402 naming the price, and that refusal is **not** counted against your daily limit.

**Free trial and free key are different.** The free trial is 1 call per IP per day with no key at all, shared across the paid tools, a zero-friction taste, and it still works. The free key is the workflow tier above it, tied to your key rather than your IP.

> Free for development and internal use. Redistribution, resale, or serving Paddock data to your end users requires a commercial license: see [paddock.finance/api-access](https://paddock.finance/api-access) or contact hello@paddock.finance.

## Pricing

| Plan | Price | Limit |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Keyless | Free | `get_market_summary`, unlimited, no key, no cap |
| Free key | Free | Five tools at 10 queries/day, shared, see [The free key](#the-free-key) |
| Builder | $99/mo | 10,000 queries/day |
| Pro Agent | $499/mo | Unlimited |
| x402 per-query | Pay per pull | Agent-native, no subscription, pay the per-tool USDC price at call time |

The x402 per-query option is for agent-native, pay-per-pull access with no subscription: an agent settles the tool's USDC price at call time. To subscribe to Builder or Pro Agent and obtain an API key, see [`paddock.finance/api-access`](https://paddock.finance/api-access).

## Authentication

Keys come in three classes and all travel the same way, in the `X-Paddock-Key` header: `pk_free_` (free tier, five tools, 10/day shared), `pk_builder_` ($99/mo) and `pk_proagent_` ($499/mo). Paid tools accept a Builder or Pro Agent key; Send the key with each request and the call is billed against your subscription's daily quota. Over the MCP connector (e.g. in Claude), pass the key as the `api_key` tool argument instead; the server forwards it as `X-Paddock-Key`. Alternatively, agents can pay per query with x402: omit the key and settle the tool's USDC price via the x402 payment flow at call time. Free tools require neither.

## Docs & contact

- Canonical documentation: [`paddock.finance/docs`](https://paddock.finance/docs)
- Questions: `hello@paddock.finance`
- On X: [@PaddockFinance](https://x.com/PaddockFinance)

## Status

Production. Snapshots written daily at 23:30 UTC.