🔒 local402

One-command local paywall for AI agents

Turn any local server into a payable resource in seconds. Perfect for testing agents that need to pay before they can access your API or MCP tool.

npx local402 --target http://localhost:3000 --price 0.001

What is this?

local402 drops an x402-style HTTP 402 Payment Required paywall in front of any local HTTP server or MCP tool — with a single command, zero config, and no blockchain.

Requests without payment get a clean 402. Requests that "pay" get proxied straight through to your real server. That's it.

It runs in fully simulated mode by default: no wallets, no gas, no external services, no waiting. Just instant, deterministic 402s you can build and test against locally.

agent ──▶  local402 (402 paywall)  ──▶  your server
             │
             └── no payment? → 402 Payment Required
                 paid?       → proxied response ✅

Related MCP server: 402-mcp

💸 Why local402?

Agents are learning to pay for things — API calls, tool invocations, data, compute. The x402 protocol makes HTTP-native payments real. But there's a gap:

How do you test a paying agent without spending real money, standing up a wallet, or wiring a whole payment stack — every single time?

You don't want to deploy a facilitator and fund a testnet wallet just to check that your agent notices a 402 and retries with payment. You want a paywall you can throw up in one command and tear down just as fast.

That's local402.

Use it to:

• ✅ Test that your AI agent handles 402 and retries with an x-payment header

• ✅ Demo a "pay-per-call" API or MCP tool without touching a chain

• ✅ Develop x402 client logic offline, on a plane, in CI

• ✅ Prototype pricing before committing to real settlement

⚡ Quick Start

You don't even need to install it.

# 1. Have any local server running (your API, MCP tool, whatever)
#    e.g. something on http://localhost:3000

# 2. Put a paywall in front of it
npx local402 --target http://localhost:3000 --price 0.001

local402 is now listening on http://localhost:4020 and guarding your server.

# ❌ No payment → 402 Payment Required
curl -i http://localhost:4020/

# ✅ "Pay" → request is proxied to your real server
curl -i http://localhost:4020/ -H "x-payment: simulated"

Point your agent at http://localhost:4020 instead of your real server, and watch it learn to pay. 🎉

🛠 Usage

local402 --target <url> [options]

The rule

• No x-payment header → 402 Payment Required (with a helpful JSON body + headers).

• Has x-payment: simulated (or paid) → request is proxied to --target, and the real response comes back untouched.

In simulated mode, any non-empty x-payment value is accepted — simulated and paid are just the canonical ones.

Examples

# Guard an MCP tool on a custom port, charge 0.01
local402 --target http://localhost:8787 --port 9000 --price 0.01

# Free status check — always open, never paywalled
curl http://localhost:4020/__local402

🔍 How it works

local402 is a tiny reverse proxy with one opinion: pay first, then pass through.

                        ┌──────────────────────────────┐
                        │           local402            │
                        │        :4020 (paywall)        │
   ┌─────────┐          │                               │          ┌──────────────┐
   │  agent  │ ───────▶ │  x-payment header present?    │          │ your server  │
   │ / curl  │          │                               │          │  :3000       │
   └─────────┘          │   NO  ─▶ 402 Payment Required │          └──────────────┘
        ▲               │                               │                 ▲
        │               │   YES ─▶ proxy the request  ──┼─────────────────┘
        │               │         return real response  │                 │
        └───────────────┤◀──────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┘
              402 or proxied response                    │
                        └──────────────────────────────┘

The unpaid response (HTTP 402):

{
  "x402Version": 1,
  "error": "Payment Required",
  "message": "This resource costs 0.001 USD. Retry with header 'x-payment: simulated'.",
  "accepts": [
    {
      "scheme": "simulated",
      "network": "local",
      "maxAmountRequired": "0.001",
      "asset": "USD",
      "payTo": "local402-simulated",
      "resource": "/",
      "description": "local402 simulated paywall",
      "mimeType": "application/json"
    }
  ],
  "hint": "x-payment: simulated"
}

Response headers on a 402:

HTTP/1.1 402 Payment Required
x-payment-required: true
x-payment-amount: 0.001
x-payment-asset: USD
x-payment-network: local
accept-payment: x-payment: simulated

On a paid request, local402 attaches a simulated settlement receipt so your client can verify the flow end-to-end:

x-payment-response: <base64 JSON receipt with a sim txHash>

🗺 Roadmap

local402 starts simple on purpose. The plan:

• v0.1 — Simulated mode. Instant, local, blockchain-free 402 paywall. (you are here)

• v0.2 — Real x402 settlement. Verify actual X-PAYMENT payloads via a pluggable facilitator.

• v0.3 — MCP-native mode. First-class paywalling for MCP tools/resources, not just HTTP.

• v0.4 — Per-route pricing. Different prices for different paths and methods.

• v0.5 — Usage dashboard. Live TUI of requests, payments, and revenue.

Want to shape it? Open an issue.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions, ideas, and bug reports are all welcome — this is meant to be a friendly little tool.

git clone https://github.com/wushu75/local402.git
cd local402
npm install
npm run dev -- --target http://localhost:3000   # run from source
npm run build                                    # compile to dist/

1. Fork it 🍴

2. Create a branch (git checkout -b feat/amazing-thing)

3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'feat: amazing thing')

4. Push and open a PR

No contribution is too small — even a typo fix helps.

📄 License

MIT © the local402 contributors. Do whatever you want with it.

⭐ Star the repo if this is useful

If local402 saved you from standing up a payment stack just to test an agent, drop a star — it genuinely helps other people find it.

⭐ Star local402 on GitHub

Built for the agents that pay their way. 🔒