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Introduction

Welcome to the ampersend documentation!

What is ampersend?​

ampersend is a management platform for agent payments and operations, created by Edge & Node. It uses Coinbase's x402 payment protocol, Google's A2A (Agent-to-Agent) framework and MCP (Model Context Protocol).

As autonomous agents increasingly interact across AI and blockchain ecosystems, there's no standard way to oversee these activities. Payments and processes are often scattered and hard to manage at scale.

ampersend addresses this by providing a single management layer for agent transactions. It allows teams to create and monitor agent wallets, track payments, automate funding and approvals, and ensure compliance within one system.

What ampersend enables​

The platform is designed to help the industry adopt and expand open standards. In collaboration with Coinbase, Google, and the Ethereum Foundation's dAI team, Edge & Node has contributed to key standards such as x402 for payments and ERC-8004 for agent discovery and reputation.

ampersend integrates these innovations into a single, operating system and enables:

  • Creation of agent wallets that integrate with A2A and MCP
  • Automation of authorizations, top-ups, and spend limits
  • Visibility through real-time dashboards of agent payment flows
  • Control for enterprise compliance, reporting, and accounting

For more details about why ampersend exists, the problems it solves, and how it works, see the why ampersend overview.

Payment scheme support​

ampersend currently supports the exact payment scheme.

The x402 Deferred Scheme was contributed by Edge & Node to enable trust-minimized micro-payments, but deferred settlement is not yet merged into x402 and is not yet supported by ampersend.

ampersend SDK and ampersend Platform​

ampersend consists of two complementary components that work together: the SDK Overview and the Platform Overview.

ampersend SDK (developer tool)​

Role: Add payment capabilities to agent code.

  • What it is: A software development kit (SDK) for integrating x402 payments into agents
  • Purpose: Enables developers to add payment capabilities to their agent code
  • Used by: Developers building agents
  • Provides:
    • Payment middleware (X402Client, X402McpClient)
    • Wallet integration (AccountWallet, SmartAccountWallet)
    • Treasurer for payment authorization
    • Automatic payment handling in code

ampersend Platform (management software)​

Role: Manage and monitor agent payments.

  • What it is: A management platform for agent payments and operations
  • Purpose: Provides visibility, control, and management of agent payments
  • Used by: Developers, operators, finance teams, enterprises
  • Provides:
    • Dashboard for payment visibility
    • Budget controls and spend limits
    • Analytics and reporting
    • Enterprise compliance features
    • Wallet management and automation

How they work together​

  • ampersend SDK: Developer use the SDK to build agents with payment capabilities
  • ampersend Platform: The dashboard you use to manage those payments

Typical flow:​

  1. Developers use the SDK to build agents with payment capabilities.
  2. The Platform provides the management layer to monitor, control, and manage those payments at scale.

To get started, see ampersend sdk quick start and ampersend platform quick start.