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Description
Summary
Add L402 support to Archon's Gatekeeper, enabling authenticated paid API access via DID-bound macaroons backed by Lightning invoices and/or Cashu tokens.
Motivation
No existing agent identity system combines cryptographic identity with native economic access control. Archon is uniquely positioned — the Gatekeeper already sits as a reverse proxy with DID verification. Adding L402 turns it into an authenticated payment gateway.
Use Cases
- Paid DID registration — charge a few sats to register a DID on BTC mainnet
- Agent-to-agent commerce — agents with Archon DIDs buy services from each other autonomously
- Per-request API billing — micro-granular access control without API keys or OAuth
- Delegated spending — humans give agents pre-loaded Cashu tokens as spending budgets
Proposed Flow
- Agent presents DID credential to Gatekeeper
- Gatekeeper returns HTTP 402 with a Lightning invoice (or accepts Cashu token)
- Agent pays the invoice / presents token
- Gatekeeper issues an L402 macaroon with DID-bound caveats (identity + payment proof)
- Agent uses the macaroon for subsequent API access
Design Considerations
Payment Methods
| Method | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Lightning invoice | Direct settlement, widely supported | Requires online routing |
| Cashu token | Offline-capable, privacy (blind sigs), micro-granular, delegatable | Requires mint trust |
Both should be supported — the agent picks whichever fits its situation.
Cashu + Delegation
Cashu tokens map cleanly to Archon's trust model:
- Keymaster (human) mints the spending budget as Cashu tokens
- Gatekeeper (agent-facing) accepts and redeems tokens
- Agent cannot spend more than what it was given — no wallet key exposure
New Credential Type
A new L402AccessCredential verifiable credential could bind:
- DID (identity)
- Payment proof (preimage or Cashu receipt)
- Access scope and expiry (macaroon caveats)
Competitive Advantage
None of the competitors can do this:
agent-did— no payment layeragent-identity-hub— Ethereum-based (slow, expensive)payelink— payments but weak identity
Archon + L402 = only system with native economic identity + paid access control.
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