x402 Payments (Hedera)

Pay-per-use pattern: store protected bytes off-chain, record access terms separately (on-chain or config), gate HTTP resources with HTTP 402 + a self-hosted Hedera facilitator that verifies and settles native HBAR transfers.

Buyer → GET protected resource
          ├─ free / public → resource
          └─ paid → 402 PAYMENT-REQUIRED
                → client signs HBAR transfer
                → retry with PAYMENT-SIGNATURE
                → resource server verify + settle via facilitator
                → PAYMENT-RESPONSE + resource

The resource server never holds facilitator keys. Settlement uses a funded ECDSA fee-payer account on the facilitator process.

Quick Reference

See references/examples.md for server/client snippets. See references/facilitator.md for env vars and settle semantics.

Critical: Facilitator Fee Payer

Hedera x402 settles with native TransferTransactions. The buyer partially signs (authorize buyer → seller). The facilitator must:

1. Verify the signed payload against payment requirements
2. Co-sign as the advertised fee payer (/supported)
3. Pay network fees and submit until SUCCESS

Requires FACILITATOR_ACCOUNT_ID + FACILITATOR_PRIVATE_KEY on a funded ECDSA account — separate from deployer/seller keys. Do not put that key in the resource-server process.

Critical: Prices Are Tinybars

Payment requirements use tinybars. Convert in UIs with 8-decimal helpers; never float.

const TINYBAR_PER_HBAR = 100_000_000n;
// hbar "1.5" → 150_000_000n tinybars

Resource Server Flow (paid resource)

1. Load access terms for the resource — if missing → 404
2. If free/public → return the resource
3. Else build payment requirements: payTo = seller Hedera account id, amount in tinybars, asset 0.0.0, network (e.g. hedera:testnet)
4. No payment header → 402 with PAYMENT-REQUIRED header + JSON body
5. With payment header → verifyPayment then settlePayment; only on success return resource + PAYMENT-RESPONSE

const facilitator = new HTTPFacilitatorClient({ url: FACILITATOR_URL });
const server = new x402ResourceServer(facilitator)
  .register(X402_NETWORK, new ExactHederaScheme());
await server.initialize(); // pulls fee-payer from /supported

Client Flow

const first = await fetch(resourceUrl);
if (first.status === 402) {
  const paymentRequired = httpClient.getPaymentRequiredResponse(...);
  const payload = await httpClient.createPaymentPayload(paymentRequired);
  const headers = httpClient.encodePaymentSignatureHeader(payload);
  const paid = await fetch(resourceUrl, { headers });
  // processResponse → resource + settle receipt
}

Machine-to-machine clients use a key-based signer instead of a browser wallet.

Checklist

• Resource server has no facilitator private key
• Client and server share the same X402_NETWORK (e.g. hedera:testnet)
• Amounts are tinybars; asset id is 0.0.0
• 402 challenge → signed retry → verify → settle → resource only after success
• Fee-payer account is ECDSA and funded for network fees
• Facilitator /health OK before testing paid requests
• payTo is a Hedera account id string (e.g. 0.0.1234), not an EVM address

References

• references/examples.md — resource server wiring, client retry loop, tinybar helpers
• references/facilitator.md — endpoints, env vars, fee-payer role
• x402 docs
• @x402/hedera