PayQL — pay-per-query data from The Graph

Get live on-chain data from The Graph's subgraphs (DeFi, DEX pools, NFTs, ENS, tokens, governance — 15,000+ subgraphs across 20+ chains), paying ~$0.01 USDC per query over x402. No API key, no account, no ETH for gas — the payment is the auth, and it's gasless (EIP-3009 transferWithAuthorization on Base).

The loop: discover → price → query

1. Discover the right live subgraph for a protocol — ranked by on-chain curation signal, so you skip dead forks.
2. Price it — preflight the 402 challenge to read the exact USDC cost before paying (free).
3. Query — send GraphQL, pay the 402 from your wallet, get the data + a receipt back.

Two ways to run it

A. PayQL MCP server (turnkey)

Install and wire into your harness (Claude Desktop / Code / Cursor):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "payql": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "payql"],
      "env": { "PAYQL_NETWORK": "base", "PAYQL_PRIVATE_KEY": "0xYOUR_BASE_WALLET_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Tools: search_subgraphs, get_payment_info (free price quote), query_subgraph (paid), get_subgraph_schema, wallet_status. Full recipe + example queries in references/gateway.md.

B. No install — use your harness's own wallet

If your harness already has an x402 / pay-for-service capability, hit the gateway directly:

• Gateway URL: https://gateway.thegraph.com/api/x402/subgraphs/id/<SUBGRAPH_ID>
• POST GraphQL {"query":"..."}. On 402, pay the quoted USDC amount and retry — your x402 client does this automatically.

Full no-install recipe (discovery query, pricing, examples) in references/gateway.md.

Wallet & funding

Fund a Base wallet with USDC only — payments are gasless, so no ETH is required. Want spend caps/allowlists? Use an Ampersend-managed wallet (see the PayQL README). The per-query cost is $0.01 — there are no API keys, subscriptions, or platform fees; the x402 micropayment is the only cost.