sell-live-dataset — the agent as a revenue center

Session (auto — never dead-stop on auth): before your first settlemesh call, run settlemesh whoami; if it errors and SETTLE_API_KEY is unset, run settlemesh login yourself — it opens the browser for a one-time human approval, polls until approved, and caches the session. Do NOT stop to ask the user to "log in manually" — drive it. Keep an explicit human confirmation only for spending / credential-lending actions (fail-closed).

A prompt-only skill can produce a dataset, but it can't sell one: it can't hold a live endpoint, meter calls, or collect payment. So the scrape you built this morning is a cost — tokens spent, nothing recovered. SettleMesh flips it: you deploy the endpoint, publish it as a priced API, and every call another agent or person makes pays you. The agent stops being a cost center.

The shape is always the same: build/refresh the data → deploy an app that serves it → apps api publish a priced manifest → callers apps api call and pay.

1. Deploy the app that serves your data

Your data needs a live endpoint first. Use the ship-paid-app skill — it gives you a *.run.settlemesh.io URL, a managed DB, and a runtime key:

settlemesh deploy ./my-api --framework container --full-stack --wait --json

Read the app_id and live URL from the JSON. Your endpoint(s) (e.g. a /query route over the dataset) now respond publicly.

2. Publish the API with per-call pricing

Publishing declares your endpoints as a dynamic service and sets what each call costs. The manifest is where pricing lives — it is not auto-created.

settlemesh apps api publish <app-id> --file manifest.json --json
# or inline:
settlemesh apps api publish <app-id> --manifest '{ ...endpoints + pricing... }' --json
settlemesh apps api show <app-id> --json     # inspect the published surface

The published endpoint must invoke a published, Approved, priced capability or dynamic service — that Approved, priced op is what actually bills the caller.

3. Verify the charge is callable BEFORE anyone pays

So the first paid call doesn't fail on an unpriced or unapproved id:

settlemesh capabilities check <charge-id> --json

4. Callers pay per query

Anyone can now discover and invoke it — the call is metered against your priced op:

settlemesh quote --app <app-id> --endpoint <endpoint-id> --input '{"q":"acme"}' --json   # cost before paying
settlemesh apps api call <app-id> <endpoint-id> --input '{"q":"acme"}' --json             # the paid call

For end users paying on their own balance (not yours), the charge-my-users skill covers the X-Settle-Payer end-user-pays rail against your Approved, priced service op.

Keep the dataset fresh

A stale dataset stops selling. Put the refresh on a schedule with the agent-cron-service skill so the data re-scrapes on its own while the API keeps serving and billing.

Notes

• Authorization: publishing and pricing a service is the publisher (owner) and admins only — you price your own app's API, nobody else's.
• Pricing is explicit: the endpoint bills only because it invokes a published, Approved, priced capability/dynamic-service. Deploy injects the app's runtime key but does not auto-create or price that charge — provision and price it first (that's what capabilities check guards against).
• Everything settles in Aev (1 USD = 100 Aev); each paid call credits your balance. Check it with settlemesh aev balance.