OpenClaw Skill

monetize-service

Build and deploy a paid API that other agents can pay to use via x402. Use when you or the user want to monetize an API, make money, earn money, offer a service, sell a service to other agents, charge for endpoints, create a paid endpoint, or set up a paid service. Covers "make money by offering an endpoint", "sell a service", "monetize your data", "create a paid API".

Install

$npx clawhub@latest install monetize-service
All-time installs5
Active installs5
Stars0

Build an x402 Payment Server

Create an Express server that charges USDC for API access using the x402 payment protocol. Callers pay per-request in USDC on Base — no accounts, API keys, or subscriptions needed.

How It Works

x402 is an HTTP-native payment protocol. When a client hits a protected endpoint without paying, the server returns HTTP 402 with payment requirements. The client signs a USDC payment and retries with a payment header. The facilitator verifies and settles the payment, and the server returns the response.

Confirm wallet is initialized and authed

bash
npx awal@latest status

If the wallet is not authenticated, refer to the authenticate-wallet skill.

Step 1: Get the Payment Address

Run this to get the wallet address that will receive payments:

bash
npx awal@latest address

Use this address as the payTo value.

Step 2: Set Up the Project

bash
mkdir x402-server && cd x402-server
npm init -y
npm install express x402-express

Create index.js:

js
const express = require("express");
const { paymentMiddleware } = require("x402-express");

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

const PAY_TO = "<address from step 1>";

// x402 payment middleware — protects routes below
const payment = paymentMiddleware(PAY_TO, {
  "GET /api/example": {
    price: "$0.01",
    network: "base",
    config: {
      description: "Description of what this endpoint returns",
    },
  },
});

// Protected endpoint
app.get("/api/example", payment, (req, res) => {
  res.json({ data: "This costs $0.01 per request" });
});

app.listen(3000, () => console.log("Server running on port 3000"));

Step 3: Run It

bash
node index.js

Test with curl — you should get a 402 response with payment requirements:

bash
curl -i http://localhost:3000/api/example

API Reference

paymentMiddleware(payTo, routes, facilitator?)

Creates Express middleware that enforces x402 payments.

ParameterTypeDescription
payTostringEthereum address (0x...) to receive USDC payments
routesobjectRoute config mapping route patterns to payment config
facilitatorobject?Optional custom facilitator (defaults to x402.org)

Route Config

Each key in the routes object is "METHOD /path". The value is either a price string or a config object:

js
// Simple — just a price
{ "GET /api/data": "$0.05" }

// Full config
{
  "POST /api/query": {
    price: "$0.25",
    network: "base",
    config: {
      description: "Human-readable description of the endpoint",
      inputSchema: {
        bodyType: "json",
        bodyFields: {
          query: { type: "string", description: "The query to run" },
        },
      },
      outputSchema: {
        type: "object",
        properties: {
          result: { type: "string" },
        },
      },
    },
  },
}

Route Config Fields

FieldTypeDescription
pricestringUSDC price (e.g. "$0.01", "$1.00")
networkstringBlockchain network: "base" or "base-sepolia"
config.descriptionstring?What this endpoint does (shown to clients)
config.inputSchemaobject?Expected request body/query schema
config.outputSchemaobject?Response body schema
config.maxTimeoutSecondsnumber?Max time for payment settlement

Supported Networks

NetworkDescription
baseBase mainnet (real USDC)
base-sepoliaBase Sepolia testnet (test USDC)

Patterns

Multiple endpoints with different prices

js
const payment = paymentMiddleware(PAY_TO, {
  "GET /api/cheap": { price: "$0.001", network: "base" },
  "GET /api/expensive": { price: "$1.00", network: "base" },
  "POST /api/query": { price: "$0.25", network: "base" },
});

app.get("/api/cheap", payment, (req, res) => { /* ... */ });
app.get("/api/expensive", payment, (req, res) => { /* ... */ });
app.post("/api/query", payment, (req, res) => { /* ... */ });

Wildcard routes

js
const payment = paymentMiddleware(PAY_TO, {
  "GET /api/*": { price: "$0.05", network: "base" },
});

app.use(payment);
app.get("/api/users", (req, res) => { /* ... */ });
app.get("/api/posts", (req, res) => { /* ... */ });

Health check (no payment)

Register free endpoints before the payment middleware:

js
app.get("/health", (req, res) => res.json({ status: "ok" }));

// Payment middleware only applies to routes registered after it
app.get("/api/data", payment, (req, res) => { /* ... */ });

POST with body schema

js
const payment = paymentMiddleware(PAY_TO, {
  "POST /api/analyze": {
    price: "$0.10",
    network: "base",
    config: {
      description: "Analyze text sentiment",
      inputSchema: {
        bodyType: "json",
        bodyFields: {
          text: { type: "string", description: "Text to analyze" },
        },
      },
      outputSchema: {
        type: "object",
        properties: {
          sentiment: { type: "string" },
          score: { type: "number" },
        },
      },
    },
  },
});

app.post("/api/analyze", payment, (req, res) => {
  const { text } = req.body;
  // ... your logic
  res.json({ sentiment: "positive", score: 0.95 });
});

Using the CDP facilitator (authenticated)

For production use with the Coinbase facilitator (supports mainnet):

bash
npm install @coinbase/x402
js
const { facilitator } = require("@coinbase/x402");

const payment = paymentMiddleware(PAY_TO, routes, facilitator);

This requires CDP_API_KEY_ID and CDP_API_KEY_SECRET environment variables. Get these from https://portal.cdp.coinbase.com.

Testing with the pay-for-service Skill

Once the server is running, use the pay-for-service skill to test payments:

bash
# Check the endpoint's payment requirements
npx awal@latest x402 details http://localhost:3000/api/example

# Make a paid request
npx awal@latest x402 pay http://localhost:3000/api/example

Pricing Guidelines

Use CaseSuggested Price
Simple data lookup$0.001 - $0.01
API proxy / enrichment$0.01 - $0.10
Compute-heavy query$0.10 - $0.50
AI inference$0.05 - $1.00

Checklist

  • Get wallet address with npx awal@latest address
  • Install express and x402-express
  • Define routes with prices and descriptions
  • Register payment middleware before protected routes
  • Keep health/status endpoints before payment middleware
  • Test with curl (should get 402) and npx awal@latest x402 pay (should get 200)
  • Announce your service so other agents can find and use it

Persistent memory

Give your OpenClaw agent a memory layer

Mem0 remembers users and context across sessions so you send fewer tokens and get better answers.

Try Mem0Mem0 + OpenClaw guide