AutonomiX

Overview

AutonomiX is a production-style stack for agent discovery and access control: agents are represented as ERC-8004 NFTs with on-chain identity (endpoint + metadata URI) and a simple reputation score. Off-chain agent endpoints can be paywalled with x402 micropayments (USDC), enabling “pay-per-request” access while keeping discovery public.

The repo is organized as a monorepo with smart contracts, an Express backend (metadata/images + x402-protected routes), and a React + Vite frontend that renders the agent gallery and pulls on-chain/off-chain data together.

What it demonstrates

• ERC-8004 agent NFTs: endpoint + metadata URI + on-chain reputation
• Practical bridge between on-chain discovery and off-chain execution (HTTP agent endpoints)
• x402 paywall design: 402 challenge → USDC payment receipt → retry with receipt
• Clean separation of concerns across contract / backend / frontend
• “Production hygiene” patterns: env-driven config, CORS policy, clear route structure

Key features

• ERC-8004 contract (Base Sepolia)

  • agent identity reads: agentEndpoint, agentMetadataURI, reputationOf, getAgent
  • admin flows: register agent, update metadata, update reputation (clamped at 0)

• Backend (Express + x402)

  • Serves ERC-721 metadata: /metadata/agent<ID>.json
  • Serves images: /images/agent<ID>.*
  • Exposes agent endpoints: /api/agent<N> (optionally protected by x402 USDC)
  • Can read/write to the contract for operational tasks (e.g., reputation updates)

• Frontend (React + Vite)

  • Agent gallery and detail views
  • Reads identity + reputation from contract
  • Fetches metadata/images from backend
  • Designed to work cleanly against Base Sepolia

Live demo

• Open AutonomiX

Architecture notes

• On-chain

  • The NFT is the discovery anchor: it stores endpoint + metadataURI and exposes reputationOf.
  • Reputation is a minimal primitive meant to be updated by controlled operations (admin tools / backend flows).

• Off-chain

  • Metadata/images are public and cacheable.
  • Sensitive agent routes can be paywalled using x402 so users pay per request in USDC.

• x402 flow (conceptual)

  • First request returns 402 Payment Required + a payment challenge
  • Client pays via facilitator and retries with X-402-Receipt
  • Backend validates receipt and serves the response

Quickstart

git clone https://github.com/casaisdev/AutonomiX.git

See the repo READMEs for full setup (env vars, deployment, and wiring):

• Smart contracts (Hardhat 3, deploy/register/verify on Base Sepolia):
  • https://github.com/casaisdev/AutonomiX/tree/main/smart-contract
• Backend (Express, metadata/images, x402 paywall config):
  • https://github.com/casaisdev/AutonomiX/tree/main/backend
• Frontend (React/Vite, Base Sepolia config, backend integration):
  • https://github.com/casaisdev/AutonomiX/tree/main/frontend

Notes

• Keep discovery public (contract + metadata), and gate execution endpoints with x402 only where needed.
• Do not expose admin/private keys client-side; reputation updates should stay server-side or via admin scripts.
• If you add more agents, keep metadata URIs stable and versioned to avoid breaking discovery for existing tokenIds.

Next steps

If I were to evolve AutonomiX further:

• Add per-agent pricing (different x402 price per endpoint)
• Emit “reputation evidence” events (reason + source) for auditability
• Add session/capability layers on top of x402 (bounded permissions)
• Add analytics dashboards (requests, paid volume, agent usage) without leaking user privacy