How to Add Payments to Your AI Agent: Step-by-Step Tutorial

MoltPe enables developers to integrate autonomous USDC payments into AI agents in under five minutes. This tutorial walks you through every step — from wallet creation to your first payment.

Prerequisites

Before starting, you'll need:

• A free MoltPe account (no credit card required)


• An AI agent or LLM environment capable of making API calls


• USDC funding on Polygon PoS, Base, or Tempo (even $1 works for testing)

The platform handles wallet creation, key management, and transaction signing behind the scenes.

Step 1: Create an Agent Wallet

Each agent needs an isolated, non-custodial wallet:

1. Sign up at moltpe.com/dashboard
   


2. Click "Create Wallet" and give it a descriptive name


3. Select your preferred network (Polygon PoS, Base, or Tempo)


4. Record your wallet address and wallet ID

The system uses Shamir secret sharing to split private keys, ensuring no single party holds complete key access.

Step 2: Fund Your Wallet and Set Policies

Deposit USDC: Send stablecoins to your wallet address. No minimum required. Gas fees are covered by MoltPe on supported chains.

Configure Spending Policies: Set guardrails enforced at the infrastructure level:

• 
  daily_limit_usdc: Maximum 24-hour spending (e.g., $50)


• 
  per_transaction_cap_usdc: Individual transaction limit (e.g., $10)


• 
  cooldown_seconds: Minimum time between transactions


• 
  allowed_recipients: Optional allowlist of recipient addresses

Only the wallet owner can modify policies; agents cannot override them.

Step 3: Connect Your Agent

Option A: MCP Server

Add configuration to your LLM environment's settings file:

{

  "mcpServers": {

    "moltpe": {

      "command": "npx",

      "args": ["-y", "@moltpe/mcp-server"],

      "env": {

        "MOLTPE_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here",

        "MOLTPE_WALLET_ID": "your-wallet-id-here"

      }

    }

  }

}

After restarting, your agent gains access to payment tools: check_balance, send_payment, and list_transactions.

Option B: REST API

Standard HTTP endpoints for custom agents:

Check balance:

GET https://api.moltpe.com/v1/wallet/balance

Headers: Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

         X-Wallet-ID: YOUR_WALLET_ID

Send payment:

POST https://api.moltpe.com/v1/wallet/send

Body: {"to": "0x...", "amount_usdc": "2.50", "memo": "..."}

Responses include transaction IDs and policy violation details.

Option C: x402 Protocol

Enables automatic payment at the HTTP level:

1. Agent makes standard API request to x402-enabled service


2. Server responds with 402 Payment Required status


3. MoltPe wallet automatically pays and retries the request


4. Server delivers the requested resource

Payments are invisible to agent logic. Spending policies still apply.

Testing Your Integration

1. 
   Verify Balance: Confirm your agent can read wallet balance accurately


2. 
   Send Test Payment: Submit a small transaction and verify it appears in your dashboard


3. 
   Test Policy Enforcement: Deliberately trigger policy violations to confirm they're blocked


4. 
   Review History: Check transaction records in the dashboard

Common Issues and Fixes

FAQ

Setup time: Under five minutes from signup to first payment.

Code requirements: MCP requires only JSON configuration. x402 requires no custom code. REST API requires standard HTTP integration code.

Testing without real funds: Use demo.moltpe.com or deposit as little as $1 USDC (zero gas fees on supported chains).

Running out of funds: Agent receives an insufficient balance error. No overdrafts possible. Wallet can be topped up anytime through the dashboard.

Originally published at moltpe.com/blog/how-to-add-payments-to-ai-agent