Zero to First Agent Payment in 5 Minutes
Getting an agent to make its first onchain payment shouldn't take a weekend. With Conto, it's four steps: create a wallet, connect your agent, generate an SDK key, and pay.
For the full copy-paste setup walkthrough, see the Quickstart quickstart.
The Setup
An agent payment in Conto runs through three components:
- Wallet: where the money lives. Conto can hold the keys in a managed wallet, or you can keep them in an external wallet.
- Agent: the identity making decisions, connected in the Conto dashboard
- SDK Key: scoped credentials the agent uses to talk to Conto
You create each through the dashboard or via the API. The wallet gets provisioned onchain (Base, Tempo, or Solana), linked to the agent with delegation limits, and the agent gets an SDK key with the appropriate scopes.
Once configured, your agent can verify its setup with a single call:
curl https://conto.finance/api/sdk/setup \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $CONTO_API_KEY"If the response shows an active agent, linked wallets, and assigned policies, you're ready to pay.
The Payment Flow
Conto uses a two-step payment model: request then execute.
The request step evaluates policies. Conto checks each rule assigned to the agent (spending limits, counterparty restrictions, time windows, approval thresholds) before it approves the payment. If a control blocks the payment, the response includes a customer-facing reason.
The execute step releases a payment that already passed policy. With a managed wallet, the managed wallet sends the transfer. With an external wallet, your agent signs and sends, then reports the hash back.
Separating these steps means you can test whether a payment would be allowed without moving money. The policy engine always sits between intent and execution.
Why This Matters
Most agent frameworks skip financial controls entirely. They give the agent a wallet, maybe a card, and hope for the best. That works for demos. It falls apart when you're running dozens of agents in production with real budgets.
The first payment is the starting point. Once the pattern is established (request, evaluate, execute) you can layer on spending limits, counterparty allowlists, time restrictions, and approval workflows without changing how the agent interacts with Conto.
The full step-by-step setup guide is in the docs: Quickstart. For quick copy-paste snippets, check the Recipes page.
Related
- How to Test Agent Payments Without Losing Real Money: validate policies on Tempo Testnet before going live
- Five Layers of Security for Agents That Spend Money: design a complete policy strategy
Building with agents that spend money? Get started with Conto or reach out at support@conto.finance.