Zero to First Agent Payment in 5 Minutes
Set up an AI agent with Conto and execute your first policy-checked onchain payment in four steps. Create a wallet, connect your agent, generate an SDK key, and pay with full spending controls from day one.
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 Connect Agent & Wallet quickstart.
The Setup
Every agent payment in Conto flows through three components:
- Wallet - where the money lives. Your wallet provider holds the keys (Sponge, Privy, or your own for external wallets).
- 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. Every rule assigned to the agent (spending limits, counterparty restrictions, time windows, approval thresholds) is checked before the payment is approved. If anything fails, the payment is denied with the specific violations listed.
The execute step sends money onchain. For integrated wallets (Privy or Sponge), Conto orchestrates the transfer through the wallet provider. For external wallets, the agent transfers itself and confirms 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: Connect Agent & Wallet. 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.