Architecture Patterns
These are the core integration patterns teams implement with Conto in production. Use them as canonical reference diagrams when you are designing a new agent payment workflow or documenting an existing one.1. Managed Execution with an Integrated Wallet
Use this pattern when Conto should both evaluate policy and orchestrate execution through an integrated wallet provider such as Privy or Sponge.- Best for: teams that want fewer moving parts and Conto-managed execution.
- Common controls: spend limits, approval thresholds, trust rules, time windows.
2. External Wallet Approval + Confirm
Use this pattern when your agent already controls its own wallet or transfer tools and Conto acts as the policy gate.- Best for: OpenClaw and Hermes agents that already have wallet tools.
- Canonical flow:
approve -> transfer -> confirm.
3. x402 API Control Loop
Use this pattern when an API returns402 Payment Required and each paid call is a separate machine
payment event.
- Best for: pay-per-use APIs and machine commerce with explicit per-call pricing.
- Core controls: price ceilings, service allowlists, endpoint velocity, service budgets.
4. MPP Session Lifecycle
Use this pattern when an agent will make repeated requests to the same service and wants a session budget instead of separate onchain settlement for each call.- Best for: chat, streaming, iterative processing, or high-frequency service calls.
- Core controls: session budget, max concurrent sessions, max duration, allowed methods.
5. Human Approval Workflow
Approval workflows sit in front of execution and resolve high-risk or policy-triggered payments before money moves.- Best for: large payments, new recipients, low-trust counterparties, and finance review.
- Supports multi-approver, role-based, specific-approver, and sequential workflows.
6. Trust Scoring Feedback Loop
Trust scoring is not just a lookup; it is a feedback loop that continuously changes how counterparties are evaluated.- Best for: vendor controls, trust-based approvals, network-aware risk gating.
- Related docs: /guides/trust-scoring, /integrations/trust-providers
Which Pattern Should You Start With?
| Goal | Recommended pattern |
|---|---|
| Fastest first payment with minimal custom logic | Managed execution with integrated wallet |
| Add guardrails to an existing agent wallet | External wallet approval + confirm |
| Govern machine-paid APIs | x402 API control loop |
| Govern repeated session spend | MPP session lifecycle |
| Add finance or security review | Human approval workflow |
| Route based on recipient quality and risk | Trust scoring feedback loop |
Related Guides
Choose Your Integration
Decide between SDK, OpenClaw, Hermes, x402, and MPP
Approval Workflows
Configure review and escalation logic
Trust Scoring
Understand how recipient trust feeds policy decisions
Recipes
Copy-paste commands for the main flows above