Conto Hybrid Integration

Use this pattern when the buyer’s app owns the agent runtime, wallet flow, or provider settlement path. The agent owner or budget holder sets policy in Conto; the buyer’s executor checks it before paying. The merchant does not integrate Conto. In a hybrid integration:

• your app decides when a paid action is about to happen
• Conto approves, denies, or routes that payment to review
• your app executes the actual settlement
• your app records the final spend back to Conto

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What hybrid means

In managed execution, Conto both authorizes and executes payment through a managed wallet. In hybrid execution, Conto stays in the control center while your app stays in the execution path. That makes hybrid a strong fit when you already have:

• an existing wallet or treasury layer
• custom routing or fallback logic
• provider-specific settlement code
• x402 or MPP payment handling in your own runtime

The main rule is simple: Conto should make the authorization decision before your app executes the payment. If your app settles first and reports later, Conto becomes an analytics mirror instead of a real spend-control layer.

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When to use hybrid

Choose hybrid when:

• you want to keep your current runtime architecture
• paid actions are embedded inside a larger workflow
• you need policy checks before API calls, machine payments, or provider settlements
• you want Conto controls without moving all execution into Conto-managed wallets

Hybrid is especially useful for agent platforms, AI orchestration products, marketplaces, and machine-payment systems.

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Responsibility split

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The buyer’s app owns

• the user experience
• workflow and routing logic
• provider selection and fallback behavior
• execution timing
• the settlement call itself
• app-specific state and reporting

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Conto evaluates and manages on the budget holder’s behalf

• spend policies
• approval thresholds
• allowlists and counterparties
• budget controls
• runtime authorization
• audit visibility
• spend analytics

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Canonical flow

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Recommended integration steps

1. Keep spending controls in the buyer app, editable only by the owner or authorized budget managers.
2. Provision a Conto agent for each managed actor.
3. Create and protect a runtime credential for that actor.
4. Sync supported controls into Conto policy objects.
5. Call Conto before the paid action executes.
6. Require approval at the buyer executor before it can sign or use credentials. A model instruction alone does not enforce this boundary.
7. Record the settled spend back to Conto.

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Common policy mappings

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Verification checklist

Use this checklist after setup:

• each managed actor gets a dedicated Conto binding
• runtime credentials stay server-side and encrypted at rest
• policy changes update Conto objects
• pre-authorization happens before settlement
• denied payments never reach the execution layer
• successful payments are recorded back to Conto
• operators can see runtime status and recent events

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