Monetization

Treasury, fees, and API paywall.

Treasury

Set treasuryAddress in ~/.aep/config.json or AEP_TREASURY_ADDRESS env. Revenue flows to this address.

API Paywall

When AEP_TREASURY_ADDRESS (or treasuryAddress in config) is set, POST /resolve and POST /resolve/premium are paywalled.

`AEP_PAYWALL_BACKEND`	Behavior
`x402` or unset (default)	x402-hono on Base (`AEP_NETWORK`: `base` / `base-sepolia`)
`mpp`	Machine Payments Protocol — Tempo session via `mppx` (`mppx/hono`). Single channel + per-request voucher increments; settlement on Tempo.

Only one backend is active at a time. MPP requires a strong server secret and Tempo configuration (see below).

Path	Paywall	Use case
REST `POST /resolve`	Yes, when treasury set	Any API instance you or a provider runs with treasury configured
MCP (`resolve_intent`)	No	Local resolver in the MCP process
CLI (`aep resolve`)	No	Local resolver. `aep resolve --api-url <url>` hits a remote API (x402 or MPP, depending on server and `AEP_PAYWALL_BACKEND` / response headers)

MPP / Tempo (API server)

Variable	Description
`MPP_SECRET_KEY` or `AEP_MPP_SECRET_KEY`	Required when `AEP_PAYWALL_BACKEND=mpp`; use a long random value (e.g. `openssl rand -hex 32`)
`AEP_TEMPO_CHAIN_ID`	`4217` mainnet (default), `42431` Moderato testnet
`AEP_TEMPO_RPC_URL`	Tempo JSON-RPC (overrides default public RPC for the chosen chain)
`AEP_TEMPO_CURRENCY`	TIP-20 token address (defaults: mainnet USDC, testnet pathUSD per `mppx` defaults)
`AEP_TEMPO_ESCROW_CONTRACT`	`TempoStreamChannel` address (defaults documented for 4217 / 42431 on mpp.dev)
`AEP_TEMPO_SUGGESTED_DEPOSIT`	Human-readable suggested channel deposit for sessions (default `5`)
`AEP_TEMPO_FEE_PAYER_URL` or `AEP_TEMPO_FEE_PAYER_PRIVATE_KEY`	Optional server-side fee sponsorship (API process only; never log keys)

Optional ~/.aep/config.json (non-secret defaults): tempoRpcUrl, tempoChainId, tempoCurrency, tempoEscrowContract. When the same knob is set in env (AEP_TEMPO_*), env wins. The hosted API reads these at startup; aep resolve --api-url uses tempoRpcUrl / tempoChainId when opening the MPP client if env is unset.

AEP policy checks (checkPolicy / BudgetPolicy) still run against your Base AEP account when you use the SDK or CLI hooks; they do not observe Tempo settlement automatically (same limitation as x402).

Resolution Prices

Variable	Default	Description
`AEP_RESOLVE_PRICE`	$0.005	Standard tier
`AEP_RESOLVE_PRICE_PREMIUM`	$0.02	Premium tier

Relationship Fees

Contract	Fee param	Payer
CreditFacility	`--origination-fee`	Lender
ConditionalEscrow	`--setup-fee`	Caller
SLAContract	`--setup-fee`	Caller

Use 0 for no fee. Fee-free mode: deploy relationship factories with AEP_TREASURY_ADDRESS unset.

Revenue Flow

x402 or MPP (Tempo session) per resolve (POST /resolve)  ──→ AEP Treasury
Credit facility origination fee                          ──→ AEP Treasury
Escrow setup fee                                         ──→ AEP Treasury
SLA contract setup fee                                   ──→ AEP Treasury