Agentic commerce toolkit for Aptos — x402 payments, on-chain identity, verifiable settlement.
Ascent CLI is a developer toolkit for building trust-minimized, verifiable agent commerce systems on Aptos. It gives autonomous agents the primitives to pay, get paid, prove settlement, and establish on-chain reputation — all from the command line.
Who is it for? Developers building AI agents, autonomous services, or any system where software needs to transact without human intervention.
What can I do in 5 minutes?
npm i -g @ascent/cli
ascent init my-api --template express
cd my-api && npm install
ascent dev # starts server + local facilitator
# in another terminal:
ascent test --all-wallets # 5 concurrent wallets hit your x402 endpoint- Programmatic payments without API keys — agents sign x402 payment intents with cryptographic keys; no OAuth, no billing dashboards.
- Deterministic on-chain settlement — every payment produces a verifiable Aptos transaction hash and receipt, not a promise.
- Portable identity and reputation — AAIS / ARC-8004 Move contracts let agents accumulate trust scores that any service can query.
- x402 payment client — sign, verify, and settle USDC payments on Aptos with a local facilitator on
:4022 - On-chain agent identity — NFT-based identity registry + reputation scoring (0–100) via Move contracts
- Project scaffolding —
ascent initgenerates Express, Next.js, or Hono projects wired for x402 - Multi-wallet stress testing —
ascent test --all-walletssimulates 5 concurrent payers against your endpoint - Real-time observability —
ascent monitorfor terminal dashboards,ascent dashboardfor web analytics (SQLite-backed) - Move tooling —
ascent move initscaffolds a Move project;ascent move injectadds payment verification modules - AAIS TypeScript SDK —
AAISClientclass for minting identities, submitting attestations, and querying trust scores
| State | What's included |
|---|---|
| Stable | CLI commands, x402 payment client, local facilitator, AAIS Move contracts + SDK, AgentMesh demo, Express template |
| Experimental | Next.js / Hono templates (scaffold-level); facilitator settlement is mock (simulated tx hashes — real on-chain submission pending) |
| Planned | MCP Server, A2A Protocol, self-hosted facilitator, mainnet, CI/CD, contract audit — see ROADMAP.md |
| Scenario | What happens |
|---|---|
| Agent pays for sentiment analysis via x402 | Buyer agent hits a /analyze endpoint, gets 402, signs payment, receives result + on-chain receipt |
| Reputation gates marketplace listing | AgentMesh requires AAIS score ≥ 70 to list a service; new agents build trust through successful transactions |
| Multi-wallet stress test simulates 5 concurrent payers | ascent test --all-wallets fires parallel x402 flows from 5 wallets against your dev server |
| Autonomous service monetization | Developer scaffolds an Express API with ascent init, adds a paid route, and agents can pay-per-call with zero integration overhead |
| Auditable transaction history | Every settlement writes to Aptos; any party can independently verify the receipt chain |
# Install globally (or clone for local dev)
npm install -g @ascent/cli
# git clone https://github.com/Glorian-Labs/ascent-cli.git && cd ascent-cli && npm install
# Scaffold a new project
ascent init my-agent-api --template express
cd my-agent-api && npm install
# Configure wallet — edit .env.local:
# PAYMENT_RECIPIENT_ADDRESS=0x...
# APTOS_PRIVATE_KEY=0x...
# Start dev server + local facilitator
ascent dev
# Test payment flow (separate terminal)
ascent test --all-walletsThe AgentMesh Marketplace demonstrates the full Ascent stack: agents register services, AAIS reputation scores gate listings (70+ required), consumers pay per call via x402, and ratings update trust scores in a self-reinforcing loop.
cd examples/agentmesh-marketplace
npm install && node seed-demo.js && node server.js # backend on :3007
cd ui && npm install && npm run dev # UI on :3003See examples/agentmesh-marketplace/ for full setup.
Buyer Agent Seller Agent Aptos Chain
| | |
| 1. Request service | |
+------------------------>| |
| 2. 402 + payment terms | |
|<------------------------+ |
| 3. x402 payment intent | |
+------------------------>| |
| 4. Validate identity (AAIS) |
| +------> Trust Layer --->|
| 5. Settle via facilitator |
+------------------------>[Facilitator]----------->|
| | 6. On-chain tx |
| 7. Receipt (tx hash + proof) |
|<-------------------------------------------------+
| 8. Service delivered | |
+------------------------>| |
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
ascent init <name> |
Scaffold x402 project (express / next / hono) |
ascent dev |
Start dev server + local facilitator |
ascent test |
Test x402 payment flow |
ascent monitor |
Real-time payment monitoring |
ascent dashboard |
Web analytics dashboard |
ascent identity <action> |
Agent identity management (register / list / show) |
ascent move <action> |
Move language helpers (init / inject) |
ascent kill |
Kill stuck Ascent processes |
ascent logs |
Log output guidance |
Full command reference: USAGE.md
- MCP Server — Claude Desktop integration for conversational agent commerce (Phase 4)
- A2A Protocol — Google Agent-to-Agent protocol support (Phase 4, design stage)
- Self-hosted Facilitator — production-grade facilitator deployment; local mock exists today (Phase 2)
- Multi-chain — Aptos mainnet, Base, Solana; testnet-only today (Phase 2–3)
- CI/CD Pipeline — automated testing and deployment (Phase 5)
Full roadmap: ROADMAP.md
- Documentation Index — Full docs map
- CLI Command Reference — All commands, options, and examples
- Technical Manual — Installation, configuration, workflow
- Core Concepts — x402, facilitators, AAIS / ARC-8004
- Developer Walkthrough — Step-by-step build guide
- Strategic Use Cases — Applied scenarios
- Production Roadmap — Milestones and timeline
ascent-cli/
├── bin/ CLI entry points
├── lib/ Core SDK and utilities
│ ├── x402-client.js Payment client (Aptos USDC)
│ ├── facilitator.js Local facilitator server (:4022)
│ ├── arc8004/index.js AAIS TypeScript SDK
│ ├── multi-wallet-tester.js
│ ├── monitor.js Terminal monitoring
│ └── dashboard.js Web analytics
├── move/ Move smart contracts (identity, reputation, validation)
├── templates/ Scaffolding templates (Express, Next.js, Hono)
├── examples/ Demo implementations (AgentMesh marketplace)
└── docs/ Documentation
Branches: master is the canonical production branch. Feature work happens on feat/* branches.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for contribution workflow and PR expectations.
If you discover a vulnerability, do not open a public issue. Contact [email protected].
Ascent CLI — Verifiable agent commerce, deterministic settlement, trusted coordination.