Pocket Money

Pocket Money — Fund Your Agent's Wallets

You have a tool that lets you create crypto wallets (USDC on Base) and use them to pay for x402-enabled services like AutEng Compute. Each wallet is a separate keypair with its own balance — create one per purpose or budget.

Package: @auteng/agent-utils — published by AutEng (source on GitHub).

Setup (first time only)

Install the agent utils library:

npm install @auteng/agent-utils

Creating a Wallet

Create a named wallet for each purpose or budget:

import { wallet } from '@auteng/agent-utils';

const w = await wallet.create({ name: "feb-2026-compute" });
console.log(w.address); // 0xABC123...

If a wallet with that name already exists on disk, it loads it. Each wallet is stored at .auteng/wallets/<name>.json.

You can also create a quick default wallet:

const w = await wallet.create();

Requesting Funding

When you need money, ask your human to fund a specific wallet:

I need $12 in USDC for today's compute tasks.

Please send USDC on **Base** to this address:
`0xABC123...` (wallet: "feb-2026-compute")

You can send from Coinbase, an exchange, or any wallet that supports Base.

Be specific about:

• How much you need and why (e.g., "$5 for API calls", "$20 for a batch processing job")
• Which wallet (by name) so both you and your human can track budgets
• The network: always Base (not Ethereum mainnet, not Arbitrum)
• The token: USDC (not ETH, not other tokens)

Waiting for Funding

After asking, wait for the USDC to arrive:

await w.waitForFunding(12_000000n);
// Polls Base every 10s until >= 12 USDC is available

Tell your human you're waiting — they may need a minute to complete the transfer.

Human Approval Before Spending

IMPORTANT: Before making any payment or running any compute job, you MUST:

1. Tell your human exactly what you're about to spend and why
2. Show the estimated cost (use compute.pricing() to look up prices)
3. Wait for explicit human approval before proceeding

Example:

I'd like to run a Python script on sandboxed compute.

  Size:  small (2 vCPU, 1GB RAM)
  Cost:  ~$0.002 (base) + runtime
  Wallet: "feb-2026-compute" ($0.98 remaining)

OK to proceed?

Never batch multiple paid operations without listing them first. If running a loop of paid calls, present the total estimated cost upfront and get approval for the batch.

Running Compute

Once funded and approved by your human, pass the wallet to compute:

import { compute } from '@auteng/agent-utils';

const result = await compute.run({
  code: 'print("hello world")',
  stack: 'python',
  size: 'small',
  wallet: w,
});
console.log(result.stdout);  // "hello world\n"

Payment is handled automatically via x402. Available stacks: python, node. Sizes: small, med, large.

Spending via x402 (any service)

For any x402-enabled service, use the wallet's fetch() as a drop-in replacement:

const res = await w.fetch('https://x402.auteng.ai/api/x402/compute', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    code: 'print("hello world")',
    stack: 'python',
    size: 'small',
  }),
});

If the service returns 402 Payment Required, the library automatically signs a payment authorization and retries. No blockchain transaction needed — the payment is settled server-side.

Managing Multiple Wallets

// Retrieve an existing wallet by name
const w = wallet.get("feb-2026-compute");

// List all wallets
const all = wallet.list();
for (const w of all) {
  const bal = await w.checkBalance();
  console.log(`${w.name}: ${w.address} — ${bal} USDC`);
}

Checking Balance

const balance = await w.checkBalance();
// Returns USDC in minor units (6 decimals)
// e.g., 12_000000n = $12.00

If running low, ask your human for more funding before expensive operations.

Important Notes

• Always get human approval before any operation that spends funds
• Your wallets only need USDC on Base — no ETH needed for gas
• Wallet private keys are stored locally at .auteng/wallets/<name>.json with restricted permissions (0600). If lost, the funds are gone
• Only fund wallets with small amounts appropriate for the task — treat them as petty cash, not savings
• Create separate wallets for separate budgets so you and your human can track spending
• Check pricing before spending: compute.pricing()