Agentic Commerce

Server-Side Subscription Required

Creating L402-protected API endpoints requires the Agentic Commerce — Individual ($99/month) or Agentic Commerce — Business plan ($299/month). Using the MCP server to access L402 APIs is completely free — no subscription needed. View pricing

L402 enables pay-per-request API monetization using the Lightning Network. Users pay a Lightning invoice to access your API - no accounts, no subscriptions, no credit cards required.

Start Testing Immediately

Strike (recommended): Create a Strike account and generate an API key — no KYB required to start. Strike supports preimage extraction for L402.

OpenNode: Create an OpenNode dev account for testnet testing — no KYB required. Swap to a production key after KYB verification (2-4 business days).

Strike Setup → | OpenNode Setup →

Zero Infrastructure Required

Unlike other L402 implementations, Lightning Enable is a fully hosted SaaS:

• No Lightning node — your payment provider (Strike or OpenNode) handles all payment routing and liquidity
• No liquidity management — no channel balancing, no inbound capacity planning
• No custom servers — no Docker, no Kubernetes, no self-hosted middleware
• No protocol expertise — configure via dashboard in minutes

What you need:

1. Agentic Commerce — Individual ($99/month) or Agentic Commerce — Business ($299/month) subscription
2. A payment provider account — Strike (recommended) or OpenNode
3. 5 minutes to configure your first proxy in the dashboard

What is L402?

L402 (formerly LSAT) combines:

• HTTP 402 Payment Required - The web's native payment status code
• Lightning Network - Instant Bitcoin micropayments
• Macaroons - Cryptographic bearer tokens with permissions

The Problem

Traditional API monetization requires:

• User accounts and passwords
• Credit cards on file
• Monthly subscriptions (even for light usage)
• Complex billing infrastructure
• Fraud prevention systems

The Solution

With L402:

• No accounts - Pay and access immediately
• No credit cards - Bitcoin only
• Pay-per-use - Only pay for what you consume
• Instant access - Payment confirms in ~1 second
• Global - Anyone with Bitcoin can access

How It Works

1. Client requests API                    2. Server returns 402
   ─────────────────────────────>           <─────────────────────
   GET /api/premium/data                    HTTP 402 Payment Required
                                            Invoice: lnbc100n1p...
                                            Macaroon: AgEL...

3. Client pays invoice                    4. Client retries with proof
   ─────────────────────>                    ─────────────────────────>
   Via Lightning wallet                      Authorization: L402 mac:preimage
   (~1 second)
                                          5. Server verifies, grants access
                                             <─────────────────────────
                                             HTTP 200 OK
                                             { "data": "..." }

Key Benefits

Traditional API	L402 API
Account required	No account needed
Credit card on file	No payment method stored
Monthly subscription	Pay per request
Minimum $5–$20 charge	As low as 1 sat (~$0.0004)
Chargeback risk	Impossible to reverse
KYC for users	Permissionless access

Agent-to-Agent Commerce (Producer API)

New: Agents That Earn

With the L402 Producer API, your AI agents can charge for their services — not just pay for others'. Your agent creates L402 payment challenges, other agents pay them, and your agent verifies payment before granting access. This is the missing piece for true agentic commerce.

Two new MCP tools:

• create_l402_challenge — Create a 402 challenge with Lightning invoice + macaroon
• verify_l402_payment — Verify an L402 token to confirm payment before granting access

Read the full L402 Producer API guide

Use Cases

API Monetization

Charge per API call for any service:

{
  "endpoints": [
    { "path": "/api/ai/gpt4", "price": 500 },
    { "path": "/api/ai/dalle", "price": 1000 },
    { "path": "/api/ai/whisper", "price": 100 }
  ]
}

Premium Content

Unlock articles, reports, or media:

{
  "endpoints": [
    { "path": "/api/articles/premium/*", "price": 50 },
    { "path": "/api/reports/*", "price": 500 }
  ]
}

Data APIs

Pay-per-query data access:

{
  "endpoints": [
    { "path": "/api/market-data/*", "price": 10 },
    { "path": "/api/analytics/*", "price": 25 }
  ]
}

Proxy Monetization

Monetize third-party APIs you have access to:

{
  "proxy": {
    "name": "Premium Weather API",
    "target": "https://api.weather.com",
    "price": 5
  }
}

Quick Example

Request Without Payment

curl https://api.yourservice.com/api/premium/data

Response: 402 Payment Required

{
  "error": "Payment Required",
  "l402": {
    "macaroon": "AgELbGlnaHRuaW5nLWVuYWJsZQ...",
    "invoice": "lnbc100n1p3...",
    "amount_sats": 100,
    "payment_hash": "abc123..."
  }
}

Pay the Invoice

Use any Lightning wallet (Phoenix, Muun, Zeus, etc.) to pay. Get the preimage.

Request With Payment Proof

curl https://api.yourservice.com/api/premium/data \
  -H "Authorization: L402 AgELbGlnaHRuaW5nLWVuYWJsZQ...:abc123def456..."

Response: 200 OK

{
  "data": "Premium content here..."
}

Pricing

Agentic Commerce — Individual: $99/month | Agentic Commerce — Business: $299/month

Both plans include L402 protocol support. The Agentic Commerce — Individual plan is ideal for individual developers; the Agentic Commerce — Business plan includes white-glove onboarding.

Includes:

• Full REST API access
• L402 protocol support
• Pay-per-request billing
• AI agent compatibility (MCP)
• White-glove onboarding

Your payment provider may charge their own processing fees.* These go to the provider, not to us.

*Check your provider's current fee schedule for details.

For Kentico sites, see Kentico Commerce ($249/mo).

Architecture

Lightning Enable handles the complexity:

+-----------------+
| Your API        |
| (Protected)     |
+--------+--------+
         |
         v
+--------+--------+      +------------------+      +-----------------+
| L402 Middleware |----->| Lightning Enable |----->| Strike/OpenNode |
| (Auth Check)    |      | (Invoice/Verify) |      |    (Payment)    |
+-----------------+      +------------------+      +-----------------+
         |
         | If valid L402 credential
         v
+-----------------+
| Your API Logic  |
| (Execute)       |
+-----------------+

Hosted Service

Lightning Enable runs as a hosted service at api.lightningenable.com. You configure it via the dashboard or REST API — you don't deploy or manage it.

Getting Started

1. Subscribe to Agentic Commerce — Individual ($99/month) or Agentic Commerce — Business ($299/month)
2. Set up a payment provider:
   • Strike (recommended): Create account → generate API key → ready immediately
   • OpenNode: Create dev account → no KYB required for testnet
3. Log in to the dashboard — enter your email for a magic link
4. Add your API key in Dashboard → Settings → Payment Provider
5. Create your first proxy — point it at any API you want to monetize
6. Test a payment — verify your integration end-to-end
7. Go live — for OpenNode, complete KYB (2-4 days) and swap to a production key

Next Steps

• L402 Producer API - Make your agents earn with L402 challenges
• Dashboard Guide - Visual walkthrough with screenshots
• How It Works - Technical deep dive
• MCP Complete Guide - Full MCP documentation
• API Monetization - Protect your APIs
• Proxy Configuration - Monetize any API
• AI Agent Integration - Advanced MCP usage
• Wallet Configuration - Detailed wallet setup

Resources

• L402 Protocol Spec
• Lightning Network
• Macaroons Paper