Agent-Native Data API

The Agent Data Marketplace
Built for AI Agents

ClawMerchants is where AI agents autonomously discover, purchase, and consume live data feeds — no API keys, no subscriptions. Just agents, data, and USDC micropayments on Base L2.

Browse Data Assets Quickstart Guide

What Is an Agent Data Marketplace?

Traditional APIs require human developers to register, authenticate, and manage subscriptions. An agent data marketplace is fundamentally different: it's a platform where AI agents operate as autonomous buyers, discovering data assets and purchasing access programmatically without human intervention.

ClawMerchants implements this through two open standards: the x402 payment protocol (HTTP-native micropayments) and MCP (Model Context Protocol) for discovery. When an agent needs live DeFi yield data, it doesn't ask a human to configure an API subscription — it calls the ClawMerchants endpoint, receives a 402 response with payment instructions, pays in USDC, and gets the data back in the same HTTP call.

This architecture enables a new class of AI applications: agents that can autonomously source the data they need, budget their own data spend, and access live market intelligence at the moment of decision — not hours-old cached data from a static dataset.

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MCP Discovery

Claude and MCP-enabled agents browse the marketplace using natural-language tool calls. No hardcoded endpoint URLs required.

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x402 Pay-Per-Call

Pay exactly what you use. $0.01 per call for most data feeds. No monthly commitments, no unused quota waste.

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Base L2 Settlement

Payments settle on Base (Ethereum L2) in USDC. Sub-cent gas fees make micropayments economically viable for the first time.

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Live Data Feeds

All data assets are actively refreshed by background workers. DeFi yields refresh every 5 minutes. Security intel every 30 minutes.

Available AI Agent Data APIs

Every data asset is a live feed maintained by background workers polling upstream sources. Agents receive structured JSON responses optimized for LLM consumption.

Asset Category Data Source Refresh Price
DeFi Yields Live
Top yield opportunities across protocols		 crypto DeFiLlama 5 min $0.01
Token Anomalies Live
Price and volume anomaly detection		 crypto CoinGecko 5 min $0.01
Security Intel Live
CVEs, vulnerabilities, package advisories		 security OSV.dev + NVD 30 min $0.02
Market Data Live
Real-time forex and equities		 market-data Alpha Vantage 5 min $0.01

Providers can list their own data assets on the marketplace. See the full category list or API documentation to register as a data provider.

How Agents Access Data

The complete flow from discovery to data delivery happens in seconds, entirely programmatically:

  1. Discover via MCP

    An MCP-enabled agent calls list_assets on the ClawMerchants MCP server to browse available data assets, filter by category, or search by keyword. It receives asset IDs, descriptions, and prices.

  2. Request the Data (Receive 402)

    The agent calls GET https://clawmerchants.com/v1/data/{asset-id}. Without payment, it receives HTTP 402 Payment Required with a JSON body containing the USDC amount, recipient wallet, and chain details.

  3. Pay in USDC

    The agent signs and broadcasts a USDC transfer on Base L2 using its own wallet. The transaction hash and EIP-712 signature are encoded in the X-Payment header.

  4. Retry with Payment Header

    The agent retries the same GET request with the X-Payment header. ClawMerchants verifies the payment on-chain and returns the full data payload as structured JSON.

// Example: Agent fetching DeFi yields with x402 payment const response = await fetch('https://clawmerchants.com/v1/data/defi-yields-live'); if (response.status === 402) { const payReq = await response.json(); // { amount: "0.01", currency: "USDC", network: "base", recipient: "0x..." } const paymentHeader = await wallet.signPayment(payReq); const data = await fetch('https://clawmerchants.com/v1/data/defi-yields-live', { headers: { 'X-Payment': paymentHeader } }); return await data.json(); // Live DeFi yield data }

See the full Quickstart Tutorial for TypeScript code you can copy-paste directly into your agent.

Why Agent-Native Data APIs Matter

As AI agents become more capable, their demand for real-time, specialized data grows exponentially. Current approaches have serious limitations:

Problem: Static Training Cutoffs

LLMs are trained on historical data with cutoff dates. Agents making financial, security, or market decisions need live data — not 6-month-old snapshots.

Problem: Human-Gated APIs

Traditional API access requires human developers to register, authenticate, and manage credentials. Autonomous agents can't self-provision API access mid-task.

Problem: Subscription Waste

Paying $99/month for an API your agent uses 3 times is economically broken. Pay-per-call micropayments align cost perfectly with usage.

Solution: ClawMerchants

Agents discover, pay, and consume data autonomously. No human required. Cost scales linearly with usage. Data is always fresh from live upstream sources.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an agent data marketplace?

An agent data marketplace is a platform where AI agents autonomously discover, purchase, and consume data feeds without human intervention. Agents use standardized protocols — x402 for payment and MCP for discovery — to access live data as part of their reasoning and decision-making processes.

What AI agent data APIs does ClawMerchants offer?

ClawMerchants offers live DeFi yield data (DeFiLlama), token anomaly detection (CoinGecko), security intelligence (OSV.dev + NVD), and real-time market data including forex and equities. All data is delivered as structured JSON via pay-per-call micropayments. The catalog grows as providers list new assets.

How do AI agents pay for data?

ClawMerchants uses the x402 HTTP payment protocol. When an agent calls a data endpoint without payment, it receives a 402 Payment Required response with USDC payment instructions on Base L2. The agent pays the exact amount (typically $0.01–$0.05) and retries the request with the payment header to receive the data. See the x402 micropayments page for full protocol details.

How can I list my data as an asset?

Any provider can register via POST /api/v1/providers and then create assets via POST /api/v1/assets. You specify the data endpoint, refresh interval, price per call, and category. ClawMerchants handles payment collection and forwards your 95% revenue share.

What blockchain network does ClawMerchants use?

Payments settle on Base (Coinbase's Ethereum L2) in USDC. Base was chosen for its sub-cent transaction fees, which make sub-$0.01 data micropayments economically viable. The 5% platform fee on each transaction funds infrastructure and ongoing development.

Explore More

Agent Skills Marketplace

Beyond data — buy SKILL.md behavioral protocols that teach your agents new capabilities. Pay once, unlock persistent agent skills.

x402 Micropayment API

Learn how the x402 HTTP payment protocol works and how to integrate it into your own agent-native application.

Quickstart Tutorial

Copy-pasteable TypeScript code showing the complete x402 flow: discover an asset, receive the 402, pay in USDC, get the data.

Live Data Feeds Guide

Deep dive into every live data feed — DeFi, security, market data. Use cases, refresh rates, and x402 payment flow.

x402 Tutorial

Step-by-step x402 protocol implementation guide with full TypeScript code. From 402 response to paid data in minutes.