Glossary and status

The protocol terms and maturity labels used across the draft reference implementation.

Glossary

TermDefinition
AdmissionPermission to start one protected upstream request in a scheduled lane instead of returning another throttle response. It is not a guarantee that the complete response body reaches the client.
Admission chain securityThe exact-payment boundary published as payment.admissionChainSecurity. In the deployed synchronous profile, two independent RPC providers agree on the Base safe block number and hash, then prove the settlement and minimum depth inside that boundary. Base safe is not irreversible.
BindingThe client proof-key thumbprint and exact request context a v2 credential is tied to.
DiscoveryThe v2 Worker's /.well-known/x429.json document. It is capability metadata, not an independent trust root.
Free pathRedemption during the signed admission window without an upgrade proof.
llms.txtA concise text file that tells agents how to interpret the site and protocol.
MCPModel Context Protocol. MCP servers are good pilot candidates because they are agent-facing and often experience bursty tool traffic.
NonceThe single-use value that prevents replay.
PriorityAn earlier admission class offered at a price.
Execution identityDurable ownership recorded before an admitted request reaches the fixed upstream. It may release if dispatch never starts; once fetch starts it is terminally consumed even without a response, or remains fenced until bounded consumed-state recovery if finalization fails.
Origin assertionA short-lived Worker signature over the exact upstream request context, receipt digest, and one-time nonce.
Payment intentThe global durable binding between one award, EIP-3009 authorization, payer, economics, and settlement state.
Payment resumeThe original client's signed, no-wallet recovery call after a payment intent is confirmed. It uses the stored award and settlement idempotency key, accepts no new payment signature, and returns the current capacity-backed permit.
ReconciliationAuthenticated operator resolution of an indeterminate settlement using matching evidence from two configured RPC URLs. A lost transaction hash can use bounded finalized AuthorizationUsed discovery, followed by mandatory normal verification. Operators must select independently administered providers; URL inequality alone does not prove independence.
Recovery slotOne otherwise unused future paid slot outside auction target windows, assigned when a confirmed payment can no longer safely use its original slot. It preserves configured paid capacity.
ResourceThe configured public origin plus pathname in v2. The method selects a separate coordinator; query values do not partition capacity.
Scheduling horizonThe hard X429_MAX_FUTURE_WINDOWS bound for reservations, auction targets, and recovery search. Exact config must leave enough room for interval rounding and settlement lead; exhausted paid targets return auction_horizon_full.
SlotThe window from notBefore to notAfter.
Ticket breachA valid ticket presented in-window fails to admit. This should be treated as severe.
x402The implemented v2 exact-payment rail. x429 uses PAYMENT-REQUIRED, PAYMENT-SIGNATURE, and PAYMENT-RESPONSE with EIP-3009.

Maturity labels

LabelMeaning
WorkingImplemented and exercised by tests or simulator.
DraftDesigned and documented, but still likely to change.
PlannedIntended direction, not yet implemented.
Legacy v1Compatibility or visual-fixture behavior that is not the durable v2 production profile.
Launch gateRequired evidence or review not yet completed, such as a funded public-chain canary or independent audit.

Pilot checks

  • Measure valid-ticket verification latency in the target runtime.
  • Measure redemption timing relative to notBefore and notAfter.
  • Reject replayed and tampered tickets.
  • Count valid in-window tickets that fail to reach the origin handler.
  • Verify origin-assertion replay fails and execution leases do not duplicate upstream work.
  • Exercise funded staging settlement and both reconciliation outcomes before production.
  • Exercise confirmed late-payment resume and a full recovery horizon without creating a replacement authorization or excess capacity.
  • Keep deployed exact mode fixed-price and single-client while bids are uncollateralized; competitive K+1 clearing is research/mock only.

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