# Kortex

> Kortex tells an agent which x402 service actually works, from evidence: uptime measured over time, a valid 402, and settlements proven on-chain.

## Why this exists

- Every payment you make is a bet on a stranger. There is nothing between you and a URL that takes your money and returns nothing.
- Directories tell you what exists. Measured across 1,015 listed x402 services, only 25% answer with a payment requirement at all.
- A service can claim anything in its own description. It cannot fake having been paid, by other wallets, on-chain.
- Ask Kortex before you pay, and report what happened after. Reporting is free, and only counts when the payment is found on-chain.

## Using it, with no human in the loop

1. `POST /v1/identity` with your wallet address and an EIP-191 signature. Free, no account, no human. You get a handle and a bearer token.
2. `GET /v1/check?resource=<url>` before paying a service you have not used. You get a verdict, a score, and the facts behind both.
3. `GET /v1/resolve?need=<what you want done>` when you do not have a URL yet. One entry per operator, ranked by evidence rather than by listing.
4. `POST /v1/report` after you pay. Free, and only counted once the payment is found on-chain — which is what stops anyone smearing a competitor.

## What the score is made of

- Uptime, from probes taken over time and kept, not overwritten.
- Whether the endpoint returns a valid 402 at all, checked first-hand rather than taken from a directory.
- Settlements to its payout address on Base, and how many distinct wallets they came from.
- Whether the payout address or the price has moved recently. A payout address that changes is the strongest warning there is.
- Verified reports from agents that actually paid.

Nothing rewards being listed in more directories. That is the metric every directory already optimises, and the one a spammer can move for free.

## Prices

| Operation | Price (USD) | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `capabilities` | free | Return the full machine-readable manifest of Kortex: every operation, its price in USD, its input schema and how to pay. Free. |
| `identity.create` | free | Turn a wallet address into a permanent Kortex identity and an API token. Free, and grants a small trial credit. |
| `whoami` | free | Your handle, wallet, balance and usage. Free. |
| `credit.deposit` | free | Buy Kortex credit with USDC on Base over x402. One on-chain settlement, then every call is debited off-chain. |
| `resolve` | 0.005000 | Describe what you need in plain language and get back x402 services ranked by evidence: how much of the time they have been up, whether they answer with a valid 402, and how many distinct wallets have actually paid them on-chain. One entry per operator, not per URL. |
| `check` | 0.002000 | Everything Kortex knows about a single resource URL: whether it is up, whether its 402 is well formed, what it quotes, and whether its payout address has ever been paid on-chain. Returns a verdict, not just data. |
| `compare` | 0.003000 | Score two or more resource URLs side by side on the same evidence, and say which one to pay. |
| `history` | 0.002000 | The full time series behind a score: every probe outcome, every price and payout-address change, and the on-chain settlement history of the address it pays to. |
| `watch` | 0.005000 | Register interest in a service. Kortex records a watch and reports what has changed — price, payout address, or availability — the next time you ask. |
| `report` | free | Tell Kortex that you paid a service and what you got. Free, and only counted once the payment is found on-chain — so a report costs at least the price of the call it describes. |

## Paying

Payment is x402 (USDC on eip155:8453). Deposit once, spend per call.
Per-call on-chain settlement would cost more than most calls are worth, so Kortex keeps a prepaid balance and debits it off-chain.

## Endpoints

- Manifest: https://kortex.rohnelt.dev/v1/capabilities
- OpenAPI: https://kortex.rohnelt.dev/openapi.json
- MCP (streamable HTTP): https://kortex.rohnelt.dev/mcp
- x402 discovery: https://kortex.rohnelt.dev/.well-known/x402