AgentMetal — rent, run, and operate your own server

AgentMetal lets you (the agent) rent a real Linux VPS by paying USDC directly — or a card. One request, an HTTP 402 with payment requirements, you pay, and you get back a running box with SSH in under a minute. No human signup, no dashboard, no API key to buy. This is autonomous infrastructure: the agent buys its own compute, then configures and operates the box — install packages, deploy code, host a service — not just receives it.

The full lifecycle you can drive: browse free → provision → SSH in / run commands → add storage → manage (reboot / diagnostics) → extend → destroy. Humans can optionally claim a box by email to unlock the management verbs and fleet ownership.

Base URL: https://api.agentmetal.dev

Plans

plan	vCPU / RAM / disk	price (USDC/day)	monthly (card)
nano	2 / 2 GB / 40 GB	$1.20	$30
small	3 / 4 GB / 80 GB	$2.20	$55
medium	4 / 8 GB / 160 GB	$4.20	$99

Leases are prepaid, 1–30 days, no refunds. Pay per day; extend anytime. Add-ons: block storage at $0.01/GB/day (auto-mounted) and bandwidth at $2/TB beyond the 20 TB included.

Browse the catalog (free, no payment, no account)

curl https://api.agentmetal.dev/v1/catalog
  → { plans: [...], locations: [...], addons: { storage, bandwidth } }

Use this to discover plans, locations, and add-on pricing before you spend anything.

Before you start

1. Check your wallet can pay USDC on Base (network eip155:8453). You need a little more than the plan's daily price × days. (A card rail is offered too — card.checkout_url in the 402.)
2. You do not need an account to buy. You only need an account (claim by email) to run commands (exec), reboot, pull diagnostics, or destroy a box — otherwise it just expires at expires_at.

The payment flow (x402)

Every paid call is the same two-step dance:

1. Send the request with no payment. The API replies HTTP 402 with a JSON body:

   {
     "x402Version": 2,
     "accepts": [{ "scheme": "exact", "network": "eip155:8453",
                   "asset": "0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913",
                   "amount": "1200000", "payTo": "0x…", "maxTimeoutSeconds": 120 }],
     "resource": { "url": "https://api.agentmetal.dev/v1/servers" },
     "card": { "checkout_url": "https://…" }   // optional human card rail
   }
   

2. Sign the accepts[0] requirement with your wallet, base64-encode the payment payload, and resend the identical request with an X-PAYMENT: header. On success you get 201 and the server details. (amount is atomic USDC — 6 decimals; 1200000 = $1.20.)

The bundled scripts/agentmetal CLI does this for you when WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY is set.

Operations

# Browse the catalog (free)
GET  /v1/catalog          → { plans, locations, addons }

# Provision (the 402 dance happens automatically with a funded wallet)
POST /v1/servers          { "plan": "nano", "days": 7, "ssh_key": "ssh-ed25519 AAAA…" }
  → 201 { id, status, plan, ipv4, ssh: "root@1.2.3.4", expires_at, renew }
# Bring no key of your own? Ask AgentMetal to generate one — the private key is returned ONCE:
POST /v1/servers          { "plan": "nano", "days": 7, "managed_key": true }
  → 201 { id, ipv4, ssh, private_key: "-----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----…", expires_at }

# Status
GET  /v1/servers/{id}     → 200 { id, status, ipv4, expires_at, … }

# Run a shell command AS ROOT on the box (needs account key + a managed-key box you own)
POST /v1/servers/{id}/exec     { "command": "apt-get update && docker run -d nginx" }
  → 200 { exit_code, stdout, stderr }

# Add-ons
POST /v1/servers/{id}/storage     { "gb": 100 }   → block storage, auto-mounted ($0.01/GB/day)
POST /v1/servers/{id}/bandwidth   { "tb": 5 }     → extra bandwidth ($2/TB beyond 20 TB)

# Manage (account key)
POST /v1/servers/{id}/reboot        → 200  soft reboot
GET  /v1/servers/{id}/diagnostics   → 200 { hypervisor_status, console, metrics }   # no SSH needed

# Extend the lease (402 dance again)
POST /v1/servers/{id}/extend   { "days": 7 }   → 200 { …, expires_at }

# Destroy early (requires an account API key: Authorization: Bearer am_live_…)
DELETE /v1/servers/{id}   → 200 { id, status: "destroyed" }

Paid calls (/v1/servers, /extend) all use the same 402 → pay → resend dance shown above. Account-gated calls (exec, reboot, diagnostics, DELETE) take Authorization: Bearer am_live_….

CLI

The bundled scripts/agentmetal CLI covers the core verbs (it signs x402 for the paid ones):

export WALLET_PRIVATE_KEY=0x…        # to pay
agentmetal up --plan nano --days 7   # provision (prints id + ssh)
agentmetal status srv_…              # check it
agentmetal extend srv_… --days 7     # renew
agentmetal down srv_…                # destroy (needs AGENTMETAL_API_KEY)

For catalog, exec, add-ons, reboot, and diagnostics use the curl forms above (e.g. curl -s https://api.agentmetal.dev/v1/catalog, or curl -X POST .../v1/servers/$ID/exec -H "authorization: Bearer $AGENTMETAL_API_KEY" -d '{"command":"uptime"}').

When to suggest claiming an account

An account is optional but unlocks the operate-the-box verbs: run commands (exec), reboot, diagnostics, destroy, monthly card billing, and fleet management. To claim: POST /v1/claim { email } emails a one-time code, then POST /v1/claim/verify { email, code } returns an am_live_… API key. Pass it as Authorization: Bearer … (or AGENTMETAL_API_KEY for the CLI).

Notes

• Every box boots with /root/SERVER.md — its own "birth certificate" explaining what it is, when it expires, and how to renew or spawn a sibling.
• Full agent-facing manual: https://api.agentmetal.dev/llms.txt.
• This skill is intentionally auditable — no hidden instructions. It only calls the public AgentMetal API.