� Architectural Whitepaper
📥 Download the AgentWork Architectural Whitepaper (PDF)
A comprehensive technical document covering the full system design, economic model, smart contract architecture, and payment flow analysis behind AgentWork.
Section
Highlights
System Architecture Multi-layer design: Agent Layer → Orchestrator → Circle Gateway → Arc L1
Economic Model 97.8% margin proof — why $0.005 payments only work on Arc
Smart Contract Design 5 Vyper contracts: Escrow, PaymentSplitter, Identity, Reputation, SpendingLimiter
x402 Payment Protocol Full HTTP 402 lifecycle: authenticate → authorize → settle → verify
A2A Agent Chaining Multi-hop agent-to-agent nanopayment reciprocity chains
Security Analysis EIP-3009 gasless signing, Gateway batching, SpendingLimiter rate caps
AI agents are powerful — but paying them is broken . A $0.005 agent call costs $3.50 in gas on Ethereum. That's not a marketplace — it's a money incinerator.
💰 Cost per Transaction
Gas Fee
% of $0.005 Revenue
Can You Profit?
🔴 Ethereum L1
$3.50
70,000%
❌
🟠 Arbitrum L2
$0.10
2,000%
❌
🟡 Polygon
$0.05
1,000%
❌
🟡 Base (Coinbase L2)
$0.01
200%
❌
🟡 Solana
$0.001
20%
⚠️ Marginal
🟢 Arc L1 + Circle x402
~$0.0001 2% ✅ 97.8% margin
The math is binary. Either gas costs eat the revenue, or they don't. Only Arc crosses the viability threshold.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ AGENTWORK PLATFORM │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ 🖥️ Vite Dashboard (React + Zustand) │ │
│ │ Real-time task feed · Agent cards · Explorer links │ │
│ │ Economy charts · Receipts · Playground · :3001 │ │
│ └──────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ SSE / Supabase Realtime │
│ ┌──────────────────────────▼──────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ 📊 Next.js API Backend (:3003) │ │
│ │ REST routes · x402 verify/settle · Supabase queries │ │
│ └──────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ┌──────────────────────────▼──────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ ⚡ Orchestrator (TypeScript + ESM) │ │
│ │ Task decomposer → GatewayClient.pay() → Settlement poll │ │
│ │ A2A chaining · Streaming · Governance · SLA engine │ │
│ └───────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────────┬────────────────────┘ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ ┌─────▼────┐ ┌───▼────┐ ┌──▼─────┐ ┌─▼───────┐ │
│ │ 🔬 Research│ │💻 Code │ │🧪 Test │ │📋 Review│ │
│ │ Agent │ │ Agent │ │ Agent │ │ Agent │ │
│ │ :4021 │ │ :4022 │ │ :4023 │ │ :4024 │ │
│ │ $0.005 │ │ $0.005 │ │ $0.005 │ │ $0.005 │ │
│ └─────┬────┘ └───┬────┘ └──┬─────┘ └─┬───────┘ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ ┌───────▼──────────▼─────────▼──────────▼────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ 🔵 Circle Gateway (x402 / EIP-3009) │ │
│ │ Off-chain auth signing → Batch settlement → Arc L1 │ │
│ └─────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ On-chain settlement │
│ ┌─────────────────────────▼───────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ ⛓️ Arc L1 (Chain ID: 5042002) │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ ┌─────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ AgentEscrow │ │ PaymentSplit │ │ SpendingLimiter│ │ │
│ │ └─────────────┘ └──────────────┘ └────────────────┘ │ │
│ │ ┌──────────────────┐ ┌───────────────────────┐ │ │
│ │ │ IdentityRegistry │ │ ReputationRegistry │ │ │
│ │ │ (ERC-721) │ │ (ERC-8004) │ │ │
│ │ └──────────────────┘ └───────────────────────┘ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ USDC native gas · ~$0.0001/tx · EVM-compatible │ │
│ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Cost at Scale: 1,000 Transactions Ethereum L1 ████████████████████████████████████████████████ $3,500
Arbitrum L2 █████ $100
Polygon ████ $50
Base █ $10
Solana ▏ $1
Arc L1 ▎ $0.10 ← 3,500× cheaper
Revenue Margins per Agent Call
Revenue
Gas Cost
Net Profit
Margin
Agent Call @ $0.005
$0.005
$0.0001
$0.0049
97.8%
A2A Chain (3 hops)
$0.015
$0.0003
$0.0147
98.0%
Full Task (4 agents)
$0.020
$0.0004
$0.0196
98.0%
60-Transaction Demo
$0.300
$0.006
$0.294
98.0%
Node.js 18+Arc testnet wallet — fund at Circle Faucet Supabase account (free tier works)
# Clonecd AgentWork
# Configure# ← Edit .env with your private key + Supabase credentials# Install + Validate# Launch everything# Terminal 1: Agents (:4021-4024)cd packages/dashboard && npx next dev -p 3003 # Terminal 2: APIcd newgemdashboard && npx vite --port 3001 # Terminal 3: Dashboard# Run the orchestrator (produces 26+ on-chain transactions)cd packages/orchestrator && npx tsx src/index.tsFull Demo (60+ Transactions) npm run demo:10 # 10 orchestrated runs → 260+ on-chain txns
Component
Stack
Port
Description
Vite Dashboard React 19 · Tailwind v4 · Zustand · Framer Motion
3001Real-time task feed, playground, economy charts, receipts
API Backend Next.js 14 · Supabase · x402 server SDK
3003REST routes, payment verification, event streaming
Orchestrator TypeScript ESM · @circle-fin/x402-batching
—
Task decomposition, gateway payments, settlement polling
Research Agent Express · x402 middleware
4021Deep research & information synthesis
Code Agent Express · x402 middleware
4022Code generation & implementation
Test Agent Express · x402 middleware
4023Test suite generation & QA
Review Agent Express · x402 middleware
4024Code review & quality scoring
Landing Page Vite · React Three Fiber · Framer Motion
30023D glassmorphism landing page (lazy-loaded Three.js)
Smart Contracts (Vyper 0.4.x — Deployed on Arc Testnet)
Contract
Address
Standard
Purpose
IdentityRegistry 0x858A...7431ERC-721
Agent identity NFTs with metadata URIs
ReputationRegistry 0x75b4...f8EaERC-8004
On-chain reputation scores (0–100)
AgentEscrow 0x5714...07F3—
Task escrow (create → claim → complete)
PaymentSplitter 0xc239...aa30—
Multi-recipient payment distribution
SpendingLimiter 0xe0c7...072D—
Per-agent spending rate limits
A single orchestrator run produces 26+ on-chain transactions :
1. ── Deposit USDC into Circle Gateway ────────────────────── 💰
2. ── Pay Research Agent ──────────── 🔬 $0.005 ──── ⛓️ tx
3. ── Pay Code Agent ──────────────── 💻 $0.005 ──── ⛓️ tx
4. ── Pay Test Agent ──────────────── 🧪 $0.005 ──── ⛓️ tx
5. ── Pay Review Agent ────────────── 📋 $0.005 ──── ⛓️ tx
6. ── Create Escrow Task ──────────── 📝 ─────────── ⛓️ tx
7. ── Agent Claims Escrow ─────────── ✋ ─────────── ⛓️ tx
8. ── Submit Escrow Result ────────── 📦 ─────────── ⛓️ tx
9. ── Approve Escrow Completion ───── ✅ ─────────── ⛓️ tx
10. ── Write Reputation (×4 agents) ── ⭐ ─────────── ⛓️ tx
11. ── A2A Nanopayment Chains ───────── 🔗 ×11 ────── ⛓️ tx
...
26. ── Settlement Complete ──────────── 🏁 Total: ~$0.01
5 tasks × 26 txns = 60+ on-chain transactions. Total cost: ~$0.05.
Every transaction is verifiable on ArcScan .
✅ Hackathon Requirements Checklist Mandatory Submission Requirements
#
Requirement
Status
Evidence
REQ-01
Real per-action pricing ≤ $0.01 ✅
$0.005/agent call — 50% below the threshold
REQ-02
50+ on-chain transactions in demo ✅
260+ txns via npm run demo:10; 110+ via 10× pipeline run
REQ-03
Margin explanation (fails with traditional gas)✅
97.8% margin on Arc vs −70000% on Ethereum — see Margin Analysis
REQ-04
Transaction flow demo video ✅
Shows end-to-end USDC payment + ArcScan verification
REQ-05
Circle Product Feedback ($500 bonus)✅
circle-product-feedback.md
REQ-06
Which Circle products used + why ✅
Arc · USDC · Circle Gateway · Nanopayments · x402 (see below)
Track
How AgentWork Addresses It
🤖 Agent-to-Agent Payment Loop
✅ Primary track . 4 autonomous agents pay/receive in real-time via x402. A2A reciprocity chains enable multi-hop agent-to-agent commerce without custodial control.
🧮 Usage-Based Compute Billing
✅ Each agent call billed at $0.005 — precisely aligned to usage. SpendingLimiter enforces per-agent rate caps.
🪙 Per-API Monetization Engine
✅ Every Express agent endpoint is an x402-gated API. Research, Code, Test, Review — each charges per request.
🛒 Real-Time Micro-Commerce Flow
✅ Economic activity triggers and settles per interaction, not per subscription. Escrow lifecycle runs on-chain.
Product
How We Use It
Why We Chose It
Arc L1 All transactions settle on Arc (Chain ID 5042002)
Only chain where sub-cent payments are economically viable — USDC native gas at ~$0.0001/tx
USDC Native gas token + payment denomination
Stable value, 6 decimals, no volatility risk for agent pricing
Circle Gateway GatewayClient for buyer-side deposits/payments; BatchFacilitatorClient for seller-side verify+settleEIP-3009 gasless signing — agents never hold ETH, never pay gas directly
Nanopayments (x402) HTTP 402 payment-required protocol wrapping every agent endpoint
Web-native payment standard — any HTTP client can pay, no wallet extension needed
@circle-fin/x402-batching SDK v2.1.0Official Circle SDK for both buyer and seller sides
Production-grade batching reduces on-chain footprint
Judging Criteria Alignment
Criterion
How AgentWork Scores
Application of Technology Gemini 4 31B for task decomposition + routing decisions; Featherless for LLM inference; Vyper for 5 deployed contracts; Circle x402 SDK v2.1.0 for payments; React Three Fiber for 3D landing page
Presentation Live dashboard (real-time task feed, playground, economy charts); 3D landing page; 5-slide pitch deck; 260+ on-chain transactions demonstrable live
Business Value 97.8% margin per agent call; first economically viable multi-agent marketplace; 3,500× cheaper than Ethereum; enables $0.005/action pricing that's impossible on any other chain
Originality A2A reciprocity chains (agents pay agents); Gemini-powered adaptive routing (parallel vs sequential); full escrow lifecycle on-chain; ERC-8004 reputation + identity; spending limiter for budget enforcement
Google Gemini Integration
Aspect
Implementation
Model google/gemma-4-31B-it via Featherless API (Gemini family)
Use Case Task decomposition, agent routing decisions, reputation scoring
Function Calling decideTaskRouting() — chooses parallel vs sequential execution based on agent history
Deep Think decideReputationScore() — evaluates agent output quality with reasoning chain
Google AI Studio Used for prompt prototyping and routing strategy iteration
Differentiation from Other Submissions
What Others Do
What AgentWork Does Differently
Mock payments or simulated transactions
Real x402 payments via Circle Gateway with on-chain settlement receipts
2–3 agent simple loop
7 subtasks in 4 parallel execution levels with adaptive routing
No smart contracts
5 deployed Vyper contracts — Escrow, PaymentSplitter, Identity, Reputation, SpendingLimiter
No reputation system
ERC-8004 on-chain reputation with post-task feedback and quality scores
Basic cost comparison table
Live margin dashboard showing real-time revenue/gas/cost per agent
Single payment flow
Full lifecycle : deposit → escrow → pay → verify → settle → claim → reputation → A2A chain
🔒 Required (Per Hackathon)
Arc L1 — EVM-compatible settlement (Chain ID 5042002)USDC — Native gas token + payment denom (6 decimals)Circle Nanopayments — Sub-cent, high-frequency x402 paymentsCircle Gateway — EIP-3009 gasless batch settlements@circle-fin/x402-batching v2.1.0@x402/core + @x402/evm
🧩 Recommended (Per Hackathon)
Vyper 0.4.x — 5 deployed smart contractsMoccasin + Titanoboa — Deployment + testing frameworkERC-8004 — Agent identity + reputation standardviem — EVM interactions (peer dep for x402 SDK)
Google Gemini (gemma-4-31B-it) — Task routing + reputationGoogle AI Studio — Prompt prototypingFeatherless — LLM inference providerAI/ML API — Multi-model access
Next.js 14 — API backend + SSR dashboardReact 19 + Vite — Frontend dashboardTypeScript — Strict mode, ES modulesSupabase — Realtime event streamingExpress — Agent gateway (4 specialist agents)React Three Fiber — 3D landing pageFramer Motion / Motion — AnimationsZustand — State managementDocker Compose — One-command deploy
Decision
Reasoning
Arc over Ethereum/L2 Only chain where $0.005 payments are profitable (97.8% margin vs −70000% on ETH)
x402 over custom payment Web-native HTTP 402 standard — any HTTP client can pay without wallet extensions
Vyper over Solidity Safer contract language; hackathon recommended via vyper-agentic-payments and erc-8004-vyper references
Gemini for routing Function calling enables programmatic routing decisions between parallel and sequential execution
Circle Gateway over direct tx Gasless EIP-3009 signing — agents never hold ETH, batch settlements reduce on-chain footprint
Express agents Unified host with x402 middleware — production-grade, not a toy Python wrapper
AgentWork/
├── 📂 packages/
│ ├── orchestrator/ ⚡ Task decomposition + x402 payment loop
│ │ └── src/
│ │ ├── index.ts Main orchestrator entry
│ │ ├── executor.ts GatewayClient.pay() execution
│ │ ├── gateway-settlement.ts Settlement resolution polling
│ │ ├── receipts.ts Payment receipt generation
│ │ ├── contracts.ts On-chain contract interactions
│ │ └── economy/ Streaming · A2A · Governance · SLA
│ ├── dashboard/ 📊 Next.js API backend + pages
│ │ ├── app/api/ REST routes (agents, receipts, stream)
│ │ └── components/ React components
│ ├── contracts/ ⛓️ Vyper smart contracts
│ │ ├── src/ AgentEscrow · PaymentSplitter · etc.
│ │ └── tests/ Moccasin + Titanoboa tests
│ └── database/ 🗄️ Supabase schema + seeds
├── 📂 agents/
│ └── express-server/ 🤖 Unified agent host (:4021-4024)
│ └── server.ts x402 middleware + specialist logic
├── 📂 newgemdashboard/ 🖥️ Vite frontend dashboard
│ └── src/
│ ├── components/dashboard/ Dashboard shell + tabs
│ └── lib/ Supabase · Store · API adapters
├── 📂 newlandingpage/ 🌐 Landing page (React Three Fiber)
├── 📂 scripts/ 📜 Demo, smoke-test, evidence collection
├── 📂 docs/ 📚 Documentation
└── 📂 evidence/ 📋 Session recordings with tx hashes
🧠 Key Technical Highlights 1. Official Circle SDK — Not a Toy Implementation // Buyer-side: GatewayClient pays agents
import { GatewayClient } from "@circle-fin/x402-batching/client" ;
const gateway = new GatewayClient ( {
chain : "arcTestnet" ,
privateKey : process . env . ORCHESTRATOR_PRIVATE_KEY as Hex ,
} ) ;
const result = await gateway . pay ( "http://localhost:4021/research" ) ;
console . log ( `🔗 Explorer: https://testnet.arcscan.app/tx/${ result . transaction } ) ; // Seller-side: BatchFacilitatorClient verifies + settles
import { BatchFacilitatorClient } from "@circle-fin/x402-batching/server" ;
const facilitator = new BatchFacilitatorClient ( {
url : "https://gateway-api-testnet.circle.com" ,
} ) ;
const { isValid } = await facilitator . verify ( payload , requirements ) ;
const { success, transaction } = await facilitator . settle ( payload , requirements ) ; 2. Background Settlement Resolution Gateway payments return immediately with a reference ID. We poll for on-chain settlement and backfill real tx hashes:
// If payment ref isn't a real 0x hash yet, poll in background
if ( txHash && ! isRealTransactionHash ( txHash ) ) {
void resolveGatewaySettlement ( { gatewayRef : txHash , taskId, onSettled } ) ;
} 3. EIP-3009 Gasless Signing Users never hold ETH and never pay gas directly . The Circle Gateway handles:
Off-chain authorization signing (free)
Batch multiple authorizations together
Single on-chain settlement to Arc L1
4. 5 Deployed Vyper Contracts All contracts are deployed on Arc testnet with real on-chain interactions — not mocks:
Contract
Functions
AgentEscrow createTask → claimTask → submitResult → approveCompletion
PaymentSplitter createSplit(recipients[], basisPoints[]) → distribute()
IdentityRegistry registerAgent(wallet, metadataUri) → ERC-721 NFT
ReputationRegistry giveFeedback(agentId, score) → getSummary() → avg score
SpendingLimiter setLimit(agent, amount, window) → recordSpending() → checkLimit()
🏆 Prize Categories We're Competing For
Prize
Amount
Our Qualification
Online 1st Place $2,500 USDC
260+ real on-chain txns, 5 Vyper contracts, full x402 integration
On-site 1st Place $3,000 USDC
Live demo ready, all services dockerized
Product Feedback $500 USDC
Detailed Circle SDK feedback covering 5 pain points with code-level suggestions
Google Prize (Online) $1,200
Gemini-powered task routing, reputation scoring, and function calling
Featherless Prize 500 credits
Featherless inference for agent responses
Constant
Value
Chain ID 5042002
RPC https://rpc.testnet.arc.network
USDC 0x3600000000000000000000000000000000000000 (6 decimals, native gas)
Circle Gateway 0x0077777d7EBA4688BDeF3E311b846F25870A19B9
Explorer https://testnet.arcscan.app
Faucet https://faucet.circle.com
SDK Chain Name "arcTestnet"
MIT
