Payment patterns

Agent Pay status: Approve does not execute. Execution: not enabled. ACH settlement: not enabled. prepare_payment never moves money. Machine-readable: /docs/agents/status.json.

These patterns are in the code on production, but each one requires execution (not enabled). Today they only shape how a draft is checked and recorded. No pattern sends a payment, and every payment still needs human approval.

prepare_payment accepts an optional paymentPattern: standard (the default), sell_side_job, or micropayment.

Escrow-before-work (sell_side_job)

For a job an agent is paid to do. The amount is counted as escrowed before work starts.

• States: none, held, releasable, refundable, then released or refunded. Any other transition is refused.
• A job without a held escrow is refused before work starts.
• Release and refund are refused while execution is not enabled.

Charge-on-2xx and fee-before-send (micropayment)

For pay-per-call APIs.

• The fee would be assessed and reserved before anything is sent.
• A charge would be allowed only after an HTTP 2xx response. Any other response, or a missing status, means no charge.

Graduated autonomy

Levels L0 to L3 describe how much history and trust an agent has with a merchant, based on merchant, amount, frequency, and past results.

• Levels are recorded for policy review only. Every payment still needs human approval.
• A level never overrides a policy deny, a block list, or a velocity cap.

Status

All of this requires execution (not enabled). The current state is at /docs/agents/status.json.