# Quickstart for merchants

> Gate an HTTP endpoint behind x402 payment in any of Express, Hono, Fastify, or Next.js.

This guide walks through gating an HTTP endpoint behind a paid call. By the end your endpoint will return `402 Payment Required` to unpaid agents, accept a signed payment payload on retry, and deliver content only after the on-chain settlement succeeds.

A complete runnable version with both an Express server and an integration test is in [`examples/express-paid-api/`](https://github.com/nerochain/nero-x402/tree/main/examples/express-paid-api).

## What you need

- A facilitator URL the middleware can call. For local development, run the [reference facilitator](https://github.com/nerochain/nero-x402/tree/main/apps/facilitator) on `:3000`. For production, point at `facilitator.x402.nerochain.io`.
- A merchant address that receives the settlement transfers. This is just an EOA or contract address you control on NERO Chain.
- The package: `pnpm add @nerochain/x402-server`.

## Express

```ts
import express from "express";
import { x402Express } from "@nerochain/x402-server/express";

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

app.use(
  "/api/llm",
  x402Express({
    paymentRequirements: {
      scheme: "aa-native",
      network: "eip155:689",
      amount: "1000",                                          // 0.001 USDT (atomic units, 6 decimals)
      asset:   "0x9a2eabdecda3eae051bca75fbe71a3dbdb35f9d4",   // DEMO-USDT on NERO testnet
      payTo:   "0xYourMerchantAddress",
      maxTimeoutSeconds: 60,
    },
    facilitator: { url: "http://localhost:3000" },
    resource: { url: "/api/llm", description: "demo paid endpoint" },
  }),
  (req, res) => {
    res.json({ ok: true, payer: req.x402Payer, content: "demo response" });
  },
);

app.listen(4040);
```

The middleware does three things automatically:

1. On a request without a `PAYMENT-SIGNATURE` header, it returns 402 with the `paymentRequirements` payload.
2. On a request with a payload, it forwards to the facilitator's `/verify`. If verification fails, it returns 402 with the error code.
3. After your handler runs successfully, it forwards to `/settle` and attaches the `PAYMENT-RESPONSE` header with the on-chain receipt.

The handler runs only after verification has passed. Inside the handler, `req.x402Payer` is the SCW that paid.

## Hono

```ts
import { Hono } from "hono";
import { x402Hono } from "@nerochain/x402-server/hono";

const app = new Hono();

app.use(
  "/api/llm",
  x402Hono({ paymentRequirements, facilitator: { url } }),
);
app.post("/api/llm", (c) => c.json({ ok: true, payer: c.get("x402Payer") }));
```

## Fastify

```ts
import Fastify from "fastify";
import { x402Fastify } from "@nerochain/x402-server/fastify";

const app = Fastify();
app.register(x402Fastify, {
  prefix: "/api/llm",
  paymentRequirements,
  facilitator: { url },
});
app.post("/api/llm", async (req) => ({ ok: true, payer: req.x402Payer }));
```

## Next.js App Router

```ts
// app/api/llm/route.ts
import { x402Next } from "@nerochain/x402-server/next";

export const POST = x402Next(
  { paymentRequirements, facilitator: { url } },
  async (req) => Response.json({ ok: true }),
);
```

## Pricing and asset selection

`paymentRequirements.amount` is in atomic units (no decimal point). For a token with 6 decimals like USDT/USDC, `1000` is `0.001` of a token. The asset address must be on the allowlist of the configured `SettlementContract`. On NERO mainnet that's USDT (`0xff13a7a12fd485bc9687ff88d8ae1a6b655ab469`), USDC.e (`0x97eec1c29f745dc7c267f90292aa663d997a601d`), and USDC.arb (`0x8712796136Ac8e0EEeC123251ef93702f265aa80`); on testnet it's DEMO-USDT (`0x9a2eabdecda3eae051bca75fbe71a3dbdb35f9d4`).

To accept multiple schemes or assets, pass an array:

```ts
paymentRequirements: [
  { scheme: "aa-native", network: "eip155:689", amount: "1000", asset: USDT, payTo, maxTimeoutSeconds: 60 },
  { scheme: "exact",     network: "eip155:689", amount: "1000", asset: USDT, payTo, maxTimeoutSeconds: 60 },
],
```

The client picks whichever it can satisfy.

## Next

- [Facilitator concept](/docs/core-concepts/facilitator) — what `/verify` and `/settle` do.
- [Networks & tokens](/docs/core-concepts/networks) — supported assets and addresses.
- [Wire format reference](/docs/reference/wire-format) — the envelope shape.