New to APIs?

What is a call?

A call is one question you send to the gateway and the one answer you get back. Ask "how much SOL is in this wallet?" and you get the number. That round trip is one call.

What one looks like

Each kind of question has its own web address, called an endpoint or tool. You add your details to the address, and the answer comes back as structured data (JSON) that a program or AI agent can read.

The question

GET https://YOUR-GATEWAY/api/solana/balance?wallet=<wallet_address>

The answer

{
  "wallet": "<wallet_address>",
  "network": "mainnet-beta",
  "balance_lamports": 1500000000,
  "balance_sol": 1.5,
  "live_status": "SUCCESS"
}

AI agents make the same calls through MCP. Instead of a web address, the agent picks a tool by name, such as get_solana_balance, and gets the same answer.

What calls cost

Every paid tool can be called 3 times free, with no wallet and no sign-up. The count is kept per tool, so trying one tool does not use up the free calls of another. A website call and its matching MCP tool share the same 3.

Basic reads, like this balance call, are always free. For other tools, after the 3 free calls each successful call costs $0.001 to $0.01 in USDC, paid with the request itself through x402. Calls that end in an error are never charged and do not use up a free call.

How paying works

How a call travels: think of a restaurant

Every part of a web service has a match in a restaurant. Follow one call from start to finish. Each step happens before the next.

In the restaurantIn the gateway

CustomerSits down and wants somethingA person, or a hungry program.

ClientYour app or AI agentFor example Claude Desktop, Cursor, or a bot you wrote.

orders fromsends a request to

The menuLists every dish and how to order itYou can only order what is printed.

The APIThe agreed way to askThe list of things the gateway offers, and the format for asking.

one dishone address

A dish"Table 4 would like the soup"Each dish has its own name.

Endpoint/api/solana/balanceOne web address that does one job.

checks the orderchecks the request

CashierIs this customer allowed to order?Some dishes are free; others can be tasted 3 times, then are paid for at the counter.

Free calls and paymentCounts free calls per tool, then checks the x402 payment.Decides whether the call goes ahead.

hands the ticket toruns the code

ChefReads the ticket and cooksKnows the recipe and does the work.

The logicChecks your inputs and does the workRuns on a server and decides what to do with your request.

gets ingredientsreads and fetches

PantryIngredients kept on handThings the kitchen stores for itself.

DatabaseFree-call countsHow many free calls each tool has used.

Outside supplierFresh produce, delivered dailyWhat the kitchen cannot grow itself.

The blockchainSolana, read liveBalances, transactions, and token data.

plates the dishreturns the response

The plateThe customer eatsServed in minutes.

The responseStructured data (JSON)Usually well under a second.

Glossary

Term	Restaurant version	Here
API	The menu	Everything the gateway can do
Endpoint	One dish	A single address, like `/api/solana/balance`
Request	The order	What you send, such as a wallet address
Response	The plate	What comes back, such as that wallet's balance
x402	Paying at the counter for each dish	A payment sent with each paid call, in USDC
MCP server	A menu written for robots	Lets AI tools find and use the calls directly