verify and settle
Verify and settle are the two operations an x402 facilitator exposes. Verify checks a signed payment payload against the quote the endpoint issued; settle submits that payload to the blockchain. They are separate calls, and a payload that passes verification has still moved no money.
A seller holding a signed payload calls the facilitator's /verify operation with that payload and the payment requirements it quoted. Verification checks the signature and the terms against each other — the amount, the asset, the network, the recipient and the validity window — before the seller does the work the payment is for.
Settlement is the second call. /settle submits the authorised transfer on-chain and reports the result, so the seller learns whether the money actually moved. A facilitator's /supported operation lists the schemes and networks it will handle, which is how a client knows in advance which quotes that facilitator can settle at all.
The gap between the two is what a check stopping at verification cannot see. An endpoint that quotes correctly and verifies correctly can still fail at settlement, and the evidence for settlement is a completed transfer rather than an accepted quote.
→ probe402 counts the settled payments other wallets make to it and publishes the count whatever it is, in the weekly verdict; the settle leg it runs is described in the method.
Sources
- Core concepts: facilitatorx402 project documentation
- The x402 specification repositoryx402 Foundation
Related facilitator · settlement · accepts array · seller