> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.asklethe.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# x402 Micropayments

> The planned pay-per-call USDC model, and how quota access actually works today.

<Warning>
  This page describes a planned direction, not shipped functionality. See [Rate Limits & Quotas](/api-reference/rate-limits) for the current, live access model.
</Warning>

## The vision

Pay-per-call access to the API using USDC over the [x402](https://x402.org) protocol, no account, no API key, no daily quota tiers. Each request would be metered and paid for individually at the moment it's made, directly from a wallet.

## What's actually live today

Access is gated by **quota tiers**, not payment:

* Guest: 3 messages/network, no key.
* Wallet-linked: 50 messages/day (UTC), via a portable `ltk_` key obtained by connecting a wallet at [`/cli`](https://asklethe.ai/cli). See [Authentication](/api-reference/authentication).

Connecting a wallet today verifies you hold a wallet in order to raise your rate limit. **No funds move.** The `@x402/core`, `@x402/evm`, and `@x402/svm` packages are present in the codebase as dependencies but are not yet wired into the inference path.