# x402: Pay-Per-Request, No Accounts

The x402 payment protocol enables HTTP-native micropayments on Base. A client requests a resource, receives a 402 Payment Required response with instructions, signs a USDC payment, and receives the content. No signup, no API key, no deposit. This is the payment primitive that makes AI agents economically autonomous.


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://cluster-protocol.gitbook.io/whitepaper/introduction/key-advantages/x402-pay-per-request-no-accounts.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.