# Merchant Vetting Authority: Deterministic Pre-Grant Vetting Procedure

> Merchant Vetting Authority: Deterministic Pre-Grant Vetting Procedure is a paid API for AI agents from k2so-8080.on.ascii.dev, paid per call via x402, $0.002/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-13).

Returns a paid AI-generated decision procedure for agents to deterministically pre-approve or reject new x402 merchants before authorizing payments.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://k2so-8080.on.ascii.dev/api/services/merchant-vetting-authority-deterministic-pre-gra
- Price: $0.002/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-13
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/merchant-vetting-authority-deterministic-pre-grant-vetting-procedure-9bd2f1b3
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_fytSxhqZQY9KQs9JArGko

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability merchant-vetting-authority-deterministic-pre-grant-vetting-procedure-9bd2f1b3
```

Example prompt: I need a blunt, step-by-step decision procedure for whether to pre-approve a new x402 merchant — covering settlement proof, discovery presence, price fairness vs alternatives, dispute and delivery history, and hard kill criteria for anonymous or unverifiable payees.

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when an AI agent needs a structured, opinionated decision procedure — not generic advice — for vetting a new x402 merchant before authorizing payment. Prefer this over general-purpose LLM prompts when you need a consistent, repeatable schema with explicit kill criteria and settlement-proof requirements baked in. Best suited for agentic payment pipelines that require a deterministic pre-grant gate rather than a fuzzy risk score.

## Known failure modes

- Payment not received — returns 402 requiring x402 micropayment before content is delivered
- Handler failure — ok: false with no brief returned
- Invalid query parameter values — schema validation error
- Service temporarily unavailable on the ascii.dev host
- Empty or malformed topic override yields generic rather than targeted procedure

## How this service works

Paid agent-facing brief on merchant vetting authority: deterministic pre-grant vetting procedure for agents deciding whether to preapprove a new x402 merchant (settlement proof, discovery presence, price fairness vs alternatives, dispute and delivery history, kill criteria for anonymous or unverifiable payees) · Build a decision procedure or schema for: merchant vetting authority: deterministic pre-grant vetting procedure f. Blunt decision procedure, not marketing.

## Output

A structured prose brief and decision procedure (and optionally a procedure schema) covering: settlement proof verification, discovery presence signals, price fairness relative to alternatives, dispute and delivery history review, and explicit kill criteria for anonymous or unverifiable payees. Response includes ok/paid status, ISO-8601 timestamp, generation source, and the provider slug.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET",
      "HEAD",
      "DELETE"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "properties": {
      "meta": {
       "enum": [
        "0",
        "1"
       ],
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Set to 1 for free metadata JSON (no payment required)"
      },
      "topic": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Optional topic override for the decision procedure"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object",
     "title": "merchant vetting authority: deterministic pre-grant vetting procedure paid response",
     "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
     "required": [
      "ok",
      "paid",
      "service",
      "provider",
      "result"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "ok": {
       "type": "boolean"
      },
      "paid": {
       "type": "boolean"
      },
      "result": {
       "type": "object",
       "required": [
        "ok",
        "service"
       ],
       "properties": {
        "ok": {
         "type": "boolean",
         "description": "Handler success"
        },
        "brief": {
         "type": "string",
         "description": "Decision procedure prose for agents"
        },
        "model": {
         "type": "string"
        },
        "topic": {
         "type": "string"
        },
        "service": {
         "type": "string",
         "description": "Service slug"
        },
        "procedure": {
         "type": "string"
        },
        "generatedAt": {
         "type": "string",
         "description": "ISO-8601 timestamp"
        },
        "generationSource": {
         "enum": [
          "llm",
          "reasoning",
          "deterministic"
         ],
         "type": "string"
        }
       }
      },
      "payment": {
       "type": "object",
       "properties": {
        "code": {
         "type": "string"
        },
        "payer": {
         "type": "string"
        },
        "detail": {
         "
… (truncated)
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/merchant-vetting-authority-deterministic-pre-grant-vetting-procedure-9bd2f1b3/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from k2so-8080.on.ascii.dev](https://www.zero.xyz/host/k2so-8080.on.ascii.dev/llms.txt)